After having two people from school comment on my driving (specifically my tactic of weaving about through various lanes of traffic on the highway), I decided it was time to do something about it. One never knows when one will be spotted by someone from one's work world. Sigh. So recently I've been playing this game called "patience." It's actually quite entrancing! Finally I begin to understand children's attraction to The Quiet Game. I always assumed they were just a little too, um, immature to realize that the game was merely to keep them from driving adults crazy. But they may be on to something. It really is entertaining to spend time doing something contrary to nature! I calmly drive down the road, sticking with one lane, and shaking my head and sighing condescendingly about that young hot-head who is weaving about through lanes of traffic trying to save himself one extra minute. These silly impatient drivers. Someday maybe they will be as mature and peaceful as I am, serenely gliding down the highway.
The other game I've been playing is the "be more like Danny" game. It's great fun. You pretend that you have the work ethic of your older brother, so you work like a slave all week on lesson plans and essay grading. The reason this is a game is because you're pretending that you're doing the work in order to be as good a teacher as your brother, but really you're doing it because you have absolutely no choice - the amount of work is the bare minimum for survival now that you are teaching this many classes.
In other news (lest we forget) I LOVE TEACHING!!!
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Okay, who told the Chinese?
It's so nice having TJ home - it means we eat Chinese food more:) And last weekend, I got a fortune cookie that made me reflect on deep life truths. Or deep life questions, rather. Like, who told the Chinese about me? Which of my friends and relations is the mole?!
My fortune was "You will find yourself in a position of dignity in the end." HA! You keep trying to be grown up and dignified, but we fortune cookie writers know that you are fighting a losing battle. You?! Dignified?! (giggle giggle) But hey, don't worry. You might be dignified by the time you DIE! (If you're lucky.) (more giggles)
Today one of my students told me that her mother said I bring sunshine to the school... you can hear me all through the halls. Oh. Great!
Well, here's hoping for that dignity in the end...
My fortune was "You will find yourself in a position of dignity in the end." HA! You keep trying to be grown up and dignified, but we fortune cookie writers know that you are fighting a losing battle. You?! Dignified?! (giggle giggle) But hey, don't worry. You might be dignified by the time you DIE! (If you're lucky.) (more giggles)
Today one of my students told me that her mother said I bring sunshine to the school... you can hear me all through the halls. Oh. Great!
Well, here's hoping for that dignity in the end...
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Confrontation? Not Today!
This morning I got a text message from one of my student's moms (the one who really befriended me last year - I love her!), saying she was sorry to bother me, but she needed to ask me a question.
Uh oh, I thought, here it comes. Her daughter had not completed her summer assignments, and I had told her that she could either tell her mom she was starting the semester with three zeros, or I would have to call her myself. From the text message I surmised that the daughter had told the mother, the mother was upset, and the mother wanted to talk me into some kind of excessive grace or something.
But I texted her back and told her she wasn't bothering me and to go ahead and ask. She texted me back: "[re: the logic puzzle I'd given her daughter in class the day before] Who really did steal the art picture, Charlie or Bill?!"
Hee hee hee. I was vastly relieved and told her it was Charlie. How cute!
And now, with that lovely segue into the subject of school (HA! What else do I ever blog about during the year?!), I am happy to report that things are going fabulously. Last night I was reflecting on the difference between this Friday and last Friday. Last Friday I was a mess, worried about the work load, hating the prospect of Rhetoric class, sure I would never survive. (Incidentally, when I start feeling like that I love quoting "The Princess Bride" at the part where Westley and Buttercup are about to enter the Fireswamp and Buttercup says "We'll never survive," in that beautiful English accent. Hm. Obviously I can't be too despairing if I am still quoting TPB... Oh well. It was pretty despairing for the likes of me.)
This Friday I came home wicked tired, but also happy with how the classes had gone, how I'd handled them (I felt so good-teacher-y because I went the extra mile, in trying to explain truth, validity, and soundness in my logic class, by bringing in a diagram and a visual aid made with legos!), and how the future looked. That talk with my headmaster made such a difference, as did getting further into the groove. I'm going to have to work hard, harder than last year, but not nearly as hard as I envisioned (burning the midnight oil - not a moment's free time - all that jazz). It's going to be okay, thank the Lord!
And this week, I had many of those moments where I thought to myself, or even said aloud: "I LOVE TEACHING!!!"
Uh oh, I thought, here it comes. Her daughter had not completed her summer assignments, and I had told her that she could either tell her mom she was starting the semester with three zeros, or I would have to call her myself. From the text message I surmised that the daughter had told the mother, the mother was upset, and the mother wanted to talk me into some kind of excessive grace or something.
But I texted her back and told her she wasn't bothering me and to go ahead and ask. She texted me back: "[re: the logic puzzle I'd given her daughter in class the day before] Who really did steal the art picture, Charlie or Bill?!"
Hee hee hee. I was vastly relieved and told her it was Charlie. How cute!
And now, with that lovely segue into the subject of school (HA! What else do I ever blog about during the year?!), I am happy to report that things are going fabulously. Last night I was reflecting on the difference between this Friday and last Friday. Last Friday I was a mess, worried about the work load, hating the prospect of Rhetoric class, sure I would never survive. (Incidentally, when I start feeling like that I love quoting "The Princess Bride" at the part where Westley and Buttercup are about to enter the Fireswamp and Buttercup says "We'll never survive," in that beautiful English accent. Hm. Obviously I can't be too despairing if I am still quoting TPB... Oh well. It was pretty despairing for the likes of me.)
This Friday I came home wicked tired, but also happy with how the classes had gone, how I'd handled them (I felt so good-teacher-y because I went the extra mile, in trying to explain truth, validity, and soundness in my logic class, by bringing in a diagram and a visual aid made with legos!), and how the future looked. That talk with my headmaster made such a difference, as did getting further into the groove. I'm going to have to work hard, harder than last year, but not nearly as hard as I envisioned (burning the midnight oil - not a moment's free time - all that jazz). It's going to be okay, thank the Lord!
And this week, I had many of those moments where I thought to myself, or even said aloud: "I LOVE TEACHING!!!"
Monday, September 11, 2006
My Style of Conflict Resolution: Everyone Agree with Me!
This morning I was grumpy as all get-out, bewailing my overworked state. But by afternoon I was blissfully saying I had the best job in the world. What made the difference? The world's BEST headmaster!
Friday afternoon I suddenly realized that Rhetoric class was going to be totally boring and a waste of time and energy. This is not a realization one wants to reach at the beginning of a school year. So I generally panicked, and then started casting about for alternate curriculum.
This afternoon, with fear and trepidation, I sat down with my headmaster and told him I wanted to scrap the curriculum and replace it with a new one. And he listened! And (gasp) agreed! He was totally on my side. Isn't that amazing?! As an employee, I felt like my boss was really behind me, and wanted me to succeed. Now that was a good thing to realize at the beginning of a school year. He is really a good man. Bless his heart! He just saved my santity. It's amazing what the losing of a horrible class and the gaining of a fascinating one will do for my morale!
Friday afternoon I suddenly realized that Rhetoric class was going to be totally boring and a waste of time and energy. This is not a realization one wants to reach at the beginning of a school year. So I generally panicked, and then started casting about for alternate curriculum.
This afternoon, with fear and trepidation, I sat down with my headmaster and told him I wanted to scrap the curriculum and replace it with a new one. And he listened! And (gasp) agreed! He was totally on my side. Isn't that amazing?! As an employee, I felt like my boss was really behind me, and wanted me to succeed. Now that was a good thing to realize at the beginning of a school year. He is really a good man. Bless his heart! He just saved my santity. It's amazing what the losing of a horrible class and the gaining of a fascinating one will do for my morale!
Monday, September 04, 2006
Sunday, September 03, 2006
"It's Only a Game"
That has to be one of my most-despised phrases of all time. And for some reason, I always tend to hear it when it is the least true! It is NOT just a game! Well, okay, technically, definition-wise, it is just a game. Not a llama. Or a compound sentence. It is not a game AND a pistachio. It is just a game. That much I can accept.
But we all know that when somebody says, complacently or conciliatorily, "it's only a game," the implication is, "it doesn't matter." "Only" means "merely." "Only" means "I can't believe you care about something this insignificant." "Only" means "why don't you get an interest like world peace or something that really matters?" "Only" means "you are an inferior human being for even thinking about caring." Humph. Only, forsooth!
The phrase is invariably used by someone who is not a fan, or not an athlete, and is directed toward someone who is very much one or the other or both, and almost always when the team that the latter is supporting is losing in the playoffs or something. At the point where the fan is at his most tense - the team is at the do-or-die point - history is in the balance.
It is not "merely" a game. It is a CONTEST. It is a CHAMPIONSHIP. It is VICTORY at stake. There is a lot more to a game than it's definition - than the fact that what is being achieved isn't affecting the economy or the state of the Middle East. In a game there is the striving after perfection, the pitting of the best in the world against the best in the world, the attaining of things no one else has ever attained. It is a team - a group of men who have been seeking the same goal, together. It is a fan-base: people who have watched history unfolding with bated breath, and with passionate interest. There is a LOT to a game! It's not just a couple of hoops and a ball that bounces. That's almost like simplifying the Mid East conflict into a couple of guns and a line in the sand. There's a lot more to it than that! Similarly, there is a lot more at stake in a championship game than "only a game."
So, folks, let's not trivialize the role of the game in America. Let's not forget the lessons games teach, the character they build, the inspiration they give, the perfection they demand. "Games" is a word with which the word "ONLY" should never be coupled!
(And no, nobody said this to me recently - something innocuous just reminded me of it, and I thought it would be of utmost blog-worthiness.)
But we all know that when somebody says, complacently or conciliatorily, "it's only a game," the implication is, "it doesn't matter." "Only" means "merely." "Only" means "I can't believe you care about something this insignificant." "Only" means "why don't you get an interest like world peace or something that really matters?" "Only" means "you are an inferior human being for even thinking about caring." Humph. Only, forsooth!
The phrase is invariably used by someone who is not a fan, or not an athlete, and is directed toward someone who is very much one or the other or both, and almost always when the team that the latter is supporting is losing in the playoffs or something. At the point where the fan is at his most tense - the team is at the do-or-die point - history is in the balance.
It is not "merely" a game. It is a CONTEST. It is a CHAMPIONSHIP. It is VICTORY at stake. There is a lot more to a game than it's definition - than the fact that what is being achieved isn't affecting the economy or the state of the Middle East. In a game there is the striving after perfection, the pitting of the best in the world against the best in the world, the attaining of things no one else has ever attained. It is a team - a group of men who have been seeking the same goal, together. It is a fan-base: people who have watched history unfolding with bated breath, and with passionate interest. There is a LOT to a game! It's not just a couple of hoops and a ball that bounces. That's almost like simplifying the Mid East conflict into a couple of guns and a line in the sand. There's a lot more to it than that! Similarly, there is a lot more at stake in a championship game than "only a game."
So, folks, let's not trivialize the role of the game in America. Let's not forget the lessons games teach, the character they build, the inspiration they give, the perfection they demand. "Games" is a word with which the word "ONLY" should never be coupled!
(And no, nobody said this to me recently - something innocuous just reminded me of it, and I thought it would be of utmost blog-worthiness.)
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