School's Out... Now What?

Oliver finished up on Friday and Gibson had his last day of daycare on Thursday. They both came home with memory books that I will put away in their treasure boxes and then I will cull the rest of the detritus from the bottom of their backpacks. Crafts are lovely in the moment, but I don't want to be carting around 5 billion pastel crayon, macaroni pictures! The sugar cube pyramid will stay but only as long as it stays secure from vermin. Anyhow, I feel a paper purge coming on! I think they both had good years. The Division I reporting system is a bit annoying. If the chart is to be believed then the Descriptor "Work meets acceptable standard" is only 50-64% or a C. If the "Work exceeds the acceptable standard" it is equivalent to a 65-79% or a B. This doesn't make much sense to me and I think that it is the fault of the chart. I will be talking to the teachers next year about this and where I expect Oliver to be. If he is achieving below an A level I will be ticked off. We are talking about a kid who could read at age 4.

A few hours this morning reassured me that my plans for a YMCA Camp for both boys next week is a good thing. I have also registered them in soccer for the following two weeks, but those are shorter, 1 hour a day, 4 day camps. I like the City Soccer camps because they provide for a guaranteed 2 hours of activity for each boy, separate from each other and the only cost $10 a week. So I get 32 hours of activity for $40 (it is actually 64 hours, because while one boy is in the camp the other is playing in the park, but I have to watch whichever boy is in the park). Anyhow, it suits me, because the boys get some structured play with kids other than themselves but they don't have to be away for the whole day. They need some break over the summer, right? Oliver's YMCA camp is a Swim Combo, so I hope they push him a little with that. He'd rather just play and goof off in the water and I want him to gain some skills. I wish there were more short camps for the older kids. Most of the city camps are full day. I can get Gibson into some half day camps but you really have to hunt the brochure for convenient ones. July is pretty much worked out and I will take some time later to look into August.

... a little more ranting about evaluation ...

I know, I know, I have already talked about my frustrations with the evaluation in my drama class, but I thought I had reconciled myself to the fact that they don't give As and I would be happy with the Bs and B+s that rolled my way. That was until I found out that some people did get As (they might have been A-s) on the last assignment. I was really frustrated when I heard who got them. There were a couple of people I wouldn't have been upset if they got higher than me, but 3 of the 4 I heard about I thought were in no way as strong as mine. I don't think it would have been the written portion, because my written work kicked a$$. I think she marks me harder. If you ask everyone in class to name the top two students in class, 9/10 of them would have me as one of those. However, the way it sits I am in the top third, but there are about 5-6 people who I would guess have higher marks. My problem is, that if those people are 'better' than I am, then I think I should quit doing theatre because I thought I held a higher standard for myself than the work I see them do.

I am interested in seeing what the marks were on the Silent Tension Duo Scenes. If I didn't get an A on that (and the highest mark) I will have to do something about it. What, I don't know!