School pictures and study halls

Let's get one thing out right now. I HATE STUDY HALLS. I think they are the most pointless waste of time ever. I had to monitor one today. The choir director was gone, so I had to "babysit" the choir. Earlier that block, I had to "babysit" my band kids AND the choir kids that aren't in band, which is totally not fair to my band kids. And, they want me to do it again Friday. No way. I can't get stuff done when I have to take care of both groups. It ends up being a waste of time for all involved, and a very frustrating 90 minutes for me. It's great if the kids are actually STUDYING, but otherwise it's just a chance for trouble to happen.

School pictures were also today. Now, this normally shouldn't be a major disruption. However, there is no overhead intercom system in this school. Everything is done on the phones. And my phone is in my office, which I usually keep shut to keep kids out. So, when the door is shut, I can't hear the phone. I posted a couple of my guard girls by the door to listen for pages, but of course they got sick of that after 5 minutes and gave up. *sigh*

My jazz band is going to end up being an overgrown combo. I don't have enough kids to do a real band. I think doing combo stuff and making it a little "looser" will be a better experience. You can't get the same impact with big band charts with only 7 people!

At least there's a three-day weekend coming up. I'm going to need it!