A Polish American in DC: Guide to Teaching

Genius Blogs that I need to Start

2010-03-31T12:35:00.000-07:00

Urban Teacher-Navy Seal
Bad Pre-First Dates
Two Girls, One Spatula

Pleasure reading

2010-03-13T17:29:00.000-08:00

I don't seem to have a lot of concentration the past couple of weeks for pleasure reading. I've been jumping from book to book to book, getting slightly further in each, but not finishing any. This troubles me because normally it's easy to lose myself in the words and characters and I speed through books at a rate a velociraptor would be envious of. It also troubles me that I think this is caused by stress at work. Instead of coming home and reading, I go home and want nothing to do with the printed word (grading, lesson planning, reading or otherwise). Instead, I cook and go to the gym and watch tv. There is something innately less satisfying in watching an episode of NCIS or Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations than completing a book. I have so many books on my shelves untouched, it seems a waste.

On the other hand, I'm doing more crocheting.

$64.34

2010-01-31T19:46:00.000-08:00

That is what DCPS owes me for the first thing of the new year that I purchased for my classroom needs. That is also the amount that I will never get reimbursed from DCPS.

I had to make photocopies for my new semester classes: syllabi, major project assignments, a couple articles that will supplement the textbook (something that they want us to do!!), a graphic organizer to make learning Cornell Notes easier for my students, and a weekly homework/warm-up/exit slip/behavior tracker. I seriously considered what was genuinely NEEDED to make copies of and came to the decision that all of it was necessary because these classes are new and need to understand the structure of my classes. What did I ACTUALLY make copies of before I felt like my pocketbook would be too strained? The syllabi, the tracker, and the articles. Not the major project assignments or the graphic organizer (though, I will have to copy the projects later). 603 copies for 74 students. And I didn't even finish! You might wonder why I had to spent money to do this. I'll tell you: I only get about 1000 copies a MONTH at school. Last month (January), I only got 500 copies. I've already used about 400 of my February copies because, didn't I mention I HAVE NEW CLASSES?!!! My school puts a cap on the copies because the copiers, if overused, break down too much, the school doesn't have money in the budget to repair them, nor does it have money to purchase toner for the 2 copiers available for teacher use (so we only get 1 and when that breaks, we're screwed), because people have abused the previous "unlimited copies" norm, and "because we should be environmentally conscious." I will admit, I've gotten very good about finding copy-less ways to hold lessons, but still....ESPECIALLY at the beginning of new classes, why can't we have both copiers running or 2000 copies for the month, or a Kinkos card or SOMETHING? I got scolded last week for not making my copies before the day-of and that I should be planning ahead in case of emergencies. So tonight, I went and made copies so that I would have them all ready to go.

And DCPS still owes me $64.34. I'm keeping a tab.

When is professional football like a school district?

2010-01-09T20:27:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: I know practically nothing about professional football. These are just observations.

It seems to me that there are some odd similarities in current education policy and professional football. At least, similarities with these things in DC. Jim Zorn was fired from the Redskins' head coach on Monday, after only two years on the job. His "West Coast offense" strategies haven't been paying off for the team, who have had a 4-12 record so far this season. Owner Dan Snyder and general manager Bruce Allen are currently interviewing replacements. What is interesting to me about this is that this replacement will be the 7th head coach that Snyder has brought in since 1999. Now, let's think about DC Public schools. Since 1996, DCPS has had several (anyone know the exact number? I'm finding between 5 and 6, including Rhee) superintendents. Dr. Janey was given barely 3 years to implement his reforms, and the incumbent, Paul Vance, before him was in office also 3 years. This is hardly enough time to truly reform such a troubled district as DC. The numerous changes in leadership has imprinted itself onto the schools where, with each new superintendent, new programs are put in place: Read180, America's Choice, Excellor-something, Leap-Jump-whatever, and so on. New infrastructures are put in place and torn down, schedules are changed (block? regular 7-period? modified block? A-B block?), new buzz words are overused (warm-up, rigor, teaching and learning, SWBAT, assessment, data, word wall, reflect, etc.).

My point is this: good teaching works. Communication works. Notification works. Logic works. CONSISTENCY works. If we want to improve, perhaps we have to stick to something for more than 2 or 3 years to see if IT WORKS.

Sorry to innundate you...

2009-10-31T10:14:00.000-07:00

But this has to be read. I don't understand DCPS.

Reason #127 to hate NCLB

2009-10-31T09:34:00.000-07:00

States lowering their proficiency standards so that more schools can reach AYP. Who thought this was a good idea!? How is it good for the bar to pass abysmally easy tests to be set so low that it barely requires students to read?

UDC

2009-10-31T09:15:00.001-07:00

With 10 missing board members, how is the University supposed to function? And do Rhee and Fenty seem to be unwilling or unable to meet with the President? If a vast majority of UDC students are coming from DCPS, wouldn't you want to meet with the University's President? I just don't understand...But then, there is a lot about DCPS that I don't understand. I'm too lowly.

AYP

2009-10-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

Nelson Hernandez's Wednesday article on Montgomery and Prince George's counties failing to meet annual yearly progress (AYP) does an excellent job of highlighting the ridiculous nature of that particular beast. How is it that only 26% of Baltimore special education high school students are able to pass the state's reading test, while Montgomery's and Prince George's high school special education students are passing at 61% and 41% (respectively), but Baltimore did (according to the state's standardized test) make AYP and Montgomery and Prince George's didn't?

I understand that the goal for each year for school districts to improve upon the previous year's scores and that the big goal is to have every student passing these tests, to provide a measure of how well a district is doing it job. But, now the focus becomes district safety rather than providing each student with the individual education that he or she needs. It places the focus away from the individual and becomes a push-push-push for results.

The Impact of IMPACT

2009-10-03T09:44:00.000-07:00

Some of me thinks that the new teacher evaluation system, IMPACT, is good. And some of me wants to scream when I think about it. I'm still a pretty new teacher and it worries me that because I'm struggling to figure out how to hit all the learning styles will be counted against me. The videos that they had us watch to "norm" the evaluations...Those didn't show us what they (the District) thought good teaching was. The videos showed passable, not great, and downright awful teaching was. In my first Master Educator observation, I found myself stumbling over my words, getting lost in my lecture, recalling later that I only employed two learning styles in the 30 minutes that she was there....I don't know what she is going to say when she meets with me on Thursday. And frankly, it scares me. IMPACT scares me.

For more information, read Bill Turque's almost glowing review of IMPACT and then go look at the actual framework. Make sure you read the .pdf file at the bottom to get the full story.

Layoffs

2009-10-02T20:12:00.000-07:00

Whether or not it was Michelle Rhee's intention to fire veteran teachers in the layoffs that took place this afternoon between 1:58 and 3:15 pm, it certainly wasn't handled in the best of manners. If I were to be fired, I'd want to hear it from my principal or my assistant principal, not another teacher. I don't know if this happened at my school, but I know that it happened in at least one school in the district. I'm shocked at the unprofessional, heartless manner in which teachers were escorted from their classrooms by police officers, or sent down to the main offices like a truant. Teachers should have been given the dignity of hearing this news in a private meeting with a superior during their planning period, not in the middle of a class, in front of students.

I don't care if Ms. Rhee intended to fire these teachers months ago or not. I care about what is best for the school community and it definitely isn't good for the school as a whole to be under the impression that they (teachers, staff) could be chopped at any time and in such a brutal manner. Let alone the message that it sends to the students. DCPS...I didn't think you could disappoint me any more, but I guess I was wrong.

As for Bill Turque's coverage of these events, it seems too cut-and-dried. "The day proceeded quietly for the most part." Really, Bill Turque? Did you bother to talk to any of the schools in SE? I know there was craziness in Ward 7 and I'm sure there was craziness at Ballou and Anacostia.

Back to my original point: during 4th period?! REALLY!?

Senegal, in a whirl

2009-07-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

I landed in Dakar at 5 am on July 7. JC picked me up at the airport and we spent the day in the Dakar market and walking around. The next day, we headed out of Dakar on the 4 hour sept-place (seven-seater station wagon that is the main form of transportation around the country) drive to the Peace Corps Regional House in Kaolack. The next day, we make the last leg of the journey to Wilanene, JC's village, about 7 km outside of the town of Kaffrine.

Our days in the village were pretty lazy: we woke up around 7 am and usually walked to another village (anywhere between a 15 and 45 minute walk) to check up on the farmers that JC works with. We'd get home around 11 and cool off with a quick shower and a book. Naps were the normal before and after lunch. We'd do some planting or watering or clean the hut. More reading or napping or both. Sometimes we go sit outside the compound and visit with the women who'd walk passed. Dinner was served late, after JC's host mom closed the robinet.

We went to two baptisms while in the village. One was for a woman who JC didn't know very well and the other was for her friend, Fatou. The women got very dressed up and there was drumming and dancing in the evening.

After spending about 5 days in the village, we headed out to the island of Ginak and slept on the beach there. JC thought that she got stung by a jellyfish, but we're not sure if it happened. We only spent one night on Ginak and then headed back to Kaolack to stop over on our way to the Langue de Barbarie, a bird park in the northwest of the country. There, we canoed and took a boat to visit the Island of the Birds and did some more napping and reading.

After the bird park, we met up with two other Peace Corps volunteers, friends of JC's, and went to the Deserts of Lompoul, where we camped in tents on sand dunes and went for a camel ride. While there, I got a wicked fever and spent most of the time tossing and turning, but the camels made it worth it!

Since our trip was coming to an end, we went back to Dakar. My last day we spent again the Dakar market, buying fabric, and went to Ile de Goree, an island off the coast where there had been a slave outpost. The island is now a tourist destination and has a couple of great museums and lots of artists.

So, that was my trip, in a whirl! Check out the photos on Picasa for more details.

Into Africa

2009-07-05T09:16:00.000-07:00

I'm heading out to visit JC in Senegal tomorrow. I'll try to update a couple times while I'm there (I get back around noon on July 22), so that you all can hear some stories. I've also made (FINALLY) a Picasa site to upload pictures. Go there for pictures of the trip and adventure! The link is also in the sidebar on the right (Adventures in Color). If you need to reach me, email is probably the best, but I have no way of knowing how often I'll be able to get to an internet cafe. Love to everyone!

Almost done...

2009-06-26T19:31:00.000-07:00

I'm about 80% done with my portfolio for my masters. I really can't wait for it to be over! They talk about how assignments should be meaningful and useful for students and then assign us this huge portfolio bull-crap. It's infuriating! I hope to goodness' sake that I never assign such a meaningless activity and manage to make school activities and work useful and have some relevance.

After it is over, I should be able to relax. I'm going to Senegal for two weeks on July 6 to visit JC, but I think it will be an adventurous, relaxing and eye-opening vacation. At least I'll be experiencing something completely different with someone who knows the region very well and will be able to steer me in the right direction about things to do or not to do. I think the plan is to go to her village for a bit, and maybe to the sand-dunes and to the beach. But honestly, she could completely change her mind before I get there and I wouldn't have any idea. If anyone knows of something that I should do, let me know via emails.

Generosity

2009-06-09T03:55:00.000-07:00

I asked family members and friends to contribute to my effort to start the AP World History program next year by pleading for copies of Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel." Happily, enough people contribute that everyone enrolled in the class will get a book. Now I just need to get book plates! Thank you to everyone who was so generous to me and my crazy, wonderful students. We'll be reading the book over the summer and, I hope, having a few great conversations about it. I hope I'll be able to follow the thank-yous up with some more interesting, like a video of a class discussion or something.

Guns, Germs, and Steel: 11 down!

2009-05-24T06:15:00.001-07:00

11 to go! I really love my family! I can't tell you how much I appreciate this! Everyone rocks!

High Expectations

2009-05-18T11:51:00.000-07:00

From a Washington Post article about how 'Gingrich and Sharpton both agree that education can be improved!!' WOW!

"What's a high expectation?" Hassan Floyd, 7, asked his mother, Fathma Floyd-Brent, a teacher who works in a Baltimore high school with no air conditioning or computers and has one of the lowest graduation rates in the city.

"It's when I tell you I don't expect no 70s, 80s or 90s," she said. "But 100s."

The boy, who is already talking about going to college and one day being president, nodded knowingly."

What is a high expectation? 100s. No standard for how to judge that 100. It could be that he merely turned in the work, despite getting every single question wrong. Or maybe that he wrote 1 paragraph instead of 2.

The other day, I was listening to this NPR segment about whether or not business schools can be held accountable for the recession. A portion of the piece talked about how business schools have yet to streamline the body of knowledge taught, unlike law schools and medical schools. The same could be said for almost every grade level of schooling, except for law schools and medical schools.

So, if we have different standards, how can we arrive at any other definition of a 'high expectation' other than '100s'? Are high expectations really like pornography, you know it when you see it?

Frontline: Growing Up Online

2009-05-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

About a year ago, Frontline produced a piece called "Growing Up Online". To view the video, follow the link in the upper right corner of the page.

It's an interesting idea, to say the least, that the generation of students that are currently in school have very separate-and yet, closely linked-identities from reality. Yes, they do and even, to a large extent, do the current 20-somethings. I and others have straddled the divide. At the beginning of high school, I got my first email address. But I had no idea what to do online, except check my email...and I rarely got any of that! Now 7 year old are given "primers" on "online behavior." Can't we just go play Cops and Robbers?

Below are my reactions to a few of the more ridiculous quotations from the Frontline episode.

1) "To walk into a classroom that doesn't have any of that media, must be like walking into a desert." -Steve Maher, social studies teacher of 11 years.
No wonder we aren't as successful with our students as the wealthy suburban districts! We are teaching in a desert!

2) "I feel like I've cheated it. I kinda feel like I owe it to myself to read some of these books, but I just know I don't have time. If there were 27 hours in day I'd read Hamlet. I know I would." -High school senior
Why don't you have time? What are you doing? You honestly think that if you had 3 extra hours each day, you would spend it reading? No, you wouldn't. You'd spend the newly found 3 hours playing a game or chatting with friends or maybe playing field hockey.

3) "I'm not saying cheating is ok. I'm saying cheating is something that you have to look at closer to see what is cheating and what is not cheating." -same social studies teacher
WHAT KIND OF TEACHER ARE YOU? You honestly think that copying and pasting off of SparkNotes is acceptable?

MapTools

2009-04-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

Finally got around to looking at MapTools with g! It's pretty sweet and will make the game go much faster!

It's been about 85-90 degrees here for about 4 days...that is, until today when it went back to being mid-60s and rainy. I swear, DC's weather is much worse than Chicago's because of it's awful mediocrity. I would prefer 10 degrees and snowy infinitely more than 30 degrees and rainy. Or 95 with a breeze off the lake to 89 and swamp-like humidity. It's awful.

I got some new pictures of the kids today. They are growing up so fast! I can't believe Megumi is 5! What the heck, man!? I'm going to need to do some special aunt thing with her next time I go in to visit. Maybe Auntie Momo would go with us. :)

In other news, I only have 1 more class for AU after this semester ends next week. Thank goodness! That program has been a waste!

Novice Teachers

2009-04-27T18:40:00.000-07:00

We're getting a bad rap, and who could blame our critics? We aren't supported and the programs that educate us as teachers are mostly useless. The most valuable lessons that I learn are from my fellow teachers and from practicing teaching. That's the way to improve. Of course novice teachers are going to be the ones in the crappy districts. The good districts have long teacher retention and slots are competitive. The good districts seek out the valuable teachers and support them, while the crappy districts don't do either AND don't support new teachers. Sometimes, I feel like its hopeless and I understand why the novice teachers leave after two years. Who wants to be miserable every day?

Honest Media

2009-04-05T17:51:00.000-07:00

Too often I hear or read stories about schools, school systems, and/or education policy that is inaccurate, biased, fake, or just plain bad. So it was refreshing to find Chicago Public Radio's education pieces about Robeson High School on the South Side, not too far from where I went to college. They're a very good slice of what goes on in our schools and actually tackle some of the very real challenges that I face day to day. The second link is especially excellent and the last link has a complete list of all the stories that are in the Fifty-Fifty series.

Keeping Mykelle in Class
Giving Kids an "F" a Real Dilemma
A Student's Journey to City Science Fair
Fifty-Fifty: The Odds of Graduating

Cash for Hard Work

2009-03-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

I understand the idea behind this program, but I'm still rather inclined to think that it diminishes the lesson that our students can succeed on their own. I guess we'll see what really works!

Another cheer for AUseless!

2009-03-22T08:31:00.000-07:00

While American University's basketball team seems to be doing very well in whatever tournament they are in, their students aren't doing so well. Over the last few weeks, I've been thinking about how much their education program sucks. We spend time "reflecting" on readings about multiculturalism and diversity and educational psychology, rather than spending time on "how to design a good test" and "here's how you plan a really good unit." Reflecting and reading current educational thought is important, really. But we've taken 6 classes covering the exact same material and I would really like to talk about things that I use EVERY DAY in the classroom, like where to find a good reading on colonial India or how to break down a lesson on colonial India to a student who reads at the first grade level. Really, can we stop having the same discussions over and over and start WORKING?

$2,112

2009-03-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

While I'm very happy to hear that the District of Columbia will be receiving $2,112 per student in federal money within "a few weeks," I'm curious as to why other districts in other states that have series budgetary shortfall, have been contemplating cutting teaching positions, and have problems getting the materials needed to run a school, will be given so little. Using old formulas to distribute money seems like a bad idea to me, but hey, what do I know?

Saving time isn't always the best option, Mr. Duncan, Democrats in Congress, and Mr. President. How about we save our students' education?

The Snow-bama Factor

2009-03-02T19:38:00.001-08:00

Yes, that is the title of today's article by Marc Fisher in the Washington Post.

Here is my response.

As a DC public school teacher and a native of Chicago, I would like to say that the decision to keep DCPS open today was stupid. And not because the "teachers have a hard time commuting"--boo hoo! Because the STUDENTS can't and DON'T get to school! There were about 25 students in the entire building today and even fewer faculty.

Most DCPS students walk or bus to school and walking up the hill to my school was a nightmare. Those who do drive: well, let's put it this way. I carpool with another teacher and on our way to school at 9:45 am, 495 wasn't clear. We got stuck behind a plow that didn't know how to drive in this weather. DC just doesn't have the capacity for (what I as a native Chicagoan would call) a mild snowstorm. If the interstates aren't clear and even the people clearing the roads don't know how to drive, how can we expect kids to walk, drive, or catch public transportation?

As for the argument that the schools are remaining open for the kids on free and reduced lunches: the kids aren't there. They don't come on a day like today because they can't get through the snow, they have to watch their siblings, or they just don't want to come...even if they are hungry. At least 1 elementary teacher who I talked to today said that no kids showed up at school. My school had about 25. Another teacher I know saw 6 students during the entire day...another, 2. So really, are we feeding the children?

By my school

2008-11-12T20:48:00.000-08:00

The Washington Post published this story about a middle school not too far from my school. It definitely does not paint any pretty pictures about DCPS or the general area that my school is in. I have a friend who teaches at that school and, with all my frustrations, she has it worse. Hats off to her. The follow-up story is here.

On This Historic Eve

2008-11-04T17:02:00.000-08:00

Watching CNN is hilarious. We are obsessed with numbers and graphs. We are a graphic-organizer happy nation.

Also, why am I home alone tonight? Because I'M LAME.

Oh, movies from 1937

2008-10-27T07:22:00.000-07:00

An Exchange:

Delivery Boy: "Not my fault [I'm delivering the flowers late]. His Excellency only ordered them a half hour ago."

Butler: "Which Excellency?"

Delivery Boy: "I'm not sure. I think its from one of those new countries that are always turning up in Europe."

Butler: "Hmm. The smaller the country, the larger the flowers."

--First Lady, 1937, starring Kay Francis

Fun with Grading

2008-10-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

Prompt: Based on the game "Diplomacy," who do you think won WWI? Why? What did you learn from playing the game.

Answer 1: I think Russia won because no on was really coming towards them to take over. I learned sneak attacks, how to negoitate, act smart and slick to get what I want.

Answer 2: Turkey won because France, my country gave them some pointers and we were secret allies so I actually feel like I played a huge part in their big victory I still feel that france could have done better but we didn't go to war like we wanted. I learned that ecuational games can be fun!

NB: All punctuation and capitalization has not been altered.

TFA Strikes Again

2008-10-22T17:11:00.000-07:00

This article extols the journey of three young immigrant children in L.A. from crappy public schools to prestigious private schools. They are guided to that mecca by their "first-year teacher" and a "team." This enterprising young teacher asks "What greater accomplishment could there be for teacher." Surprise surprise, that first-year teacher is now a law student. Obviously, there are bigger fish for her to fry.

A Terrible and A Rant.

2008-10-17T13:52:00.000-07:00

First, who know that racism would factor into a presidential election in the South?! Apparently, the NY Times is mildly surprised.

Next, as previously noted, I had to give a diagnostic test to my students to measure what they knew at the beginning of the course and will give it again at the end. These are the first results.

Class Description: Class: Street Law Period: 1
Number of Students: 13
Gender Breakdown: 4 females, 9 males
Special Education Breakdown: 0
English Language Learners Breakdown: 0
Analysis of performance on standardized or diagnostic test: Test administered on 10/10/08
TOTAL: 7 Students, 3 females, 4 males

50% of students were able to identify 1 example of a federal crime from a choice of 4.
37% of students were able to identify the 1 non-federal crime from a choice of 4.
50% of students were able to identify the 4 types of federal crime.
37% of students were able to identify the 3 amendments pertaining to the right to trial by jury.
25% of students were able to describe the jury selection process.
25% of students were able to identify the 2 factors that make some crimes more serious than others.
37% of students were able to identify and describe 1st degree murder.
37% of students were able to identify factors (like self-defense) that would make a “crime” not a crime.
44% of students were able to identify legal issues in a visual setting (like a cartoon).
37% of students were able to identify freedom of speech issues in a visual setting (like a cartoon).

Class Description: Class: World History and Geography II Period: 3
Number of Students: 24
Gender Breakdown: 8 females, 16 males
Special Education Breakdown: 3
English Language Learners Breakdown: 0
Analysis of performance on standardized or diagnostic test: Test administered on 10/8/08
TOTAL: 11 Students, 3 females, 8 males

50% of students were able to answer a question based on a Venn diagram.
40% of students were able to answer a question based on a map.
10% of students were able to answer a question based on a chart with comparing percentages.
80% of students were able to answer a question based on given percentages.
40% of students were able to answer a question based on a document/reading.
60% of students were able to answer a question based on a timeline.

Class Description: Class: World History and Geography II Period:4
Number of Students: 21
Gender Breakdown: 4 females, 17 males
Special Education Breakdown: 4
English Language Learners Breakdown: 0
Analysis of performance on standardized or diagnostic test: Test administered on 10/8/08

TOTAL: 11 Students, 3 females, 8 males

45% of students were able to answer a question based on a Venn diagram.
45% of students were able to answer a question based on a map.
36% of students were able to answer a question based on a chart with comparing percentages.
91% of students were able to answer a question based on a chart with given percentages.
43% of students were able to answer a question based on a document/reading.
60% of students were able to answer a question based on a timeline.

NOTE ABOUT THIS DATA:
In my opinion, these tests were not very accurate or well-prepared diagnostics. I will address both classes below.

For the Street Law class, the objective of the course, as defined by me and by Georgetown Law School (the partner), is not one that is very measurable with a paper and pencil test. The goals of the course are to encourage students in independent thought, critical thinking, and civic responsibility. We do this by engaging the students in mock trials, discussions, and activities, not with paper and pencil tests (and if we do test, it is short answers and essays, rather than multiple choice tests). For an accurate diagnostic to be developed for this class, it would have to be created in partner with Georgetown Law School and involve observations and a portfolio of work. This was not possible to create on such short notice (I was notified on October 7 that I would need to give a diagnostic test to measure student growth)—such a diagnostic would need to be developed over a period of months or an entire school year.

The World History and Geography II diagnostic was more useful, but still not ideal. Again, this is because my goals and objectives for the class are difficult to measure with a traditional diagnostic. I focus on critical thinking skills, getting students to generally know major events/people/things that society expects them to know (what Ellis Island is, etc), getting their literacy skills up, encouraging them to see history as living and breathing, improving their map skills, getting them to apply a 5 paragraph essay to ANYTHING, ramping them up to take AP classes and think about college skills, etc. I created this diagnostic test with the crappy test maker that the crappy textbook provides in about 30 seconds. While that is amazing and was helpful to be able to create a test so quickly, the test itself was terrible. It didn't, and I could never expect it to, cover the material that I cover, the skills that I cover, the way that I cover it. Instead of asking higher thinking-level questions like "Why?" and "How?", it asked questions like "This Japanese word, ______, means _____" And they were all multiple choice and true/false questions. It was shitty. You cannot measure accurately what students know from this kind of test, even if they were in a suburban school. And you certainly cannot measure what I teach which this kind of test. I feel that the best diagnostic test would be much more AP style. And even then, they would get frustrated with it in the beginning because they don't know anything and because it is justifiably HARD. What I did get out of the diagnostic is that only about a little less than half of them can read a map, most of them cannot compare percentages, they are ok with timelines, and we need to work on Venn diagrams and DBQs. Fair enough, I guess.

Afterthought

2008-10-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

Check out this article in the Trib. A nice run-down of Hyde Park's awesomeness. I especially like M. Todd Henderson's remark that "To criticize Hyde Park as being aloof, out of touch and elitist is just poppycock," he says. "I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Republican, and there is nothing America should be ashamed about Hyde Park. On the contrary, America should be proud of Hyde Park."

Note: After reading FourEyedGremlin's comments, I feel it necessary to also add my acknowledgment of the article's total disregard for the crime in HP. Yeah...way to go Post.

The PPEP: Partie Deux

2008-10-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

So, the DAY after I posted last, my principal came into my classroom to do one of the informally/unstructured observations. Unfortunately, he observed on the day that I gave a diagnostic test to my students. :( It was not very exciting. They were beautiful (per usual, knock on wood), but they were testing. I was grading. He didn't get to see a lot during the end of third period, as a result. However, he then did stay for the beginning of fourth period, when I gave a PowerPoint lecture about "Why we test." Very stimulating. Really. Truly. In all seriousness, the kids seem to dig it and I think that they will have a much easier time swallowing the bitter pill of testing in my classroom (and other places) as a result. Then I gave them the same diagnostic test that my 3rd period got. The observation ended with the test being distributed.

I got the general comments back from him a few days later in my mailbox. Apparently, the things that I should work on are: not burning candles and not admitting students into class late without a pass. Both reachable goals. Also, I am liked and respected by my students, which is actually something that I DO want to hear because sometimes I worry about these things.

In other classroom news: this week I am playing the ever-so-nerdy game of Diplomacy with my 3rd and 4th period World History II classes and THEY ARE LOVING IT! :D You have no idea about how excited I am that they are enjoying this and getting something out of it. For those of you who don't know, the game runs like this:

1901. Europe. 7 major European powers (Russia, France, Italy, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Great Britain) negotiate with each other and move army and navy units around a map to capture supply centers. The capture of said supply centers allows for the building of more units. The country to capture 18 out of 34 supply centers wins.

So, in one game and lesson, as a teacher, I get: negotiation skills, arms races, forming of alliances, backstabbing, power-hungriness, and the glimmerings of understanding of why a war (and WWI in particular) breaks out. Pretty sweet huh?

The students have taken to this game like ducks in water. They are arguing with each other and forming alliances ("Hey! Ms. S! Did you know that me and him are working together now?!"), waiting with baited breath while I moved the magnet pieces around the map (being projected on to the whiteboard), carefully strategizing where they will move their pieces and what they will capture next. I've extended this game from 1 day to 3, the response has been so overwhelming. Definitely keeping this trick up my sleeve.

In unrelated news: my brother, his wife and two kids are completing a car-less month. Follow the story here.

The PPEP

2008-10-07T17:17:00.000-07:00

The PPEP is the Professional *mumble mumble* Evaluation Process, or something like that. We meet with an administrator who goes over our "strategies to achieve the targets" (the targets being things like "DC CAS results for Woodson will increase to 45% proficiency in Literacy and increase to 35% in Math to reach Safe Harbor."). Then we are observed by an administrator informally in an "unstructured observation." Have a mid-year meeting. Are observed formally and given a score. If we score below 'meets expectations' we are put on a 90-day improvement plan, complete with support, etc. Only if you have gone through the 90-day plan and still do not meet expectations are you let go.

Anyways, I went through the first step of that process today with one of my assistant principals. And it went pretty well, but now I was told to change some things to my PPEP document and be more explicit in the strategies that I will employ as a good teacher. So I've gone through the document this evening and made my life more difficult by saying that I will do a number of things that, while I am very happy to do and will make me a better teacher, will require a lot of time and effort and generally make me work harder. Which I suppose is good.

I also wrote up some 'benchmarks' (which is a dumb buzz word that seems to be meaningless) for the SS department, specifically for World History II. I'll present them to my fellow SS teachers tomorrow and see what they say. Since they all have to teach WHII at some point this year, it is very important that they agree to these or some other benchmarks, since we are being required to use collaborative and common benchmarks. I'm just hoping that we can come to some sort of agreement that will be manageable and functional and rigorous. I hope that I don't come off as the uppity-young'n trying to change everything (even though I am, in some ways). I'm also going to present my Berlin Conference lesson plan and get thoughts on it. I figure, if I start showing that I've done work, maybe they will do the same and we can actually help each other out.

In other eventful happenings today, I gave my WHII students their first test and, while they were taking it (SO politely and beautifully, I might add), I realized that it was actually quite difficult and that most of them might fail it. I think I made it too hard. We'll see. I'll finish grading them in the morning and hopefully, it won't be too bad. They'll get to do test corrections anyways, so it's all good.

Things to finish:
*putting up classroom decorations
*posting classroom rules and consequences
*following up on student referrals
*writing letters to parents
*calling parents
*updating class website
*inputing some grades
*grading tests
*planning WWI unit
*following up on phone problems
*checking status of LCD projector and other supplies

Things to start:
*personal SPED handbook
*AU portfolio
*a curriculum for next semester's American History class
*studying for the GREs
*teacher portfolio documenting all my cool stuff
*exploring the crappy STARS gradebook
*looking into getting a life outside my classroom

Classroom Stuff

2008-10-05T18:54:00.000-07:00

I've been working a lot this year. A lot. I've designed a website for my classes (www.mssiarnyhistory.com) and I've been pretty good about lesson planning and grading things. I've also been very concerned with my teaching, overall.

Last Friday was Parent-Teacher Conference Day and I got the most number of parents that I've ever had! 8! :D And in the time that I wasn't doing that, I was rearranging my classroom. What do you all think?

Dictator

2008-08-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

I'm taking over the department slowly but surely! Details later!

Brand New Everything

2008-08-19T08:57:00.000-07:00

I'm more than thrilled. I'm speechless. My new school is beautiful! The bathrooms work. The doors close. The glass is not broken. My classroom has more than 2 outlets! The internet works and the clocks keep time correctly. The library is well on its way to be functioning. There is even a full-time librarian!!! I'm so close to drooling!

Plus, it seems like we will actually be doing things this year. There are going to be a lot of meetings and crap, but they should be useful actually! There are going to be team meetings and grade level meetings and departmental meetings! Some of the old teachers are kinda upset about that, but whatever, they can be grumpy pants if they want to.

On silliness

2008-08-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

People are silly. Very silly. 3 days ago, a king penguin in the Edinburgh Zoo was knighted by Norway.

Let it be known that this is silly. And I appreciate the silliness.

So...what's been going on?

2008-08-15T06:44:00.000-07:00

I go back to work as a teacher on Tuesday, but students don't come back until the following Monday, so I have just a little more time before all hell breaks loose in my life. I've done some (read: very little) lesson planning over the summer and hope that the kids enjoy the stuff that I do have planned for them. I also got trained to teach AP World History this summer, which changed my ENTIRE outlook on teaching!! It was AWESOME!!!! and I got about $600-$700 worth of textbooks and primary resource books from that as well! :D It made me squeel with excitement and drool in general.

As for DCPS, who knows what is going on. The union and the district have been in contract negotiations for forever it seems and aren't getting anywhere because the superintendent/chancellor Rhee wants to get rid of seniority and tenure so that she can boot out the bad teachers and the union is digging in their heels. The proposed contract looks GREAT in my opinion though because it would put everyone on a probationary year and get rid of them if they aren't doing their jobs AND pays a LOT of money...like, 55000 for this coming school year, a lot of money. I'm rooting for it.

My school itself is undergoing a temporary move while the old building is knocked down and a new one built. So for the next few years (2 on paper, who knows how many in real life), we're going to be in a building that was an open-space school and has temporary walls. We've also got a new principal, who, in my very brief, one-email-exchange contact, seems like he knows generally what he's doing and might actually shape the place up. I'm hopeful. But because of all the changes with the move and the new administration (and oh, 10th grade teachers are now part of a team and we'll be actually collaborating, and oh, the school is now full-inclusion), it makes it hard to know what to expect and therefore, to plan. I know just enough to make me want to plan stuff, but not enough to know whether or not those plans will actually be used.

I'm an adult now?

2008-08-09T10:32:00.001-07:00

So, I'm an adult now right? If that is the case, then why do I feel like I'm still in high school? Or middle school? I'm making new friends and I have a new apartment and good roommates and things. But now, all I can think of doing with those new friends and apartment and roommates is having a sleepover and playing fort. I feel like I should be calling up people and asking them if they want to come over and play.

Why do we switch from calling it "playing" to "hanging out"? I mean, we pretty much do the same things now as when we were younger: make cookies (dinner), watch Disney movies (Doctor Who), go to the park (go out to bars), play house (run errands)...the list goes on.

So...anyone want to come over to my house to play?

Summer, part 1

2008-06-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

So far I have finished two books, watched the second season of Grey's Anatomy, hung out with DCTF peeps, eaten a turkey burger made by Dobbs, and read in the park.

I'm getting bored. Need to put myself on a serious schedule of fun, work, and study. Eeek! Too bad there is no library like the Reg here. I do love the Reg for fun, work, and study.

Oh and as of yesterday, I'm a redhead again.

End of the School Year...2 days later

2008-06-15T06:33:00.000-07:00

Permanent weekends. That is what I have!! Wheee!! Except for the grad classes still in swing, the packing to do, the papers to sort, and the lessons to plan. Which is a lot, but isn't, in the grand scheme.

After much angst and deliberation, Kabs and Mike and I have found a place in downtown Silver Spring. I hope that the lease and everything will be cleared in a week or so. :) Hurray! I'm seriously hoping that this doesn't explode and goes smoothly.

Laura and I saw The Incredible Hulk last night. HULK SMASH! hehehehe! good times. But the theater took away my leftovers from dinner, which is totally uncool in my opinion. Boo to them.

I'm going to spend today and tomorrow working on a paper due on Wednesday and mapping out my summer, when I want to have what done by, etc. Gonna keep up a good pace, I hope. :)

Here's to the first relaxing summer since I was 14!!!

(non-)Stressful Day

2008-06-11T17:37:00.000-07:00

You would think that with only one student out of 70-some, yesterday and today would have been ok, even relaxing. You would be wrong.

Imagine: 95 degree heat with no breeze. No purpose for being there as there is very little to do in the classroom since it has been packed up and brought home. No students to help or teach. Nothing. Sure, there is the internet. Sure, you could and do bring a book or a movie to watch. But, you feel that there is no reason to be there, nothing to do except swelter. This makes you grumpy.

A number of times the office makes an announcement that the book room will shortly be open so that you can return your books, one of the few things left to do. You wait. And wait. Finally, at 12:45, a final announcement: "Ms. E will be ready and open for business in 5 minutes." Dash about to beg, borrow and steal a cart. Deliver books.

Now it's the end of the school day, but you still have grad class. So you finish your paper and go to class after eating dinner. And there is a very uncomfortable discussion at the end of which you feel like you should just give up and move back to Chicago. You come home with groceries and an empty box for later packing, arms full. A roommate on the couch, the others absent.

Upstairs to your sequestered room to clean and try to repair the general dissatisfaction of the day.

Good damn'd luck.

Housing Search

2008-06-01T15:19:00.000-07:00

It is frustrating. I know what we are looking for and I know it is out there. Sadly, at this point (which, granted, might be a bit early), it doesn't seem to exist. In my head, I envision hardwood floors and sunny rooms within 5-10 minutes of a metro station. Sigh. I remain hopeful, however. I will keep looking. :P

A Bit of Me Dies

2008-05-24T15:38:00.000-07:00

One of my seniors was shot on Thursday evening at 6 pm, while he was just riding his bike around the neighborhood. He was wounded in his leg and arm. He is going to be fine.

His special ed coordinator told me yesterday just after lunch.

This young man is a teddy bear. He would never hurt a soul. To think that he got caught in the cross-fire of two neighborhoods fighting, and that he had survived this long to get just 3 weeks before graduation (a feat not easily attended in this neighborhood)...it makes me sick.

When I was told, I could feel a bit of me die, like there was nothing that I could ever do for these kids because they truly need a village and they don't have that. It felt like a traumatic kick in the gut. How can I help these students when their communities are so broken? I just want my students to be safe.

"We know what she did on her prom night."

2008-05-20T18:28:00.000-07:00

Prom is on Thursday.

I have a couple of comments/issues.

1) THURSDAY?! Since when is a SCHOOL NIGHT appropriate for a dance that runs until 1 am?!!!

2) Now, I can understand wanting to spend the day primping and getting ready for prom. But the day before? No. Especially since prom is on a SCHOOL NIGHT and you already know that you won't be coming to school the next day. So, already you've missed TWO days of school. And now you want to take the day before prom off to primp?! And you think that I'm going to be ok with this and give you an excused absence. No. NO.

My girls, one in particular, gave me a hard time about this today when I handed them the work packet for the rest of the school year (which, by the way, is surprisingly skinny to any normal person). "I'm not going to be here on Thursday. Or Friday. Or Wednesday." I asked why. Her response: "PROM!!! UH!" I said that Wednesday is the day before prom. Not the day of. "But you need to do your nails and get your hair done!"

No. This. Is. Where. I. Am. Drawing. The. Line. (this and many other places, but whatever).

The day before prom is not an excused absence. I don't care if your mother writes a note. It will STILL be an unexcused absence. Primping the day before prom is a BULLSHIT excuse for missing yet ANOTHER day of class. BULLSHIT.

Oh, and administrators!? Prom on a THURSDAY night is a horrible, shitty, terrible, no-good, very bad idea. Let's not give our seniors any more reasons to indulge in the already rampant (and totally bullshit, given that most don't do jack anyways) senioritis. Prom belongs on a Saturday. Period. The. END.

Welcome to Insanity

2008-05-16T05:13:00.000-07:00

I think that we've reached the point of no-return in the school year. I think that my attendance will continue to stay at this point: about 30-40% of each class roster. I think that students don't want to be there. I think that I'm tired. I think that I MIGHT be able to get through my unit on China. I think that every week is going to be as crazy and non-productive as this one.

This week was 4 days long for the students. We have Parent-Teacher conferences today. Out of those 4 days, we've had 3 days with fires during third period, effectively negating half of 3rd and all of 4th period. Yesterday, the school was placed on lockdown (no one in, no one out, all students and teachers in their classrooms with the doors locked) because of large fights in the cafeteria and some neighborhood fights, possibly involving guns.

All I want to do is finish my unit on China. I have 4 weeks to do it. I don't know if it is going to happen. I saw my 4th period ONCE this week!!! How are they supposed to learn when they are not there?!!

Please, send chocolate and hugs.

Visiting Chicago as an entry to self-reflection

2008-05-11T14:19:00.001-07:00

I flew into Chicago on Friday evening for a quick visit of the family.

Friday, Tim, Hannah and I celebrated the turning in of his BA at Jimmy's. It's weird that it is smoke free now. It looks so much cleaner! Jon joined us...such a pleasant surprise that he was in town!! I'm hoping I'll be able to get out to visit him in Deep Springs sometime. It sounds very peaceful, philosophical...very Jon. :)

Saturday, Lisa, Leo, Jon and I had brunch at the Med. Mmmmmmm...Mexicana shake! :) I took the train out to OP after brunch and Matt and the kids picked me up from the station to head to the zoo to meet up with Dave, Julie, and Alex. We all wandered around Brookfield, playing in the park, looking at bears. I bought Michael and Megumi a strawberry smoothie and brought them strawberries. :) Megumi remarked at one point: "Auntie Lizzie, I think I love you." I'll miss them while they are gone.

Megumi fell asleep on the car ride home, so we all went back to Matt and Michi's and ordered dinner. Gerry joined us. Matt helped me start my GURPS character (I have to finish that thing!!) and then Dave and Julie drove me and Gerry back down to HP.

I joined Tim and Hannah at the FOTA fashion show, then went over to Jimmy's to meet up with Lisa, Meredith, Rafal, and Jon.

I'm now at the airport...taking a later flight so that I can take advantage of the travel voucher they offered. Now I'll be able to come back for at least two more trips. :)

This has been a rather hard visit since I haven't been home for a while, because it was so short, and because I really feel as though I've lost a lot over the last year, without realizing it. Lost some memories of college, lost touch with people, lost some friendships, a relationship, some closeness with family members, lost my ability to think intellectually, lost more German and French and Latin, lost my optimism, lost Chicago.

I'm getting more and more excited for the summer when I can have some time and concentration to regain some of those things. As usual, I'm hoping that the coming school year will grant time, patience, opportunity, determination, etc. to fulfill all my fantasies. I'm excited to have best friends move closer, to make a complete curriculum, to start German again, to balance out my life again.

Shame

2008-04-27T19:30:00.000-07:00

Let it be known that I feel very embarrassed about last night.

In other news, today has been a complete waste. Except for the napping. :)

In still other news, there are only 7 more weeks of teaching left in my first year of teaching. Can we say 'crazy'? Yes, yes we can.

In still other, other news, I will be in Chicago from May 9-11. Yippee!

Question for teachers out there

2008-04-25T14:20:00.001-07:00

When is someone grown? Is it when they pay their own rent? When they stop acting like a fool? When are my students grown? They are in this weird limbo of being exposed to too much violence, poverty, and not motivating events. But those events make them think that they are grown, when they still act like children for so much of their time. How do they define grown? They want to be grown and have the freedoms that come along with that, but then they still except us to give them the liberties of a child and take advantage of that leniency. So…should I treat them as adults or children? Or, the alternative, how do I treat them as teenagers?

A WebQuest

2008-04-20T05:14:00.000-07:00

A WebQuest is an inquiry-based learning activity for students to use to explore a topic. It seems to result in a product that demonstrates mastery of that topic. However, of the WebQuests that I've seen, the best one is the following: Who Wants to be a Millionaire.
Sure, the layout may not be the best, but the idea behind it, or the idea that I got out of it, was that the students begin to recognize the value of education. It is a math lesson, to be sure, but the real-world application is very apparent. And who, who especially among the population that I teach, doesn't want to be a millionaire? This is a thought-provoking assignment. Evaluate, in cold, hard numbers, the value of your education.

Yeah, other WebQuests that I've seen have been interesting projects, but that seems to be all they are: projects. Projects plunked down on the web, could be ok in practice, but don't seem to have much connection to anything or are dressed up to be a fun, engaging activity that will capture students imaginations and minds. I feel like my students, if I gave them a WebQuest about The Great Gatsby or developing an art gallery , they would like it for about 5 minutes, and those 5 minutes would only be enjoyable because they would be on a computer. While some of these projects are favorably enhanced by putting them on the web (like the art gallery one, very useful for just looking at pieces of art and seeing what goes into a museum), most are just everyday projects that I can do in my classroom without the web. Some of them, I have done in my classroom, using 1 computer occasionally, but mostly encyclopedias...like this travel brochure one.

What is the POINT? Why should this be called a better, more engaging way to learn than the more traditional prompt: "Write a paper on the symbolism in The Great Gatsby" (which, if you look carefully, is in that WebQuest anyways)? I'm with Jann'l on this. Why can't we just give our students the assignments that white, suburban kids are given? Why does everything have to be fun and exciting? Why don't we teach students canon and things that they will be expected to know (whether or not those expectations are any good and should be in place is beside the point, for the moment) like how to write an English paper? Sure, they probably won't need to know how to write an English paper for their job, but in the professional world, that kind of experience is expected. And the skills that go along with knowing how to write an English paper (analyzing skills, coherent and structured writing, critical thinking, editing skills) are valuable anywhere, in any job.

Granted, I'm sure that there are white, suburban students getting the WebQuests as well (especially given the point that I make below), but why do them? Just give them the research project and freakin' call it a research project. Because that is what most of these WebQuests are. Don't give it a buzz name and make it sound different and new and exciting, because it isn't. Newsflash: Research projects are inquiry-based. WebQuests ask a student to research a topic based on a question and produce some sort of paper/presentation/report. That sounds awfully inquiry-based to me and awfully like a RESEARCH PROJECT. The only real difference seems to be is that the instructions and the rubric and the research is all posted on the web and the teacher has sanctioned which websites to use. THAT is a good way to teach students HOW to do research, what is a reputable source, how to cite, etc., but it is not new and improved that much and the task itself is often meaningless.

The other problem with WebQuests is that my school doesn't have the necessary equipment. Sure, later, if I move to another school, that could change. But I still feel like this is a relatively meaningless change in vocabulary for educators to make us sound like we are doing something new and trying to meet the needs of a younger generation, when in reality we're dumbing down material. Making an art gallery might be a fun, one day activity to begin to look at art, but let's move to critiquing the art, shall we?

Sure, the web is a great tool. And yes, research on the web needs to be taught, but the projects that these WebQuests are putting forth would be more meaningful, in my opinion, if they were not dressed up as something they are not. It's like a thirty-year old is dressing up as an eighteen-year old or vice-versa. No one is fooled, least of all our students.

So, let's stop pretending, shall we, and get back to the REAL, meaningful, thought-provoking assignments.

10 more weeks left

2008-04-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

I have ten more weeks to finish my first year of teaching. I've got so much to do and have to keep my sanity. I don't know how that's going to work because the administration seems to be so disorganized that they can't do anything.

And now I get to decide whether or not I'm going to teach summer school or not and if I'm going to move or not. It probably would be a good idea to decide that shit soon. I hope that Kabs and Mike come out soon and I can make this decision.

Boo on life decisions.

Sometimes I write good emails and then post them here

2008-02-25T06:03:00.000-08:00

The Washington City Paper published an article about my school. You can read it here. http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=34603

I sent this link to a bunch of family members and friends last night. Already I've gotten a number of emails saying how shocked they are and how they didn't realize my school was this bad, etc. I wrote a response to one of those emails (which I love because it makes me realized that people care and want to listen and help). It is a fairly long email...much longer than I normally write. But it gives a lot of details that some might find interesting and helpful in understanding why I get so frustrated in my job and also why I like it.

Yeah, actually my school is pretty good on the scale of DCPS. But yes, it has been very rough and tumble. There are many many days where I feel like it is a waste of my time to be there when so many of the kids don't want to be there, don't want to learn anything. It is hard to stay motivated. Especially on days when someone sets a fire and half the school leaves and then the administration doesn't tell anyone what is going on. What is not mentioned in the article is that, on that day, the day of the fire a couple weeks ago, after the students who were left were herded back inside, EVERYONE sat in the auditorium for about 40 minutes. Then the students were dismissed to finish lunch. Then they were herded back into the auditorium. The administration had 4th period teachers take attendance (which was a crazy task in itself) and then...we sat. The administration left. Did not tell teachers what was going on. We were left there to babysit about 150 kids in the auditorium until the end of the day with no instructions or any knowledge of what was going on. Even before that, when they had brought the kids into the auditorium the first time, the administration hadn't informed teachers of any plan. Dismissal to lunch was a surprise. Everything was a surprise. They're trying their best, but in the midst of trying to handle things they forget that they have the faculty who could help them and make some decisions. They don't tell us things. That is another really frustrating thing.

That being said, there are some good kids, and my school at least doesn't have quite the violence as other schools. I feel safe walking down the halls, which is saying a lot because there are definitely schools where that is not safe. The students at Woodson are mostly 'good' kids, mischievous and lazy mostly. A lot better than angry and violent. The lazy and unmotivated bits are the things that I just don't understand and hate. There are 835ish students enrolled at the school and I would say only about 600 show up on any given day. Rainy days, snowy day, Fridays...those are the worst attendance days. I have 29 kids enrolled in my first and fourth periods. In first period, I don't get above 18 students and most of those walk in 40 minutes late. And in 4th period I rarely have more than 12. And it's not like they are the same kids who come, day in, day out. Oh no, that would make my life simple. The kids rotate. So it is extra hard to get anything done because I'm not seeing the same kids everyday. I'm constantly having to go back and re-teach and individualize instruction, which makes it SUPER hard to move along and accomplish anything.

And the administration is really trying...they are just so overwhelmed that they can't really do as much as they might like. Any one crack down would get shouts of "well, you didn't do anything when such and such happened!" I like the people that I work with, but...something needs to happen. We need more dedicated staff. We need more security guards who don't act like they are the kids' friends. We need more collaboration between subjects and between teachers teaching the same subject.

I don't know...in general it is a huge mess.

And I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be there next year...when we are in a new location, waiting for the new school to be built. Attendance will probably get even worse. Sigh...

A back-post

2008-02-14T15:17:00.000-08:00

Written last Friday...

While having dinner with Rita tonight, I thought once more about how we could improve the educational system in America. While this might seem like it is an everyday topic for me, it isn’t. Maybe every other day. ☺

Yes, I do think about this frequently. And more often than not, I am stymied quickly. I can’t get past a few things: the apathy that seems to be so common in urban students today (for as much as I can guess about other populations, they still would be merely guesses), the dysfunction of the administration (both on the district and school level), and my never-answered question of “How and WHY the bleep did we get here?!”

The apathy I can take a stab at: Students face a difficult and unstable home life. In contrast, they see only the wealth that the media portrays for them—the ever-popular ball player from the ‘hood, the young model making it via the graces of Tyra, the movie star, the singer/songwriter, the rapper. While these role models can have a positive influence on the student’s life, it does not afford the student with a realistic portrayal of life. There is no middle ground—either you are fabulously wealthy and famous or you lead an insignificant life that is hard beyond belief. The middle ground, which could be represented to the student by the teachers and the school administration, is not glamorous enough to make an impression on them. They are defeated at every turn and haven’t been given enough skills to make lemon juice, let alone lemonade. They look at something and if it doesn’t take five seconds to complete, they throw their hands up. Or rather, cuss and shout and carry on until someone give them the answer or tells them that they’re off the hook and don’t have to do it.

The dysfunction of the administration, well, I have no clue about that one. I know that there are some people who are doing their jobs and doing them well, but there are others who are so burnt out and so ineffective and so…well, dumb, that I can’t fathom what is keeping them there. The district office seems to be getting its act together, but it is a slow process and very political. Who knows what goes on in the minds of certain of my own school’s administrative staff.

Finally, the never-answered question will (more than likely) remain never answered. None of explanations seem complete enough or seem to justify the results in any way. How could we as a people let our education system get so bad as to seem practically irretrievable? I like to think that people are basically good, but to let the future of the world and our progeny, our blood, the people who will be taking care of us when we are old…that seems horrible beyond belief.

And now for your (not so) regular update

2008-02-02T11:55:00.000-08:00

On Monday, I arrived at the school to be directed into the auditorium. This is unusual. Usually teachers sign in at the plaza level main office and immediately head to their rooms to hide, plan, grade, and hide. However, that day--somethingwas going on. Students were directed into the cafeteria and teachers and staff into the auditorium.

Our principal informed us that over the weekend on of the water pipes on the fourth floor had broken and flooded the rooms below. BUT fortunately, maintainance and DCPS people had worked 'round the clock to get the school ready for students. The air quality was being checked as we sat there.

One of the teachers asked "What's happened to the library?" (which has never been opened and is on the first floor. To which our fabulous principal responded "The library is down." My immediate thought: "The library was never UP!"

The meeting continued: we were in the school for the moment, but could be moved at any point if they find that the building was not safe. Ah, but where to go!? The school that we moved into last year when this happened was no longer available. There is no empty building close enough that is appropriate. So, I think because of that reason, we have not moved. But who knows if that will change! Could be as soon as Monday. Guess I'll find out when I find out.

I decided to take Friday off to rest and catch up on some grading that I have, but instead went to Ikea yesterday. Then I went up to Jesse's and helped him clean up the house a little. And then I played Zelda for quite some time.

I wrote a proposal for Donorschoose.org for project funding for my classroom last Sunday and it's been funded already. So my students will get about $400 worth of books on CD soon! Whee! Thanks to everyone who supported it!

And now, for your regularly scheduled nap.

written at 7 am on January 28

2008-01-28T20:31:00.000-08:00

I just had an epiphany. I am on the MARC train, the Baltimore-DC equivalent of the Metra, riding from Jesse's house to work. The train ride is smooth, just like the Metra, and is about the distance from Dave and Julie's to Union Station.

Anyways, my epiphany. I'm writing up an example travel brochure for my World Geography students to model their own travel brochures on. It's actually quite an interesting class. I'm basing it on the textbook, while really trying to stay out of the textbook, and the textbook emphasizes 5 "themes of geography": location of a place, character of a place, human interaction with a place, movement around a place, and the region that the place is in. So the travel brochure has to have something for all 5 themes of geography in it. And my example brochure is about, what else, Hyde Park. It is one of the two places that I am familiar enough with and like enough to write about.

So in the process of writing, I was checking to make sure that I was covering all 5 themes of geography, and thinking "oh, this has to do with movement, and human interaction…location…etc." I was writing about the grow of Hyde Park, how it was a commuter community and then the World's Fair made it a tourist attraction, and finally how the University and its community has really shaped Hyde Park.

What I realized was that in many ways, especially if defined by the 5 themes of geography, I am a geographer, as well as a social historian. I am truly fascinated with the movement of humans from rural to urban communities and their motivations for moving. Which really means that I need to take statistics classes and demography classes, as well as urban development, agrarian and hinterland development/revolution classes.

So now I have a better idea, I think, of the type programs that I'll need to look for.

Or maybe this is all just b.s.

um. WRONG!

2008-01-18T14:31:00.001-08:00

so the one of the other history teachers on the floor put up a picture (THE picture) of Harriet Tubman and labeled it Sojourner Truth.

and he teaches African-American History.

This makes me infuriated. And sad. But mostly infuriated.

In which I rejoice for Winter Break

2007-12-19T15:21:00.000-08:00

So, I didn't keep my promise of writing more often and updating. Oh well. The best laid plans and all.

A couple of funny things have happened:
1) One of my students does not believe that the sun is a star. "NO! It's a SUN!" I also get the impression that he did not know the earth was not the center of the universe until I drew the galaxy for him. It was laughably funny the conversation that I had with him, but fortunately I did not succumb to that urge. He didn't believe me until I got out an encyclopedia and even now I'm not sure he is convinced.
2) One social studies teacher in the building thought that Britain didn't have a democracy. "But, they have a monarchy. They have a queen!"
3) “Babies are in there for nine months, right? Why?...Man, if babies were in there for like 3 months, us n*****s would be f’ed up!”
4) One student asked me today if he would have some make-up work. This was the 6th time all quarter I had seen this child and the most that I've ever heard him talk. Make-up work!!! Bwahahahahaha! I asked him gently and without laughing why he thought that I should care about him passing the class when his actions told me that he didn't care. I think he got the point.

I'm being formally evaluated tomorrow by my principal. Blech.

I cannot WAIT for break to begin after school on Friday. I really just want to relax and not think about children for a while. I do want to lesson plan though, which is odd. I don't think that I'll have much time to, though, because I'll be in Chicago from the 23rd to the 31st and then I have training on the 2nd-4th. Booo. It's really too bad. I need space to work and spread out and time to do those things. I'm not taking any work with me to Chicago, so I really can't do anything or much there.

I will be hanging out with Lisa for a couple days and perhaps Mary if I'm lucky. Tim and Lisa and a couple other people and I are going to my favorite restaurant on the 30th. Wheeeeee! I get to babysit Alex on the 26th, which will be fun. And I'll be able to sleep as much as I gosh-darned well please.

Laura and I ordered a bit of dinner tonight--cheap Mickey-like burgers--and watched Sense and Sensibility. I haven't watched that movie in a long time! It is so good. And I like hanging out with Laura.

Time for calling parents.

Great Falls

2007-11-14T17:48:00.000-08:00

About 9 days ago, Jesse and I took a short hiking trip in Great Falls National Park. The falls are quite something to see, as well as the rock formations. I took some pictures on our trip.

Chilly day

2007-10-29T17:53:00.000-07:00

It was cold enough outside to almost make me wish that I had taken my winter coat with me. Plus, my air-conditioning in the classroom was on. But I didn't realize it was on until Tracy accused me of trying to freeze them. She then turned off the air-conditioner.

At dinner with Anne, we complained about our respective jobs and ate some really tasty food. I do love fish.

I have some lesson planning to do and I need to complete the AU homework, as well as my own grading.

Sigh.

Green Festival

2007-10-06T19:14:00.001-07:00

I am now inspired to be Green. As the button that I got today says: "Kermit was Wrong." Green Fest was pretty sweet. Tasty food, free stuff, awesome clothes. Everyone should use solar power. And I need to do yoga more. And maybe I'll finally give up chicken and become vegetarian. Maybe.

Yay for long weekends.

Also, I got a classroom!!!

Wow! I'm back!

2007-10-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

So....Yeah.

Hi.

Sorry. I've been (predictably) super busy. School is amazing. Frustrating. Challenging. Blah. Blah. Blah.

I'm teaching 10th grade World History, for those who didn't know/forgot/etc. I don't have a classroom so I float from room to room, floor to floor, using classrooms while other teachers have their planning periods. It's...interesting. Often a problem, sometimes a blessing (don't have an entire room to clean up/take care of). I'm 3 times more likely to lose things than stationary teachers, have to be 3 times as organized, 3 times as patient and understanding...the list goes on. The number of challenges and frustrations are too great to mention and the fun and inspiring things seem to be too few. So here are some of the few and the many:

I've been told twice that I am a fun teacher and that someone learned something today.
One of my girls told me that I should get my eyebrows shaped. Apparently, I'm not hideous, but would be much prettier if my eyebrows were better.
3 pages of reading is too much homework.
"Pysch, naw."
Any student: "Ms. S! Ms. S ! Ms. S! Ms. S! Ms. S! Ms. S! Ms. S! Ms. S! Ms. S! Ms. S! Ms. S! Ms. S!" Me: "_____, do you see me talking with ______? I'll be over as soon as I'm done."
"Dang, Ms. S is serious today."
"Can I have a dollar?"
Me: "I have no idea what I'm going to be doing today. Eeeek! .........ooo! Shiny activity!"
"Why do you think that? .....Why do you think that? ......Why? ......What about X? ....Exactly! Can you repeat that so that everyone can hear?" Student: "Why are you always asking us questions?"

And, I've run out of things to say. So, I will do my utmost to post more often so that I don't forget things.

Oh, and now I have retirement savings. w00t.

Almost time!

2007-08-24T12:14:00.000-07:00

School begins on Monday! I'm really excited, but my overwhelming feeling is one of confusion. Since I don't have a classroom of my own, I have to wait for the teachers who I'm sharing with to put together their rooms before I can go in and put somethings together. I have to put a lot together in the next two days and I don't know how I'm going to be able to do it all. I feel like I might have to go into the school on the first day and fly by the seat of my pants. I really don't want to do that.

The PD conference yesterday and today was only mildly helpful. I really wanted it to go better and be more useful, but what can ya do?

More later I guess.

Chicago and Philly

2007-08-13T07:17:00.000-07:00

SO I went to Chicago and Philly this past two weeks. They were awesome! I think Philly is an amazing city. Jesse and I went to all kinds of nifty places--the Eastern State Penitentiary, the Philly Art Museum, to look at Boat House Row, etc. Here are some pictures of my adventures.

Lazy Wednesday

2007-08-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

I really don't feel like doing anything today. I'm supposed to have drinks with Lisa and JC, but that requires so much movement. I also want to go to the gym, but again, there is movement involved. At least I got my student loan troubles squared away. Yay for educational deferment!

I had a nightmare last night for the first time in a long time. It was weird to wake up at 3 am, freaked out and terrified.

I should work out and then go to lunch with Alex. Yes. That is what I will do.

Oh dear, have I been remiss

2007-08-02T10:53:00.000-07:00

My apologies, family, for not updating! My training kept me very busy. I taught 11th grade U. S. history at Dunbar Senior High School and had a pretty good class. They sometimes got really into the lessons and other times...it was hard for us to get them to say hello. But all in all, they were really good and I have high hopes for them. I co-taught the class with a girl, Tiffany, and became pretty good friends with her. We planned a lot of the lessons together and were very willing to step in when the other faltered.

On weekends, I planned lessons, explored DC a little, and recovered from the week. The house that I was living in was in very preppy Georgetown and was a cute row-house. I had a small room to myself and shared the back porch with the girl who was in the room next door. I didn't spend much time with the people in the house, though because we were all on totally different schedules.

On Saturday the 28th, I moved into my new, permanent home with Lauren and three people that she met through Teach for America. The entire interior of the house is a pale yellow and it's all been recently redone. This is my room:

The dining room and living room are pretty huge:

We have a cute little office and we have an AMAZING kitchen.

So yeah, that's were I'm living. I'm back in Chicago now for about a week and then back to DC. I hope that I'll have a school by that time and then I can start talking about school supplies, etc.

Rock on!

New Haircut

2007-06-22T19:36:00.000-07:00

New haircut for the new professional me. Wheee!

...Yeah, I can't get them right-side up. Booo.

Yes yes

2007-06-19T06:23:00.000-07:00

I have been remarkably remiss in not posting sooner, but I've been busy (and yet curiously bored). And due to my great fear of looking like a tourist, I have taken no pictures. But! I got a fabulous gift of a new fancy schmancy camera from Katy, Rick, John W., Chris, Chen and David B yesterday and they have charged me with taking pictures, so that I will do. I promise!

In other news, Georgetown is pretty, preppy, and picturesque. On one hand, it makes me sick with its prettiness, but on the other, it lures me into false and lulling thoughts of how this is the location of my childhood dreams. Thus, I am torn. Mostly, though, my thoughts are occupied with how expensive rent is! Boooo on expensive rent!

But since Laura and Mairin are now here, life is looking up. I almost feel like I have a social life. Laura and I saw Ocean's 13 and went to a nifty, very-DC place for dinner (Ben's Chili Bowl...mmmm...cheap eats are good, especially when they are chili!) on Saturday. And I found a good coffeeshop for reading and chilling on Sunday. And Monday I got fingerprinted with Mairin and Laura at the DCPS offices. I also finally bought a guidebook, only to find when I got home that Meredith (Thanks! You rock!) had sent me one. So now I have two! Hurray! Double the usefulness!

And...I have no idea what I'm going to do today, but I'm sure it will be full of exciting errand-fun!

My Very Last Finals Week

2007-05-27T13:08:00.000-07:00

Actually, let's make that my very last finals 4 days during 10th week, since I don't have finals during finals week. After Thursday at 5 pm, I will be done with my education at the University of Chicago forever. And in between now and then I have to write 4 papers and 3 response papers. Argh! Oh well. I know that it's going to get done.

My plans for after being done is sleeping, packing, doing some fun things, and graduating. After graduation on June 9, I'm going to MI for a couple days to get my teeth checked out and then I'm taking a plane on June 15 to Washington DC to start my life as a teacher. How scary is that? Pretty scary. I'm going to be subletting a ridiculously expensive apartment in Georgetown until the beginning of August when Lauren is moving to DC (also to be a teacher). So...wow.

At some point, I'll put up pictures of life in my last weeks of Chicago and first weeks of DC.

Wah!

Drunk on Life

2007-04-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

I'm done. The BA is finished, handed in, nothing is to be done about it. What it is, it is. I will graduate, have a job, and be happy. Hurrah!

Resolution

2007-04-01T22:19:00.000-07:00

So, I wanted to be done with my BA on Saturday. Then I wanted it to be done on Sunday. Now, I am resolved that it will be done tomorrow. I have to get it done. I need to edit it! And I need others to edit it! And I'm convinced my thesis is wrong and I will not pass!

Boo, I'm too tired to panic.

Waving the White Flag

2007-03-28T16:38:00.000-07:00

Dear BA thesis,

I surrender. Really. Please. Have mercy on me and get the torture over with! I can't handle it anymore! If you don't finish this war on my soul soon, I will die! Therefore, please finish the Battle of the Research. The Seige on Section VIII is taking its toll on the brain cells devoted to the resistance movement. As for the Pincher Movement on the Conclusion, well...let's just say that things are not looking so hot. Please, magically, be over. I'm waving the white flag.

Sincerely,
Migrained History Student

Panic at the Library

2007-03-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

In honor of Geoff: Introducing our uber-hipster band, Panic at the Library!

And that is exactly what I'm doing right now, panicking at the library.

So buxum

2007-03-26T20:19:00.000-07:00

I went to lunch with Lisa, Lauren, and Rafal and then to "Dictatorships, Democratization, and Human Rights in Latin America" with Meredith and Christa. A pleasant surprise, the class let out a bit early, so Christa and I headed over to Cobb for a chat while we waited for class, etc. "Milton" with Josh and JC was as delightful as I expected. I think that I will be in the Mainly Mondays group for responses simply because I'd rather write a response this coming Sunday than next Tuesday when I will, more likely, be freaking out about my thesis. My day then took me to the Sem Coop to buy my books and then to the Pub and Doc. I ended the day at the Reg, reading about English custom, fashion, and tea. I think I'm getting sick.

Firsts and Lasts

2007-03-26T08:25:00.000-07:00

First day of my last quarter. Went to the gym already. Have two classes...update later!

Red Eyes

2007-03-23T16:26:00.000-07:00

Jane is downstairs learning to play "Imagine" on the piano and Hudson is restlessly walking around while I type this. My eyes are a bit itchy and red from the cats and the dog, but I'm surviving. The tough thing is that I'm still very very slowly working on my BA. As Jane and I have talked about this week, we just don't wanna. It's gotten to the point that we really don't care about working on it--we're still interested, but we don't want to put forth the effort to complete it. The next two weeks will be very very interesting. Probably will be spending all my time that I'm not sleeping in the Reg, trying unsuccessfully to write. I never seem to be able to get that far writing-wise there, but I also get somewhat distracted at home by people. At least in the Reg there is controlled silence, for the most part.

Since it is now 6:30, my BA is due in slightly less than two weeks: 13 days and 17.5 hours to be exact. Let's hope I get it done.

In the early morning sun

2007-03-17T06:11:00.000-07:00

with a water bottle in my hand
and an aching in my heart
and a pocket full of keys

I'm house-sitting again with kittens Bob and Henry and dog Hudson. I (with the help of Hudson) broke a wine glass last night and I feel pretty rotten about that. Hopefully they will know the make, etc. and I can buy a new one for them. I was so hopeful that this break would not have any mishaps (like the locking myself out of the house) like last time, but then I go and break a glass. Boo on me.

Also, the quarter is over. Time to buckle down and work on my BA and take the GREs and not die.

Happy Spring Break, everyone!

Wah!

2007-02-13T07:17:00.000-08:00

It's a blizzard! Woah woah!

Not going to classes today!

In which I list things that need to be done

2007-02-12T15:30:00.000-08:00

So....

Paper for RVC (Roman Visual Culture)
Wordsworth response
Reading for RVC
Go through the 18th century diaries
Read Brighthelmston Directory
Write something for my BA
Write more
Write some more
Die of lack of food and sleep

Gaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh

Gettin' around

2007-02-08T14:52:00.000-08:00

As I sit in the Reg with my faithful study buddies, Jane and Lisa, I listen to The Beach Boys. The cheerfulness rather helps in the studying that needs to be done, but I still get distracted with things like Blogger. While I want to update people like parents and brothers and aunts and uncles on my goings-on, the amount of work to be done continues to pile up. BA research, BA writing, catching up on reading for Neil's class, catching up on reading for Prof Mayer, writing the paper for Prof Mayer, preparing for the interview on Saturday, and of course, the all important sleep. Perhaps another stirring chorus of "I Get Around" will set me back on track.

Problems with weather and cranberries

2007-01-15T08:04:00.000-08:00

I couldn't sleep last night so I watched more of 'My Name is Earl" (by all accounts, a hilarious show) and after waking up early, I am watching some more while planning an expensive and potentially worthless trip to DC to go to an interview. Kabara and Mike are doing laundry and I'm hoping that we can run to the store to get cranberries (if we still want/need them) and Alex's Christmas gift. I still have to read Wordsworth today and the BA intros and an article for Roman Visual Culture, but those shouldn't be too hard. The only real problem is the lack of sleep. I've gotten used to the whole 8-9 hours thing and 4-5 isn't really agreeing with me. Maybe I'll take a nap.

Also, driving back to Chicago will be a huge pain because of the weather. Boooooo. Maybe I can convince Kabs to not do it till tomorrow if the weather is going to be better. If not, then we'll go today.

Another late night post

2007-01-12T23:16:00.000-08:00

This time, I'm up watching tv and writing the final paragraph to the introduction to my thesis. On one hand, it feels very good to get something down on paper and know that this is a good start (and I really do feel that it is a good start...except for the whole "no thesis" thing), but on the other, it is making it very clear to me that I have a lot of work ahead of me, that I need to do a lot of research still, and that I am a very very very slow writer. I'm hoping that I will be able to finish it very shortly and go to bed, as I know that I have to be up very early tomorrow for dress shopping.

Poor Kabara had a really bad day today. I'm hoping that the dress shopping will go well and cheer her up. I really would like to choose a dress tomorrow, but I don't think that that will happen, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up. Maybe we will be able to narrow it down to two-four dresses though and then the other bridesmaids can try them on at their leisure.

Today (or rather, yesterday) did make me realize though that I've been too harsh on certain people just because I don't see them anymore. I hope that I can correct that, and try to remember the good times we had, rather than the things that annoy me now. I don't want to make things more awkward for Kabara and I want her to feel like she can talk to me without worrying about who I'm angry at/not getting along with.

And now, I hope, to magically come up with a thesis.

In this New Year...

2007-01-02T12:04:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow classes begin and I haven't done near enough work on my BA for the break. Guess that will have to be done at some point.

On the up side, I had a fairly nice "ringing in the New Year." Tim, Christa, and Lauren came over and had a fancy dinner (too many things to mention) and then JC, Jacob, and I went to Hannah's black tie New Year's Party and then over to Lauren and Rafal's to play Kings and Scrabble. I am sad that Lauren and I didn't win ('brite' is not a word!). Yesterday I went over to Dave and Julie's and we played Cities and Knights and Clue...and watched Monk until the cable decided to die. :) It was fun, except for the me being sick bit.

And of course, today has been full of procrastination techniques: washing floors, reorganizing shelves and closets and the stuff on the refridgerator, and trying not to think about all the BA work to be done and that classes are starting tomorrow.

This weekend, I go to a bridal expo. In Indianapolis.

An Occasional Poem: Finals

2006-12-05T12:58:00.000-08:00

One more final left, due tomorrow at 7.
Once done, I will be in heaven.
Oh to be done with finals! My heart would leap!
And then I would drift off to the land of sleep
For one hundred and one hours of time
And regain all the energy I've lost.

Another Saturday Night...

2006-11-18T08:01:00.000-08:00

Well, actually it is still daytime. And I am doing what I should do more often on Saturdays. Work. I should be doing this kind of thing every Saturday. Wake up. Pull some books and my computer onto my bed and start writing. My desk is uncomfortable to work at (too high and the silly slanted floor makes my chair roll all over the place) and on my bed, with my laptop on my lap, my wrists are at the perfect position. Yay for wrists not hurting. I really do think that I'm beginnning to show signs of carpel tunnel...my right wrist and forearm, especially. I had to wear my braces all of Friday. And I should put them on again...but they are on my shelf and I don't want to move.

Late Nights with Meredith

2006-11-01T22:13:00.000-08:00

I'm over at Meredith's right now. And theoretically, I should be in bed, but am instead writing a response for Bio about the endocrine treatment of transsexuals. What I love about these evenings, is that Meredith and Rafal say whatever comes into their heads and don't mind if I get goofy too. Yay for goofy!

At 5:51 am

2006-10-31T03:51:00.000-08:00

On Halloween, things that are normal include: dressing up, getting candy, eating candy, running wildly through your neighborhood with friends, perhaps a game of Cops and Robbers or some such. Normal things do not include writing a paper (especially at this early hour). The rest of my day promises to continue in the "not-your-normal-Halloween" vein with a voice lesson, early music workshop, work, and a committee meeting. If I have my druthers, I would be sleeping until much later than now, dressing up (in some costume that I will regret when I see the photos), getting and eating candy, and running wildly through my neighborhood with friends. Ah well. We all have to grow up sometime...I just wish that it weren't today!

Happy Halloween!

Many Baked and Tasty Things

2006-10-29T21:24:00.000-08:00

Today was surprisingly productive. I got up early (woke up at 6:45 and, thanks to day light savings time, got to sleep until 7:45, but my body felt like it was 8:45...Hurray for tricking my body!) and JC and I ventured off to the gym for a hour and a half of running, lifting and generally "getting huge." JC and I met up with Mom and Dad for the Dean's Brunch (I've certaintly enjoyed this Family Weekend and the mooching of food ('though, I supposed it isn't technically mooching since I was working and I was told to eat the food) and other things) (also--yummmm...omelets!). G and A joined us at the end of the brunch. Then Mom and Dad drove me and JC up to Chicago and Damen to a cafe so that we could eat vegan food, play at being hipsters and study. We each had very tasty bagels with pesto and tomato, as well as some excellent coffee. And we decided that these trips should happen more frequently. Upon getting home, we found that Charlotte had made cookies (actually, we knew that because of a call from her while at the cafe: "Lizzie, we don't have salted butter...can I use unsalted? How much is a cup of butter? When they say softened butter, should I put it in the microwave?") and decided to make dinner, watch the Simpsons and make a pie. Apple pie. And I've done a fair bit of the reading that I need to do for this paper on Tuesday, but not much of anything else.

Also, why do I always post about the food that I've eaten or made? Why not about cool things like Rita? Darn you Rita for having a better blog!

What Is To Be Done?

2006-10-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

You know, I don't really mind the work. What I mind is that the nawing feeling that I'm forgetting something, that I haven't done enough. I mind that I don't get enough sleep. I mind that my social life is slowing down. I mind that I worry about next year. I mind...too much.

In other news, I have the first portion of my BA thesis due tomorrow, a short bibliography. I also have an outline for my Thucydides paper due on Thursday. And I really should start work on my North Africa Roman Empire trade paper that is due on Halloween. Who has a paper due on Halloween?! Other things to do include a lot of reading of Thucydides, lots of reading about North Africa (which I likely won't do), aaannnnddd...maybe some bio research? Oh and I need to finish the DVD for David (which is causing problems...stupid DVD Studio Pro) and to make a lesson plan for my interview with Teach for America (which for those who don't know, I really want that job). Ok. Maybe I should go to work.

Beginnings

2006-10-18T11:58:00.000-07:00

I'm starting (again) on my BA thesis work. And it is daunting. I don't really know how to revise my proposal, I don't know what I should be reading at this point, I don't know much. All I know is that I need to keep working. Eek.

Hm.

2006-10-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

Well, then. So, this weekend was vaguely busy. I completely cleaned my room and am giving away a lot of stuff that I no longer need/use/want. I set up my desktop and now have nicer sound! (Whoo!) I saw "The Departed" on Friday evening, late, with Rafal, Meredith, Charlotte, JC and Shraddha. GO SEE IT! It is fabulous! Gonwa and Alex's birthday party was on Saturday, but I was so tired that I left early and went to bed. Made crepes for brunch with Rafal, JC, and Meredith on Sunday morning, then went downtown, did my reading for Monday in Grant Park and then went to the International Film Festival with Nick. Home relatively early (9 pm) for chatting with people online, reading and bed. Good times.

Also, I need the Hanson book! Please get here soon!

Offense Taken

2006-09-29T21:58:00.000-07:00

Those who think that they know who and what they are talking about need to be quiet. I do not appreciate the sentiments of sympathy and understanding. She would not have appreciated it, either. More than likely, she would have laughed in your face.

It's a bit chilly out.

2006-09-20T08:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was cold. I wore a [one of my three, thanks Mom and Dad] raincoat because I thought that it was going to rain, but it only drizzled later in the day. After a good dinner with g and a and SDs, I ran around to see my OLs at their meetings. Kacey, Mitcho, and Lisa drove past me on the way home from Cobb, so I hopped on the golf cart and drove around the campus with them. It was cold.

They dropped me off a couple of blocks away from my house and I made cocoa for the SDs on cold duty (well, really popcorn duty) at the Movie on the Quad (High Fidelity. Again.) I brought my sleeping bag and a couple of blankets, but even with those it was too cold for me to stay for the entire movie. I crashed almost immediately upon entering the house.

Yesterday, JC and I also painted our kitchen. It is yellow.

2006-09-18T13:26:00.000-07:00

I think that the concept of Gmaul.com is funny. Maybe I should do something with that idea.

Lite Bright's Big Comeback.

2006-09-17T05:16:00.000-07:00

This is amusing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MHb6_35XJM

History Repeating

2006-09-08T05:02:00.000-07:00

We're doing the ropes course again. Whoo!

This time, no panic attack.

Some Ideas Patented in 1909

2006-08-18T12:14:00.000-07:00

-a process of making hollow candy articles
-a design for a handle of a fork or spoon that looks like a rat
-a 'vacuum governor'
-a 'transmitting aparatus'
-an automatic sprinkler
-an automatic dental hammer
-a confectionary holder
-a fish plate
-a pie and biscuit dough mixer

sesame water crackers

2006-08-14T16:32:00.000-07:00

In our pantry, I discovered a few weeks ago a delightful snack. Sesame Water Crackers. They were given to JC and Charlotte by some very nice person. There are 3 boxes left. And thank goodness for that, because otherwise, I would have a hard time eating my Boursin cheese. Wheat Thins are just not the right flavor for soft garlic and herb-y goodness. But now, I have Sesame Water Crackers that have just the right amount of crunch and flavor to compliment my cheese. Delicious.

Epilogue:

sesame water
crackers crunch in my mouth
topped with garlic cheese

The Zoo

2006-08-13T17:16:00.000-07:00

Today I saw some chimpanzees mating. And saw a white-cheeked gibbon pee through the bars of his cage. Another primate could not figure out how to take off a ball that was stuck on a stick.

Ah, the zoo.

Gorgeous Weather

2006-08-12T22:17:00.000-07:00

After going to bed at 4 am, I woke up at 9:30. I can't seem to sleep in late, no matter how much I may want to. I went to the gym and then straight to UCSMP. I finally finished up putting the clips into the new database and put in a video to copy. I think that I'm going to go back there for a bit tomorrow and tie up some stuff. Maybe in the evening. And if not tomorrow evening, then Monday morning. I'm going to be trying to pick up my pace on things...not just UCSMP, but my BA as well. I need to be doing reading.

I made som hard boiled eggs while talking to mom. And I was supposed to go to Oak Park for Tom and Reba's barbeque, but instead decided to have a breakdown over lunch with Alex. We ate at the Med. He ate barbeque chicken and I consumed the tuna steak sandwich. After devouring a brownie sundae, we decided that it would be a shame to waste the beautiful weather and so we took a three hour nap at Alex's. Jaci came over and we watched "Undeclared" and "Freaks and Geeks." I walked home. I feed the cats. They are extraoridinarily friendly when they are hungry.

Despite the lateness of the hour, I think that I will read. I want to finish "Reading Lolita in Tehran." Everyone should read some Fitzgerald, Salinger, James and then this book.

Frustration

2006-08-12T01:14:00.000-07:00

I'm so bloody tired! And frustrated! I can't concentrate!