Lesson Plans

I have just finished my first week as a tutor in our local school district.  From this one week I learned much.

Before I began work, I was told about the reputations of the two schools I would be working at. One school is known to be academically superior to the other.  In addition, the one that lacks academically is said to be populated with ill mannered students and a great deal of violence.  Though I only have one week worth of experience in these two schools, I can honestly say that the assessment of the two is far from correct.

In the more prestigious high school I have met some really fabulous kids. However, just as many are rude and disrespectful.  In one of my classes, I encountered an entire group of students who would not stay on task, and who used their very expensive smart phones to text throughout the period.    I learned from this class that I needed to be much more stern with the class as a whole, which only made some of them angry, rather than garnering more respect and participation...

In the "other" school, I had an amazing time. I met really smart, engaged, and enthusiastic students.  They all participated and seemed to enjoy the tutorials.  I did not have any troubles with any of the students, and I was disappointed when the day ended much too soon.

So, what was different between the two schools?  I have analyzed this thoroughly, and feel that I understand what makes them different.  In the first school, all the teachers that facilitate the tutoring sessions do so differently.  However, they all bear similarities in how they differ from the program in the second school: 

• At the first school, the teachers seem indifferent to the students, yet at the second the teacher greets everyone by name and checks in with them as they walk into the classroom.  This can be as simple as asking how they are that day to inquiring about a test in a specific class.
• In the first school, the students break up into the same groups every time. However, in the second school, the teacher splits up the students based upon the similarities in their questions.
• At school #1, the teachers have them go directly into the tutorial, while at school #2 the teacher introduces a "fun" question to let everyone chat about themselves for a few minutes.

These are the three major differences in how the classes are organized, however, there are many other differences that are much more subtle.  In all, I would say that the teacher in school #2 is exceptional.  She is the sort of teacher that I hope to be, and I am definitely taking notes about the way she handles various situations and how she structures her classroom, and I will write more about this later....

Oh! What a "Tangled" web.....

Way to go, Disney!  Thank you for taking a (mostly) harmless fairy tale and infusing it with wickedly insidious stereotypes. Sure, we are all aware that this sort of thing has been taking place in Disney movies since their beginning, but times surely have changed, right?

Wrong!  I took my daughter to see Tangled today.  This was to be our special "Mommy and Me" activity. However, not five minutes into it I was questioning my choice of movies.  The main antagonist in the movie is the only non-Caucasian in the whole film.  She appears to be of gypsy stock with black, kinky curls. While our protagonist is a lovely young Miss with long, flowing, straight golden hair.  To add insult to injury, the antagonist's name is Mother "Goth"el.

Yes, yes, I know that in the end, the Princess does have short brunette locks with an anachronistically "hip" hairstyle.  However, let us not forget that at her most exceptional moment, when she was full of magick, she was sporting golden locks...

So, Disney, I must again Thank You for doing your worst and attempting to convince my ethnically diverse children, mothered by an old school goth, that all things dark must certainly be evil, and further ingraining the idea that all things good, pure, and magickal are blond....

I won't even get into the wretched anti-crone stereotypes that are represented here....

Pain in Mind

Once upon a time, I entered into a creative endeavor with the closest of my small circle of friends. I did so because for me, creating is the way I share myself, and doing this with another person is a way I express my deep love for them.  Unfortunately, this endeavor did not go well, and it ended a close friendship in a dark and dreadful manner.

I have tried to examine my role in the demise of this friendship countless times, but I did not see it coming, nor did I ever have reason to think we were having troubles.  Yes, it could be that I was blind and ignored important signs, but the way in which the situation was handled by her did not allow me any room to explore the problems that were created.  She wrote me a letter "breaking up" with me, then proceeded to speak scathingly of me to many of our mutual friends.  Granted, she may have been working through the situation and her feelings by talking to folks we both knew, but she said very harmful  and hurtful things, and never once spoke to me directly.

The loss of a treasured friend can be devastating to anyone, and I definitely grieved for a great long while.  I would feel a pit it my stomach when I thought of her. I dreamt about her.  I gathered all of her belongings and tried to put them out of my home to keep the pain from returning unexpectedly.  Honestly, it was like experiencing a death in the family.

I did reach out to her, after a time.  I had had a particularly vivid dream about her and felt that perhaps it was time to make peace with the situation.  As I thought of how horrible she had treated me, I thought perhaps I must have hurt her in unspeakable ways for her to have been so cruel.  I wrote her a lengthy letter explaining my deepest regrets for the way things had ended between us and letter her know that she was important to me and that I was sorry for whatever I had done to cause such animosity.

She responded rather quickly to my letter, calling me a liar and questioning my integrity.  If she held back anything, I could not tell.  This response sealed the deal for me.  I sealed up that part of my emotions and wrote her off in the process. Granted, we still had mutual friends, but we somehow never ran into each other after that... Until recently.

In the past year or so, we have been able to make a sort of peace.  We have been at a couple of the same events and have avoided the awkwardness that one would expect.  However, the hopes of a continued friendship have been carefully swept from my horizons.  I have accepted this... honestly!  It is our dear friend JC who has not.

JC is an amazing and wonderful girl.  She sees the world in ways I do not, and her view is lovely.  As far as friends go, she is of a rare breed.  She is one of the truest, most loyal and loving people I know.  I truly adore her, and she is loyal to both of us.  As such, it pains her for the two of us not to be close and to share the bond the three of us had shared in the past.  Since we found our peace with the situation, she has been trying to put us in the same places more often.  I suppose she sees a glimmer of the past, and in it, hope. I just don't know how to tell her that the past can never be again.  I can't open myself up to invest in that relationship again, and that the "ex" and I are not even the same people anymore.....

Looking Back

As I say goodbye to 2010, I cannot help but look back with fondness.  This year has been amazing, a quite honestly, life changing for me and my family.  I would like to list the positives that have accompanied this year in my life.....

• I graduated from UT with a BA in Mid East Studies, Asian Studies (East Asian Specialization), Arabic, and a minor in Japanese
• I got a job that runs two years, and I will be a National Teaching Fellow, further living the drea,
• I was accepted into grad school and will be working toward my Master's in Education, starting next year.
• My honey and I bought our first home

These are the more tangible events of 2010.  Now I want to look back on some of the "me" stuff I have been working on.....

• To be a better mother.  - This goal is a daily challenge that I face.  I have learned so much, but I still have a long way to go.  This is a goal that one never stops working on.  I succeeded in working more closely with my children and their schools, but my patience could still use some work....
• To be a better lover. - Sometimes I get so caught up in my work and all the "need-to-be-done" tasks, that I forget to work on the romance of my relationship.  Having graduated and having less responsibility looming over my head has really contributed to taking stress off our relationship.  Although, the boy has begun working nights, so that makes our time together significantly less.....
• To take better care of my body. - Here is an area where I have completely failed.  I have been eating better, true, but I have been so wrapped up in those dam "need-to-be-done" tasks, that I neglect my daily yoga plans. Aargh.. *sigh*
• To nurture my spiritual life. -  The very nature of academic life is that one works to nurture their mind, but the spiritual is less emphasized.  This is true of me.  I have been doing better, especially the latter part of this year. Again, this probably has everything to do with having graduated and having less assignments....

In the New Year, I plan to work more on all of these goals, as they are not simply one year goals, but lifelong pursuits.  I am so optimistic about the coming year, as it already holds so many promises and possibilities.  I love the path I am on, and look forward to walking it.....

Marked

   I just finished reading this joint effort by P.C Cast and her daughter Kristen Cast. Together they wrote a vampire novel. Actually, it is more than that.  This book is the first in a series of vampire novels.  Now, I am just as into vampires as the next guy, but I am from a different school than the current craze.  My school is comprised of Anne Rice's characters, as well as Joss Whedon's Spike and Angel.  However, I am still up for any new offering of undead lore, so I gave this novel a go....

     The story begins when our heroine, Zoey, becomes marked.  This means that she will become a vampire in a few years. As those who are marked undergo "the Change," they attend a Vampire Academy of sorts.  The rest of the book follows Zoey as she tries to fit into her new "life."

     The story has a very interesting,albeit not too original, plot line.  It is well thought out and is definitely entertaining, yet the writing is distracting.  A good writer can tell a story, including the main character's struggles and inner conflicts, and never draw the reader away from the actual tale.  However, in this story, the main character's inner monologue can be so out of place and, if you will, "wonky" that the reader has to purposely pass over it.  (Not to mention a vagrant overuse of parenthetical statetments.)....

     I do believe that I may pick up the second novel... if I can get it for free on bookmooch

Life, as yet, Unplanned

I just attended the commencement ceremonies for my Bachelor's degree.  It was last night at 6pm.  Three degrees, three kids, and seven years later, I feel I have accomplished much!  It felt so good to walk across the stage and shake the Dean's hand, knowing that I was crossing the threshold into a new chapter of my life.

During the ceremony, there was a faculty speaker, Dr. Robert King.  He gave a short, simple, and sweet speech.  Contained within his speech were five "suggestions" for how to live the rest of our lives.  I found the advice to be very sound, so I thought that I should chronicle them here, lest I forget them:

1.     Be flexible.  Having graduated with a Liberal Arts Degree, flexibility is key to success in one's future....

2.     Read one book each month.  It does not matter what it is, just that you read something that does not come off of a computer screen...

3.     Do not depend on your gadgets.  One day each month, turn off all gadgets, and live!  This means cell phones, tvs, laptops, etc.

4.     Know thyself, and practice the Golden Rule.

5.     Love really is essential for living a full, fulfilled life.

Happy Tofurkey Day!!

So, another day of giving thanks is here.  Another year that my family has shared and grown. 

This year I am thankful for:

....the house that we were able to buy and make our home.  A space for our children to run and grow and play.

...the dog that fell into our laps, that has brought us joy and hours of fun!

...that I will be graduating in about two weeks.

....that new paths are opening up to me, and I am able to grow and learn as I experience each day.

... that we have three healthy pecan trees in the yard that I used to fill these two sweet potato pecan pies to savor this holiday......

....and so very much more!!