josh calls those the crazy eyes. they must be hereditary cause finnie gots em too.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
fears
last week i was starting to feel a little discouraged about the teaching profession. i tell myself things like i'm not professional enough to get up and be ready and presentable every monday-friday. or that i don't have the right clothes or the right social skills or enough organizational talents.
but then i found this guy's blog called 'teaching the outsiders' which gives me lots of hope. he has been teaching seventh grade since 1988 in california and has countless good tips, stories, entertaining anecdotes, etc. that got me back on my motivation horse.
one thing that had knocked me off was a frustration with the alternative teaching program i'm in to get my certificate. the expectation is that after the classes and tests on the website are finished, the student should then be able to go out and get a job. which i don't have enough teaching experience for. so i'm teaching English at El Buen Samaritano and i might start tutoring a couple of afternoons next semester but mostly i have to substitute to get into and learn about the schools.
and i'm not sure why in a school people are unwilling to help you learn about procedure but you really have to pull it out of them. there is an expectation that you should already know how everything works the moment you walk in and if not you get a funny look and a 'just go do it' attitude. is that irony?
so to put it bluntly i'm scared. i feel like i need more prep, more instruction, more experience. i don't want someone holding my hand but i'd like to know a little about the water before i jump in.
are there sharks? a little algae? just some slimy stuff or like storms and tsunamis?
i'm trying to look at this as a challenge. i really like the idea of overcoming my fears, so i'm working out ways of gaining the skills that make me feel comfortable. i think i'm going to call AISD like i did del valle and just tell them "let me observe some of your classes". which worked out well and i've done some teaching assistant subbing since then. but i want to know how difficult it is to handle a class. how much is your day planned out and what happens if the teacher doesn't leave lesson plans?
really, i think that i'm just going to have to jump in. and mr. coward's website (teaching the outsiders) i think is helping me feel more confident. at the very least it's nice to know there are teachers out there who enjoy their jobs. and have made school simple and enjoyable for the students.
teaching involves so many skill sets like entertaining, knowledge in the subject area, people management, etc...i want to know if all the things i'm badass at can help me and if i have the gumption and intelligence to employ them all at once. i also need a hug. hugs are good.
but then i found this guy's blog called 'teaching the outsiders' which gives me lots of hope. he has been teaching seventh grade since 1988 in california and has countless good tips, stories, entertaining anecdotes, etc. that got me back on my motivation horse.
one thing that had knocked me off was a frustration with the alternative teaching program i'm in to get my certificate. the expectation is that after the classes and tests on the website are finished, the student should then be able to go out and get a job. which i don't have enough teaching experience for. so i'm teaching English at El Buen Samaritano and i might start tutoring a couple of afternoons next semester but mostly i have to substitute to get into and learn about the schools.
and i'm not sure why in a school people are unwilling to help you learn about procedure but you really have to pull it out of them. there is an expectation that you should already know how everything works the moment you walk in and if not you get a funny look and a 'just go do it' attitude. is that irony?
so to put it bluntly i'm scared. i feel like i need more prep, more instruction, more experience. i don't want someone holding my hand but i'd like to know a little about the water before i jump in.
are there sharks? a little algae? just some slimy stuff or like storms and tsunamis?
i'm trying to look at this as a challenge. i really like the idea of overcoming my fears, so i'm working out ways of gaining the skills that make me feel comfortable. i think i'm going to call AISD like i did del valle and just tell them "let me observe some of your classes". which worked out well and i've done some teaching assistant subbing since then. but i want to know how difficult it is to handle a class. how much is your day planned out and what happens if the teacher doesn't leave lesson plans?
really, i think that i'm just going to have to jump in. and mr. coward's website (teaching the outsiders) i think is helping me feel more confident. at the very least it's nice to know there are teachers out there who enjoy their jobs. and have made school simple and enjoyable for the students.
teaching involves so many skill sets like entertaining, knowledge in the subject area, people management, etc...i want to know if all the things i'm badass at can help me and if i have the gumption and intelligence to employ them all at once. i also need a hug. hugs are good.
Monday, December 15, 2008
ye ol gridiron
in the past, i've had several conversations with my brother which basically consisted of me berating him for liking football. i would tell him that he was secretly gay and liked all the ass slapping and that he must like war if he liked football since it's players are simulating battle and similar horse-poo.
but josh's company took us to a texan's game this weekend. we tailgated before the game and sat in the director's club at the stadium (complete with free food, full bar, cookies and a great view of the field). there were nearly 71,000 people there and the game was very close the whole time. i have a new appreciation for the athletes who seem to have gadget arms to make the catches that they do, but mostly for the fans. yes, they're loud and the ones sitting next to us were drunk and obnoxious but i really liked how everyone screamed "FIRST DOWN!' when the announcer would blare 'AND THAT MAKES A TEXANS...' or when we will rock you came on everyone stomped their feet hard enough to make the entire stadium shake. or how when the texans scored four runners from each corner would run down field carrying gigantic flags, cross eachother, stop on their respective thirty five and wave their flag. then run off the field. those guys probably don't get paid anything to run with flags. they probably just like to.
so the texans beat tennessee 12-13 and i think i finally understand why my brother likes football. it's kind of fun.
i'm debating on whether to have a conversation with him about how he was right.
but josh's company took us to a texan's game this weekend. we tailgated before the game and sat in the director's club at the stadium (complete with free food, full bar, cookies and a great view of the field). there were nearly 71,000 people there and the game was very close the whole time. i have a new appreciation for the athletes who seem to have gadget arms to make the catches that they do, but mostly for the fans. yes, they're loud and the ones sitting next to us were drunk and obnoxious but i really liked how everyone screamed "FIRST DOWN!' when the announcer would blare 'AND THAT MAKES A TEXANS...' or when we will rock you came on everyone stomped their feet hard enough to make the entire stadium shake. or how when the texans scored four runners from each corner would run down field carrying gigantic flags, cross eachother, stop on their respective thirty five and wave their flag. then run off the field. those guys probably don't get paid anything to run with flags. they probably just like to.
so the texans beat tennessee 12-13 and i think i finally understand why my brother likes football. it's kind of fun.
i'm debating on whether to have a conversation with him about how he was right.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
ay ay ay
going to sub in del valle today. i have no idea where i'm going to be except it's a junior high teaching assistant.
special ed? p.e.? math?
all scary.
special ed? p.e.? math?
all scary.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
what i'm doing
mostly i've been writing about finnie but wow! i've had a lot to do these past few days and weeks. it all seems a little weird since four months ago i was working in a cubicle for a corporation entering data about meat purchases.
today i'm going to school to tell my professor a fairy tale in spanish. i had to prepare three different stories: La Caperucita Roja, La Cenicienta Y Blacanieves y los siete Enanitos. So that's Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. One of these three will also be a written assignment that we complete in class without books or aids. we also have to write and film another fairy tale of our choosing which ended up being Goldilocks and the three bears. so i currently have about seventeen spanish fairy tale creatures swimming around in my head. i feel like telemundo on saturday morning.
but that is excellent because next semester i'm going to be teaching an introductory English class at El Buen Samaritano which is an episcopal mission dedicated to helping immigrating families. they have a food bank and free clinic and english classes with childcare etc... mostly they serve the hispanic population here but there are vietnamese and korean and russian students also. it's on a volunteer basis but the experience is invaluable.
and that's why friday i'm going to the orientation to become an Austin ISD substitute. this will hopefully lead to gainful employment somewhere in the district. because i needs the money! finnie needs the money!
which reminds me of when we went to marfa a couple of weeks ago a man working at the grocery store told us finnie looked like he ate alot. i thought that was a funny thing to say to a group of complete strangers with a baby but the more i think about it, the more i think it was an astute observation. those healthy pink cheeks must come from all that oatmeal and chicken an breastmilks we be feedin' him.
today i'm going to school to tell my professor a fairy tale in spanish. i had to prepare three different stories: La Caperucita Roja, La Cenicienta Y Blacanieves y los siete Enanitos. So that's Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. One of these three will also be a written assignment that we complete in class without books or aids. we also have to write and film another fairy tale of our choosing which ended up being Goldilocks and the three bears. so i currently have about seventeen spanish fairy tale creatures swimming around in my head. i feel like telemundo on saturday morning.
but that is excellent because next semester i'm going to be teaching an introductory English class at El Buen Samaritano which is an episcopal mission dedicated to helping immigrating families. they have a food bank and free clinic and english classes with childcare etc... mostly they serve the hispanic population here but there are vietnamese and korean and russian students also. it's on a volunteer basis but the experience is invaluable.
and that's why friday i'm going to the orientation to become an Austin ISD substitute. this will hopefully lead to gainful employment somewhere in the district. because i needs the money! finnie needs the money!
which reminds me of when we went to marfa a couple of weeks ago a man working at the grocery store told us finnie looked like he ate alot. i thought that was a funny thing to say to a group of complete strangers with a baby but the more i think about it, the more i think it was an astute observation. those healthy pink cheeks must come from all that oatmeal and chicken an breastmilks we be feedin' him.
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