Student teaching lament

Student teaching has proved to not be all that it is cracked up to be. Or perhaps it is everything it is cracked up to be. I'm feeling very inept and frustrated most days. I have spring, 8th grade hormones, WASL and my entering the class "in a rush" as they say, working against me. (Not to mention the fact that these kids are very privileged and subsequently feel they have license to argue and talk back over every single little thing.)
As such, by the time I arrive home every night, usually after 6pm, my brow is placed in a permanent scowl.
I have been trying to be very diligent about not being a "drill sergeant" and using active listening, and trying to give them choices, as opposed to just saying "SIT DOWN AND SHUT IT!" (they frown on this in the schools of education) However, I have found that asking questions only places me in more trouble...when you say "What do you need to be doing right now?" to a kid who is wandering around the room aimlessly when he's supposed to be working on a project, the usual response is "I don't know, why don't you tell me?" Or, "I'm doing it” To which I respond, "Why don't you try again," or, "It seems to me you should be working on your (fill in the blank here- homework, project etc.) right now" to which they say, "I don't feel like it," or, "nah, that's stupid, I don't do anything that dumb," or, "why don't you make me?"
So then I'm left to the whole, "well, you can either chose to go be on task, or you chose to go to the office and explain why you don't feel like being in class today," conversation.
Meanwhile, another kid is pulling someone's hair, someone else has taken a student's colored pencils and she is now chasing him around the room, and I think to myself- "I never wanted to be a kindergarten teacher, and yet here I am." :-) I stop the chase, say the hair puller's name sternly which gets them to let go, and I'm back dealing with the lazy, mouthy one, who has yet to return to their desk.
It's like herding cats I tell you.
When I was in California student teaching, I was told I had a great handle on the classroom, that the one thing I was good at was classroom management. Here, I feel like I'm standing in the middle of a forest fire with a squirt gun- I get one little fire out, and another fire starts up behind me. All the while, I'm being evaluated by my mentor teacher.
Anyway, it's not such a great feeling. I remember being very confident, feeling like this was my "calling," like I had finally found the job I was supposed to do. Now, I keep wondering if my time and money would have been better spent working on a political campaign, :-)

Puck's First Day of School

Today was Puck's first day of school- obediance school. He is finally of age where he is allowed to be in obediance classes- hooray! (For those of you who have not met Puck, he is the darker shepherd- husky mix in both pictures- the first picture is him at Christmas, the second is one month ago. He is now 6 months old. The Other dog is Portia, who has adopted him as her baby.)
In Puck's class are three pitbull mixes, a pomeranian and a large generic mutt; it's quite the menagerie. Today upon arrival the teacher told us to keep the leashes loose so that the dogs could meet each other without feeling stressed or, have to face each other head-on (apparently taboo in dog world). So I walked right into the middle of the pack with my loose leash, and allowed Puck to say hi. Well, my dog promptly began to bop every other dog on the head with his paw, and try to gum them with his mouth. Everyone grabbed their dogs back and held them with tight leashes...which caused every dog to freak out and start barking. So there I was in the middle of a pack of dogs, all trying to lunge at my dog, who was just trying to say hi in his badly behaved puppy way. The instructor yelled at the class, told them to loosen up on the leashes and I remained. I asked if my dog was really bad, she told me that in fact he was doing better than the rest...I don't know if this is saying much, but I was happy. I guess a puppy running up and pawing or play biting another dog is to be expected, and easily fixed.
Today he learned how to heel, and how to sit and stay in public. We had it mastered at home, but with the distraction of the pet store and all of the other dogs, any and all skills he may of had when right out the window.
Fish seemed to be the most exciting item for him. I have no idea why. He kept getting distracted by the fish tanks, and the fish food. He's a weird one, this dog.

The Irony of American Politics

I remember not so long ago when the country was up-in arms when our president conducted himself in a less-than gentlemanly fashion whilst in the Oval Office, and then in a moment of pure idiocy, lied to the American people about the definition of the word "is." The masses were outraged- the torches were lit, the pitchforks hoisted, "Impeach the president!" became the new slogan of the GOP, (which means "Great Old Party," by the way.) We had to listen to the testimony of a bright-eyed intern, and lest we forget the most crucial piece of evidence, that wonderful blue dress. As the circus unfolded, the question was asked whether a president should be removed from office for lying under oath about whether or not he received a happy ending from a college intern--for most on one side of the house, the answer was unequivocably- YES!
In fact, representative Tom Delay explained it this way:

"This nation sits at a crossroads. One direction points
to the higher road of the rule of law. Sometimes hard,
sometimes unpleasant, this path relies on truth,
justice and the rigorous application of the principle
that no man is above the law.....No man is above the law,
and no man is below the law. That's the principle
that we all hold very dear in this country."
Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX)

Ironic...isn't it?

Then our current president was elected under the promise that he would restore values to the White House.
While there is little doubt that he is a one-woman man, there are many more questions surrounding a little leak and a CIA operative, some missing WMD's, a small snafu on the Gulf Coast, the minor tears and shreds put into the Bill of Rights under the guise of protecting us from Terrorists, and of course there is that growing gap between the rich and the poor, and the disappearance of the middle class. Never you mind, it will all be okay. At least he isn't with an intern! Thank goodness values have been restored.

Some have argued that in fact it was Clinton who failed us and got us into this mess by refusing to go after Bin Laden in the first place. After the first World Trade Center bombing, Clinton in fact did ask Congress at least twice for the power to go after Bin Laden-per the instructions of our Consitution, (as opposed to just doing whatever he wanted.) The Republican house denied his request each and every time.
Also, I would like to point out that in the 80's there was still a threat in the East called the USSR. In order to squash Communism for good, and per the promise of the Truman doctrine to give aid to any country under the threat of communism, the great nation of America supplied weapons and training to a militia force fighting Communist occupation in Afghanistan- this militia was under the military leadership of a rich Saudi by the name of Osama bin Laden. His militia would later be known to the world as the extreemist regime of the Taliban. It was under the leadership of President Ronald Reagan that Osama came to power, and came to be initially armed and trained.
But let's blame Clinton...it was after all, his fault.

Adventures in Student-Teaching

For those of you who don't know, I am currently student-teaching in the 8th grade. I have 170 "little darlin's" under my tutelage. What a grand time. There is nothing quite like taking over a classroom half-way into the second semester of a middle-school class when most of the students have checked out for the year. What's more, there is no retention rule. This means, they can all refuse to do their homework, get an "F" in every single class, and there is no consequense. They continue on to highschool, as if middle school never happened. This makes trying to motivate a class full of privelaged 14 year-old students who are accustomed to arguing their way out of everything quite difficult.
What's really fun is when they are given an assignment, or a small project to research and present, and they simply make the information up. Here are a two gems from the most current presentations:
"John Sutter was a famous windmill manufacturer in California. His windmill company was called Sutter's mill. He chose to have all his money transferred into gold bars. Others became jealous of his wealth, and his collection of gold bars, and started doing the same. This is what started the gold rush."

"The Alamo was a church that had been turned into a military fort by the people of Texas. General Santa Anna decided he really like the land in Texas, and so he invaded the state to take it over. As his troops were marching down the road, they noticed the church that had been turned into a military fort, and decided in order to invade, they would need to take out the forts- so they attacked the fort and assasinated everyone inside. Because of the horrible assasinations of all the Texans at the fort, the people of Texas got really mad and attacked Santa Anna's men in revenge for his attempt to invade their state...they yelled "remember the Alamo!" when they killed Santa Anna."

"Jesus and George Washington worked on the Missouri Compromise together." -this was someone trying to be cute. I was less than amused.

Like I said...good times.

Gluten is Evil! Or So I am Told. -An Update on Steph's Health

After struggling with geting sick after every meal, I finally sought medical attention and was promptly sent to a digestive specialist. I had the pleasure of a colonscopy last week and a barrage of blood work; the preliminary diagnosis was "Celiac Disease."
I have since been avoiding all gluten. I would like you all to know that I have learned a few things in my short period Gluten-free. First, after spending the last few years enjoying a multigrain, whole wheat, high fiber diet, I am in mourning for the loss of wheat products. It is a difficult thing to go from a fairly carb-o loaded diet to no carbs at all.
Second, gluten-free products are not tasty--unless of course you enjoy the taste of spongy cardboard.
Bryan has been very Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on the issue. On one side, he has been very kind and went with me and helped pick out new gluten-free foods and ingredients, as well as helped me sort the pantry so that I would have safe foods at the ready, and he would have tasty foods at the ready, and the two would not be confused.
On the other side, he also made several homemade baked goods which I could not eat, including my very favorite chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, and then ate the warm gooie goodness right in front of me. It has thus been a weekend of mixed emotion.
Because the docs feel I am allergic to gluten, they think I may not in fact be allergic or intolerant to most of the foods that I thought bothered me, including tomatoes and fruits.
As such, tonight we made my mom's homemade spaghetti recipe so that I may see if in fact I can tolerate tomatoes. We made homemade sauce and served it on rice noodles, instead of the traditional wheat noodles. I have yet to be sick. This is promising news.

Happy Easter! Why was everyone so dressed up?

Happy Easter Everyone!
'Tis a day to rejoice, indeed! But isn't this true for everyday?
In celebration of the holiday, this morning we got up and went to church as we do every Sunday, and enjoyed the service as we do every Sunday. We did not dress any different, I did not put on a dress, Bryan did not put on a suit. We put on khakis and gender-appropriate dress-shirts and off we went. One must first know that we attend the contemporary service of a church where the minister himself wears khakis if not jeans in the pulpit.
As for our choice to not dress a little nicer on Easter morn, I must refer you to my mother, "Jesus did not die on the cross and then raise up three days later so you could wear a new dress!"
While some may find my mother crass or perhaps indignant, I appreciate her real-life approach to Christianity. It was my mom who pointed out that Jesus has been risen for some 2000 years, so really, every day is Easter for us...if we don't wear suits and dresses every week- why would we this week?
I sometimes wonder if Jesus himself would want the pomp and circumstance? I don't know. I am anything but a religious scholar. But as I sat in the church pew this morning, on my first Easter without my mother, I chuckled a bit, remembered her words, and thought she had a pretty good point.

Kayaking