Hearing themselves talk

Despite finishing my Master's Degree after years of taking classes, and quitting my second job, it seems I'm busier than ever. Much of it is the two certification classes I'm taking on Mondays and Wednesdays. It's certainly not the work for them, which generally I finish after school on the day of the class. It's getting there, and it's sitting in them for hours. It literally took me 45 minutes to drive from the east side to the Baltimore Teachers Union today for my 5-8pm beast of a course. I left school at 4:59 pm, so obviously I was late getting there. My students' first essay is due tomorrow, and my room was jam-packed with students from 3:10 until 4:59, when I was able to send the last one home. I certainly could not justify leaving at 4:15 when so many needed help.

Luckily, my professor is nice and doesn't mind lateness, and often partakes in it herself. Still, I just don't understand the folks in my class. We're all teachers, and we all work hard for the BCPSS. Presumably. Yet, the people in this class feel the need to go on and on and on about their work and classrooms. They have got to realize that the professor - who was sick and sniffling throughout class - was waiting for us to get done with our presentations so she could send us home, right? My presentation was 3 minutes. One woman - no lie - went 25 minutes. I felt like banging my head against the wall. We left at nearly 8pm, and it's only because people wanted to hear themselves talk.

So, yeah, I'm beat. I'm grading like a madman lately, trying to get myself caught up. I can never seem to get my head above water. I stayed at school last night until 7:30, and tonight didn't get in until well after 8pm. Running myself ragged, on top of no weekend - the week has been a harried one.