A rose is a rose is a rose.

Summer is well and truly here.  It doesn't feel like summer yet for me -- I guess we really didn't get closure at the end of the year.  For grade 10's and 11's, I want to let you know that when your report cards come sometime in mid-July, the marks might not reflect what you are expecting.  We were ordered by the Labour Relations Board to "review" grade 10 and 11 marks, but the instructions after that were vague.  For my part, I did not feel that I could verify the marks that admin had given me, since all my paperwork was in the school.  Lots of other teachers felt the same and we were unsure about how to proceed.  And still are!  This is, as I said in class, uncharted territory for everyone.

I have been putting out tentative feelers to see if there are any jobs out there for experienced (read: old) drama teachers!  The last time I looked for work, you looked in the want ads in the newspaper but that doesn't seem like a very good option nowadays.  I know that "networking" is worthwhile, but I'm not very good at that stuff -- it takes me years to work up the courage to ask people for help or advice.  My neighbour teaches art and yoga and all sorts of things at our community centre and she said, if there is no summer school, they might be looking to add programs to fill the needs of parents and kids around here.  I'm wondering if my experience with high school students could translate into teaching really small kids.  My theory is that a kid is a kid is a kid (look up Gertrude Stein) and so it should be okay.  Now all I have to do is convince the people who do the hiring!

What are your plans over the summer?  For some of you, it will be your last summer of relative freedom.   When I have unstructured time ahead of me (I think this is a type-A personality trait, but I don't think I'm a type-A person -- I'll have to look it up), I like to make a "to do" list.  I put something on it that I have to do (walk Daisy), something I like to do (read "Twelfth Night", which I hope we'll do next fall), something I should do (apply for a job), and something I really don't want to do (phone Will's piano teacher -- I'm phone-phobic and would much rather email, but she doesn't use email -- who doesn't use email anymore?)  Once it's on the list, I feel compelled to do it and I get such a feeling of satisfaction to cross it off the list.  The thing is -- you can't lose the list -- otherwise, you lose all motivation!