only me

so, today i went in for an interview at a rather large district that's not ridiculously far from home (it's not close either). of course i was crazy nervous, and in the end it was for nothing. i got the subbing position!

i shit you not, not 10 minutes later, i check the iphone and i've got an e-mail from another large district that's crazy close to home... no interview necessary - they want me to call to make an appointment to come in and get fingerprinted/fill out paperwork/etc. of course. in a matter of minutes i go from completely unemployed to having 2 districts to choose from for subbing jobs (when i've already got 2 for back-up). 1 sub, 4 districts...

yeah, i know - i've got it rough.

it's raining, it's pouring

literally. i woke up this morning to the sound of water being poured on my windowpane. around noon i decided it was time to get out of bed and head to my favorite place




while sitting in the coffee shop i saw a whole lotta this:













once i was able to pull my bootay out of the o-so comfy overstuffed chair, i headed home. as i turned the corner i saw this:









*yeah, i'm thankful i didn't park next to that tree... cra-zay!

bonding with mom

so, since my mom is currently unemployed, and i was soon to be unemployed, so we thought up something fun. on tuesday my mom came to work with me! seeing as she's not set foot inside of a middle school in over 10 years, and she hadn't been in a classroom setting in over 30 years, i did my best to prep her. i told her things really wouldn't be what she expected.

i didn't tell the kids that she'd be coming because they're usually better behaved when a stranger is around, and if they knew it was my mom i feared they would try to show off for her. she showed up right before 4th period and stayed all day. to say she enjoyed herself would be an understatement. i taught as usual, and when i remembered to look up and see how she was doing she was either laughing at me or taking notes.

she was all kinds of proud... proud of herself and her ability to calculate problems involving inequalities, and her ability to convert miligrams to kilograms to pounds and so on... o yeah, and she was proud of me too =)

both she and i were grateful for the 'opportunity' she had to see me teach. i mean, if she was employed she never would have made it into the classroom, and if i wasn't being laid off they probably would have been more strict with me and who i have come and observe me just for shits and giggles.

*as sad as this is, this is the most recent photo I have of she and i... wow

Sunday, January 10, 2010

a quickie

every other week mom and i meet up to get our nails done. well, with me getting my pink slip (and she hers - a few days prior to christmas), we find ourselves counting every nickel and dime. instead of going to get our nails done, she had a fantastic idea - how about we still meet up, but we go for a walk! this morning she showed up around 10, and we walked through the park, through a shopping center and to the farmers market! id' say we walked for a good 4 miles, and just enjoyed each others company. she spent $4.75 at the farmers market, and i spent $8.33 for tea. i am quite proud of us, we exercised, we spent some quality time together, and we enjoyed ourselves.

today i am grateful for my momma, gas, and our working legs!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

something to remember...

so, i teach 3 periods of 7th grade math; 1 period of GATE and 2 periods of far below basic. in my fbb classes all of my students score at a 4th grade level in mathematics, and it just so happens they all are english language learners as well.

one of my fbb students, raul, totally doesn't belong in the fbb category. he doesn't even fall into the below basic category. he's definitely at grade level, if not above it. i’ve told him time and again that he’s too smart to be in my class. he’s the student who finishes all the problems in the time that it takes the rest of the class to write their heading on their paper. when he has a question, i jokingly refuse to help him – i make him figure it out himself (most of the time, he’s able to figure it out himself anyways, while i’m busy helping his classmates with their basic arithmetic).

well, a few weeks ago raul asked me a question.

raul: “miss, do you have a charpener?”
me: “excuse me, raul?”
raul: “my pencil is broke, can i use your charpener?”
me: “i’m sorry, raul, i don’t have any charpeners. the only thing i have to fix a broken pencil is a sharpener.”
raul – cracks up “so miss, can I use the charpener?”
me: “raul… i don’t have any charpeners. sorry."

a week or so later i raul asked for a charpener and i told him if he could ask for a sharpener i’d be more than willing to let him use mine.

whenever i remember, i get raul to get his classmates quiet by having him shush them… then i tease him. why can he “shhhhh” the class, but he can’t sharpen a pencil.

every few days or so i make sure to ask raul if he’s found any charpeners – and everytime i ask him, he cracks up.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

little miss k

so, prior to christmas break i decided to incorporate some holiday cheer into my lessons. we learned about chanukah, kwanza and christmas. i decorated my office, wore silly holiday stuff, and focused on giving/family/in as many lessons as i could. when students were working independently i would play holiday music on low to get everyone into the spirit.

on tuesday i noticed that one of my usually bubbly/go to students just seemed a bit... off. little miss k stopped doing her work, started zoning when she should have been listening/doing her work, stopped participating in group activities... basically she just checked out. i ended up asking her to stay after class one day and asked her what was wrong. she wouldn't even look at me.

i've never felt so bad in my life. i didn't know what i did to upset her; was it something i did? was she having problems at home? was she in an argument with her friends/boyfriend? i mean, she's 13 - it could be anything...

she acted the same way on wednesday and by thursday i'd had enough. first off, i was letting a teenager dictate my emotions. secondly, she was totally letting her grade plummet from an A to damn near a C. thirdly, it's the holiday's and she's a kid... she's supposed to be enjoying herself!!!

i kept her in at lunch and asked her what her deal was. she stood there and looked right past me. so i did the mature thing... i pulled out a chair and sat. i told her that i could wait all day, but we weren't going to lunch until she told me what i'd done to upset her. so i sat. and sat. and sat.

i'd forgotten how truly stubborn teenage girls could be. i sat for damn-near 10 minutes when she finally stopped rolling her eyes and sighing heavily. she finally broke down and told me something i never expected to hear from her. little miss k hates christmas!

excuse me? what kid hates christmas?

uh, the one's whose mom was recently deported and whose father died a few years ago. yeah, that kid doesn't really want to be reminded everyday that it's the holiday season. that kid doesn't want to talk about family and thankfulness and all that jazz. that kid was my little miss k.

yeah, i felt like an ass. i was too busy focusing on myself and how much i love the holidays to think about how my students might feel.

i asked little miss k if she'd spoken to anyone about her feelings - of course she hadn't. so we sat. she spoke, and i listened. neither of us ate lunch, and we were both late to our 6th period, but it was worth it. after our... well, more like her, conversation, i knew i wanted to do something for her. but what? what could i do to make her feel somewhat better? get her a present? i didn't want to embarrass her. i knew it helped her to get all that off her chest, so that night i made a tar-jay run.

friday came, and we had a holiday party. i had all my classes watch a charlie brown christmas and i had my language arts class write a short essay about what they were greatful for. i had little miss k help me grade math papers. when class was over i gave all the kids a candy-cane and wished them a happy new year.

before little miss k left, i gave her a present. i gave her a journal and a super cute pen. and of course, i broke the rules, and i gave her a hug.

well, all break i wondered and worried about little miss k. did i do the right thing by giving her a present or did i embarrass her? did she get to go see her mom or was she still staying with the neighbors for the holidays? and, most importantly, was she happy?

we've been back from break for 3 days now, and everyday little miss k has met me at my office to say hello in the morning. after lunch she finds me and has a little something for me (a pink lolli-pop, a pink airhead, and a tinkerbell sticker). and everyday, she's smiled.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

grateful

today, i am grateful for getting a paycheck!!! yipee!