CNN You Tube debate

I was unaware of the debate yesterday. Since I haven't been on You Tube in a while and CNN is not my preferred news channel, it sort of makes sense. I did, however, see an article about it on AOL of all places. Fortunately, CNN is a cable/satellite channel which means reruns.

CNN is treating this thing like MTV treats all of their awards shows—there has been much dialogue, amongst their anchors and pundits, which has spawned from this. I only watched the post dialogue coverage because I was interested in seeing how they rated the different candidates.

One thing that they all keep saying is that it was such a great format and that it could be the wave of the future. Really?

I thought it was really cool that people were able to submit their questions via You Tube, but really, it was just another debate. It didn’t change my mind. They were all still up their in monkey suits and Hillary in her pink coat trying to appear “more female.”

They know better than us, what’s going on. They know what to say to try to convince people to gain their vote. My callousness is sort of surprising. Perhaps it has something to so with the fact that I watched Sicko recently.

I had a lot of hope that this upcoming election would bring the change that the country needs. However, I don’t know that anymore. Yeah, the question format was innovative, but is this going to make people who wouldn’t normally vote go out and vote?

Summer Soundtrack and Books

Earlier this summer, Cindylu posed an important question, “What songs will be playing on your summer soundtrack?” Originally, I had stated that the summer had just begun and there was still time to choose. My summer is almost over, and my summer soundtrack has remained the same.

I don’t think I’ve really added anything new to my music collection. In fact, the things that I have added aren’t anything new, but rather old school songs that allow me to reminisce about the past.

Sometimes I worry when this happens. I start thinking I’m getting old. Having turned 27 this summer and witnessing the invasion of the canas, it became a real worry. I tried listening to the radio to get some good ideas, pero tocan lo mismo all of the time. And music shows on TV drive me nuts. The ADD (I self diagnosed) kicks in y ya estuvo, I start flipping through the milieu of channels we currently have.

I also tried listening to the music they play at Barnes and Noble when I’m there finishing projects, but I get annoyed by all the, “Oh my God! Let’s get some coffee!” from the teenagers trying to be hip and the conversations from the loud asses that congregate there thinking that by being around books will automatically make them smarter.

Maybe this isn’t the summer of music. At least it’s been the summer of movies, writing, and books.

Speaking of which, I wanted to comment on a couple books I’ve read recently. The first is The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Even if you don’t have kids, you will enjoy this book. The format of the book is awesome. It’s a huge book, maybe 500 pgs, but a lot of it is pictures. Anyway, the story is that Hugo’s dad finds this machine; it’s the bust of a man and can write a message. It’s busted and the dad is trying to fix it, but he ends up dying and Hugo ends up living in the train station in Paris. So then, Hugo continues to try fixing this machine and ends up making a couple of friends along the way. I swear the story isn’t so cheesy, but I’m afraid to give away the story. It’s so well done.

I also read an upcoming APP title, Chicken Foot Farm (no linky link yet) by Anne Estevis author of Down Garrapata Road. It’s a sort of coming of age story about Alejandro and the farm where he grew up. The stories are so cute, not at all maudlin by any means. She also doesn’t pigeon hole the story to Tejas. I can’t wait to get a copy of this to share with my students. I don’t know if it’s going to be a Piñata book, but it’s safe for middle schoolers and above.

The other book I want to comment on is Fun Home. I found a review for this book in one of Dan the Man’s comic book geek magazines. It’s by Alexis Bechdel who illustrates and writes Dykes to Watch out For. The novel is a graphic memoir about her coming out and the death of her father. It’s a really quick read, tons of allusions, and I love the ending. It’s a little emotional, but so well done. But my favorite thing about the book is the humor. The descriptions of her dad are way funny, but the funniest thing was reading and seeing illustrations about her OCD.

Anyway, on queue I have Dante’s Ballad, which was done in Spanish first. I'll most likely get started on this tomorrow in hopes of getting it done by Monday. I also have a couple of school books I need to finish reading. Maybe Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile this Sunday will put me in the mood for The Westing Game.

Pranks

Last night was a bad night for me. I stayed up until this morning. I believe I finally made myself go to sleep at 5 AM. All day, I’ve been dragging. I knew a nap would really help, if only I could make myself take a nap. I was flipping through channels trying to find something entertaining yet mind numbing enough to make me fall asleep. On MTV, there was some show that talked about pranks kids did in high school. I was sucked in to this show. I believe I saw two episodes, and at the end of it, I was fuming.

In one, this group of guys and a girl that plotted to shut down the school for a day. One of their friends’ mom, who worked at the school, handed over her keys to them so they could get inside to make phone calls and even game them the secret password needed to cancel school. They got busted and as a punishment, their mothers were to go to school with them. Two of the mothers ended up in the same class. They began talking during instruction and thought it was funny that they’d upset the teacher. They all thought it was a huge joke and that their kids had pulled off a great prank.

Then, there was another group of kids that took over the senior and faculty parking lot. They forced the faculty to park in the junior parking lot. When the pulled up to the group of kids (apparently, they’d gotten the entire Senior class to participate), they would jump on their cars, bang on their windows, squirt water at them with water guns, and tell them to go away. Only after school had started did the district police show up.

Being on the other end of this, it really upset me. It baffles me that parents and society wants to place all this responsibility on teachers and then allow behavior like this. These kids were proud of what they had done. I understand where they’re coming from, but this isn’t anything to be proud about.

I know that if I had pulled some kind of prank like this, my mom would have skinned me alive. I would have been grounded, and my school would have probably pressed charges.

Movies

One of the coolest things this summer for me is that I've actually had time to watch movies. Normally, Dan the Man and I watch a movie a week, but having extra time off allows us to watch more, plus, it’s been raining tons so fishing, going to the beach, swimming, or taking a drive isn’t much fun.

Here is a list of what we’ve seen so far in no particular order:

Hard Candy-this was a really interesting film. It’s about an internet predator.
Quinceañera-I thought this was a little cheesy but kind of cool. A young girl is planning on celebrating her quince, but winds up pregnant. I love the character of the older uncle.
Alpha Dog-I saw the trailer for this last summer and had wanted to see it in theaters, but didn’t get a chance. I really liked this movie. I think Justin Timberlake did an excellent job in it.
Running with Scissors-I found a copy of Augustin Borrough’s copy at the Half Price Bookstore and had been intrigued with it since. I didn’t buy the book. Later, I did get another of his memoirs (Dry.). I thought it was kind or quirky and cool. I might read the book now.
Man of the Year-This was another one of those that I wanted to see in theaters. Dan the Man wasn’t too interested in it. The political commentary was good. I laughed quite a bit. However, if you’re not into politics, this might not be a movie for you.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer-Ah, it’s aight. I liked the fist one better. The Silver Surfer was cool though.
Pan’s Labyrinth-I’d wanted to see this movie for a long, long time. I was so glad I finally did. I loved it.
Knocked Up-I was amazed at what a chick flick this turned out to be. I thought this was going to be more of a comedy. Still liked it though and I would watch it on video again because at the end of the movie there are bonus kiddie pics from the cast.
The Godfather-“I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse” now I know where that line came from! I still think I like the second part better. Al Pacino was good looking when he was young.
Love Actually-Another chick flick. I really enjoyed this one though. I like when movies tell many stories at once.
Bobby-This was an excellent film about RFK. Again, this movie involved following many different character’s lives. Even though RFK’s assassination happened a couple decades ago, the issues still remain.
The Holiday-Total chick flick that had me gushing the whole time. I didn’t know it was possible.
Ocean’s 11-Mmm Brad Pitt.
Ocean’s 12-Mmm Brad Pitt again.
Ocean’s 13-Mmm Brad Pitt yet again. I liked all of the Ocean’s movies. Only in the movies do they convince you to cheer for the bad guys.
1408-I couldn’t wait for it to be over.
Blood Diamond-I’d read the abridged version of this film in one of many magazines Dan the Man likes to waste money on. *Spoiler alert* I was glad DiCaprio’s character died. I really hope it makes people stop spending insane amounts of money on diamonds.
Ratatouille-AWESOME.
Transformers-Tons of action, but there were some very disturbing remarks about women. Also, the Puerto Rican guy keeps being told to stop speaking Spanish and is wounded and never heard of again.

Here’s what I’m planning to see later this summer:

The Godfather III
Requiem for a Dream
Run Lola Run
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Hostel
Almost Famous
The Queen
The Last King of Scotland
Music and Lyrics
Sicko (I’d like to see it, but I don’t know if it’s going to happen)
Hotel Rwanda
The Simpsons Movie
Hairspray
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
The Bourne Ultimatum
Waitress
A Mighty Heart

I’ve also been reading. Maybe I’ll post an entry with all the stuff I’ve read.

Anglers

After a two hour wait at the Saturn dealer and a long excursion through Harris and Montgomery counties, we finally found a place which seemed conducive to our activity for the day: fishing.

It was ironic to me that being in an area with so much water; we couldn’t find a place to fish for free. We weren’t intending on keeping any of the fish since neither of us really knows how to gut them and Dan the Man only has a vague idea of how to filet one taken some from memory and the rest from the packaging of the filet knife.

We finally ended up at the Sheldon Lake docks when I followed my instincts and turned right on a road. The only drawback of this lake is that it’s infested with alligators and water moccasins.

Despite the gators, heat, and not getting even a nibble, it was pretty neat. I learned how to cast my pole. Maybe next time I'll actually catch something.

Mixed Tapes

The writing class I’m taking this summer is proving to be a lot more useful than the class I took last semester. One of our assignments for next week is to mimic the form of one of the pieces we were given to read. The one that seems most intriguing is the one about the mixed tape. Each chapter talks about a different song from a mixed tape. I’d give you the author, but it’s sort of dark in the room and I’m afraid if I leave this to find the name, I may not make it back. Anyway, we were given the liberty to do anything we want with the piece. He said we could pick movies, or scents…or whatever we seem fitting.

This post isn’t a shot at the assignment; instead, it’s about a memory that piece evokes.

When I was a kid, Gabi, Jorge, and I spent a lot of time together. To pass the long summer days and Christmas vacation, we watched television, played made up games like “Basta” (our version of Scategories), annoyed one another (or our dad), or sang.

One of our favorite things to do was listen to music and sing along. I remember we had a copy of a choir book that someone had brought home from school. It had a greenish marble effect on the cover with a white spine and inside. It had many classics like “The Star Spangled Banner,” “El Paso,” “Silver Bells,” and my favorite “Cuckaberra.” Other times, we belted out our current favorites from pirated cassettes. There would be times we would listen to the radio for hours trying to catch a song to pirate only to push down the play button only instead of the play and record buttons at the same time.

My brother Jorge was always my hero. I thought he was the smartest and funniest person ever. I felt that I could always count on my big brother, but music allowed Jorge and me to strengthen our bond. I remember being a four or five and hanging out with Jorge in the room he shared with our other two brothers and listening to the oldie’s radio station on a little radio as we lay on the floor in between our brother’s beds trying to sty out of their way. When he started listening to country so did I. And when he came home on leave from Army with a Simon and Garfunkel tape, I started to like them too.

His time in the Army was one of the saddest periods in my life. I hated that he had left, but I knew that it’s what he wanted so I learned to deal with it. One thing that made it somewhat easier was that he wrote to me a lot. He’d send postcards, letters, and my favorite, mixed tapes. I did the same for him, especially the mixed tapes. Thinking back on it now, it was pretty cheesy because we’d not only record songs off the radio, other cassettes, or cd’s (when we got the fancy equipment), we also talked…sometimes while the songs were playing. Often times, we would sing along to the song and record it all.

I’ve often wondered if he listened to these tapes while his friends were around, and if he did, did he get any beef over them like the time he kissed me good-bye in front of his friends when I was in first grade and he was in eighth. Still, it was cool. We were like Felicity and her pen-pal only we came first.

After he came home from the Army, music was still something we had in common and it continues to be an interest we share. As with my friend Gabriel, there are so many songs I can listen to now and spark up some sort of memory about my beloved brother, Jorgie Porgie.

Birthdays

Being the youngest of six, I tend to be sort of the brat of the family. I am truly the baby of my family. I also have many of the “baby qualities” and perks. So it’s no surprise that my b-days are pretty sweet.

As a kid, I always had a huge party. Also, it almost always rained on that day, so the whole party had to be moved inside which resulted in lots of cracked cakes. Thinking back, I imagine the gift table stacked beyond belief and a long train of bills pinned to my dress or short suit. I always felt like a princess that day. I wonder what my mom had to do to get enough money to throw me such huge parties.

Every couple of years, my family will still have a party for me like that. For my 18th birthday, my brother had a frog piñata specially made for me. For my 22nd birthday, I had a going away/birthday party. Again, Jorge made me some special invitations that involved Hershey’s bars with a personalized wrapper that included all of the party info. I also had two piñatas, a Hello Kitty and Sponge Bob, and a brinca brinca. Then for my 24th, my sister had a hot dog and cupcake party for me at the office. I love having these types of parties once in a while because it reminds me to stay young.

The years that I wasn’t having a kiddie party, I’d be doing something equally cool like going to Western Playland (the amusement park in El Chuco), bar hoping with Carolina, hanging out with my Sis and Co., or being showered with gifts and attention by my mom and/or Dan the Man.

Of course, I’ve had my share of bad ones like my 12fth when my brother’s left, one to the army and the other to drive a truck, or when I turned 21 was sick due to gallstones, but I didn’t know about it, or when I turned 25 and for some reason (probably PMS and an unknown future) I was a total basket case and cried most of the day.

Still, most of them have been pretty great. And today, well, it’s not an exception. My work buddies celebrated my day with a yummy chocolate moose cake before school let out. Today, I’ve gotten so many b-day wishes from my friends and brother on Myspace, my mom and sister called me. Daniel surprised me with a poem, cake, a pink fishing pole, and pink UH beer coozie, and later, dinner with my Sis and Co.

Recap

I hate how I let things go at times. There are so many things that I wanted to blog about and didn’t. Sometimes, I did come home and try to write a post, but they’d always end up sounding trite and maudlin so I banished them to a folder in My Documents. (I recently learned the word maudlin and was dying to use it. I heard it on the Gilmore Girls and it was on the back cover of a book I was reading.)

Anyway, I finally got around to uploading some pics that I needed for some of the posts that I was planning. Here goes…

Friday May 11th was a very literary day for me. First, we had an author Ray Villarreal come visit our school. I was so excited because I’d worked really hard to get all this worked out. The kids really enjoyed it. He didn’t present to my class because we have hopes that he’ll come next year. He presented to an eighth grade class and their teacher, Ms. Hays, did a phenomenal job of preparing the kids for the visit. If you have any kids (yours or borrowed) that enjoy wrestling or just a good story, pick up a copy of My Father, the Angel of Death for them. (Insert Reading Rainbow music here.)

The other literary event going on that day was the release part for Windows Into my World, it was my debut as a published author. I went over to my sis’s right after school and had a beer to help calm the nerves. Before the reading began, I was surrounded by my friends from work. It was so nice for so many of them to come. Our faculty party was the same night quite a ways away and still, they showed up. On Monday, this bulletin board/showcase was adorned for me. An announcement was made during the morning announcements. I didn't really get to hear it though because my students began clapping midway. They all made me feel like a super star.

I was really sad at the end of this year because I wasn’t going to see my co-workers as often. Our sixth grade team is the best. One of the concerns I had when I was looking for a job was if I would find an environment like the one at Arte Público. Our production team was tight. We worked so well together because we got along really well. Luckily, that’s how it is at San Jac. Once I got past the first year nerves/fears and some of our colleagues have been replaced, our team has become a very pleasant group. I’ve learned a lot about my colleagues and have realized that some of my initial impressions were a bit erroneous.


So far, summer vacation has been going well. I know I’ve only been off for one week, but I was seriously scared about becoming depressed or whatever. I spent the first couple of days being lazy.

Monday, I got to work on cleaning the house. I did this mostly because my friend was coming to get me in the evening so that I could go with her to get some ink (a tattoo). She didn’t end up getting it because it was raining and the guy doing her tattoo couldn’t leave his house because his street flooded. We ended up having dinner at a restaurant on the Kemah Boardwalk that smelled like beef.

Tuesday I had to spend with Dan the Man because he was off. We didn’t do anything interesting. I think he ended up playing video games in the living room and I reading and wasting time on the internet.

Wednesday, I tackled the bedroom. Pancha, my old, broken down desktop pc, had still not been put away. However, to get me in the spirit of cleaning, I did some retail therapy. I bought myself a new purse and some shoes.

Thursday, I had staff development. This particular class was titled “The Best of Talking Books.” Basically, you’re given the synopsis of a book and some websites related to the themes and/or settings of the book. The best part about this is that we get free books. Ironically, everyone that was sitting or thought about sitting at the table I was at won during the first round. I got a book called Strange Happenings. So far, it’s pretty good. Because there weren’t many people there, some of us got two books. The second book I got is The Invention of Hugo Cabret. When she started talking about that book, I knew I wanted it. I couldn’t wait to get home to read it which is what I did as soon as I got home. The book was amazing. It’s about 500 pages long. However, a lot of them are illustrations. Check out the link, I think you can see the format of this book. I think it’s one of the most ingenious layouts for a book I’ve seen in a while.

Today, I went to get a haircut. Dan the Man and I usually go get haircuts at the same time. When we pulled up to the Super Cuts, we noticed that there was a ton of people. Dan the Man suggested the place across the street. It turned out to be a terrible idea because we ended up paying fifty bucks for our haircuts. He usually pays for them because they get done with his hair first. When I heard how much they were charging us, I didn’t refuse the wash or styling. I know some people pay that or more for a haircut, but not me. Todavia me duele el codo.

Now that I feel I’ve caught you up, I’m off to do more housework. At least Dan the Man is cooking tonight, he promised me that if we bought a grill he’d cook more often. I wonder what I need to get him so that he’ll take out the garbage or change the litter more often.

Fin

Tomorrow is the last day of school. As I perused the pages of my year book, I couldn’t help but notice how the kids have changed. Most of the have stretched and lost some of their “baby fat,” many of them have attitudes now, or are way more concerned about the opposite sex.

Last year, I was relieved when the final bell rang. I was glad to put the year behind me and one notch on my belt of experience. I don’t know how I’ll feel when the final bell rings tomorrow. Although I’m already looking forward to next year, making plans, talking to my team, and itching to work with our new librarian, I think I’m really going to miss these kids. They’ve showed me so much love. I know I’ve made a difference in some of their lives like the little girl who’d never passed the state test on the first try before, but did this year or the kid who couldn’t spell but has learned some tricks thanks to our morning tutoring session. I’ve often wondered how much of it was me or the mix of kids I got this year.

Good News All Around

It’s been a week of much excitement in my corner of the world. Yesterday, I received the long awaited phone call from my sis. After many meeting with University officials, she was finally recommended for tenure. I don’t know that I can really mention much about it. But I will say that Latinas still have a long, long, long way to go in regard to equality in the workforce. I’m sure that doesn’t come as a shock to many of you.

The other good news that I have came in an e-mail this afternoon. We received a yay, nay, or commended TAKS list. Even though I don’t believe this exam really tests my student’s knowledge and skills, I understand the importance of it for them. Anyway, out of 64, 62 passed, and get this, 37 were commended (that means that they scored in the 90th percentile or higher). I am so excited and I can’t wait to break the news to them. No word on when we’ll be able to do it though.

It was also confirmed today that my niece has finally passed the math TAKS and will be graduating from high school. Finally, my sister has a copy of the book. She says it’s very purple. I can’t wait to take it to school. The kids have been asking me about it everyday.

Corridos

Years ago, when I didn’t know many things (not that I’m all knowing now, but still), I hated corridos. I thought they were such a waste of music. I scoffed at the guys who wore tight wrangles, funky colored vaquero shirts, and sometime icky colored botas de armadillo or vibora.

After some university hours, I realized that corridos were actually very important to my history. I became acquainted with El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez, El Lavaplatos, and El Corridos de Joaquin Murrieta. I even felt knowledgeable enough to write a paper about it in one of my American Literature courses.

I felt ashamed that it took me so long to understand something so important to my culture. Although I grew up in a place where the majority of the population was Latino, Mexican really, I never really learned about my culture. Sure my family had many traditions, but I thought that’s what all families did. Sure, our traditions weren’t like those on Growing Pains, Family Ties, Full House, and they sure weren’t like what they did on Rosa Salvaje, En Familia con Chavelo, or Chespirito; but they were what we did and what a lot of the people that I knew did. Our traditions were a hybrid of a lot of things. I didn’t learn their importance until much later.

Now that I have the power to manipulate young minds, I like to teach them about these traditions and their culture. It can be a lot of work writing up new lesson plans, finding age appropriate materials, and sometimes getting everyone else on board so that all 6th grade students get the same opportunity.

This is why as part of their poetry unit; my students are analyzing and writing corridos. At first, when they heard the songs, there was a lot of snickering and giggles, but when it came time to work, they got down to it. After listening to El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez, one of my more verbal students exclaimed, “It’s like a story!” I had explained that when we talked about the basic form, but it was good to know that he had seen it for himself and hopefully internalized it. Amazingly, the class who never turns in their work until I make them come in after school actually has 90% of their corridos turned in.

Insomnia

I really should be asleep, but who can sleep when there’s all of this good music?

It all started on I-tunes when I was looking for Soñador. Then, I mozied on over to YouTube to find some song called “Shoes” that they were playing on the radio to promote some contest. I finally signed up for my own account and decided to add more videos to my favorites.

I typed in “Intocable” and got nothing at first. I typed it in again and I got some videos which lead me to more videos and more videos, and you get the picture. Now I’m uploading some of my favorite cd’s onto the computer as I listen to others I’ve already loaded.

Tomorrow, I will be paying for this. As I trudge around my classroom, in a half daze, wishing my students would just hurry up and finish the darn test, I will swear not to get on YouTube during the week.

Earlier, I typed up a log of my day. (We started TAKS today.) I was going to post it, but it’s lame, so I’ll spare ya’ll. One more song and I’m off to bed.

Ironia

Today, I had to get a new cell phone. The one I had was a hand-me-down from my brother’s friend. The mic was going bad and the battery never really charged.

Since I also had to get new shoes, I stopped by a kiosk in the mall. The other line I have was eligible for a $150 credit, but not the one that I use. I got a new phone for the other line because Dan the Man decided he liked the phone. I was kind of upset because, I was the one that really needed the phone.

When we got home, I called the 1-800 number to ask about the insurance on my phone and the girl told me I’d have to go into a store to have it checked out. When I got to the store, the guy and I worked out a deal where I added a new line, for the same price, and got a sweet Red Razor for free AND I had the best service I've EVER had at a Sprint Store.

On another, yesterday, I went to dinner and a movie with a colleague. After dinner we sat there for a long time just talking. For some reason, we got on the topic of gangs and she asked, “Do white people join gangs?”

“Yes. But once there are two whites in the gang, it’s not longer called a gang. It’s called a mob.”

I sure hope she didn’t believe that.

Looky, Looky!

It's finally out!

I will also be taking part in this event:

Friday, May 11, 2007 – 6:30 pm – Houston , TX Contributors will sign books at a book party celebrating the publication of Windows into My World: Latino Youth Write Their Lives at Talento Bilingue de Houston, 333 S. Jensen, Houston , TX . For more information, call 713-743-2999.

A Gentle Reminder

On my way home, I stopped by the cluster of mailboxes near the entrance of our complex to get our mail. We often forget and with ads coming in on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, our mailbox is pretty full by Thursday. There’s a bulletin board on the back wall of the mail center where people post up crap and announcements.

There’s been a letter from management about properly using the security gates around our complex and about checking our mailboxes on a regular basis otherwise the postman will assume we have moved for the last couple of months. Today, there was a new message on this letter. It stated:

INS will be picking up all wetbacks 4/20/07 please leave now

I read the message four or five times trying to grasp why someone would post that. Then I stood there trying to figure out why it was written there. Then I thought to all of the raids going on near Dan the Man’s work and wondered if this would really be happening. Then, I took my mail and continued to wonder. I wished I’d had my camera so that I could take a picture of it and analyze it further.

When I got home, I told Dan the Man and he insisted that we go take it down.

But what if it’s for real? What if they come raid our complex on the 20th?

Strange things are happening in this country, especially in the area I live in. People are still very xenophobic, and the diversion of attention from Iraq to immigration is really stirring the pot.

When I took down the warning, I slipped it into the mail drop at the office and added my own message “Is this true?”

Too Little, Too Late

Today, in our 6th grade team meeting, as I was being booed by a colleague because I opted not to partake in Friday’s pep rally events, I made a vow to myself that I wouldn’t be so concerned with the upcoming exams and not mention it to my students until maybe next year.

I’m tired of this last minute push to get the kids ready. The way I figure, we’re four days away; they either know it or they don’t. There really isn’t much that I can do now. It really upsets me that it’s now that we’re getting help from up above about it. Never mind that some of this kids haven’t turned in work and when sent to the office returned with a warning or a day’s worth of after school detention, or that when they were assigned to in school suspension and work returned undone, no one was reprimanded.

On the mock exams, my students had 87% and quite a big being commended. I told them that my goal is 100% passing rate and hope they’re on board because there’s no way the 7th or 8th graders should enjoy a day of swimming the last day of school.

Easter break was good. I spent a lot of it fighting with the computer trying to get my internet to work and watching movies. I saw The Departed, which I didn’t think was that great. I also tried to watch The Good Shepherd, but was unable to maintain the attention span. At the theatre, I saw Blades of Glory, which wasn’t as funny as I imagined, and Grindhouse, which was, by far, the best movie I saw all weekend.

As time marches on, I can’t wait for summer vacation. I know that after a couple of weeks, I’ll wish school to be back in session, especially since this summer is longer than usual; but it’ll be nice when I wake up wanting to go to the beach or stay in bed all day and be able to do it.

All in Small Doses, Please

As the time for final exams approaches, the headless chicken syndrome becomes the burnt out syndrome which means that you may begin to think, “Why do I have to do all this? *Insert colleague name here* isn’t doing all this s&%!, why do I? Seriously?” Also, certain become much more irritating. Usually, these are the ones that you couldn’t stand in the first place, so the irritability level has sky rocketed. This is why it’s good to only be around them for short periods of time. Unless of course, you’re stuck at training with them for seven consecutive hours or it would be against the law to just them to go home early because what seems like an opportunity for extra fun is loss of instructional time.

I’m holding onto the notion that in May, the fun will begin. Or is it just a small coincidence that the 6th grade field trip just happens to be the day after the Pre-AP End of Course Exams is given?

In the meantime, I’m trying to recall what life was like before I became part of the red apple, yellow school bus society.

On Writing

I’m starting to think that signing up for this writing class wasn’t the best idea. Don’t get me wrong, I have learned a few tricks and it’s also nice to hang out with people who are interested in literature.

The problem lies in the writing part. We do one writing activity per session, and it’s not the utmost important thing. Out of the three hours we’re in class, we spend maybe 25 minutes writing and the rest critiquing. I’m not of the group that says that writers don’t need to read, but I would like to spend more time writing, even if it was only 20 more minutes.

Also, we end up with a lot of homework. Each week, we have to critique, at the very least, three other stories. With the weeks I’ve been having, I barely have enough time to critique the pieces, let alone write.

It just seems that other workshops I’ve had, I’ve been allowed to do more writing than in this one. Nevertheless, I will continue to chip time away from other things to fit in some writing time here and there.

Last week, when we didn’t have class because of Spring Break, I got up early on Sunday and spent two hours at the computer typing my life away. I’m hoping this habit will congeal once class is over. I rather enjoy my Saturday morning literature time.

Conversations before Spring Break

Miscellany

Happy International Women’s Day!

I hope you all had/have a wonderful one. I had some of the vagina shaped chocolates one of my colleagues gave me as a thank you for purchasing tickets to her church’s production of The Vagina Monologues. Also, if you haven’t done so, sign the Mujeres de Juárez petition, or pass along the link.

It’s been a long, long time since I’ve last been here, hasn’t it?

A couple years ago, when I signed on to do this teaching thing, I didn’t really realize how much of my time it would take up. I mean, I knew there would be grading at home and maybe some research, but I didn’t think there would be this much.

The giant TAKS Fairy is back in town. It’s been perusing the halls causing students and teachers to do weird things like this:


My students did most of the work on this. I just put forth the ideas, supplies, and ultimate delegation powers. They will also have to decorate lockers and perform a stomp and some other crap. Although it is a lot of work, it’s a whole lot of fun and the kids are so proud of their creations.

Some teachers get really competitive and begin to poison the kids. One in specific, tells them, “We’re going to win because I’ve never, in all the years I’ve been here, lost. I’m placing first in something.”

Her comments really bother me because I don’t think its right for an adult to say something like that to kids. My students have had so much fun and they are so proud of their work, and really, that’s what it’s about for me. Last year, I did a lot of the work and it was sort of sad. But this year, I’ve had at least five kids stay after school or come in before school every day to help. I don’t care about placing because we’re already pretty famous around the school, and my students love that.

In other news, I’ve actually been keeping my resolution about writing. The class I’m taking is okay. It’s a lot of extra work, but our teacher gives us tons of ideas/tips. I got work shopped a couple weeks ago and it was quite fruitful.

Spring Break is one day away and I can’t wait. We’re going to some tiny Texas town called Jarrell, outside of Austin. I suspect I’ll be making a lot of trips to Austin or spending a lot of time out by the pool.