Go Pahk that Cah?

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Boston You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don't. Of course, that doesn't mean you are from the Boston area, you may also be from New Hampshire or Maine.
The West
The Midland
North Central
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The South
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Somebody's doing wonky math here if the results for Boston and the West can be anywhere near similar. I totally have a West Coast accent, except when I have a Midwestern accent, or except when I'm around New Yorkers and I adopt a little of the local ways of "tawking."

In other news: phew!

Your Language Arts Grade: 100%

Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).

Are You Gooder at Grammar?
Make a Quiz

Yep Yep, Monday

Okay, someone involved in How I Met Your Mother is from Washington. Not only was there a mention of Seattle today, but the phallic building was for Spokane. Who would know about Spokane outside of the PNW? It's on the little-known eastern side of the state.

ANTM was in Barcelona--I've been there! The park they filmed the commercial in is the one with the life-size (?) woolly mammoth.

So that was fun. And now back to the boring stuff. Ha!

I covered a very small class of 8th graders today, and I had them first make a pro/con chart, and then we set up a debate. It was fun! They totally got into it; I had to keep shushing them until it was their turn to rebut.

During after-school, we reviewed commas. When we finished reviewing a lengthy worksheet, I got all excited because I remembered that I have the kids' book version of Eats, Shoots & Leaves. (I got it for free with book order points!) So I said, "Gather 'round!" and they did. I read them each page spread: it has the same sentence, punctuated differently on each page, and with a picture to illustrate the difference. For example, I cracked up giggling like an 8th grader at the page: Eat here, and get gas, versus Eat here and get gas. Hee. The second one has a picture of somebody rocketing through the air, fueled by flatulence. Double hee!

The rest of the day was ho-hum. Gave a quiz, did drafts of essays, etc. Tomorrow handfuls of kids will be gone, but I'm going to continue with our persuasive stuff anyway. It's not terribly critical and I can't waste any of the NINE teaching days we have this month. ...And besides, I was planning to review parts of speech and play Mad Libs on Wednesday. Ahem. After the real learning is done, naturally. :)

Ooh, ooh, look! Pictures!

You know all those macro pictures I've been taking of flowers? Recently I ordered prints of all of them, and finally today put them up. They are filling up the large empty wallspace in my kitchen, and I really like it! I hope to add a display of postcards soon as well. As time goes on, I will add to both collections. Yay!

Here are some new ones I took this weekend:

Some other neat photos from this weekend:

At Bleecker Street and Houston: I love the light movement!




At the Cinema Cafe for dinner, these drinks...

...and dessert!

Hello Again, Hello.

Is it ironic that during the Blogging Month of November, which I did not 'sign up for,' I have stopped posting as often as I used to?

Anyway. Lots of busy stuff going on, and as usual some is good and some is...not so good.

Last Thursday was our evening conference session. I went home and came back, dressed in professional clothes to help me feel and act the part. And I am pleased to report that the conferences went very well! There was a waiting period for awhile, but I did a pretty good job of keeping the discussions short and to the point. I took the advice of a colleague, I'm not sure which one, and I stayed standing for the whole time. That way, even if the parents did sit, they knew not to get too comfortable. Or something.

As always, I saw a number of parents whose students do well, and I got to say good things. The kids got to smile shyly and the parents got to feel pride and relief. For the students who haven't done as well, either I'd already been in touch with the parents, or I quickly and calmly reviewed my information. I never hesitate to show parents my gradebooks, especially when they ask how many homeworks have been missed. The parents then really have no choice but to understand the situation. I also try to make sure I stay as positive and proactive as I can, outlining solutions for improvement. Also, I also had them sign in with a good phone number and their email address, if they have one, and I gave every parent my email address and homework website. A few were surprised and very pleased to receive that information.

So at the end of the night, I felt relieved and happy. I saw nearly forty parents and many of them had the students with them, meaning the kids knew we were serious about them doing their job. The only thing that put a damper on the evening was seeing the Crazy Parent from last year, waiting for a teacher across the hall. By then the alloted time was up, so I put my things away. It looked like most other teachers were hanging around to quickly chat with the remaining parents. So unfortunately, as I was getting ready to go, and I *do* think it was on purpose, that horrid woman took one of my chairs to sit her insane behind on. And I was not about to talk to her and get an earful of nastiness, so I had to leave with everything away except a chair. And if you've been in a classroom, you know how possessive and territorial teachers can be about desks and chairs, namely because usually no one has enough or matching numbers. Grr!

But overall, a good night; I was pleased. I do really hope to see improvement in all my students. And I have repledged to keep in better touch with parents, especially now that I have some of their email addresses.

Then came Friday. We gave practice tests to the whole school in the morning, and the afternoon was set aside for grading. Teams were assigned to grade the writing and to record the multiple choice. Well, it was rather a disaster, but not for the reasons you'd hope.

Since clusters of teachers teach the same students, those people were roughly grouped into teams to grade those classes' work. So I worked with math, social studies, and science teachers from my grade. I've talked to and worked with them before, and so soon enough we got into a rhythm of chatting amiably and grading. Naturally, as before, I graded twice as fast as the others. I suppose I'm more accustomed to quickly reading and gauging written responses. At least they were there to help me, so I wouldn't have to read over a hundred sets of four responses, on my own time.

Well. When another teacher finished his pile, I handed him a couple from my stack. He graded them and then I took a look so I could record the grades. Well. The grades he'd given were all...wrong.

Now, surely this kind of work is subjective. There is a certain amount of guesswork, but it's educated guessing, not random. There are rubrics and sample high-level answers given to us. Plus, the student has to answer the question and follow the directions. For example, if the question asks about a character's feelings at a certain point in the story, and the students gives an accurate feeling, but from another point in the story, that answer is completely incorrect. If they are asked to choose one of two things and discuss it, and they make up their own? Completely irrelevant. ZERO! There's no way around it.

So this teacher had basically graded all of them randomly. He protested mildly that he was just interpreting what the student was trying to say, from their point of view. Flabbergasted, I sputtered that you just can't do that. I said to him flatly, so all your work is wrong, and I have to do it all again. I choked up with tears of shock and frustration, stating that this was a complete waste of my time--I'm now going to have to redo everything.

I had to leave the room to let my supervisors know what was happening. When I returned, the teacher was like, oh, I get here early in the morning, I'll look at them and do them over. I didn't really respond, because if he didn't do his job the first time, why the hell would I trust him to suddenly care about doing it correctly a second time? No way.

Here's the thing. This teacher is an amazing person, been around for thirty years, but is showing the stubbornness of the old-school generation. On that day and before, he's groaned and complained about having to do this, since he doesn't teach it, and he doesn't understand it, blah blah blah. And this charade of work on Friday, I actually believe he did it on purpose, to protest having to do something he didn't want to do.

Well, I'm not okay with that attitude and that behavior. I don't know what to do about it, except not trust him anymore. The fact that grown people, adults in charge of educating future generations, can be not only bad team members, but actually knowingly sabotage the team? Truly disgusts me.

The whining and complaining and lack of work ethic was sadly not limited to our group; it infects the entire staff. Meaning that there are a good number of honest and hard-working adults in the building, but also far too many selfish and unempathetic grown-ups.

I know that I have high standards for people. I expect people to be mature and have a sense of personal accountability. It's very silly of me, because I'm always seeing evidence to the contrary--on the news, on reality television, from parents, and now from colleagues. It never ceases to bother me, and it often makes me feel defeated and sad. So I try to focus on doing MY job, and helping the other positive people if they need it, and making sure that I do what I can to instill that responsibility in my students and my peers, by my positive influence.

Sheesh.

Okay, so it was on Friday and now it's passed, and I have to suck it up and keep doing my job, regardless of what others want to do.

Moving on...breathe...

On Saturday morning, I helped interview students for the Australia group. It went very well! I enjoyed meeting the kids and hearing their answers and responses to the interview questions. For example, the other teacher asked them to name their favorite song, and a couple named really old-school rock songs, stuff by Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and Ozzy Osbourne. Funny! I was, I suppose, pleasantly surprised that they were aware of music so far before their time. That gives me hope, because in my experience, children think that events and culture from the 80s or even the early 90s is old!

Speaking of the 80s, I am continuously shocked at the lack of cultural knowledge that Boyfriend has. Never seen The Goonies, or Saved by the Bell, never even heard of Weird Science, and bunches of other things. I think he was too busy absorbing political information, news, and other smart stuff. :) So now I get to introduce him to all that he missed while growing up, and of course he loves it. Probably not as much as he'd experienced it all as a kid, but still.

This morning I made him watch my all-time favorite movie, The Worst Witch. It was made in 1986 and seems to be the epitome of cheesy 80s special effects. But I must have watched it easily a hundred times in my youth, and it's got some big names, and it's also got a nice moral--to believe in yourself and persevere through the tough times growing up. And I like the songs (yes, it's a sort-of musical, too). There are so many great quotes and inflections in this movie, and I can totally talk along with the whole thing. Love it! Sometimes the Disney channel still shows it around Halloween, so have a look if you never have.

Err, anyway, back to the point. The interviews were really interesting, the kids were sweet and full of personality, and it made me even more excited for the trip. I love traveling myself, but I am so psyched to help kids start seeing the world and loving travel on their own.

Let's see. This is a short week, and for that I am so grateful. I'm totally behind on our current unit, and I feel like I'm constantly scrambling to get things accomplished...but oh well.

I think I've hit that autumn wall. I'm tired, I'm irritable sometimes, I'm behind in the curriculum, but I don't care. It's exhausting being Miss during the day and Julie in the evenings and weekends, and making that switch all the time. Does that make sense? Hm. Whatever, I need a vacation to clear my head.

I am very excited to have a New York Thanksgiving with friends! A blog friend has invited us to her celebration, and I'm honored. Holidays have never been a fun time for me, with constant family melodrama (meaning traveling between different houses and relatives, making sure each person "got" their requisite time). It's been such a relief to be on my own during the holiday season. I certainly miss my family, but I don't need to deal with holiday time nonsense with them. So to have people here in New York to hang out with, it makes me feel grown-up and welcome, and it's all good.

After the big turkey day (bread for me!), Boyfriend and I are hoping to do a little roadtrip. I may have mentioned, or you may remember, last Thanksgiving I drove myself to Connecticut to see our labyrinth. So we might do that again, and keep exploring other parts of New England. If I don't get too tired from driving. Or if we find an outlet mall, because apparently I always need to go shopping. I kind of need some sweaters, because most of the ones I have are either awfully thick and heavy, or are thin but kind of baggyish. And baggy is not cool.

Ho hum. Must work on persuasive stuff, during a short vacation week. I'll do my best. Always behind. But I think I'm doing a good job of taking things step by step, so things make sense and build on each other, and so the students will 'get it.' Ack, wish us all luck.

Belated Woo-Hoo, of sorts

Sometime about a week and a half ago, my little blog counter turned 50,000! Thank you one and all, teachers, friends, family, and miscellaneous Google searchers, for your patronage this past two and a half years. Stick around, maybe I won't bore you to tears.

I wish I felt more upbeat, but somehow I got even less rest last night than bfeore. I went to sleep a little early, but tossed around for at least an hour. Partway through the night, I semi-awoke because I was dreaming about teaching adjectives! Argh!

Also, my legs both still ache. So off to bed with me!

Bleh.

I am really tired so far this week, as I often am after the weekend. See, on Fridays and Saturdays, I allow my nightowl tendencies to come out. And even if I'm tired, I'll end up staying awake til 11 or later, watching tv or reading or hanging out with boyfriend.
So the early wake-ups on Monday and even Tuesday are very rude awakenings indeed.

As predicted, I was quite sore on Monday, all over my arms and back, and hamstrings as well. This evening I tried to do some regular yoga from tv, but I was too impatient and I didn't like it as much as the musical bodyflow. So I did that instead. During the relaxation track, I think I actually fell asleep.

Then I scrubbed the tub and took a shower. At last, it was dinner time: a juicy pear, edamame, and a baked potato. Plus some chocolate I received as a birthday present from some student (the kids know me well!). Very filling and satisfying.

Today, as I indicated, has been a little meh. Or at least bookended that way.

I woke up not only exhausted but also with an achy left leg. That made me grumpy, because I longed to be laying in bed instead of at school.

I had an exchange coverage of 7th grade, and it was a little unruly, but I covered grammar with them and had the attention of around half the class, while the rest weren't too disruptive. Not bad for a coverage! Then it was time for one of my own classes, which was a relief for me. They know me and my rules and expectations, which means that I don't have to always be on guard, holding my breath waiting for discipline. We did a reading lesson to catch up with the other classes, and they did a great job of listening to me model a reading comprehens!on strategy. Didn't have time to check their own attempts, but I appreciated their cooperation and motivation, especially on a half day! I guess I don't hate my classes. :)

So yes, this afternoon was the first conference session of the year. It went fine, kind of slowly, as they are wont to be.

During the hour 'lunch break,' I, like many colleagues, had work to do. Because of after school stuff, I rarely get a chance to actually work on my room. So I put up a couple charts, took a few down, moved a couple, laminated my excellence sign. And removed some old contact paper, which when I got the room, covered too many surfaces in the room. Yuck. All gone now!

After that, and getting chairs and desk ready, I did something I haven't done for months: sat at my desk, with some snacks, and read a book. My *own* book, a grown-up book, for fun (I almost wrote "adult book," but realized that would sound inappropriate. Heh.). No homework or lesson stuff, just something for me! Of course, all too soon it was time to put on the teacher face again. Yep yep.

For like two minutes, I saw and chatted with my team math teacher across the hall. I have hardly been out of my room for two weeks, so it felt like a treat to say hi to a friendly face.

So it's Tuesday night. We only have two more regular teaching days, and another two regular days next week. Ack, this month is so stupid.

There was a l!teracy workshop on Friday night; I was an hour late because of after-school. But we got a great, well-known book, When Kids Can't Read, and reviewed the seven habits. Of course I already know them, have a chart up with them, in fact. Do you think I've had time to actually teach them? Ha ha, silly goose. You think I actually get to teach what I'm supposed to, every day? Funny!

Ahem, my point. My point is that while I already knew the information, we got some good definitions and clarifications for each skill, and I was inspired to actually teach them. That's what I started with on Monday and finished today. I think it went well. I have actually covered a couple on my own, but not calling it a 'habit.' So we'll do some review and continue practicing, both with independent books and with nonfiction passages.

That is, if there's time. And aren't we supposed to be doing persuasive writing? Yeah, we'll get to it someday.

Ack, the time. I'm old and cranky. My leg hurts. Leave me alone in my rocker, you crazy kids.

Weekend Challenges: Cameras and Cardio

Time has, of course, been speeding by, although this was the first weekend in a long time that I didn't need to go run lots of errands. I got laundry done, and my eyebrows. I went to the info meeting for the Austra!ia trip. The itinerary is brand new, and sounds awesome. It includes the Sydney, the Outback, and the Great Barrier Reef. All the big Aussie attractions. I hope I get to go! (I'm the most junior teacher, so I could get bumped if there aren't enough students.)

Today was a quiet day, watching tv and trying to book a hostel for Amsterdam. I totally haven't been thinking that the Christmas-New Year week is a very popular time to travel, and thus it is already tough to book a place for the entire time. I booked a hostel bed for the first three nights, in the hopes of one of two things happening: A) I go visit another city, since I get antsy staying in one place for more than four days; or B) I beg the same hostel for cancellation spots. The prices bump way up for those last three nights, too.

---

Boyfriend has a three-year-old digital camera, aka a dinosaur. It is really large, taking a huge memory card, and it even has a lens cap! Serious old school. Anyway, so in theory he's been looking for a new, updated camera. Every time we are in a store that carries them, we go play around and see what's out there. Recently he found a great one while at Target, a Canon Powershot SD600. He's probably going to get it around Christmas.

My own digital camera just turned two, and it's definitely showing its age. Spots are wearing off, and since I've dropped it a couple times on very hard pavement, the lens makes a grinding noise every time it turns on and off. It makes me nervous when I think about it, though now I don't think about it. At least until I see a regular one that silently whirres on. Recently, on occasion when I zoom in, the screen goes white, claiming "Lens Error." I have to turn it off and back on again, holding my breath that it still works. Ack.

So all the talk and looking makes me try to rationalize buying a new camera myself. On the one hand, it's getting old, as I just described. And it can't take night pictures to save its life. I'm going on two big trips soon, and I would be even more excited to take pictures with a shiny new gadget.

On the other hand, a new camera still runs around $200, give or take fifty bucks. And that's really not a lot of money, but I'm still not quite pulling ahead in my finances (though I should very soon). Especially since I have another plane ticket to pay for. My camera, rickety though it may be, runs on AA batteries, which are available anywhere in the world. And except for night-time, the pictures are pretty damn great. Especially since I discovered macro, which is awesome. And it's always fun to play with black and white. New cameras have all those features as well, but mine still works fairly well.

I have tried to compromise with myself and say that I can buy one after Christmas sometime, in time for my February trip. My Amsterdam lodging will cost at least the same as a new camera, so I really shouldn't buy anything big until things are more caught up, money-wise.

---

As part of my cable, I have a channel called FitTV. It's kind of cheesy, but I kind of love it. There are a bunch of daily fitness shows, of all different types--yoga, strength, cardio, etc, where every day it's a different routine. Plus there's a series called All Star Workouts, where every day is a different kind of workout. This summer I did a great episode of hip hop dance, which was a lot of fun. I record the morning episodes of Total Body Sculpt with Gilad, which is cheesy, but also fun, challenging, and best of all, short. Last week's lunge-heavy workout had me shaky for nearly three days. FitTV, along with the yoga (Bodyflow) tapes I have from a couple years ago, provides an effective and ever-changing workout rotation.

I've never been a runner, or a hardcore aerobic exercise fan, because I've never had great endurance. Whenever I do a big cardio workout, my face gets all hot and red and my head hurts. Ugh, it's awful. That was the case for awhile when I started taking kickboxing classes. I always felt weak and got a nasty headache. Eventually, though, the more I did the class, I didn't get all redfaced and achy! The moves were so fun, all the punches and kicks, and I came to love it.

Unfortunately, all the bending and jumping, combined with one tough weekend hike, my knees gave out in June 2003 and I had to give up all working out completely. Later in the summer I began walking at lunch and loving that. Since that was easily the best part of my day, and I always dreaded going back into the office after that, I knew I had to quit long before I actually did. Anyway.

So this morning, I saw a Cardio workout in the tv listings. I've been craving cardio, but have been wary to actually do anything. (Also, I'm lazy.) So I recorded this show, called Kick, Punch, and Crunch.

I turned it on around six, and saw that it was a kickboxing workout. Very quickly, the moves came back to me--the power, the footwork, the adrenaline. It was fantastic! The sweat came quickly and completely, which felt great in a gross kind of way. I got out of breath, but it still felt great. When I could, I sipped on some water, in hopes it would stave off any discomfort. Sadly, that didn't work. As soon as the workout went to the floor, the blood rushed to my head and therein arrived the nasty headache. But I made it through the rest of the workout, and then took a cool shower. I was relieved that my face wasn't nearly as red and blotchy as it could be.

The head pounding has faded a bit, and I can already feel soreness seeping in, in the chest and the back of my shoulders. Hoo boy, tomorrow I will not be wanting to lift anything! Regardless, I loved doing the kickboxing workout, and I hope that it will encourage me to keep on putting cardio in my workout routine. My muscles are getting better, but I always need to work on endurance. Wish me luck and lots of breath!

---

This week has two half-days of teaching, so I've convinced myself that it's okay I haven't done any work this weekend. I'll catch up on the off-time later. It would be a good idea to have some preliminary grade info for conferences this week, so we'll see if I can work on that. If not, meh, I've got my homemade gradebook.

Gah!

Things are crazy. I'm glad someone else mentioned that November is useless, because it's just started and already I feel overwhelmed.

I had to make this huge list of things to do when I got to school yesterday. Several items were homework to be corrected, and a quiz to be corrected. But I also had to finish taking down last month's bulletin board, finish grading the pieces for this month's, put them up, type up the rubric, and post it. Plus I had a couple charts I'd been using that needed putting up on the walls. Plus then the book order came in, so I had to put that together. The trip money has been collected and I need to get that all sorted (with school officials, of course) so I can book the bus. I'm terrified I won't follow through or something will go wrong with what I do. Eek.

Plus, you know, teaching.

Common planning hasn't seemed to be a fun time for me lately; it makes depressed because A) I feel like I'm behind or not 'on track' because I'm trying to do too many things, unsuccessfully, and B) we rarely get anything actually done. Thus, this afternoon, like several weeks before, I left the meeting feeling rather melancholy:

--We're supposed to have finished the eight parts of speech and be into commas and semicolons and dialogue format. Pshaw, right! I've done three parts of speech and three units of vocabulary. All of which felt sloppy and undone, because I just have been cramming them in wherever I could.
--And I totally haven't covered as many of the 'test!ng sk!lls' as are on the curriculum plan. I have rarely done any reading workshops. Clearly I am a terrible teacher. To try to catch up lately, I've been using workbooks to introduce and practice skills. I have been able to connect it to other work we've done or will start, so I guess I can feel good about that; I'm not teaching to the test in a vacuum or something.
--The month's unit is persuasive writing, and they gave us a specific topic to focus on. And apparently I'm just a whiny bitch, because the topic is too huge and I don't know how to approach it. And I'm going to need to find information and research on this topic, but it's kind of vague. I know the kids won't bother doing anything, so, as someone mentioned today, we should supply that piece so the kids can focus on the actual interpretation and writing. Blah.

Big tasks like this confuse me, and it's hard for me to plan or think without knowing what the larger picture looks like. So right now I'm stalling and trying not to flail. I'm not a first-year teacher anymore, and I had some good ideas last week; my problem is that I think too much. I need to shut up and pick something to do, and then start figuring out how to do it in such a short amount of time. Honestly, it feels like November is over already, for all the stuff happening. I'm grateful for the extra time to relax on my own, because I have not been working at home much. I write out general week plans, and input grades, that's about all I am apparently willing to do. But I still feel anxious about everything at school; a lot of it can't be done at home. Like the freaking book room, which is looking pretty damn good! Pics soon.

I am in the fourth week of working out in my thrice-weekly routine--very proud!--though I missed last Thursday due to staying at school and going out to dinner. And in the past week and a half, I have eaten a lot. I felt hungry every day, all day, for weeks, and lately I eat and feel full. Getting birthday food didn't help, though I certainly enjoyed it. Like the chocolate Costco cake....mm, that is the shit. So, so good. I gave as much of it away as possible, because I was going to keep snacking on it. Sharing is good. Um, there was a point...that I need to be more active so I can keep my size-six ass, with less hunger and more muscles. Yeah.

Today I had the kids do a fun activity, or so I thought. They had to choose a food and write a paragraph of facts only. Next they had to write a paragraph of opinions only, to make the reader want to eat that food. They shared this writing with a partner, who was supposed to close their eyes and visualize the words. I asked partners to say who did a good job of describing their food. A few students then got to read their selection to the class. Apparently this made them giggly, so I didn't let it go on too long.

Tomorrow is Friday. Maybe I'll be less scatterbrained then. Or more, since I know conferences are coming next week. Ugh, dread. Saturday is a meeting for the travel group. I am definitely in a group going to Australia this summer! Wow wow. Next summer is gonna be crammed: Australia, ten-year HS reunion back in Seattle, plus a potential Fire 4 reunion. Busy and very exciting!

Oh! Thank you OODLES and oodles for those of you (readers or nonreaders; just sending thoughts out since thank-you notes are yet to be written) who sent comments, emails, or cards for my birthday. I am so grateful and appreciative of everything--thank you for helping me celebrate and expand my circle of friends and family!

Gah! Too much in my head! Might explode like cake! Mmm, chocolate cake...

I'm Back!

Wow, it feels like it's been forever!

Our school had an extra long weekend for staff development. We had workshops and time to hang out and get to know our colleagues, which was great. There were some very thought-provoking information presented, about students in crisis, differentiated instruction, gender, culture and the way it affects children. Almost all of it I'd heard before, either in women studies classes or grad school discussions, or school stuff itself. It was new for a good number of staff members, which is great. I love seeing (causing, when possible!) people's eyes opened to that kind of knowledge.

Our next hope is that we have time to discuss all of this, and find a way to use it in our actual education of students. That part--realistic implementation--is the hardest part, and least-discussed--of modern information.

So now we have a three-day teaching week, which I love. Next week will be full of things as well, further reducing instruction time. Oh well.

We are beginning persuasive writing. Not exactly sure how to begin...but I'll figure it out soon enough.

My Birthday! Whee!

Today I am twenty-seven! It feels like a regular day, except I'm wearing a pretty dress and lots of kids wished me a happy birthday.

My morning class, the smarter and quicker ones, got to have a party, since they do their work so well. I directed the passing out of plates and cups and napkins, and then brownies, chips, candy, soda. Y'all, that takes a long time. Phew. It's annoying. Anyway, when everyone had a snackysnack in front of them, we settled in for some BrainQuest. It was fun, because many kids knew a lot of answers. I explained more about the chemistry questions, and about Roman numerals, and we took a few minutes to identify each state and label with its postal abbreviation. The kids had to correct or remind me on a couple, like Vermont/New Hampshire, and where Missouri is. Heh. All those middle ones are kind of a blur for me, but I know them better since I drove through there.

The other two classes did NOT have a party. Buggers.

The middle class had a quiz first, on all the things that we've already done. Because recently they've been slacking and not paying attention to things, and they must push themselves to succeed now, if they want anything later in life.

After the quiz, I finally did the mix and match four square activity. It was actually pretty cool. A long time ago, while trying to plan this, I wrote out all the pieces to a four square, about a vacation to Spain. Today I wrote each piece on an erasable sentence strip (go buy them if you haven't!) and put them randomly up on the inside bulletin board. Their job was to look and figure out where each piece goes in a four square, by figuring out relationships among and between the statements. They were to work in groups and try to build the correct four square out of these elements.

I think these are all of the pieces. See if you can figure it out!
--Mediterranean beaches!
--Guggenheim Bilbao Museum
--Birthplace of flamenco dancing
--My next trip will be to Spain.
--Taking a siesta every day
--There are many fascinating sights to see.
--My vacation to Spain will be fun, educational, and relaxing.
--Anton Gaudi's architecture
--Running of the bulls
--The country has some interesting history.
--I will be relaxed.
--Pre-Spaniard region of Basque
--Lots of eating out

It was actually a lot of fun to watch and listen to the students. They immediately got to work, and I heard tons of accountable talk and productive discussions. They pointed and checked and debated and it was awesome. I quite enjoyed it.

After awhile, after noticing that almost everyone had the wrong thesis--they knew to look for that first!!!--I told them to keep looking. What most of them had done was see the conclusion, which restates the thesis AND the ideas. Soon most of the class noticed the error and had begun filling in ideas and even some details. (Apparently they didn't remember that the details are not written in full sentences, while ideas are; that would have made it very easy, had they been paying closer attention to every time I drilled this!)

A couple minutes later, I asked someone to find the thesis, and they took the sentence strip off the bulletin board and put it on the chalkboard. (Whenever I can, I try to do large group activities that allows a couple students to physically move something--multiple intelligences!)

They kept working, a few minutes later I had someone find one of the idea sentences, then another, etc. Then still later they matched all the detail blurbs to the appropriate idea. Fun! The kids seemed to really like it.

It was easy for me; I just kept circling the room, supervising and checking facts. I really hope it helped the kids understand how and why we can use four squares. I think I'm going to do that activity with my other two classes tomorrow. The smart class should be able to do it faster, I think.

In my afternoon class, only half the students turned in their final essay. We've been working on a compare/contrast essay, about two Greek myths. Since the class as a whole didn't do their jobs, the class as a whole did not get to celebrate. So they read the whole period and continued identifying adjectives as they did so, although almost none of them did that second part until they saw me coming around to check. Grr.

After school was supposed to be fun, but the students were all, durr, and not paying attention or really working. So I set them up to work with the (sixth-grade level) grammar books. We started with adjectives, and about half the students had a really hard time. Eventually they caught on when I kept helping them find a noun first, and then see if it's being described. Everyone worked independently at their own pace, first with adjectives, then proper adjectives, adverbs, and then a couple kids made it to trying to diagram with adjectives and adverbs. I introduced diagramming last Friday, and they pretty much got it. Sort of. So the two that got that far were definitely challenged, and they totally loved it--doing something more difficult at their own pace. Good job.

---

So anyway, blah, enough teacher stuff, it's my birthday today! Whee! I got a few phone calls from friends and family, and gifts from students. I have been told that more things are on the way via post. I'm cool with extending the celebration of me! ;)

Boyfriend is on his way here to go out for dinner and drinks. Yay for the best boyfriend in the world to celebrate with me today!

Several excellent, nonpersonal things also happened:

--Copy machine has been programmed. I got my code yesterday, I tried it out today, and it works! So pretty and new. I tried the top feeder and it jammed, but I totally fixed it easily. I'm good at that kind of problem solving, though it's tougher the more knobs and levers you have to push and turn and pull. I got good at that while being a copy drone at the mortgage office a few years back. The point? Finally I can make copies!!!

--I think my raise has come through! I forgot to pick up my check this afternoon, but the online account shows an increased deposit that's far too high for even coverages. WaHOO! for more money. How long will it take for backpay to come through?

--Official ATS-W score printout arrived in the mail. I am now official and ready to be certified! I just checked TEACH online, and my certificate has been issued! It's not effective until February, but I guess that doesn't matter.

Dinner time! Ooh, and drinks time!

Love/Hate

Love: Getting 287 out of 300 on my ATS-W! Woohoo for state certification, baby!

Hate: The 8th grade class I had for a coverage, a class I taught as sixth-graders. It was worse than any day of my first year teaching; like being in hell; awful; terrible; horrible, etc etc. Yuck.

Love: Not taking it personally! Hurrah for maturing as a teacher and being able to shake it off, after being mad, of course.

Hate: Then dealing with my slower afternoon classes with an even shorter fuse than usual.

Love: My morning/high-level class in general, for being on task and working hard and getting it. Specifically, we practiced finding adjectives while reading today, and they rocked!

Hate: That though a new copy machine has been sitting in the lounge for at least a week, it has yet to be programmed and is therefore still unusable!

Love: My eighth-grade after-school kids, most of them anyway. We started grammar review on Friday, using Schoolhouse Rock and grammar texts. I've kicked out the disruptive kids (because hello? Optional program! I surely will not put up with noisy kids who distract the entire room and who clearly don't care about trying, and who have been warned multiple times by me AND by APs!), and the last two times have had about ten kids. It's a perfect size because I can see easily who's getting it, and everyone is starting to participate, and do well. Good job, kids!

Hate: The fact that one or more of my classes may not deserve to have a party for my birthday, because they are too loud/distracted/behind.

Love: Getting some early birthday cards from family and friends! Yay! Don't worry, I won't open them til Wednesday.

Hate: That I'm too old to go trolling for free candy tomorrow. :(

Love: Giant Potatoes, Caesar dressing, and Bunny Tracks ice cream. Not all mixed together, of course! That would be yucky.

Hate: Being hungry all the time at school, because there's no time to eat while teaching, and correcting, and entering data, and being in the book room, and generally running around, etc etc.
Love: Getting my report cards done tonight, and they're not due until Wednesday morning! Hurrah for not procrastinating!

Hate: That yesterday was the LONGEST. DAY. EVER.

Love: That I actually worked on my scrapbook from last Christmas's Barcelona/Paris trip! For a long time and my back hurt from slouching on the floor, but still, good to be productive!

One last love: The show Heroes! Oh man, it is SO GOOD. It's the best thing about Mondays, hands down. Woohoo!

Fun Fall Photos From Around Town

Pictures are up!

These are pictures of the pictures I FINALLY put up in my apartment. Yay!

In the entry hall on one side (pictures from Paris on the right and Italy on the left):

On the other side of the entry hall (all sun pictures except for the Paris picture on the far left, tying the two sides together. neat, huh?):

Foresty pictures on another wall:
The pretty pictures that were not taken by me (paintings on the top and China photography on the bottom):

Anyone still sure that spelling doesn't matter?

I gave a big quiz on Friday, covering plot, vocabulary words (from both sets that we've done, not just the latest one), and verbs (form and identification).

For "fal*ling action", the definition I gave them was "the story/plots are wrapping up." So on his paper, one student wrote the following: "rap!ng up the h0le plot."

For "resolution" (which almost none of them can spell), our definition was "out*come of conflict and cli*max". That same student wrote this: "resoultions: all that rap!ng up the cl!max."

I giggled in horror for a good five minutes. Oh, god.

More choice past participles:
swimen
fluen
flewen
flewn
fluwn
flun
flawn
begon

On the last section, they had to read the sentence and write the complete verb--including any helping verbs. They all did moderately well on this, perhaps because we did them as a warm-up the day before. Let's hope. Anyway, one sentence was "Ken will be starring in the play." One student wrote this as the verb: will be staring. That also made me giggle, because that one 'r' completely changes the meaning of the sentence: "Ken will be staring in the play." Heh.

Being a Grown-Up

I'm a week away from twenty-seven, and I am actually starting to feel like a grown-up. That is weird, good and bad.

Weird because:
--I am just a kid. I don't know what the heck I'm doing, do I?
--Have they figured out I'm faking it?
--Grown-ups are all mature and shit.

Bad because:
--My bedtime is pretty lamely early, even on the weekends.
--I choose footwear based on comfort, not cuteness. Judge away, but my feet don't hurt!
--I get upset at loud music and obnoxious people. 'Cause I'm old.
--My legs and other body parts ache when it's cold. Seriously. Talk about old.

Good because:
--I am financially independent!
--I have my own apartment! And it's pretty!
--I put away my clothes right away,
--and I'm keeping crap off the floor, for the first time since...ever.
--I have a real job!
--I'm pretty good at my job, though I don't always like it that much (like this week, because I'm so freaking tired)
--Which means I get real money on a regular basis!
--Which lets me buy stuff if I want to,
--Like DVR and new DVD players, and those are AWESOME.
--Also money for traveling: trips last December, February, April, August, and this February.
--And because I am such a travel whore, I just...

Bought a ticket to Amsterdam for Christmas! It was only $483, which is a really good deal for this time of year, if you recall my recent post.

Whee! I am excited. This means I'll get to visit a new city and travel even sooner than February! Hurrah! I can't wait!

Actually she Details Cars, Professionally

Account manager: So I sent you that new job applicant. Have fun.
Recruiter: I just opened it up. Wow, she completely misspelled 'Delaware State.'
Account manager: Oh, it gets worse.
Recruiter: 'Seven years,' with an apostrophe 's!' And she spelled 'with' wrong!
Recruiter: 'Seven years,' with an '-s!' And she spelled 'with' wrong!
Account manager: Yep, and she's a detail-oriented professional.

Trolley Square
Wilmington, Delaware

Overheard by: Rhymes with Banana

via Overheard in the Office, Oct 24, 2006

Weekend Shopping!

We started at Costco, which is one of my favorite places, to the dismay of my checking account. I decided to buy the twenty-pound bag of potatoes. See, I'm a bit of a produce snob--there's no point to tiny apples and puny potatoes. I'm from Washington, maker of large, yummy apples, and I'm pretty sure some good potatoes too. Plus, we had a big old garden with our own produce (my favorite was the corn on the cob. and the strawberries. yum!).

The wee spud on the left was purchased at a rather ghetto neighborhood store. The Costco bag is mostly full of healthy, large potatoes like the middle that are big enough to make the microwave plate list to one side. There are also a couple Shaq-like giants, on the right. Look, it's bigger than the spoon!

And dude, the big potatoes are SO good! A million times better than the three-bite babies. Remember that I mentioned my dead DVD player? Well, I figured I could ask for a new one for my birthday (just over a week away), but I wasn't sure whom to ask, and I wasn't thrilled about the lag time. So when I saw this Toshiba for $45, I figured why not. The shitty no-name one was forty bucks at Target, so this was definitely worth a shot. It's very slick and shiny, and I love it! Plus, Boyfriend discovered that it plays DivX, which are data discs you can record tv and movies on. I've got a pile of them I can now watch on the tv instead of the little computer screen. Sweet!

Next stop was Target, where I saw this multi-head lamp on clearance for $14. The two floor lamps I bought when I first moved were from a lame warehouse store, and they sucked. Both of their knobs broke, so one I just have to plug in, and the other required turning and rotating, using a sweater to prevent blisters. I was very relieved to set up this one instead, with an easily-turned knob.

Yesterday, I was very productive. I watched some tv and relaxed for awhile, because I was sleepy. But eventually I got up off my ass: I swept the floors, cleaned the bathroom, and worked out! I'm really proud of myself, because I have so far kept the schedule for working out that I planned: Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Good job, me!

New York Cares Day!

Saturday morning at 8 am, I was NOT pleased to be waking up; Thursday's late night had caught up with me. Nonetheless, I trudged on, brewing some hot cocoa and heading to the train. I knew that soon enough I would be enjoying myself at a volunteering project.

Boyfriend's prestigious college has a NYC Alumni group, and they occasionally hold parties or volunteer together. For NYCares Day, they secured a site just for them, and so BF and I signed up for that group instead of as individuals. It seemed like a sure way to meet young and friendly people in the city.

The school was located in Spanish Harlem, where I had never been before. It reminded me of the part of Brooklyn I used to live in. The school was one that had several schools within it, and the junior high had an AP as the project manager. She was really cool, very friendly and really happy for all the help. There are nearly two hundred new students, and the school doesn't really have room for them, so they are in the process of cleaning out some closets and rooms, and brightening others with paint.

We joined some of the volunteers on the third floor, tackling an old, dirty, and very full book room. It was so crowded with junk that no one could get in very far, and the passage was pretty narrow. Upon first viewing and a quick assessment, I suggested a fire line. The others readily agreed that was the best way to tackle everything, so we passed along crates, boxes, posters, books, workbooks, and computer parts, out into the hallway.

Pretty soon the room was clear enough to get more people inside and pulling things from shelves. And within an hour, the floor was as clear as it was going to get, because all this junk was lining the hallway (the room we were clearing is that doorway all the way down on the left):

Soon enough, it was time for the next task: getting all the textbooks out. They were loaded onto mail carts and taken to a different floor--by elevator! How lucky. Anyway, they were stacked and inventoried, because they're doing a buyback program. All the old textbooks they're not using will be taken away and the company will give them money, which the school can use to get new, better ones! Very exciting that this one day of volunteer labor will have such a concrete impact on the students.

While the textbooks were being taken one place, all the workbooks were put somewhere else, because they can't get money for those.

Either way, the room got cleared out a *lot*. Look at these 'middle' shot!

Unfortunately, the 'after' is not so great. After lunch, things were being cleaned up and there wasn't enough cleared storage for all the things we'd moved out. So a lot of it had to be moved BACK into the room. We were all disappointed because it felt like moving backwards, but we tried to console ourselves that the old books had been moved out, the novel-type books (above) had been put together and sorted (by me, because I'm anal like that), the floor had been swept of dust and mouse droppings, and the stuff was organized. The AP was really happy with everything, so we had to be too.

She also assured us that it was a temporary storage situation; they will soon be removing the white bags (full of workbooks, many BRAND NEW!) and the rest of the books on shelves.

There was painting going on on another floor, but it was already three when this room was done, so they didn't need extra hands getting in the way of the painting. So we took off.

It was a really fun day. It's been awhile since I volunteered (outside of my own building, of course), and it was extra satisfying to help rejuvenate a school (though I couldn't escape all my teacher thoughts, like being outraged at seeing piles of new chart paper buried in a dusty room). The other volunteers were all friendly and hard-working. I had a great time. I hope to see even more folks out there at upcoming big volunteer events!

Stupidity!

--On MTV: "This is so stressful I feel like I'm going to go into cardiac duress!"

--On an email forward: "This is to cute not to send!"

--On a sign: "No refunds on seasonal merchandize"

--On another email forward: "39 Things I've Learnt So Far in Life" You know one of the things I've learned so far? How to spell LEARNED.

WHY are people so stupid?! These are adults! Know how to speak and how to spell, people; otherwise people will think you somewhat inferior.

EDIT: The email mistakes are within the body of the email, written or copied by somebody way back. I am NOT judging the person who sent it on to me, rather I am judging the person who first wrote it, back who knows when. And they are both FORWARDS, not personal emails. Jeez.

I judge people on things like intelligence (as well as compassion and openmindedness and drive, etc). Frankly, I feel better about that than say, judging people on what brand of clothing they wear or what kind of shoes, or what hairstyle they have (well, except mullets; I think we all judge those). I'm sure we all agree that insides are more important than outsides. I've been judged often based on appearance or clothing, and I would much rather have someone critique something I said, wrote, or learned than how I looked. And I make sure that I try to prevent any of those former critiques by coming across as intelligent and put-together as possible. Maybe it's wrong, but I want others to do the same. I'd rather focus on the content instead of appearance of the message, but if there are errors, I'm one of those who does get distracted from the content.

I have updated my profile at right to include the self-descriptive phrase "Spelling Stickler," so everyone is now fairly warned about my evil self.

A Little Thursday Night Music

Last night Haley Bonar played a show at a club in the Lower East Side. I mentioned earlier this week that Boyfriend noticed it.

So I successfully made it out of the house at NINE pm, which is usually an hour from bedtime for teacher-me. There was no traffic, so I made the drive in half an hour. The LES is a great place to drive to, because it's right off the Williamsburg Bridge, which does not have a toll.

Since I am an old lady, I hate noisy and crowded bars with no place to sit. Imagine my pleasure to see this club, on a Thursday, empty with a bunch of booths and even some couches to sit. Awesome! Even cooler? As we were walking up to the door, a girl walked in and I recognized her as Haley herself. Squee!

We got a drink in the bar, and then went down into the basement club. It was tiny! Really intimate. There was another small bar and stools and some side seating. This tall hairy dude was playing and finishing up his set of guitar songs, and then Haley and her two bandmembers set up.

As they started to play, people were still moving around and chatting. But pretty quickly things died down as everyone just watched and listened to the incredible music. It was an amazing experience, like having a show in somebody's living room; there were only like thirty people there! I was really excited and happy, and also felt a bit hypnotized. Possibly due to the late hour and my lameness.

Haley and her band played a few new songs, a bunch from her second album plus a couple from the first (go listen to and buy the first and the second records). It all sounded just as good live as recorded. And it was so great!

After they were done, Haley was hanging around selling CDs. I bought another copy of her first album (for Boyfriend, since he only has the second one that I got him), and was able to chat with her. I told her how much I love her music and how glad I was to see her show. She was very friendly and seemed glad to hear it. She even agreed to a picture!

Though I was out way past my bedtime, I was thrilled to see one of my favorite singers perform live, in a small and intimate setting. It's really novel to be a real person during the week, and to take advantage of living in the Big Apple.

Moral of the story: Go listen to Haley, and get out on the town!

1,000th Post! Or, A Little of Everything

I decided to take the plunge to Blogger Beta and found out this is my one thousandth time posting. Sweet! I'm really looking forward to putting labels on all my old posts.

--

The last couple days have been hectic and tiring.

I loved all the comments about travel! Unfortunately, none of you agreed. And I always get shy about spending loads of money, so I've put it off. Naturally, prices have gone up for every city except Frankfurt. I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

--

The other day I got some more CDs and I immediately loved Brandi Carlile. She's folk rock with a twinge of country, and it's just perfect. I played it as much as I could today in my classroom. I couldn't wait to get home and put it on the ipod so I can listen in the car.

She's opening for Shawn Colvin next month. It's on a Tuesday at Town Hall. Corinne Bailey Rae is also performing there, in December.

I just listened to the KT Tunstall album for the first time too, and I really liked it. Not just the radio songs, either. Always a pleasant surprise.

--

Yesterday I cried. Because of a parent. It was the first school-related tears in many, many months; I really thought I was over that stage. But it was just so frustrating and I was so indignant. This woman called the school and someone transferred the call to my classroom without warning me, and proceeded to talk over me and yell at me for fifteen minutes. And only that short because either her phone cut out or she hung up on me.

There were students and a teacher in my room at the time, and I felt awful that they had to hear it.

Anyway, this woman kept repeating the same things over and OVER again and speaking over me anytime I said more than two words. Half the words I said were, "Excuse me. Excuse me! EXCUSE ME!! I was speaking--Please let me finish!" I lost all pretence of politesse, but I didn't care. She kept saying that she was coming in to speak to the principal. I said, 'Okay, can I also sit down with you to show you the things I have about [your child]?' Her response: 'I tell you something! I will call sick to my job and come see the principal!" This exact exchange must have taken place four times before she actually ANSWERED the QUESTION and said that no, she would not see me. More round-abouts about seeing the principal, and not having to talk to me. Eventually I said, 'So I'll give my paperwork to the principal and he can show it to you.' "I don't need to see anything by you!" I said frankly, "Well, that's inappropriate and it's rude."

Oh! Near the end she accused me of letting her child possibly die! That was great. I nearly laughed out loud in shocked bemusement.

There was a lot, A LOT, more. I was very tense and wound up, as I always am when dealing with obnoxious parents.

I left my room to go tell the principal about all this and warn him about tomorrow. My AP intercepted me first and must have been able to see I was upset and that tears were coming. So all three of us sat down in the office and I told them through the tears about the conversation, the child in class that day, the times I've already spoken to this parent, the patterns of this child that have been evident from the first WEEK of school, etc. They looked at it, saw that I had everything to back myself up, that I'd done my part to contact the parent and keep up with everything.

They agreed she was out of line and they would support me totally.

I really feel so grateful and blessed to have administrators who know me as a person, who know me as a teacher, and who respect me for both. They know from experience (longtime readers may remember that awful mother from my first year) that I most certainly do NOT back down.

I cried more on the way home and later in the evening. I read some blogs and worked out and watched tv, but my mind was replaying everything the whole time. It was really frustrating and upsetting.

This morning the mother came in and I met with her and the AP. The mother said some of the same crazy-type things again, but not nearly as many, which I suppose is a relief. She ranted again, some more, but the AP kept her in check and called her on her bullshit.

I was hugely relieved to have it over with and not worry about it anymore. I was also relieved to be not the only witness for her strange behavior and claims.

--

Compline on Sunday was neat. It was held in this intimate, oddly-shaped church on the Upper West Side. Only a handful of people were in attendance. The group consisted of maybe eight men and two women, which seems unusual (Gregorian chant is a tradition from monasteries, I believe). There were also some instruments used: one of the women played a lap harp and this white-haired man played some kind of lap harmonica that looked like a small briefcase bellows. The harp-playing woman had the most amazing voice I've ever heard in person: a crystal clear, pure soprano that filled the air with gorgeous sound. Remember the singers in Riverdance? That's what this woman sounded like, a middle-aged lady with short hair and a plain face, whose voice spoke heaven.

--

One thing I forgot to mention from the other day is that we registered for Saturday's New York Cares Day. This event is all about school beautification, so I am doubly excited to volunteer. Plus, painting! I love painting--getting myself messy and making something else pretty. Come join the fun!

--

Back in Philly this summer, Boyfriend and I found a mojito kit at a department store. So now whenever he's over here on the weekends, we buy lime and mint and club soda and mix up some strong but tasty mojitos. This past weekend he remembered an idea we'd previously discussed--adding flavored syrup. I'd bought some cherry snow-cone syrup at Target, for making Italian sodas. They gave me a headache with all their sugary goodness, though, so the bottle has been sitting forgotten.

Well, we added some to the mojitos, and boy were they even tastier than ever! Prettier, too:



--

We returned to Pommes Frites for a snack before Compline. While walking back through Astor Place, we saw a couple girls carrying signs proclaiming FREE HUGS. I took a picture and then thought, what the hell. I got a couple hugs, and that never hurts anybody. I've gone through too many times lacking any hugs whatsoever, and it was no good. There were a couple cameras around and it was probably some big prank or joke or something. Or it was just a New York Moment!
--

You know the Columbus Circle roundabout? It's been under construction, right? I think I've only seen it that way. Well, it's done now. Very pretty fountains at night!

I'm a big liar. With a well-used passport.

Remember the two conflicting themes I've mentioned lately? A) No more spending money! and B) I want to travel SOON!

Well. They do not mesh well, these two ideas. I have some stuff to share. But wait on that a bit.

Once again I've had a nice Sunday experience. I was awake about 7.15, but got up around 8.15, just because. I worked out right away, which helped me get warm in the still-chilly apartment air. I think I shall try to do this every Sunday and Tuesday and Thursday, since those weekdays I get home sooner and at least on Tuesday there's no good tv on to distract me.

There, I have made a pledge to the world that I will try to stick to a routine for working out. Therefore I must stick to it! Ha, we'll see.

Then I set about continuing to clean up. I've got my shag rugs piled in the hallway for the yoga and for the floor sweeping. I cleaned up the random stuff littered on the floor, and did a pass with the swiffer vac.

But I did not stop there, ho no.

--I moved the AC unit and my three fans into the linen closet (I LOVE ALL MY CLOSET SPACE!).

--You know those wire shelf things that you build together to make cubes and stuff? I've got several two-story cubes around, holding various things. One was in my closet holding socks and stuff. So I took them out, organized the socks (dark for work and white for summer and free time) and put them in the fabric drawers in my big white storage shelf/entertainment unit. Hurrah!

--Next, I moved the wire cube to the wall under the window previously occupied by the AC. In it I put the extra piles of books that were accumulating on my other 'bookshelf.' I had another cube under the other window, and I moved it over next to the other one, so they are sitting together, holding some random things.

--I finished and paid for the certification application. I had tried a month ago but the page didn't go through. My ATS-W scores are supposed to be ready at the end of the month, and so hopefully the certification process will proceed very quickly after that.

--I sorted through the piles of mail and bills and bill-related items that I just throw in a couple spots. I went through them all and tossed anything I could, and put the rest together in neat little piles, which I then put in either file folders (for pay stubs and grad school stuff) or an expando-file for monthly accounts like credit cards, cell phone and energy. I feel much better with that done. Hurrah!

--Boyfriend called to tell me that my girl Haley is playing in the East Village this week! It's on Thursday night at 10pm, but I don't care. I'm totally going to go. I didn't really see her play last time. She opened for Mason Jennings at a show two years ago at the Mercury Lounge, but I missed most of her and only saw her do one song with him. I really love both of her albums, and I'd been afraid she wouldn't come back out here again.

He bought us tickets and I'm going to drive in to the city at nine. I figure it'll be faster and easier than dealing with late-night trains and whatnot. I won't get home til way past my bedtime, but it will be worth it.

--And now, back to the lying and self-deception!

In the first four months of this year (if you count the last week of December, which, close enough, I say), I traveled to three countries and another region of the US: Barcelona and Paris in December, Prague in February, New Orleans in April. Plus Seattle in the summer.

Waiting until February to travel again? No way!

So just now I sat down with my friend Kayak.com and a list of big cities in Europe, (I marked the ones that I haven't been to). I looked with flexible dates between the 24th and 31st of December. Here is what I found, in cost order:

Florence: $820
*Bratislava: 761
*Istanbul: 753
*Vienna: 738
Athens: 682
*Krakow: 645
*Warsaw: 641
Venice: 622
*Copenhagen: 593
*Milan: 575
Rome: 573
*Edinburgh: 573
*Budapest: 553
Brussels: 516
Amsterdam: 515
Berlin: 510
Prague: 505
*Munich: 492
*Frankfurt: 485

According to Kayak's fare trend graphs, the prices have been dropping or staying steady at fairly low prices. Woohoo!

So, HOLY COW. These prices are not too bad at all. I think my February 2006 Prague trip cost $485. For a Christmas time trip, around $500 is really not bad at all. Actually, our Barcelona-Paris trip was a special steal at $475, bought six months ahead of time, so these really aren't too shabby.

It looks like Germany is a good place to go! I've wanted to visit the Black Forest area, which I believe Munich is in. And it's all new to me, which is great.

The other thing to remember is the incredible rail system in Europe. Part of me just wants to get there as cheaply as possible, and then take a train somewhere else if I want. Or more than one somewhere else. Ooh-ee!

In theory, I really should not do this. I can't afford it right now.

BUT! Here's the thing. Travel is one of, if not the most important things in my life. Judge if you like, but if you've traveled at all yourself that you probably agree with me. If you've traveled and don't agree...well then, you have some thinking and reprioritizing to do. I am young, no family, no outstanding debt, the world is my oyster!

And let's not forget the magic of credit cards. Charge it now but pay it next month or the one after, when you CAN afford it. And then you've paid for it well before the trip and you can save up to actually spend a little while there.

So clearly, I have to go!

Any recommendations for which gorgeous city to visit this December?

Misc.

--My birthday is in two and a half weeks. Holy crap. I'm going to be 27, which is definitely the late twenties. It sounds a bit scary, but I kind of like it. I think I'm getting more adult, whether or not I like it.

--Boyfriend and I walked 1.5 miles to the nearby cute main street, had lunch and browsed a bookstore. The crisp and chill fall air felt fantastic, and I loved walking in it. Sadly, my energy wilted significantly on the walk home and I slowed down. When I got home, I flopped on the bed, worn out with achy legs. Big old wimp, that's me.

--We had lunch at a restaurant named after a day of the week. Talk about getting old and grumpy--there was TECHNO thumping loudly, at two in the afternoon on a Saturday! I was really irritated. The waitress did not offer a drink right away, and the 'need a couple minutes?' turned into at least ten, so we sat for like fifteen with nothing. Plus she had stupid two-colored hair. These kids with their silly fads nowadays!

--I finally finished watching SNL from last weekend. I had never heard of the musical guest, Corinne Bailey Rae, so I was wary. Have you heard of her? But at first glance I was so charmed. This girl had adorable short curly hair, and wore this fantastic tulle-like strapless black dress, with a thin gold belt at the waist. (Can I please tell you how I LOATHE this belting fad? Huge belts over the widest body part? Are you kidding? Even thin women look fatter if they have a chunky belt OVER their too-long shirts! Shut up, you stupid fashion!) AND Ms Rae could SING! And looked to be having such a great time.

I loved the songs she sang and I actually bought the CD today. I listened to it once already and I really like it. Her sound is a mix of Norah Jones and India Arie, very mellow and tuneful and thoroughly enjoyable. Apparently she's huge in her native UK, but I have never heard of her before. Perhaps I'm out of the loop; actually, I know that I am. Either way, you should listen to her. Good stuff.

--We are planning to attend a compline service tomorrow evening! I'm so excited. I am not at all a religious person, but the experience and sound of chant is unparalleled. I so loved the service at St Marks in Seattle, and really hope that this one is also good.

--It is really fall weather, at long last. This is the first time that I've actually been cold in my apartment, and it kind of sucks. I took the AC unit out of the window, since it was letting in a draft. But it hasn't warmed up. I've got candles burning and my multi lights; they seem to make the room hotter when the weather is warm. I'm wearing thermals AND my fleece grape penguin suit, plus plush socks. Taking a hot shower was the only thing that warmed up my poor hands, and my feet are still chilly, even in the fuzzy socks. I may have to resort to gloves indoors.

I wanted to work out tonight, but first it was too cold and now it's too late. I hope that the sun will bring some warmth to my apartment tomorrow, and that the heat is turned on in the building. Do I need to call someone or something?

--My DVD player has totally broken. The power light comes on but nothing happens. The 'door' doesn't even open. Completely dead. Boo!! I haven't had time to watch any Netflix movies lately, and I also had to order some DVDs for the stupid movie club, so I have a LOT of DVDs that I should be watching. I can still watch on my computer and turn the screen around on my desk, but the screen is a lot smaller and it's not as comfy to watch.

--I am tired of some of the new tv shows already. I totally called the Studio 60 arrogance before I got halfway through the pilot. Thank god other people are finally agreeing with me. Vanished was just stupid and I didn't watch more than 20 minutes. I tried to watch The Nine, but it was too confusing and I didn't really know who was whom. If Ugly Betty doesn't get some better storylines, the adorable America Ferrera won't be able to keep it afloat.

--Some of the old shows have been meh, too. I've been getting annoyed at all the stupid nonsense on Grey's Anatomy, mainly Meredith's nondilemmas. I only forced myself to watch it tonight, and liked it in spite of myself. Possibly because Meredith got to be much more entertaining and funny while on morphine. Also, McSteamy's continued return doesn't hurt.

Prison Break has actually started to bug--every single episode they hit a huge brick wall. Then somehow they manage to get past the unsolvable problem. Only to get stopped by another huge issue. I like some suspense and mystery, I suppose, but this has gotten to be too much, I say. I don't even care that it's on hiatus. Big change from last year.

--It's been almost a month since the DoE got my application for the salary step. I hope that in the next month everything will go through and I'll start seeing increased takehome pay. I've been losing money and I want to get back on top of things. I really want to put more away in my IRA each month, and I'd like to add to my savings account instead of dipping in to save myself at least once a month.

--Speaking of money, I have eight books lying on the floor right now that I have either not finished or not started. But this afternoon I bought not only that CD, but also a book. My rationale was that I really like the author, from her blog and from her other book, so I felt like I was supporting an almost-friend rather than spending too much on a frivolity. Plus I have that educator's 20% discount!

--But seriously, I'm not shopping anymore! Quit it, me!

Happy Birthday and Happy Friday!

A very special Happy Birthday to my mom! Yay! She's going to Hawaii next week, and she is under STRICT instructions from me to RELAX, spending plenty of time sitting on the beach with a margarita.

Also, it is the birthday of this funny and talented new-Seattleite blogger, Jen. Happy Birthday!

In other exciting news, my baby sister is the popular, friendly extravert I always wanted to be--she got voted for the Homecoming Royalty. So she gets to ride in the car at the game and have a special dance at the dance. Fun! Break a leg, baby. Or a corsage. Or something. Have a good time!

Finally, I am psyched that it is FRIDAY. Even though this was another four-day week, I am very relieved to have a couple days to chill out a bit and rest up.

Cut off your toe

Yesterday and today I read the students the Grimm Brothers' version of Cinderella, which has the same basic elements, but some noticeable differences:

--Cinderella still doesn't say much, but at least she's clever, outwitting the dumb males who try to track her down.

--The prince puts tar on the steps to catch her. Other than that, he's a little dim. See below.

--There's no fairy godmother; instead, a little white bird flies to the hazel tree over her mother's grave (which she watered with her very tears!) and tosses down whatever she wishes.

--Lots of violence! It comes in at the end, when the kids are good and entranced (reading aloud is like hypnosis, it's amazing). The evil stepmother tells each of her daughters in turn to cut off part of their foot in order to fit into the golden slipper. They go out with the shoe on, and the prince rides away with each as his bride. Um, hello? Little birdies have to sing to him that since the girls' feet are bleeding, he doesn't have the right daughter. Durr.

Then, at the end, Cindy's bird friends peck both eyes from the evil stepsisters, to punish them for their wickedness and malice.

The kids get all grossed out and they LOVE it. And I love it too.

Anyway, so I put a lot of stuff together with the reading of this story. First, note-taking during a listening selection. Since they're familiar with the Disneyfied version of this story, they also complete a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the two versions.

I also prepared a chart about graphic organizer questions, and then gave eight of those questions. They could use their notes to answer them. I went around the room and actually marked on their papers if students got correct, partial, or incorrect. That way they could figure out what they did wrong, and hopefully fix it for next time.

THEN, I'm having them build a compare/contrast essay. First though, is the four square, which I'm finally trying to really teach. I've already had them use the basic format and shape to help organize their ideas, which should in theory ease the transition.

Wow, a lot of stuff. But I'm really proud of myself for incorporating test skills into the regular things I'm teaching. Yay me! I just hope that the kids get it and transfer it to the day of the test.

At common planning someone brought that up, that the kids DON'T transfer the skills and strategies. I suggested keeping a list in their notebooks, and frequently adding to it and reviewing it so that it sticks more in their heads.

Tomorrow I am going back to verbs one last time, but with the grammar book. I'm doing too much with them, and getting too complicated. If I stay with the exercises in the book, they seem to get that. I need to reinforce the things we already covered, and do auxiliary verbs and linking verbs too.

Next week I'm going to start assigning homework to drill and study notes and grammar and spelling and vocabulary. Got to keep it simple so that ALL the students really learn and understand everything.

Next week I hope to start adjectives, but apparently Monday will be interrupted a lot and so will Friday, for the first school assessment. And I need to cover short responses and more myths and plot structure and...

I got a definitive answer about this month's project: compare and contrast essay, using myths and/or stories. So we are NOT actually doing a story-writing unit. This relieves me, because A) a short story unit takes at LEAST eight weeks, and B) there's no way I can figure out to combine studying myths and writing them, AND studying and writing fiction stories.

Oh, that reminds me, I need to do a follow-up refresher lesson/activity about genre. The kids are still clueless about that. I devised a fun test, but maybe I should do it as a group activity first. Hm, that could be fun.

Oh! Something else that I found today. You may remember that I like to read Echo and Narcissus, if nothing else for vocabulary (narcissism and shun, primarily). I've been pushing that back for three days already, and will possibly push it back again to next week. Anyway, I finally cracked open one of the books I bought this summer. It cost five bucks and contains one hundred ten-minute read aloud selections. Whole bunches of the book are myths, fables, and folktales! Whee!

I turned to the myth section and found one on Apollo and Daphne, where Cupid shoots them with opposite arrows and one gets shunned. So I'm totally going to have the kids read and compare/contrast Echo & Narcissus with Apollo & Daphne. Cool! This will improve their knowledge of botany, as Narcissus turns into the narcissus flower and Daphne turns into a laurel tree.

I'm excited about this, though I don't know how well the kids will be able to compare two different stories. Since we started with two versions of the same story, then this is scaffolded instruction. Look at that!

See? I'm a good teacher. So there. :p

FROOZEN!?

Feel free to hate me. I am about to say something that sounds really bad. Just keep reading and don't misquote me on anything.

These children are not smart.

Okay, no, not every single one. A couple are. But too many aren't!

I have a really hard time figuring out and then accepting the level these kids are on. This year my "high-level" class is about on grade level. Their homework and quiz scores and class performance show that. The other two classes do significantly worse and are significantly slower. They have trouble with the fifth-grade vocabulary and so must be operating on roughly a fourth-grade level--in sixth grade. The class, as a whole, not a select few.

Some things I make myself remember that it's not their fault. Things like grammar and spelling have been shunned in school during their lifetime. (The people who made that decision really ARE stupid. I hope they're happy when we have a nation of adults who can't read, write or spell effectively or efficiently. Grr. Get off my porch, you young whippersnappers with your rock and roll!) So the fact that they have no foundation and basic knowledge in these areas is not their fault. It's the system which has failed them (on purpose, but whatever, I suppose one could argue that's a matter of opinion).

And I'm not talking about the ones who have real issues, or even the ones that are behind. Even the low level ones are paying close attention and really trying to do well. That's something else. I'm talking about the kids who have no sense and who just don't pay attention.

Anyway, so when they are trying to learn these new things, and I do my best to connect it to things they already know, and show them step by step, and they just do stupid things.

That fantastic worksheet with irregular verb families--that was my tool today to learn the patterns for present-past-participle forms. For each first one, I had the kids supply the form and the pattern. See? Words they already knew, and patterns that were easy and made sense. Participation, ownership, confidence, etc.

Then they were to fill in the chart with the rest of the verbs in that same pattern. Most very good! Lots of praise to the kiddies.

For the pattern like "awake-awoke-awoken" I saw answers that sounded German and Dutch.

Forget-forgot-forgoten

(that I will very grudgingly forgive--for now!--because many of them are so low level they don't know about doubling consonants. Yet. But they better start fixing it and paying some freaking attention to their spelling.)

choose-choose-choosen

(Um, no. Just, no. What is the correct word? You know this already, I promise!)

and the best (except worst) that was ALL TOO COMMON?!

freeze--freeze--froozen

What the f*ck?!

For pete's sake, look at your paper! Read the word! PAY ATTENTION!!

Every single child in the room has been in a grocery store. Grocery stores have food in a freezer. IT IS NOT A FROOZEN FOOD SECTION!!

When I burst out with this particular sentence during my last class, they all got the giggles. Hee hee! Froozen food! Tee hee!

Me, in my head, rolling my eyes: What in the world am I dealing with here?

I don't think there is enough patience in the world for this. Instead, I think I have to make myself just forget and ignore things, and try to move on.

And FINE, none of them are actually stupid or dumb. Gah, I know I can't say that and that I'm going to hell for even thinking it. I don't really believe they're idiots. Senseless goofs, some of them, yes. LOTS of them are really low level and that makes me very nervous, because I really don't know if anything I do helps.

This year I think I'm getting better at finding those lower-level ones and targeting them for improvement. Right now that only entails a couple extra worksheets to reinforce things, and repeated desk visits during work periods to check on and review basics. Actually, I think I am seeing some improvement from at least a couple of them. I just worry because there's so much they don't know. I need to keep taking one step at a time and keeping an eye on their work.

Another thing I want to try is Experts. I noticed in the homework I graded this weekend that literally only a handful of kids really grasped and mastered the verb tense and usage. So besides full-class reinforcement, I was thinking about moving the Master Verb kids around the tables to help the others. Doesn't that sound fun?

Along with that, I think I'm going to have to go back to once-weekly skill grouping. Gah, too much to think about when we don't have a copier at our disposal. (I heard that a new one is coming soon. I just hope it happens. And I don't see why the old one can't get moved so we can have TWO working copiers. Gosh, what a concept!)

Moral of this post:

• NO, I'm not a bitter commie monster (ooh, great name for a blog!) who hates children or calls names;
• YES, I'm a human being who gets frustrated;
• ALSO YES, I'm a teacher who CARES about what the students are learning and who wants them to actually LEARN something, which requires them to pay attention, and me to work hard to monitor their progress.

F*cking Past Participle!

The kids clearly do NOT understand the past participle. Dude, they can't even spell it. They call it the past particle. Snerk. Particles are in atoms, not in grammar!

The past tense they've got down. They know it so well that they try to use it for other tenses, in fact!

The future tense they mostly have, except they don't seem to know that the "will" in "will run" is still part of the verb phrase.

The present tense they do NOT have all the way, either. They either use the present perfect or future or past tense. "Today I will run." Or "Today I won the game." ?!

For the past hour and a half, I have looked for materials to reinforce this. I found a bunch of different resources. One great thing I will certainly use is a table with irregular verb families and a corresponding quiz. The BBC Skillswise has some great worksheets that seem to clearly explain the different types of present and past tenses--simple present and continuous present (present perfect?) (the difference between "I dance" and "I am dancing") and simple past and continuous past ("I drove" versus "I was driving").

Many kids use the totally wrong tense in the past. Like this: "Last month I had written three poems." Or "This summer my grandma had die." It's so wrong! But to explain it is kind of complicated. I'm going to use these resources as a tool to attempt to make them see why it's wrong. If it's done and completed, then it's simple past. If it shows something that started in the past but continued, then it's past participle. If it started in the past and continued into the present when something else happened, then it's continuous past. Argh! I hope they get it.

I found a bunch of quizzes and worksheets to practice and check different tenses. I'll use those with the whole class later this week, and use some other ones as individual extra practice.

Wish me luck! More than that, wish me patience!