Christmas in the Northwest

Dominic wraps his first gift...

 And I have a large family...

 That continues to grow...

 My brother loves Angus

 I love Angus...

 Dominic is a star

 And the tree is BRIGHT

 And my cousins rock

 And these two are CUTE

 My grandma > your grandma

 Pops got a new hat, and the men all look great

 Dominic got the new scrabble game

 It's hard

 There's a time limit

 I love my brothers

 Even when they make their "CHICKY" face

 And I love my cousins... all of them

Merry Christmas, Y'all!

The ACE Effect

Once a month, all corps members are required to attend an All Corps Event, or ACE. They take place on a Saturday, and often last about five hours. To a first or second year teacher, the idea of giving up ANOTHER Saturday often seems unbearable and cruel, and we often plot ways to avoid the ACEs, but for the most part, we go. And you know what? I always leave feeling a mix of emotions.

I leave with a new sense of community. Sometimes I forget that I'm not in this alone, and that I am part of a BIG, national movement to do something momentous.

I leave with a sense of urgency. OK, so that is a BIG TFA-ism (one of the MANY). It's almost a cliche, but it's part of the push this year. What we are doing needs to feel urgent in our classroom, and they convey that feeling at the ACEs.

I leave feeling confident in knowing what I can do to improve. This is a big change over the ACEs last year. Every time I leave my sessions, I take away one concrete thing I can do in my classroom to help my students. Yesterday's concrete idea: scaffolded checks for understanding.

I leave feeling like a pretty crappy teacher. I know this isn't the point, but at the ACEs, I am always confronted with my own short-comings as a teacher.  The fact that I wasn't already doing scaffolded checks for understandings really shocks me. There is so much more I could be doing for my students.  I can't imagine being a second year teacher NOT in TFA, and not having the opportunities to to continually build my skills and reflect on my practices. I would stay a crappy teacher. KINDA SCARY.

I leave inspired. This didn't happen at yesterday's ACE, but normally there is some sort of uplifting story about how one current or previous corps member changed the life of a student, and those stories are so wonderful to hear. They give me hope and keep me going. The fact that this has been missing from the ACEs this year is really starting to wear on the corps members, and could explain the absence of MANY of them on Saturday.

And now I'm thinking that I need to get to planning and implementing all of the great changes I need to in my lesson plans. I do get to end on a VERY positive note, though.  I will be in Portland this weekend to watch Dominic test for his black belt. It's a very big, awesome occasion, and I couldn't be a prouder sister! I can't wait to see my family. :)

4 minutes

I once heard that a child has, on average, only 4 minutes of genuine interaction with an adult on any given day.  It was shocking then, and it is still shocking now, but I see how it is true. Even at school, it's amazing how hard it is to find a few minutes to sit down with just one student and talk. This doesn't include calling on a student, but having a real conversation.

After a test today in 3rd period, we had about 15 minutes left of class, so I let the kids just hang out. One of the students, E.Y. is on a plan with me where he has to show me his agenda each day at the end of school, get it signed by his mom, and then show me in the morning. I saw that he didn't get it signed last night, so I asked him if he was staying with his dad this weekend. I know his parents are divorced, and heard from his middle school teachers that weekends with his dad are much less structured and his dad often doesn't keep up on his work. He said that yes, he was with his dad this weekend. I told him that my parents are divorced and that I know it's hard to switch homes on the weekend and keep up on your work, but that he needs to be sure he gets mom or dad to sign his agenda. I think that hearing that I had once been through a similar situation gave him a feeling of safety and allowed him to open up to me. He said that he misses how he and his dad used to get pizza on the weekends but now that his dad has a new girlfriend, they don't do that. And he said that he think he needs to probably grow up and understand that he can't have pizza each weekend but that he still doesn't really like this new girlfriend.

He was so sweet as he was opening up. Sometimes I forget that they are just children and they really need to just talk. Talk about friends, talk about family, and talk about life. It's something I need to make more time for - conversations.

On another note - TFA got a second shout-out in the Office this week. "Teach for America girls are way hotter. But they're nuts." Damn straight.

Making the rules up as I go...

I really do love the kids I teach. Even though they don't turn in their homework, don't study when they should, and sometimes won't stop talking, they are adorable kids. Today was a study day for my 8th period since they have a unit test on Monday. After studying for a solid hour, they seemed like they deserved a break for the last 10 minutes of class, so I broke out my Question Cube. The question: What is the best dish you can make?

Answers:

Eggs
I make a mean boiled water
Sopapillas
Tamale
Frijoles (I think he was being sarcastic, but I hope he wasn't)
Spaghetti (to which S.W. asked "with cheese?" WTF?????)
Pancakes
Poptarts
"Chicken Tuna" which ended up being chicken salad!

And then they asked what I can make. My answer: chocolate mousse. YUM

I've come down with a cold, and it sort of sucks. Still busy as a bee trying to keep my head above water.

Missing the Oregon fall.

The guy who works at the thai place up the road from my apartment was sure chatty today. First, he commented on my last name
"Redman. That's really German".
"Yep, it is."
"oh you drive a Subaru. Love them. It's the only thing that got me through the snow in the winter"
"You obviously don't mean here".
"Oh no, in Oregon."
"I'M FROM OREGON!"
*One of those awesome moments where someone else knows what we are missing here in Texas*


And congrats to Kitzhaber!

Nothing, really

Hey. It's been a while. I've been busy, stressed, and often very happy since the last time I posted. I don't really know what else to say but that.

Oh, the second year is harder. I'm a better teacher than last year, but I'm trying to be better than last year, and that means working harder. So I'm busy, stressed, and tired often. And I need to find some yummy slow cooker recipes.

2:3 - Things could have gone better

We're getting close to the end of the first month of school. The kinks are getting worked out, and I'm beginning to see just what the class of 2014 will be like. But this past week, my mind wasn't always on school. I bought a new car at the end of July, and on Thursday I hit a rock with my new car. Oops. So I have 2 flat tires, two bent wheels, and I'm using a rental until they give me a quote. EFF. That's going to cost me. At least the tires are covered under the Super Gold Star Extended Warranty that I bought. The wheels? Well, I hope it won't cost much to hammer out the two small dings.

I finally cleaned my room, which looked like a disaster up until yesterday. And I have my grading done from this past week. I still need to input it into the computer before I have to submit my grades by tomorrow night, but I can do that after school tomorrow. Now I need to plan for this week, which is one of those really weird weeks schedule wise. We have Stanford testing on Thursday and Friday, which means I will only see periods 3,4,7, and 8. So I can't teach new material... I have to do something supplemental. I'm thinking REVIEW since they have a test the following week.

And I had a meeting with my PD (program director) on Monday. He shared his thoughts on my class, and suggested that I integrate some sort of portfolio work into my class. I agree, this would be helpful and wonderful for the students, but I just don't know how to go about that. I have to  make EVERYTHING up from scratch: the rubrics, the requirements, the organization system, how it will fit into my Long Term Plan, how it will be graded, what PERCENTAGE of their grade it will be... It's a lot. Maybe I'll send an email out to the social studies teachers in KIPP and ask for some guidance.  I can do that now that they've created a list serve for all of us around the country. I might get some interesting feedback. But I don't want to piggy-back off of a woman who just sent out an SOS about 5/6th grade. I might wait a week.

This long weekend was a blessing for sure. It was great to relax yesterday and then spend today grading and planning. I hope the next week flies by.

Birthday Present Ideas

In case anyone is wondering what I might possibly need/want... here are a couple of ideas...

via: http://www.errolgraphics.com/

http://www.orkposters.com/portland.html

How it's different

1. My room is more decorated. And by "more", I mean decorated. Period.
2. I knew what I was doing on the first day, and it didn't suck
3. I have special rules. Like no pencils, and only loose leaf paper. This will save my sanity
4. I'm not worrying about dress code. Whatevs.
5. I am busier.
6. I have more responsibility. Grade level chair... No longer the "fetus"... Advisor of a real club.

2:1 done.

Sundays are no longer a day of rest. They are days of laundry, groceries, cleaning, planning, grading, printing, sorting and getting ready for the next week. And since this is the first Sunday of my second year of teaching, it's a busy one. All week long, I neglected anything that wasn't directly associated with planning for my classes. My room looks like a natural disaster, I am running out of clothes, and the only food I have is some cereal, a couple of Jell-O chocolate mousse cups, and some white American cheese slices. Oh, and some eggs. Not exactly the things one makes yummy meals out of.

The first week back went WAY better than the first week last year. My lessons were solid, my instruction has improved, and my classroom looks pretty nice. It's crowded, since I'm sharing a room with another teacher, and I have 10 tables stuffed into my room. But I think I have a solid start to the year. Now I just need to plan the next week out, and memorize the names of my students. I'm having trouble doing that and I need to find a way to get over it.

Alright, I need to get working. First thing on my list is grading/sorting. Here I go...

Here are some pictures that I've snapped with my phone this summer. I'm a fool, and they aren't in any order. But they are pretty awesome. 

Hawaii.  My view while drinking up the sun at the beach. 

This is HOME. I LOVE the pano app on my phone. 

It sort of kills me that I haven't seen the new Twilight movie. Oh well. I can still wear a crown at Burger King and act like a fool and embarrass Allison.

Don't I have the COOLEST brother in the world? He's so cool, he's in 3 places!

Reunion time. First, my networking skills payed off. If all else fails, I have a contact at Playboy. Second, I stole a couple of party favors, such as the float toy. I also drank a lot of red wine. That i didn't pay for. Man I love UP

Exhibit B: another example of how cool Dominic is. 

More Hawaii: sunset at the Luau, and me kissing a fish made of some sort of plant. 

Now, I've had some trouble in the past of my pictures not showing up. Let's see if that happens here. 

A New Type of Countdown

It seems like it was just a week ago that I was counting down the days until summer break would arrive. Now the countdown has begun for school. There is a part of me that's excited, and a part of me that wishes summer would go on, and on, and on. I've enjoyed my time off, my adventures, and being in the sun. I've loved sleeping in and grilling and laying around being lazy.

But now I need to start thinking about next year. There is so much I want to do to get ready. Maybe I'll put some effort towards my syllabus today. Or Long Term Plan? I've about 4 hours until our barbecue tonight, so maybe it's time to go to half-priced books. MMMMMM. Books!

The Journey Home: 10 Years of Good Travel Karma Comes To A Screeching Halt

I don't even know where to begin with this post. Yesterday was pretty much travel hell. I'm serious. And let's think about this: I'm pretty much a "go-with-the-flow" kind of girl, and I can handle quite a bit without the drama. I understand that the airline industry is huge, and delays and lost baggage are just part of the deal. But yesterday, more went wrong than right, and I'd rather not step foot in an airport till I have to leave for Hawaii on the 2nd. Let me break down the day by numbers to try and give you an understanding of what it was like...

5 

am, the time I woke up in Rome

6

am, the time I boarded my shuttle to the airport

7 

am, the time the security gate opened at FCO

820 

am, the time my flight SHOULD have departed

930 

am, the time my flight actually departed
4 

the length of my flight from Rome to London, in hours

12:15

pm, the time my flight from London should have departed

12:25 

pm, the time my flight landed in London

1:15

pm, the time my flight from London to Dallas had been pushed back to (phew!)

2:30 

pm, the ACTUAL time that fight left London

9

the length of my flight from London to Dallas in hours

6:05 

pm, the time my flight from Dallas to Portland took off

6:15 

pm, the time my flight landed in Dallas

1

the number of bags BA lost. 

1 

the number of bags I packed for the WHOLE SUMMER

8:00 

pm, the time of my new flight to Portland

4 

the length of my flight to Portland, in hours

10:30 

pm, the time I landed in Portland

30 

the number of hours I had been awake, minus 2 hours that I slept on the fight from Dallas to Portland

17 

the number of hours spent in flight

2 

the number of hours I spent just sitting on a plane, waiting for a leak in the landing gear to be fixed, or for a gate to open

150

the amount of money that I talked American Airlines into reimbursing me for so I can buy some necessitites, like underwear

36

the number of hours it could take for my bag to clear customs in Dallas, if not more

This morning, as I was speaking to a woman over the phone about my lost luggage and being compensated, I had to prove to her that Portland was not my home. Her argument: since my final destination with American Airlines is Portland, than that must be my home. I explained that no, Houston is my home, and I do not have a single change of clothes here in Portland. She then started to interrogate me on how I could pack for a month of travel in one carry on. So I, not so calmly, explained to her that she could check the billing address of the card that I used to purchase the tickets and see that it is in Houston, and that yes, I was living out of a carry-on sized luggage for nearly a month. I am a teacher, and I have the summers off. I had an opportunity to go to Europe, Portland, Hawaii and Portland again, and I am doing so. Just because I have not booked my flight home does NOT mean that this is home. She then had to run that story by her supervisor, which could still be denied. Really, AA? Up until this fiasco, I had to problems with your airline. But if you really try to state that Portland is my home just because I have no flight THROUGH YOU to Houston, then you have just lost a customer.
Hmpf!

But here I am in Portland, and I'm so happy to be HERE! (I won't use the word home, lest AA is reading...) I'm staying with my dad in Vancouver, and he is giving me use of the Volvo, a bed, and a key to the house! Sweet! I have a lot of catching up to do over the next few days, and I can't wait to see friends and family. I'm getting pretty amped for Hawaii, but my trip to Europe was the absolute best!!!!!!!! Here are some photos. As always, I wish I had taken more.

A Brief Glimpse of Rome

Due to some unforseeable travel roadblocks, I had to cancel my Rome trip last minute and replace it with a trip to Ireland. Unfortunately, it would have cost me way too much money to change my flight home from originating in Rome. This meant that I arrived in Rome at 8 pm
and fly out at 8 am. I had to make my way to my hotel that I booked last minute with an embarrasingly little amount of Italian language skills I had to search for about an hour for an ATM for some cash for my cab.

Now I'm pretty confident while in new places, and I have felt nothing but safe in Europe during my travels, but the only time that I have felt uncomfortable was while trying to catch a cab at the airport in Rome. There were men offering to get me rides to my hotel, and it was so creepy! I've enough common sense to know that that is a bad idea. I made it to my hotel, checked in and was starving. I'm staying at a best western that is right on the coast. The sun was just finishing setting as I walked to dinner around 9:30. I even walked on the beach for a bit. I can't remember the last time I felt sand between my toes! I wish I had more time here so that I could enjoy the beach! I decided to eat at a little seafood restaurant that had a large family celebrating a birthday. I had some mellon and pruciutto, a creamy scampi spaghetti, and red wine. I figured that if this was going to be my only interaction with italy, I would make it count!! The Mellon was so sweet, the shrimp was the freshest I've ever had, and the wine was perfect. And then this grandma came out if the kitchen in an apron that Nan might own and I knew that this was a quality meal!

Now I'm off to bed before my marathon of travel tomorrow!

Ciao!

Thoughts on Dublin

After a couple of relaxing and wonderful days in Dublin, I've gathered a few thoughts on this place. First, the people are quite friendly, the accents are AWESOME, and having a whole population love a singular beer is pretty neat. But the differences between Dublin and London are striking. London was very put together, and everyone always looked great. It was quite proper, the people were very polite, and it had this sense about it... a formality I guess. But Dublin is quite the opposite. The people are more casual and laid back, and there isn't the same formality about things. Yes, the people are equally as polite and friendly, but it was not what I expected at all. What I loved about Dublin was that it was actually quite a small city, and a very walkable one at that. Our sightseeing day was done completely by foot, and we saw many of the main attractions. The highlight? Guinness factory tour. The history, the passion, and the beer were amazing. I even poured the "perfect pint" and drank it all too. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a beer person, and finishing a whole pint of that rich, dark beer was pretty awesome.

Another thing I've learned while on this trip: I can't read an itinerary to save my life. First I went to the wrong airport in Houston, then yesterday I thought I was flying to Rome, when really I don't fly out till today. I made it all the way to the airport before I realized this mistake. Boy was Jeff surprised when I returned to the Hostel! We made the best of the situation by gettng drunk off Guiness, watching the world cup, and listening to some true Irish music at a great little pub!

I'm off to Rome, where I'll be fore just over 12 hours. I'm not sure if I'll make it to the city, since I'm staying by the airport for convenience. If I do, I'll make the most of it and see as much as I can, and drink as much wine and eat as much pasta as my budget allows.

Ciao!

Dublin, And Our Irish Luck

As far as I've been able to determine, I'm pretty darn Irish. Evidence: mom's maiden name is Murray, I have a reddish tint to my hair, plus a couple of very red strands right up front,y family can hold their booze, and I can be pretty loud at times. So maybe it was this bit of Irish luck that allowed us to make our flight from London to Ireland.

Part I: getting to the airport. Easier said than done at 3:15 in the morning. There is no regular tube or bus service that early, and the shuttle to the airport was pretty far away. We could either walk over a mile through the city at 3 am, or catch anshuttle right from our hostel. Even though it wasthe more expensive of the two options, the shuttle won. So we woke up, jeff sprinted to the ATM to get cash, and then we waited. And waited. We waited to the point if worrying that we would miss our flight. Finally the shuttle arrived, and we got to the airport with what we thought was plenty of time to get to the plane.

Part II: Boarding Passes. Question to all of my friends who had flown ryanair while studying abroad. Why didn't you tell me about the boarding passes?!?! I thought that I would be able to print my boarding pass at the airport, like I do with every other airline. Wrong. We get to the ticket counter and plead with the nice lady to print our passes. No go. It would cost £40 to print each paper. Because they print it on pure gold. WTF. Oh but there is a kiosk with printers and computers over there. After frantically throwing pounds at the machine, we were able to print our passes and check in. Then we get to security. Our gate is due to close in 15 minutes. I make it pass the security officer but jeff
doesn't. She stops him and then calls me back. Turns out not all of out boarding passes printed. We would need to go see a ryanair agent and have them print us new boarding passes. She said she would expedite us to the front of the line when we got back. We race to the
only free agent and he prints us new passe (that wasn't that hard, was it ryanair?) we are then ushered to the front of the security line. We ate behind two sweet, but painfully slow old men, but I make it through with no problems. Wish I could say the
same for Jeff...

Part III: airport security. 10 minutes till the gate closes. "sir, we need to take each item
in your bag out. Our machine detects some sort of liquid. I run ahead to the gate while jeff watches the security agent take each piece of clothing out of his bag. The culprit? Condensation in his water bottle. And they threw away his hair stuff, which caused to problems in Orlando and NYC. By now the gates should have closed. We should have stayed in London. We should not had made it to Ireland. But the plane was late. We made it, against all odds. We were exhausted and a bit delerious when we arrived in Dublin, but we arrived.

I'm sorry, you can't come in...

Last day in London was filled with museums and libraries and a trip to the US embassy. We started out at the London library, which was definately a highlight of the trip. Of course I would geek out over an exhibit on maps, the magna carta, guttenberg bible and other OLD books. I was in heaven!! After the library, we went to the British museum. We went with the intent of seeing the Rosetta stone, as there is just too much to see at this gigantic library. On the way to the stone, we were distracted my cleopatra's mummy, Hewlett from the bronze age, and lots of clocks. There is also this room in the British museum, and it is a great room. I was just in awe at the size. I also realized that I can only really handle one muse per day - any more and I gloss over and tune out.

After the museum, jeff and I headed to the US embassy, hoping for a tour and joking that they might serve ribs to US citizens. As we rounded the corner of the park, there was no mistaking our embassy. Unnecessarily huge, a gigantic gold eagle on top, all 50 state flags, and men with automatic weapons. We walked up tonthe visitor entrance where the british security guard told us that we could not, in fact, come in to visit. Pardon? We can't come in? What if we're in distress? Not without an appointment. Lesson learned: south korea's embassy is wide open, while to enter our own we needed an apointment.

We headed back to our hostel to get to bed early since we had to catch a shuttle at 3:15 am, but were distracted by the film Hostel II being shown. Ironic or just creepy?

I'll update on our crazy travel story to London tomorrow.

Love to all, and remember that if you want to visit your own embassy, you better make an appointment.

Day 2:So jeff finally showed up to the hostel after a long day of travel and very little sleep. We decided to go for a walk and get a feel for the city. We walked along the Thames and saw the globe theater, parliament and big Ben, westminister abbey and a couple parks. It started raining and it was just like being at home!!

We headed to bed early and the next day walked, walked and walked. Rick Steeves guided us on a tour of 'the city', the historic heart of London. We saw:trafalger square which is in front of the British museum, st. Mary-le-strand which is a beautiful cathedral, the BBC world headquarters, another christopher wren church, the royal courts of justice, twinnings tea, the temple bar monument, prince henry's room, temple church, the inns of court, fleet street,st. Pauls cathedral, st. Bride's church, st. Mary-le-bow, bank junction AND theonument. I'd describe the importance of each of these places, but I'm really bad at typing on my phone, and Dublin is calling. Just know that we took tea and went to a service at st. Pauls. Both were amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh and we saw the changing
of the guard just by chance at buckingham palace. So
much in one day!!

Day 4: tired. Our feet and legs hurt and this caused us to take it easy. We had planned a day
of museums, but after the "art" at the Tate modern, we headed to a quaint park, dozed and decided to take tea again. If there is one habit that I'll take away from London, it's the practice of lounging in parks and drinking tea in the afternoon. I'm not sure if people actually work in London, but the parks are just filled with people sitting, reading or napping. For dinner we enjoyed a great meal of fish and chips and called
it an early night.





Day 3: city walk. National gallery the square. Had tea. Fish and chips and a coke. Partial service at st. Pauls

Day 4: slept in, Tate, church service at westminister. Park. Tea and bread and butter pudding.

Day 1 - Houston to New York to London

So I guess this is really day one AND two of my travels, but who wants to count the time spent in the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport and in a dark hotel room as day 1? I will say this: I've already used up my one travel mishap. I am only going to allow myself one for the whole week and when I accidently went to IAH instead of HOU, that was it. Luckily I was incredibly early and Caroline came back to take me to the correct airport! Once there, the security lune was infinately shorter than on Monday, and the rest of my travels went smoothly. I spent my time in Dallas reading the travel blog of two coworkers. It was entertaining and insightful: just what I needed to pass the time. I landed in NYC at laguardia and took a taxi over to JFK. I spent the night in a hotel near by and was up bright and early for my 8:20 flight!

The flight to London is so short! Only a little over 5 hours! It was all smooth until we landed and the walkway malfunctioned and we had to exit the plane by external stairs. I then managed to make my eaynto my hostel via the underground, and arrived around 10:30 London time. I checked in and found my bunk and got situated. The hostel is nice and everything is clean. There was a man who was in the room who just couldn't handle the noises that 15 people naturally make while trying to sleep. Everytime someone rolled over or shifted something or came into the room, he would complain, threaten to piss on their things, noisily storm out of the room, and return 10 minutes later. His racket was much more disturbing than anything else in the room. This morning he showed equal disregard for others and left his dirty dishes all over the common area.

Right now it's about 9:30 and I'm waiting for Jeff to get here. His plane was delayed a but last night due to rain in NYC but he should be here soon. I took a walk to the ATM this morning and it's going to be a great day! The weather should be lovely!

Please excuse any typos, as I'm writing these from my phone. Free wifi is an awesome thing!!

Ready, Set, GO!

My, it's been quite a year! Just the other night while I met some of the 2010 corps members, I couldn't help but think about much has happened since I was in their shoes. It wasn't that long ago (really, a year us a short amount if time), and it feels like yesterday. I remember meeting Caroline as we caught the same ride from the airport to the JW Marriot, and meeting Michelle, who just happened to be my roommate for induction. The next three days were a blur of information and people, but those beds were so comfy!!!!!

And here I am, with a year under my belt, twenty-some friends richer, and with a few more grey hairs. I've learned a lot this year about myself, teaching, the world around me, and of course Houston! It's been exhausting but well worth the time and effort. It's hard to look back though, when I have so much to look forward to.

Starting with the immediate, I'm about my whirlwind if a summer living out of a carry on. I have 30 lbs of necessities in my posession. This needs to get me through a week in London and Dublin, a week in Portland, a week in Hawaii, and about another week in Portland. I shipped a small box of dresses home for Hawaii, but that's it.

I still can't believe all the places I'll be this summer. I can't wait to explore London and Dublin with Jeff, spend some quality time at home(camping? Lake Billy Chinook??), gonto Hawaii with Allison and catch up on the last year, and then spend some mire time at home with friends at Billy and Lucia's wedding!!!! It's just all surreal. If I wasn't already, I'll be an expert flyer.

The history geek that I am is getting excited fir Europe. Thanks to Jenny Brunsell, I have a loaned copy if Rick Steeve's guide to London with me. Molly, I'll do my best to follow his advice, but I've been a bit spontaneous lately. :)

If you need to get a hold of me, please shoot me an email (dredman05@gmail.com) or a facebook message. I did not bring my camera cable with me, so photos will have to wait til Portland. Unless they come from the phone of course!

Love you all. Thanks for hanging in there this past year, through my rants and raves. I'm sure I more often then not dis not make any logical sense. I wonder if my students feel the same way...

Almost There

I'm packing for Europe right now. Actually, that's false. I'm packing for a week in London and Ireland, 10 days in Portland, a week in Hawaii, and another week or so in Portland. In one carry on.

AM I CRAZY? Probably. I think I'll ship a box of shorts to mom tomorrow morning before my flight so that I don't have to pack those for Europe. And the dress for Billy and Lucia's wedding. Everything else will have to go in the pretty, blue suitcase.

Here's hoping I make it.

Year 1

Is in the books. I don't really know what to say. I can't even begin to write actual paragraphs, or sentences that describe this past year, these past 10 months, the long days, and the eternal minutes. So I have words. Thank God for words.

frightening

tiring

exciting

big

loooooooooong

(that's what she said)

rude

sweet

delicious

horrible

memorable

work

fun

leisure

stress

massages

sleep

lack of sleep

tired feet

bad outfits

big purchases

move

stay

sit down

quit talking

thank you.

Someday I'll sit down and try to piece it all together, but I've never been good about that. So now I'll just look forward. I leave on the 13th for Europe. I'll be spending a few days in London Town, then a couple more in Rome. I'm excited to eat, drink, and be merry. I'll be with my most wonderful roommate and constant companion, Jessica for the entire trip, and will be joined by Jeff while in London. THEN, I'll fly from Rome to Portland, which is going to be the longest flight ever. I'll spend about a week in the city of roses, Rip City, and Stumptown, then it's off to Maui with ALLISON!  Oh geeze. After a week of laying in the sun, snorkeling, surfing (??) and sipping Mai Tais, I head back to the 503, and hang out there until I decide when I'm coming back to Houston. I should get on that plane ticket, right?? I'm excited and nervous and have no idea how to pack for such a summer. I'll be living out of my carry on. And I'm reading all of the travel blogs and Rick Steve books that I can find. So be watching out for maybe a reflective post, and DEFINITELY pictures from my travels.

I'm sick, I think. Or my allergies are flaring up in ways that are completely new and unwelcomed. And that makes teaching DIFFICULT. But this week my students are working on research for their final projects, so my role is to really just be a warm body and answer the same three questions over and over and over again.

So today I sat, put on the Justin Beiber station on Pandora, and watched them work. Then K.Q. heard the intro to "Our Song" by Taylor Swift and said, "Miss I know this song". 

"I'm not surprised, K."

And then, with perfect timing, he belted out to TSwift. I nearly died from laughter. I wish I had videotaped it. It was GREAT and just what I needed.

Love it.

consequences

Here's an article about the KIPP system of consequences. It's an interesting read about both positive and negative consequences, and might cause you to think some more, which is always a good thing.

KIPP students prove that real consequences can change behavior

Monday, May 17, 2010

Akey lesson in the "no excuses" type of public school, which uses firm measures to raise achievement for impoverished students, is behavior has consequences. The Knowledge Is Power Program, a no-excuses-style charter network, does that by denying some students the traditional year-end trip to Orlando or Utah or New York or other places they desperately want to go.

Does it work? Here comes an unusually qualified expert. Monday night, Kyrien Curtis arrives in Washington as a volunteer chaperon for 60 fifth-graders from the KIPP STRIVE Academy in Atlanta. He is a short, lean freshman at Morehouse College. He grew up in Houston and attended the KIPP Academy Middle School there all four years, from fifth through eighth grade. Because of foul moods and other distractions, he missed the trip every time, so this will be his first.

Denying children cherished prizes is a controversial part of the no-excuses model. The idea is to build self-restraint. It has had an impact. Former KIPP students, now adults, tell me that losing a year-end trip was the most dramatic moment of their middle school years. They are still trying to measure its influence a decade later.

Squashing a student's dream is something that most schools, public and private, rarely do. Some educators think it is cruel and destructive to a learning environment. But KIPP's achievement gains are large.

KIPP's co-founders, Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin, were appalled at the lack of meaningful consequences for students who misbehaved when they were novice teachers in Houston public schools. When they started KIPP in 1994, they devised a system of KIPP dollars for good behavior and loss of privileges -- such as being prohibited from talking to your friends -- for bad behavior.

Getting a good education and going to college, they said, were the consequences of good decisions. Bad decisions set you back. Some students did not believe that until they lost a trip.

In middle school, Curtis spent much time on the Porch, a KIPP word for the isolation imposed on students who skip homework, interrupt class, insult other students or talk back to teachers. "I never lied, cheated or stole," he said, "but I also was not always nice."

A teacher would urge his class to have a clean week -- no demerits. But by Thursday, Curtis would succumb to a destructive mood, miss an assignment and be back on the Porch. He had to sit separately from others in class and at lunch and could speak only to teachers. Good behavior freed him from the Porch, but that often took a while.

Curtis credits KIPP's nine-hour school days and heavy homework for teaching him how to manage his time. He doesn't think he would have a 3.2 GPA at Morehouse without that.

But as he moved on to KIPP Houston High School, becoming active in student government and eventually student body president, the lost trips stayed on his mind. He was struck by a teacher's observation that so many of the middle school students on the Porch were African American males raised by single parents, just as he was.

Curtis talks like a business leader remembering rowdy days as a prep school student. He learned about rules, but he had to break some. Each KIPP school has a different system. At STRIVE, each student has a chance to get off its version of the Porch in two days and is isolated only at lunch.

But 25 STRIVE students still will miss this trip.

Curtis is a computer science major, interested in robots. But he said he also might become a teacher and help kids like him who get left behind.

For more Jay, go to

http://washingtonpost.com/class-struggle.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/16/AR2010051602933.html

When It's Raining on Saturday

All I want to do is curl up with a book today, and spend Saturday listening to the rain come down and drench Houston from the comfort of my own bed. It's such a refreshing sound, and I love how rain makes everything fresh!  But this is the Saturday that will be spent grading and planning and cleaning. Then tonight, I have been invited to an end of the year party at a coworkers house. He's from Louisiana, and is making REAL southern food. I'm excited. And he lives in the Heights which is an adorable neighborhood filled with craftsmen houses.

Allow me to swoon for a minute while I dream of cratfstmen houses with big porches and built-ins.

OK.  Now I'm done. Since I'm up, and since I promised, I'm making scones this morning, as soon as i clean the kitchen.

With blueberries!!!

Work Hard. Be Nice.

Sex, Drugs, And Rock n' Roll (but mostly just Drugs).

I did something pretty ballsy on Tuesday, and I am so lucky it didn't blow up in my face. I was trying to get 8th period started on the topic of the history of Australia, Antarctica and Oceania. Getting 8th period started is always difficult, and usually takes 15 minutes longer than any other period. This is the class with ... 4 students with modifications, one of which is a big, Texas-sized pain in my rear end. As I was reminding JP to move back to his original seat, I told him he needed to hand over the tennis ball that he was playing with, as it would only serve as a distraction to him and the rest of the class, and would most likely spend the next 80 minutes rolling back and forth on the floor. JP flat-out refused to give the ball over, and after about a minute and a half of me stating "I am not arguing with you about this. This is not a discussion. This is not a question, but rather an order", I told him to leave.

Get out of my class.

Just go.

When he asked if I wanted him to take his work, I told him to leave. Again.

When he asked where I wanted him to go, I repeated the oder to leave my classroom. He was no longer welcome.

He packed his things quite quickly (for JP), and left.  The rest of the class worked almost silently for the rest of the class. A couple students asked if I wanted them to go look for JP, but I said no. I did step into the hall once or twice to see if he was simply sitting outside of my door, but he wasn't. He was no where to be seen. Inside, I was panicking. What had I just done?? I sent a kid to wander the halls. I could get into trouble for this. He could get into more trouble.

Shit.

Class ended, JP came back, and he had his work complete. We talked after class about how he was in serious danger of failing my class, and failing freshman year, and having to repeat. I told him that for my own sanity and well-being, I could only care if he did. He said he didn't want to repeat and so I told him he really needed to start acting like it. I was not going to tolerate blatant disrespect, and if he wanted to pass my class, he needed to act in a way that would allow me to teach, and his classmates to learn as well as him.

We will see if it happens. I really don't want to teach him again next year.

As for the drugs, a freshman is suspended and could be expelled for going off campus before school on Monday with a couple other students and getting stoned in an apartment across the street. The school called the cops and drugs were found on the other students. We're sure all of the drug tests are going to come back positive. The faculty seems split on whether or not the students should be expelled. Some say there needs to be a no tolerance policy, others say that if we expel them, some of them may never finish high school.

Wrestle with that dilemma for a while. I know I am.

I'm almost done with year numero uno. I'll do cartwheels down the hall, a la Brian Reichelt, my advising teacher during my student teaching. I'm also going to buy a car at the end of summer. I'll have saved $4,500 bucks, and can put that towards a car OR pay off one of my student loans. Hmmmm....

Remember: Work Hard. Be Nice.

Break in Concentration

I'm in my third-to-last week of my first year. There are officially TWO Mondays left. And I can't keep showing movies, right? I need to keep teaching, and it's hard and I don't know what to do and all I want to do is start their research projects but we can't do that just yet. So here I am, stuck trying to figure out how to make learning about Australia and Antarctica and Oceania neat. I don't want to rely on the book, because that is boring as heck. But I don't want to put in the time to create awesome power points and find neat resources. What kind of resources could there be? And I've already shown an awesome video about Australia that was narrated by Russel Crowe. 

Man, I need to step up to the plate and stop bitching. I'm ALMOST DONE...

So here are some things I've been thinking about INSTEAD of work...

London

Rome

Good Coffee

Yummy food...

Home...

Oh you know, just the normal stuff...

Like a good Portland rain...

And a good rain jacket

Because, really, what could be better than a good rain jacket, with a good cup of coffee, while walking in the rain in Portland? I urge you to find something more soothing than that!

Oh, and it's sunny and beautiful in Houston, in case anyone was wondering.

:)