Grading woes

I'm grading papers, and a thought occurs to me: next year, my seniors'
college teachers will curse me and wonder what I taught. Because I cannot
get about a quarter of these kids to write a decent sentence, much less an
essay.
Seriously, by 12th grade, don't you think a kid would know better than to
end their essay with "I have stated my reasons very clearly"? Seriously!
And you know what? NO SHE DIDN'T. In fact, the essay is five
badly-written paragraphs, the point of which I had to figure out by hanging
upside down for an hour. And it wasn't even a five-paragraph essay
assignment! I wanted an ESSAY.

Oh, and...

I listened to Obama's inaugural address. I'm sure I'll be
disappointed in some of his decisions over the next four years, but damned
if that speech didn't make me happy. The call for a return to
responsibility made my day. Now I just hope he lives up to it.

Reason #57 why I'll most likely be looking for a job this summer

We're revamping our schedule at my school. The majority felt that going to an August 17th-May 26th (2009-2010) schedule next year made more sense than the current schedule. Ok, fair enough.

However, they (by which I mean the rest of the committee doing the majority of the work on this plan) decided that they should arrange it so that 9th and 10th grades are there all day, while 11th and 12th grades leave early--either to take college classes at the local JC or just leave early. Those who have failed classes in the past will instead retake those classes.

Note that they don't plan that SOME seniors will follow this plan, but ALL. I asked them "What if we get students who didn't fail, but don't want to go off-campus to take classes, or whose parents want them in high school all day?"

The reply from my least favorite teacher, who has basically appointed herself the Lady High Bitchqueen of the process, was "Then this isn't the school for them. If they want a normal high school experience, they should go to one of the big comprehensive schools."

WHAT? So we should basically say "Fuck you" to the kids who want certain electives at our school? We should tell them that what they want doesn't matter? No matter how much they like this school, they should leave?

Fuck that shit. I'm gone. Just in case I can't find another job, I'm not telling anyone, but I'm putting an application in at just about every other high school (and quite possibly Jr. High) in the district (excepting the ones I know are hell-zones). I just cannot see eye-to-eye with most of this staff anymore.

Movie Reccomendation

If you can--perhaps if you have Netflix--rent "The Man from Earth." It's a great little movie.

Be warned, though--this is a talky movie. In fact, the entire movie is six professors talking in a room. Also be warned that if you're a super-devout Christian who can't stand anything that questions or "what-if"s your belief, this is not your movie.

It all begins when one of them claims that he is 14,000 years old. And it's a fun ride. I won't spoil whether or not it's true.

Another Movie Rec

Watch Atonement. It's beautiful, and poignant, and wonderful. Caveat: If you hate sad movies, you might want to give it a miss. See, usually when a movie is sad, I'm affected, but not overly so; I'm able to say "Wow, that's sad," but it doesn't break me.

This one reduced me to tears. It's just so heartbreaking, and all based on the misunderstandings of a child. It's ... wow. Just wow. James McAvoy and Keira Knightley give some very good performances, as does Vanessa Redgrave (who doesn't show up until the end, but steals the movie in less than ten minutes).

I'm not sure if I'd watch it again or not, but I'm very glad to have seen it. I like this kind of movie. It's not that I like being sad, but movies that affect you are far more, I don't know, worthy than the latest action-smasher. Because what movies--and books, and plays, and tv--do best, what makes them worth paying any attention to at all, is their ability to move us. Sometimes they inspire, sometimes they make us happy, and sometimes, they make us sad. And all are worth doing, and feeling. Because a life with no melancholy is pointless.

That's what it is: melancholy. Most dictionaries won't say it, but I've always looked at melancholy as distinct from sadness. Melancholy has a sort of pleasing association. A slow, mournful tune on a harmonica often causes melancholy; it's sad, but it's not unpleasant. This movie created that. But yes, I cried.

Sidebar: It's funny how some sad movies are pleasant, and others piss you off. The terribly sad ending to Raise the Red Lantern--or, for that matter, most Kurosawa movies--is artful and wonderful; by contrast, I hated the ending of Shanghai Triad, which is really, from an objective viewpoint, no less sad than RtRL.

Now someone who saw Atonement and hated it will likely pipe up here. To them, I say, don't expect an argument; there's no point in posting that you hated it; mileage varies, and especially in movies.