The Perks of Being a Teacher

and I don't mean the summers off.

I just got home from work. It's 9:00pm and I was on campus for 14 hours today. I'm tired and have a slight headache and I can't wait to crawl into bed. But I know if I don't write just a little, I'll lose what I'm feeling and this is the sort of day I need to remember. To remind myself why I became a teacher.

I started at Escondido High School four years ago and during my first year, I had five periods of freshman. I quickly realized that the literary conversations I had imagined having were not going to take place in the way I had imagined. Or at all.

Not only were my kids not reading, but to my surprise I learned that they couldn't really read. Not English at least. And since that's the only language I know, we had a problem. Literary conversations out the door. Let's just work on conversations.

And thankfully, that worked. I got to know my kids and I realized that although I had gone into teaching to discuss literature, I wanted to stay because those kids had so much to say. And not that many people to listen.

Today, my baby freshman from four years ago, graduated.

I can't really describe how it feels to watch them receive their diplomas - Kinda like the end of Rudy. Or when you bought someone a gift that you just can't wait for them to open. Or dancing.

These kids - the first of anyone they know to graduate- full of pride. Beaming smiles. A swagger in their step. Standing tall.

I'm lucky to be a teacher. On days when I'm drowning in essays and lesson planning and discipline issues I need to remember that. I'm so proud of my kiddos. My heart is very full.

Giovanny, Carlos, Victor, Luis, Alan, ME, Jose H, Chucky (Irwin), Jose B.

Adan who is the most talented writer AND artist I've ever had. Such an amazingly kind and gifted kid.

My all time favorite (yes, I have favorites) student- Crystal. She worked so hard and is going to college on scholarships. She's the first of anyone in her family to even graduate and she's going to a university!

What Goes Around

This week has been one of the most fulfilling teaching-weeks of the year. The seniors have been out for a week (instead of classes this week they get to participate in senior activities) and I have had SO many of my former students stop by my classroom to have me sign yearbooks, take pictures, and say goodbye (one girl even brought me flowers!). It's makes me so proud to see the kids I had their freshman year, graduating. For some, it was a long, difficult road and something to really celebrate. They are not supposed to make it.

Most days I feel drained and pulled in a million different directions. Today, I feel so lucky to have had these kids trust me and open up to me and call me their teacher. I'm sad to see them move on but so proud that they made it. Congratulations to the Class of 2011!

My sweetie-pies!! (Ugh, why do I ALWAYS close my eyes?!?!)

Period 2

This has been one of the most exhausting weeks of my life. I haven't been this tired since Charlie was born. I'm actually even too tired to explain how busy I've been. Bottom line: I'm going to miss my second period. I came to class looking like a trainwreck and was greeted with these smiles which seemed to make everything worth it and all better. Enjoy these lovelies.

Francisco, Santos, Martin O, Victor, Gabriel, Martin V, and Lucas

The Shadow of the Wind

I love when people recommend books and then deliver them so that you ACTUALLY will read them. Thanks, Sara!

 Just finished The Shadow of the Wind. I stayed up late to finish because I just couldn't put it down. It's one of those books where at the end of each chapter (and the chapters are short -- which make me read more, does that happen to you?) it leaves you hanging. I'd start to read just the first lines of the next chapter to see what was going to happen and then I'd end up finishing THAT chapter. Repeat for 300 pages until I finish the book.

Yup, 300 pages in one evening.

Review? It's a page-turner, not a work of art. This book kind of reminds me of one of those action packed movies where you can't stop watching but then when you think about it wasn't REALLY a good movie. Ya know? Think Die Hard instead of Life is Beautiful.

Did your read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? Yeah, kinda like that.

So, I would recommend the book because I did like it - and it was recommended to me which I always appreciate - but definitely not one of my top picks of the year.

Onto book 11...Going to go back to some Margaret Atwood. I'm still missing The Handmaid's Tale...

Cougars

RAWR!

Haircut #2

Charlie is about to be a year old. That's just crazy! We have scheduled a little photo shoot at the beach next Sunday and really didn't want his hair to be in his face for the pictures. Plus, when the wind blows, a few long pieces catch in the wind and it really does look like he has a comb-over. Not something we want to capture for eternity.

Last time we had Charlie's hair cut, I was so scared that they were going to mess up that I wouldn't let them layer it or really cut that much off. She just cut it straight in the front and left everything else. This time, Dan took Charlie to a kid's salon (where they are patient and realize that kids like to move around) and I didn't go. Daddy took lots of pictures though!

Get up, Stand up.

I hate it when people complain about situations but then don't do anything to prevent them from happening. Or when they complain about certain people in office and then don't vote. It just doesn't make sense. SO - we took the fam and went down to the Embarcadero to rally for education. Being a teacher AND a mother, I don't know what's more important than public education. It was pretty inspiring to see so many different districts and levels all participating for the same cause. The best part of the rally: The ONE AND ONLY person who showed up to protest the teachers had a sign with a glaring error. It read:

Americans shouldn't pay tax's.

Awesome.

Tinkers

Just finished the novel Tinkers by Paul Harding.

To read or not to read: Here's my take. If you love language (think Virginia Woolf) then you will LOVE this novella. Lots of beautiful descriptions and stream of consciousness. These kinds of reads make me feel less alone because I realize that people think like I think. The author will be describing something concrete and allow his mind to wander to something abstract and not at all related in a way that we all do at times. This was a novel that I couldn't stop underlining (okay, metaphorically. so many wonderful passages but I didn't want to ACTUALLY write in the book because it feels like graffiti these days).  For example:

"...be comforted in the fact that the ache in your heart and the confusion in your soul means that you are still alive, still human, and still open to the beauty of the world, even though you have done nothing to deserve it. And when you resent the ache in your heart, remember: You will be dead and buried soon enough."

So true! And this:

"Everything is made to perish; the wonder of anything at all is that it has not already done so. No, he thought. The wonder of anything is that it was made in the first place. What persists beyond this cataclysm of making and unmaking?"

So you see? This is by no means a page-turner. I'll probably forget the plot by the end of the year. But the language and the beauty were remarkable. A lover of language should read this. A person looking for a fun, easy read - skip it.

Book #10 (According to Goodreads I am at 36% of my goal for 2011):

I never knew how much love my heart could hold until someone called me "mommy."
-- Author Unknown

Yesterday was my first Mother's Day and it felt - weird. I mean "Mother's Day" has always been synonymous with MY mom. Somehow, I felt like I should feel...more....mature? I know it sounds funny because I talk about being a mother all the time - with friends, my students, my family. Just something about the day struck me in a way I was not expecting: I am a mother. (Does anyone else ever feel like that?!).

Dan woke up and took Charlie to get me my favorite sprinkled doughnut (yes, yes, the simple things in life). They took a little longer than I thought and surprised me with a rosebush. Dan explained that he hates how flowers die and he thought it would be more meaningful to watch the plant grow and bloom and always be reminded of my first Mother's Day. Good idea.

So, Dan and Charlie planted my rosebush while I read and then, wait for it, took a nap!!! I knew it had to be a special day because by 11:00am I was snoozing on the couch, book on my lap. That was just a little piece of heaven. By the time I woke up, Dan had washed my car, cleaned up the house, and put Charlie down for a nap. I haven't felt that relaxed since, well, how old is Charlie? Almost a year!

We brought my mom (and dad) dinner and spent the rest of the evening visiting with Marmee, the way I've spent it for the last thirty (OMG) years, which felt nice and not so weird.

We are rounding up the last of the firsts. Only thing left is  Charlie's first birthday and then everything is old news.

The Aardappel doesn't fall far from the tree

 

It's so cute. If you tell Charlie to get his book he crawls quickly away, digs through his toys, and retrieves one of his books.

 

I always take the book and pretend to read it to myself. Charlie gets frustrated and grabs the book and then crawls in my lap, waiting for me to read it to him. A book-lover's dream!

 

Unsure why I'm taking a picture instead of reading.

 

Is that blond hair starting to curl?

Osama is dead

and I'll admit it, I'm pretty happy about it.

I'm not jumping for joy or celebrating. Not gathering to sing "God Bless America" with college students or demanding to see his mangled corpse. But I don't feel bad for him, either. I mean I wish I could be a pacifist through and through. I wish I thought the death of any man is something to mourn. But the more I think about it, the more I feel at peace with the fact that he is no longer. Sadly, some people are just bad and the only way they are going to stop hurting others is when they cease to exist. Like I said - I'm a realist not an idealist.

With that said, seeing this picture gave me the chills and I'm sure it will be one to go down in history. I can't imagine being there and watching a mission of that magnitude live.

I've never seen so many people of such importance look so....human. Maybe it's naive and I'm reverting back to my idealist ways but I can honestly say that I love our president. He's a good, good man.

Start of Summer

Although I still/only have 13 days of work left for this school-year, today gave me a little teaser of what summer is going to be like. Jess and I took the kids to Carlsbad to escape the inland heat.

 This was one of the first times that I have seen Charlie really interact with other kids. He seemed somewhat taken by Hazel (Duh! Look at her!).

Building sandcastles

Buried the boys so they couldn't move (best idea all day).

 

No crawling going on here.

 No tipping over for Banksey here. (I wish Charlie would keep a hat on!)

This picture makes me laugh because his body looks EXACTLY like Dan's, especially those long, skinny legs!

I can't believe how much sand we brought home with us.

Wow.

WOW!

In my head, In my head, Zombie...

Today is one of those days where a million (or approximately five) questions are swimming in my head.

1. How has the death of Osama bin Laden created a revival for the biggest moron to ever call himself an American president? I'm so confused.

2. Why do moms in Escondido find the need to jay-walk during heavy morning traffic, while pushing strollers and escorting their children to school rather than walk ten feet to cross at a legitimate crosswalk and teach their children about safety and following laws?!

3. Why am I "friends" with so many people on Facebook who I probably would hate if we ever had a real face-to-face conversation (Has anyone else gotten that post about this not being a OBAMA victory but being a USA victory, blah, blah, blah. What exactly is the point to that one)?

4. What kind of cuts will teachers be facing the next school year? What kind of cuts will the top 2% feel?

5. Can I make it to summer even though it's only 13 days away?

and one more to prove I'm not as OCD as I probably truly am:

6. How many more times of laying out until people start saying I look tan?

Pillow Testers and Such

I remember my parents asking us what we wanted to be when we grew up. Jeff said his dream job would be a pillow tester. He would love to spend all day in the horizontal position, sleeping occasionally and reviewing pillows. He had high hopes. Sadly, due to a struggling economy he has to abandon his dreams of pillow testing and settle for a PhD. Dreams die hard at times.

I was asked this same question a week or so ago. My dream job. Hmmmmm. I would love to read books for a living. Originally I thought I would like to write reviews but the more I think about it, the more I think that would get stressful and since it is indeed a dream job, I've got it. I would love to read books for a living. Wake up, go into the office (which of course is a fluffy arm chair near a window with an ocean view), kick up my feet, grab an extra huge cup of coffee and start reading. I'd clock out eight hours later and head home. Yes, yes, a dream job indeed.

Since Jeff and I both had to abandon such sweet dreams, I'll settle for reading when I get the time and writing a quick yay or nah review. Since I'm not going to backtrack and catch up on my reads of 2011 I'll start with the book I just started today. But, since this is a diary of sorts and I like to keep track of my reads, I'll document them here just to be safe. Hey, you never know when someone is going to ask for a recommendation and my mommy brain has lost track of what I've read.

Starting in January of this year:

and currently reading: