Hurricane force winds

Wow so it's been a crazy day. I woke up this morning and there were branches flying through the air and smacking against the windows. The power went out, so I had no access to a phone or a radio. After eating some cereal, and grabbing my lunch. I decided to brave the storm and I ventured down the hill to wait for the bus.

After half an hour of waiting at the bus stop with two other British professionals, some random woman offered all three of us a ride to town, so we jumped it (safety in numbers). Naomi was very nice and while we were driving and listening to the radio we had a few laughs. The host of the radio station was making fun of all the people waiting for buses today because the buses were cancelled. All those poor souls are out there sittig in the cold waiting for the bus and it's not coming. At this point I still didn't even know if the school would be open. Just as we were pulling into Hamilton an announcement came on the radio stating that there would be only two schools open today, and MSA was one of them.

So after she dropped us all off, I hiked to up the windy slope to school. In the town bikes had fallen over, and a party boat was sinking in the main harbour. Most of the teachers were there, but no one looked surprised to see me. Both principals asked how I got into town, and were surprised to hear the result. Half of the students were absent because they closed the causeway from the airport and other side of the island. It was an interesting experience to say the least. Very high winds, rain, damp cold and no heat. Same conditions are predicted for tonight so hopefully it will be gone by the morning. I will be hiding in my bed trying to stay warm.

This has been an exciting three weeks of my life, and for some reason this place is not growing on me. I gave demerit points today to one of my grade 9 students. She interrupted me three times during a lesson so I just gave her the paperwork to fill out and I told her to put it on my desk.... Sure enough she wrote that the reason for the demerit points was "constant talking." I dislike the concept of merit/demerit points, because the student doesn't usually feel any remorse for their actions. The student's final score goes on his/her report card, but I'm finding it hard to find something worth giving a merit point for and that's pretty sad. (I refuse to lower expectations of students)

I would have loved to give merit points to Naomi who picked me up this morning, or Maria for once again helping me out by driving me home after school. The reality is that life isn't about the points, it's about being happy with yourself at the end of the day. Taking responsibility and being accountable, these concepts are being lost with a lack of structure in these young people's lives. A +/- score sheet is just going to tell you your average, not hand you a consequence. They all have iphones/blackberries, and they are constantly needing a "connection." I consider this to be a challenge, but I used to be mesmerised by computer class.... maybe I was a nerd.

Care to comment? Why does a 14 year old need a blackberry? :)