An open letter to all Texas drivers

Dear Texas drivers,

I understand that you have some sort of warped sense of reality and often believe that Texas is it's own independent country, but this just is not the case. I would greatly appreciate it if you would drive "the Texas way" and stop tailgating, speeding, and swerving in and out of traffic. Yes, the traffic is often bad on your poorly designed freeways, but you are not gaining any time by cutting me or other drivers off just to get two cars ahead. Every time I see this happening, I get frightened that you are going to cause one of the many horrific accidents that occur each day here in Houston.

Thank you,

An Oregon Driver

Week VI: 1/6th of the way done!

Hola from the 1/6 point of my first year of teaching!  Wow, I can't believe I'm already here... half-way to 1/3!

Thank you to everyone for the birthday greetings! It was great to go home for the weekend and witness Garrett and Ariel's beautiful and fun wedding. It was so them and Portland that it was probably the best wedding I've been to! I also loved seeing Dana and Allison and Jackie and my Dad. I miss all of my Portland people so much.  My birthday was awesome, even though I wasn't home. Wyeth sent me a miniature yellow rose plant (since I am in Texas) which arrived during my 5th period class. I've always wanted to get flowers at work, so this was so so so exciting and unexpected!  That night I bought a yummy chocolate cake and some Oregon Pinot Noir and invited the ladies over to celebrate. They brought more wine (YAY) and pretty flowers. It was great to see them since we are all so busy we feel like we never see each other. 

My second unit is winding to a close (Latin America) and today we are talking about culture. It's a fun topic since many of my students' lives are filled with examples of Latin American culture, and it gives me a chance to talk about Dani in Honduras and UP's "Real Futbol". I've learned a lot these past few weeks, and I'm going to change how my unit is layed out and what is expected of my students. I'm going to employ more AP strategies (hello, weekly vocab tests and longer writing assignments!) as well as more outside readings. The only problem with this is finding those outside readings. I really need a copy of the AP human geography book so I can see what they use.

On that note, the teacher in my classroom during this period was answering this question from a student taking a test: How long does the essay have to be? His answer: long enough to convey the information and answer the question. 

This reminded me of a quote from Dr. Ells at UP. We asked him the same question, and he imparted this wisdom unto us. "A good essay is like a mini skirt. It should be long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to keep your interest."  Is this appropriate to say to my students the next time they ask  me that question? Hmmm...

Well, I'm going to get back to entering the names of my students in my official grade book that I bought. Yay.

Love to all,

Danielle

crap

My sandal just broke. In class. And I am leaving right after work for Portland with only these sandals and a pair of heels.

So I just stapled my sandals. 

:-(

Culture

My students and I have moved on to the next unit of study, Latin America. We started by learning about the physical geography, and I showed them a short clip about healthcare in Ecuador. There was a part about a local medicince woman who used a Guinnea Pig to detect ailments in the people she was treating. She would take a live Guinnea Pig, and move it slowly around the person's body. She would then kill and disect the animal and where the pig had an ailment, supposedly so did the person. Well my kids thought this was cool/wierd/sad/gross, but related it to their own lives!

Most of them have had something similar done, but with an egg in place of a pet. Their mother or grandmother would move the egg around their body, and then crack it into a glass of water and let it sit. They would then examine the egg, and depending on it's color/the way it rested/what stuff was in it, they could tell what was wrong with their kid. AWESOME. They also told me about the "ojo" which is spanish for eye - they do the same thing to babies and also give them a black and red bracelet/necklace to wear to warn off the "bad ojo", or bad luck/sins. I then asked my students if they would raise their hand if they or their family was from a country that we are currently studying. Over 80% of my students raised their hands! Many are from central america or Mexico, and I hope to use that connection to make this unit especially relevent.

One of my students also introduced me to the idea that you can tell what gender baby you are going to have someday using a necklace and a ring. If it spins one way, it's a boy, and the other if it's a girl. Turns out I am going to have 4 kids - 1 girl and 3 boys. Umm... probably not! Hahah.

Mi Familia...

Found these photos this past winter.

They make me happy.

For Mom...

After talking to my mom, and hearing Dominic shouting in the background, I've realized I have been absent from the blogging world. So what have I been up to? What could possibly be going on in Houston? Well, allow me to fill you all in...

I love my students. Hands down, the freshmen class rocks. They are polite, smart, and inquisitive. They ask a lot of questions and seem to really like me! I'm glad that they seem to be enjoying school and my class especially.

Last weekend, being a three day weekend, meant that I could relax a tad and get some stuff done. And boy, did I get things done! I built (and by built I mean struggled to follow IKEA's directions) a desk, bookshelf, and side table for my room. I now feel like I have a bedroom instead of a room with a bed and some random boxes. I also finally unpacked the last of my belongings. I am no longer using boxes as night stands (but I still don't have night stands...), and my shelves are full of pictures of people I love and miss immensely. I definitely need new frames and need to print off new pictures, but that can wait. 

And do I need to mention again Twilight? I'm racing on of my students, Jim, to see who can finish the series first. As of today I was ahead. I really want to beat him!

I've been missing home a ton lately. It rained all day today, which is really strange for Houston. Usually it's just a STRONG thunderstorm in the afternoon, but today it started around 10 and stayed gray and wet all day long. I LOVED it!!!!!!!!!  My coworkers think I'm a little crazy, but that's OK. It reminded me of something I read a year ago in a class. It was about how the Scottish or Irish have over 20 words to describe snow, and that Portland has probably just as many to describe rain. I don't think my kids would know what I was talking about if I said the word "drizzle."  I really need to find that quote...

Oh! And I got a massage and haircut and I bought a George Foreman grill and a food processor! So many great things!

I really must get back to reading Breaking Dawn now. I think I might finish it tonight...

Cheers and love to you all!

Open House!

Open house is tonight. Let's see... I have 130 students, and each parent is required to come, along with their child. So if each student comes with two parents, I will have 390 people to greet, and possibly 90 people in my 8th period class. Wow. I only have 8 minutes with each class, so I really only have time to introduce myself and give out my contact information. I will also have a contact sheet for the parents so that I can contact them as well. 

I'm nervous because many of my parents don't speak English. I've decided to chose one student from each class to translate for me, and I hope that goes well. 

Pray for me. Please.

I'll update tonight!