Naptime haiku

sleepy I fall and

sleepy I rise, yet it is

immensely worth it

Mrs. McGriddle

I FOUND THE COFFEE POT AT SCHOOL! Coffee is like the holy grail of education, so I have no idea why there is ONE COFFEE POT for an entire high school. But, I found it!



P.S. For all of you educators (or future educators), get to know the copy lady at your school. SHE KNOWS EVERYTHING.



Meaghan ~ Coffee is definitely my stuffs, even though I technically quit drinking it. That ended today.

Mrs. McNugget

Yep. I was called that today. At least they keep in the "mrs." part.

Mrs. McDubs

Yeah! Today was a good day. Whoo hoo!

That's all for tonight. I have to catch up on readings & quizzes....sorry...

note to my husband

"Tim - Thanks for doing some laundry. FYI - sweaters do not go in the dryer. They shrink. A lot. Learn from experience :) "

We've all been there!

Tra la la la

Today was a good day. In case you didn't catch that, today was a GOOD day. Honestly, it was. What a wonderful end to a not-so-wonderful week. Here why my day rocked:

• Last night I went out for dinner with some of my fellow student teacher friends, and it was amazingly therapeutic to listen and share stories about our lives. During our First Year Teacher Panel last month, one of the teachers noted the value of having teacher friends. She said, "They're the only ones who know." Truly. Now I get it. As much as I lament and love to hear comments and stories from non-teachers, there is something nice about talking with someone else who knows what it's like. It's hard to understand what it takes to corral over 30 independent teenagers to do the same thing at the same time. As my U of M advisor suggested, the very notion of sitting less than two feet away from another human and being expected NOT to talk to them is practically absurd. It is really novel. So, today was good because I was fresh off of a wonderful evening.
• I went to bed at 9:45pm. An extra hour of sleep makes a huge difference.
• My classes behaved! We're getting to a point in two of my four classes that we can joke with each other. They were teasing me today, and I for sure tease them back. It's nice.
• We had AWESOME discussions in every class about being different vs. fitting-in in high school. It was super good. However, I was challenged as a discussion facilitator to bring their comments back to the topic at hand. It really is art to figure out how to tie it all together. An especially awkward moment was when one student started talking about not conforming by deciding for yourself when to have sex. Yep. It happened. I think I responded well, though. I do a lot of rephrasing and clarifying during discussion, so I just rephrased it by pointing out how he was saying that being an individual required making very personal decisions. It went unbelievably smoothly. The students got all riled up when the word "sex" was dropped, and I think they were unsure of how I'd handle it. It was good.
• Students complimented my outfit today...twice :) My pants are "pimpin"
• I had my first university observation today. The class was squirrely, as usual, but they were better than normal.
• I am done teaching today (yeah!) and now I get to go pack for an awesome weekend of scrapbooking! I'm going on a scrapbook/craft retreat in Ham Lake with some church people & my sister-in-law. Should be awesome!

Peace out, dude.

I will now jump out the window.

I think the teenage hormones are getting to me. After my euphoric day yesterday, today I am ready to slam my head (or someone else's...) into a locker. Just kidding. Not really. Don't fire me. Oh, wait, I'm not really paid so how can I be fired?

Here is what happened:
The day started well, with a good discussion in one of my classes. It started to fade off towards the end, but overall it was a good thing.

At lunch, a massive water fight broke out in the halls. The assistant principal made a special announcement about it.

The craziness ensued for the rest of the day. In my last class, there was so much energy & talkativeness. If only we could harness the chatty energy in a classroom and use it to power our cars...random thought. Sorry.

Then, I had the privilage (is it -age or -ege?) of attending a faculty meeting. We were talking about the vision of the school district. That is, the district which I am paying to teach for (not the other way around). The district that is not hiring. Yes, yes, it is the same district that I drive practically across America to get to everyday. Therefore, it is the district in which I have little to no personal investment. It was an extremely enlightening meeting (note the sarcasm).

I've realized that many of my posts are rather cynical and negative. I'm really not much of a cynic and I try to be postive, so it's rather ironic. Next time I promise to post something uplifting.

Ohh! I know! I bought myself a treat at Target on my way home. It is a hangy sign that says, "'No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted' -Aesop". There you go. Be uplifted.

You may now begin.

You would be proud. After the not-so-pleasant onion aroma in our apartment got the better of me last night, I finally spent liek TWO HOURS cleaning. I did the dishes, took out 3--count 'em 3--bags of garbage, picked up (most of) my clothing & paper piles around the place and found time for a shower. Amazing. I didn't know that two people could accumulate so much crap in such a short time. We don't even have kids! Kudos to all you moms out there who manage that kind of chaos on a daily basis.

Today my students are taking the state standardized tests. Since there is no where for me to sit in the classroom, I have once again been relegated to the teacher workroom. I'm okay with that, though. It is much cozier & warmer in here; there's carpet! Oh, it's the little things, alright.

Happy moment of the day: On my way into school this morning, I was stopped by two of my students. They were wondering where I was yesterday--job fair--and told me that they missed me. Awww!

Funny moments from yesterday: At said job fair, the schools from Alaska were stalking some of my English teacher friends. In an attempt to highlight the pluses of her school, one Alaskan recruiter told Bri that her school was "on the road system." No joke. I guess it is a perk if you don't need to fly in your food rations monthly! Ha ha! After the job fair, I was lounging at Maggie's. By this time, I was rather tired & a little cranky. We were biding our time until our seminar meeting. I announced to Maggie: "I'm not feeling particularly funny today." Maggie (half paying attention to me as she online chatted or email someone far more interesting) replied: "Oh, Lisa, you're not funny." At which time, I bust out laughing and she tried to explain herself. At least I have funny (and honest) friends.

Scary moment from yesterday: Driving a gagillion stories UNDERGROUND in a parking garage. Honestly, I turned on my headlights just in case the roof collapsed (so that the rescuers could see MY car, you know...cause that would really help me get rescued?). It was truly an architectural marvel that the structure could hold all of the weight of dirt & cars.

my apartment smells like an onion

Welcome to my life.

Argh

I am not cool. For years, it's been fun/funny to say that "I'm a dork" and "not with it" and all of those things. Even though they are mostly true, I figured that I was still a relatively young, fun person who had enough cool points to make up for loving Rummikub and Trivial Pursuit. This week, I realized that I am on a whole different playing field of not-with-it-ness. I am a teacher. That makes anything I like or do un-cool to a whole population of people. Argh. Let me explain:

A student was wearing a sweatshirt for a sell-out punk band that I used to listen to. Whenever I think of my high school summers, there is a distinct Blink 182 song to go with my memories. I asked said student if she liked/listened to the band. She was like, 'Yeah, I love them. Why? Do you know who they are?" I then told her that I'd been to their concerts and liked them, too. Way not cool. Here I am, trying to make a "connection" and all I do is embarrass her and myself (a little, though I got over it).

The coolest thing about me so far, according to my students, is that my hamster's name is Olive.

A student commented that she owned the same sweater I wore one day. She hasn't worn it since.

My normal day: Breakfast at 5:50am. Leave at 6:10am. Come home around 3:30pm. Have a snack that is basically dinner at 4pm. Sleep until 5. Do house or school work until 9. Go to bed. I am old and boring.

I am going to a "job fair" and will wear "professional attire," doting fancy shmancy resume paper and my conservative black bag. That reminds me. I should take off my chipped black nail polish. Not so professional.

Okay, I must return to embarrassing more students as I make personal comments on their "letters" to me.

When did I get to be this way?