Just a couple more full weeks of school left. It’s kind of hard to believe. In some ways, that’s a sad feeling, but in others … I find my patience wearing thin with the boys in my second period class, the Foundations of English I class I’ve had for the full semester. Their attitudes have gone from bad to worse as the weather’s warmed up. But then there are other students I’ll really miss and even worry about over the summer.

I’ve been assigning essays to a couple of my classes over the past weeks. Wow. The things I’ve learned. I’m hammering these kids over conjunctive adverbs when they’re worried about … Well, more important things going on off campus.

Ray Bradbury is a friggin’ master. Those kids in my science fiction class don’t know what they’re missing by refusing to read Fahrenheit 451. The quizzes give them some indication, but they don’t seem to care. A couple of them read the book, but most of them just talk or, if I get mad and make them be quiet to read, they just go to sleep. Whatever.

My Foundations of English I class will get a treat on Thursday. Deborah LeBlanc has agreed to a telephone interview with the kids. This should be fun. And it’s one more bit of proof to support my claim about how cool Deb is. If you haven’t read her books, you should do it. They’re excellent books and buying them supports a great person.

Nikki sent out the first draft of the HorrorFind Weekend reading schedule the other day. I’ll be reading with James Chambers at 5 p.m. on Friday. Being the first slot of the convention, I’m not thrilled about it. Everyone will be in either the dealer’s or celebrity rooms. But, it’s looking like I won’t have anything new to promote, anyway, so I guess it isn’t a big thing. I sure don’t envy Nikki the job of putting that schedule together. I still haven’t worked out what I’ll be reading at cons this year.