It’s not difficult

Today was the first day of end of grade testing…yay!  That means hours of silence followed by keeping the kids occupied before it’s time to go home.  I don’t mind the testing part because it’s peaceful and quiet, if also boring.

One of the students I was testing was wearing a shirt that read: “Its’ only Funny until someone gets hurt… then its’ hilarious!” [emphasis mine].

Let’s ignore the unnecessary capitalization of the word funny. Instead, let us focus on the misplaced apostrophe in the word it’s.  A big pet peeve of mine is the confusion between the words it’s and its.  To me, it’s not difficult.  The former is a contraction of a pronoun and a verb, while the latter is a possessive adjective.  But what this person had on their shirt was neither: its’.  I don’t get it.  I can understand people making a mistake when typing quickly.   But making the same mistake twice suggests that the person who designed the shirt is an idiot and doesn’t get messages proofread before printing t-shirts.  It also makes me wonder about the person who purchased the shirt for the boy.

Hmm

Have you ever watched a show about people with pet lions?

After you!

I was trying to leave school this afternoon, more specifically, waiting to turn left onto the main road out of the parking lot.

At that moment, two individuals, who I assume were parents, were coming from opposite directions and attempting to turn into the school. One needed to turn right and the other needed to turn left.

Both drivers gestured to the other, "after you!" with palm outstretched. Well isn't that polite! Neither man took up the offer, instead each gesturing to the other again. Haha! Still no one is moving. Ok, this is now obnoxious and idiotic. This false chivalry continues for 20 to 30 seconds. Finally the man who needed to take the left turn entered the parking lot, honking angrily as he passed by. I don't get it. Does that make him less chivalrous? Was his manhood injured by being the first to turn into the damn driveway? Was it better to keep stupidly holding up traffic? Now I just think both of them are assholes.

I don't know why I didn't honk.

Testing brings out the best

So it's testing time again; everyone's favorite time of year. Evidently, it's also the time some of us educators show our own deficiencies.

The other day, one of the staff math teachers let me know that she recommended that I have a 'read aloud' group of students for the math section of the test (some students get their questions read aloud to them as an accommodation). She let me know it wasn't because she didn't like me and wanted me to have extra work, but instead because she knew I could read the middle school math expressions correctly. At first, I thought she was joking. She must have seen the look on my face because she explained, "No, really. I've had some non-math teachers read "x^2" as " 'x' two" instead of " 'x' to the second power." I didn't know reading exponents was such an upper level skill.

This afternoon, I found out that one of the teachers had students take the 1st quarter part of the test (we are in the 3rd quarter). Yes, all of the quarter tests share the same book, but each section and its page numbers is clearly labeled on the front of the book. Additionally, the script we were supposed to read to the students word for word clearly said "3rd Quarter" at least twice. So now that teacher has to hunt down those students and have them take the correct test. How could you mess that up if you read the script? Oh, I think just answered my own question.

Can't Help Myself...Sorry, More Facebook Statuses...

People just can't hide their stupidity now that the free world is at their fingertips.

On Sunday, I noticed this status from a girl I know from middle school:

had a wonderful day with the boyfriend... church, wings for lunch, free tanning & some walking on the greenway!! :)

Okay, okay, I'm glad that she had a nice day, and it doesn't sound that bad.

Fast forward to Wednesday's status:

I have melanoma. found out today. Having emergency surgery tmrw on my arm. Please keep me in your prayers!

I'll let you flesh out all the rest on your own. Just had to share.

People Who Poop In Socks

Today, my husband and I went on a beautiful hike to the Fire Tower at Hanging Rock State Park. The view was incredible, and I hiked without whining. All in all, incredible. I also met some wonderfully friendly people also enjoying the unseasonably beautiful day. However, I still managed to encounter at least the remnants of a fool.

the Fire Tower is essentially a big empty building with a staircase on the outside. People hiking the Mountains to Sea trail are meant to use the inside as a backpacking shelter. Some other people decided that it should be used as a place to dump their trash, and so Chris decided that we would pack out 48 empty water bottles. Gold Star for the Day.

Chris owned his Gold Star for the year when he found a sock. A sock filled when human feces. And no, someone did not in fact wipe with said sock. They pooped IN the sock.

We got a good laugh in over that one, mostly because Chris hadn't actually managed to put his hand in it the sock. But really? Let's use some common sense. Where were you, Sock Person? In the wilderness. Where do animals successfully relieve themselves everyday, with almost no detection? In the wilderness. What does "nature" do to poop? It breaks it down and uses it for nutrients. What does a cold, backpacking shelter and a sock do? Preserve it forever, in a room designed for people to sleep in.

Food for thought.

Math Nerds

At least four of my Facebook "friends" have posted this status (or a similar one) in the past few days.

This year we will experience 4 unusual dates.... 1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/11 .... NOW go figure this out.... take the last 2 digits of the year you were born plus the age you will be this year and it WILL EQUAL TO 111 .... STRANGE!!! Let me know if it works for you. It did for me.

One friend even asked "math nerds" to explain why it works this way. I explained, but I don't think my knowledge about this issue makes me a "math nerd". It just means my IQ is above 75.

I don't know how anyone could look at this "problem" and not instantly understand why it works out that way. When I think about how I am smarter than the average person and wonder what that means in practical terms... things like this make it so much more clear.

You see, it always works that when you take the current year and subtract the year in which you were born, the difference will be your age (or the age you will turn this year). Or if you take the current year and subtract the age you will turn this year, the difference will be the year you were born. Or if you add the year you were born and the age you will turn this year, the sum will be the current year. HOW CAN PEOPLE NOT SEE THIS? AND WHY DO YOU NEED A "MATH NERD" TO EXPLAIN THIS TO YOU?

Maybe I should go watch another episode of "Primetime: What Would You Do?" so I can once again restore my faith in humanity.