It's the most painful time of the year...

Every March I rediscover that the end of the third quarter is the worst part of the school year.  Then I forget about the stress until it hits me again a year later.  I don't know why this is always the worst - some combination of hitting the toughest material, students being out for field trips/retreats/college visits and not making up the work until the last minute, and early onset senioritis.  This week is particularly bad because it's the end of the quarter, many classes are trying to get in one last test or paper, and it's also tech week for the spring musical.  My poor IB juniors have been hit very hard and although I've backed off on their workload, I'm still trying to get them to do related rates and optimization word problems (if you've taken Calculus, those words probably bring back bad memories - sorry!).

Today students were struggling to complete their word problems and one student had his head propped up on both hands, just staring at his paper.  I walked over and said, "How can I help you?  You have a look of despair - I know that look well by now."  Some other students heard me and started laughing.  One said, "this is the best class!"  I wasn't aware that "causes despair" was a positive quality but if I am going to cause my students mental anguish, at least they are happy about it!