I’m up a little early this morning. After laying in bed for an hour, not being able to sleep, I’ve decided to write.
Collette is sick. This is, I think, her first time really being sick. She’s run a fever since Monday. A little known fact: when using an underarm thermometer you need to add a degree to the reading. This we didn’t find out until day two of the fever. So, instead of running a fever just below 102, she was nearly at 103. While the difference doesn’t seem much, the threshold from “not worry about it, call the doctor in three days if it persists,” to “call doctor immediately” is right around 102. I’m glad we called “early.”
She woke up around three this morning. Laura and I just laid in bed for awhile as Collette just kind of cooed for nearly an hour. But finally Collette got bugged she was awake without anyone’s attention. I eventually changed her and Laura made up a bottle to give her. Collette did the cutest thing. When the bottle was nearly empty, I pulled it away, she opened her mouth as if to eat some more, and then flopped her head on my chest and immediately fell asleep. Mmm, it’s good to be a dad. I was reluctant to burp her and put her back to bed. But after having my moment I let get comfy in her bed.
Today is grading day. But, apparently, elementary school teachers are not allowed to issue “grades.” What? There’s a four point rubric that scores instead of grades. (What are synonyms again?) But they don’t allow teachers to average grades. That is, if I have three assignments worth ten, fifteen and twenty points I’m not supposed to average them. Weird.
The sun’s coming up and I probably should start getting ready to score my students. The fifth grade is nice. I enjoy being with the kids. And when I talk about not being there they whine. It is nice to be wanted. A completely different experience than the seventh grade math classes last year.
Just a little update on looking for other jobs — I have a couple of interviews lined up for the end of the month. I don’t want to get too excited. Job opportunities include part-time community college teaching and working for a tech company in the bay area. We’ll see where this all leads…
