School Dreams.

So yesterday two of my good friends and I went down to Ikea to enjoy some Swedish goodness.

We didn't have any meatballs. But we did act like goofballs.

Last weekend I went with Nicole to the salvation army store in town. I got a lamp for 5 dollars. Because it was half off!!! AMAZING! But it didn't have a lamp shade. So when we were in the lighting section Nicole pointed out a very cool lamp shade.



I got this lovely shade and it's very happy sitting on my bedside table.

While we were enjoying a wonderful Mediterranean meal we were talking about school. My friend Jess mentioned that she had a school dream and then I said "watch - now we're all going to have school dreams."

- Sure enough last night I had a dream about school. It was the first day of school but I didn't know what classes I was teaching and was also late getting to work so when I walked in my classroom they kids were already there. It was awful.

I don't have to go back to work until August 9th but I'm already having dreams. This isn't a good sign for my sleep habits.

day two and the feet still hurt

Ummmm when is it okay to switch to wearing slippers in my classroom.

House shoes as I like to call them.

Because really who wants to teach 30 - 14 year old wearing shoes that hurt your feet. Not me friend, Not me.

Today was day two - but because my school is on block schedule, it's kind of like the first day of real teaching. We read Everyday Use - 7th period liked it better than 1st. Or at least they were more vocal about enjoying it. And in 7th period there were seriously 10 people who interrupted class. I hate that. Pass for this kid, Some kid saying hello because they were going to go to the bathroom then they remembered that they missed my class... bla bla bla - seriously being interrupted with 35 kids in a room does not help the flow. But I managed.

Needless to say - it's good to be back - but what's even better is that tomorrow is Friday.

first day of year 6

feet are tired. voice is tired. mind is tired. it was a great day.

The funny thing about teaching is you can gauge the year by how the first day goes. And let me tell you - it's going to be a good year. Other than the 11 minute drive that took 40minutes!! It really was the start of something awesome.

The kids laughed at my jokes, respected me when I asked for quiet and had the right amount of 'I'm scared' for my liking. A friend of mine who teaches 12th grade said this at lunch and I tend to agree...

S: I want my kids to have a bit of fear and be a bit timid on the first day of school. I don't want them thinking that they can make jokes with me yet. We aren't there yet.

There should be a healthy respect for the teacher up in the front of the room. I want my students to feel like they don't really 'get' me yet. The process of getting to know them and them getting to know me is the fun part.

As for tomorrow Adv 10 will start to read Everyday Use by Alice Walker. It's a good one to start with and I look forward to seeing how much they already know - and where I need to take them in order to get them to the goal of AP English 11.

I will be going to get something yummy from the fridge and put my feet up. Tomorrow I'm wearing flats.

Night and SR projects

So because I don't have children of my own - I have to boast about the 'children' I am in charge of at school.


This Student read The Book Thief









This one read Because of Romek by David Faber
It's hard to see but she wrote a quote from the book and his number






This student read In My Hands by Opdyke - It's the biography of a Catholic girl during the Holocaust who saved Jews by hiding them in the basement of a Nazi official




I'm so proud of my little cherubs!

a week to go

So a lot has been going on over the past few weeks.

I had the amazing opportunity to be nominated for the Crystal Apple Awards and received runner up. I was able to speak for a moment and really was amazed by the outpouring of love and support from my fellow teachers and the members of the LDS church who host the Awards.

My brother Evan got married this past weekend. He had been dating Rachel for three years and they were engaged last summer. We had a wonderful time and I'm so happy for them.

This is the last week of school. It is always the hardest week of the year. I would rather be experiencing the first week - it's the amount of grading the last week that kills. It feels like you are in the last moments of watching the sand fall out of a timer. There are so many emails and so many parents wondering what is going on with their child. I would love to be able to say to them. There is currently nothing you can do to save the grade, but if you have the ability to make a time machine and go back to force your kid to do their homework - then we are in business.

I want to take my camera to school tomorrow and take pictures of some of the amazing projects my sophomores did to capstone our Night unit. I had them choose SR books that would connect to Night. Their project was to make a memorial to honor those 11 million lives lost. They did so well. I'm so proud.

It's been a wild few weeks. And I know that this post is a bit all over the place. When summer starts in a week I promise I will sound less crazy!

The end is near

the end of the school year.

So today I could feel the end. The kids are done. I feel done. And I am ready for the summer to begin.

I assigned what I thought was a simple project last week. We read two pieces and discussed gender rolls. I asked my students to watch a tv show that had a family in it and then write two paragraphs about gender rolls. Just two paragraphs.

But you know... that's a bit hard. Half of the kids did it.

The Sleeping kid feel asleep twice. At one point he was so obnoxious that the class asked him to step outside. You know it's bad when other kids ask someone to step outside.

The school year is winding down and I am ready for it to be over. It's that I don't love my job. Because I really really do. The problem becomes when the students feel like they can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just hope that the next three weeks will allow my little darlings to get their work done.

It doesn't help that I am also on the count down... to SYDNEY! Bren and I will be going to the land down under July 1 for a whole month. I can't wait to eat yummy food, spend time with family, and see all of my favorite places in the city.

So here we go... with great speed - towards the end of the year!

No Teacher Left Behind

Now I know we have heard of NCLB. But this week it was N-T-LB around my neck of the woods.

178 were on "The List" - this became a curse word around our campus for the last month and a half or so. I was not on "The List" - but a lot of my friends were. 8 in my department alone. And let me tell you - the tone on my campus was "No way - No how" - we were not going to lose any of our amazing, fantastic, stupendous*, down right cool teachers.

So the district and the union 'battled' it out. (They didn't have swords or anything - but that may have been amazing to watch) And to our delight gave us the option to vote early this week. 95% of the teachers in the district voted to keep our 178! And so all is well in the land.

It felt so good to know that our department would stay intact. We will be taking 7 furlough days next year. 3 teacher and 4 student days. That does make me think - now how am I going to teach all of this in 4 less days - but then again, homework isn't always a bad thing.



*I feel like the word stupendous is not used enough. It really is a great word.

Tweet?

To Tweet or Not to Tweet - that is the question.

There are a few teachers out there who tweet. I think that there will be an increasing number as the technology grows and becomes more accessible.

I was talking about Twitter with a few of my students and what they think of this phenomenon. Most of the kids in my Intro to Ed class use twitter - and all of them knew what it was. I asked them what they would think if a teacher used twitter to send reminders about projects and homework. The room exploded with support and suggestions.

The overwhelming consensus was that students (and they said parents too) would love it if their teachers were able to tweet they would 'follow' their teacher.

I'm very interested in this whole experience. And if it gets kids to do their homework, then I'm all over it... maybe

Slam!

I hate being in between teaching units. Right now my 10th graders are done with Caesar but too close to spring break to start Night. So we are doing a quick little poetry unit.

Just a week and a half because they did the CAHSEE this week and next Friday begins glorious spring break. I love that my district gives us two whole weeks off!

So last class I showed them what Slam poetry is. Got an amazing example of off the website Edutopia. And found an example in one of the student work books I have. The kids were amazed that poetry could be 'cool'.

Then we made our own poem. We started with the subject. School.
Then each person wrote down a sentence on a piece of paper.
Then we mixed them up in a bag - read them out loud and figured out what order they should go in. There were some amazing statements made. One of my favorites was -
'the motivational posters don't inspire me at all'

They were excited to see how it all came together and how simple sentences could be turned into poetry.

I can't wait to see what they will create this week!

Shut Up!

"No really Shut Up!" - me
"Mrs. Parsons it's true I really like this book" - D
"Shut your face, you are lying to me" - me
"I was talking to my mom about it - and even turned off the TV this weekend so I could read more. Know how I promised I would get to page 88 - well I did it!" - D

I almost started crying. This is the same D we have talked about before. Please be aware that I wasn't really telling him to shut up - I really don't like saying that - it was that I was so shocked I couldn't believe what he was telling me.

I have a list of books the kids can pick from for their supplemental reading. And looking at the list and knowing D's ability I picked something that wasn't on the list.

I suggested that he pick up Monster by Walter Dean Myers


It is a really amazing story about a young man in prison and his struggle with the court and his life.

I read it for my adolescent lit class in college and fell in love.

It's written like a screen play rather than a typical novel.

Knowing a bit about D's reading level I knew it would be good for him - okay let's be real I really hoped that it would be good for him. I just really wanted him to read something, anything.

And it turns out - he's reading. He's reading and he's talking about it with his mother. He liked it so much that he had taped himself reading it. He even said that he told his friends about it - and they are now planning on checking it out from the library after he is done reading it.

I'm still shaking my head in disbelief. Utter and true joy - but also disbelief.

We've got the beat!

Yeah... We got it!

Friday was 80's day at work. This is what I was able to come up with -




I woke up a bit early so I could krimp my hair. Yes I still own a krimper.


When I got to school I helped my friend Nicole get krimp-a-fide



I love that I have a job that encourages me to participate in spirit days and I will also add that the kids love it.

But I'll let you in on a little secret - I love to do this stuff. What other job would let me show up looking like that! LOVE my job!

state testing

Makes me want to rip my hair out. In the next three weeks I will be a part of....

CAHSEE - California High School Exit Exam
EAP - Early Assesment Program
DWA - District Writing Assesment

And after spring break Comes the CSTs (California's state tests)

It's not that I am against testing. That's not it at all. I think that holding both teachers and students accountable is a good thing. But as a teacher it puts a lot of pressure on me. So this week I'm getting my kids ready for this full few weeks of testing.

Currently I am teaching 4 different classes. I don't mind it so much because they are classes I have taught before - but I do feel like I can't catch my breath sometimes. I think part of it is that I am now three weeks away from spring break. In our district gives two weeks for spring break. TWO WEEKS!!! two amazing weeks of sleeping in and staying up late. I can't wait.

But in the next three I need to finish teaching the research project to my juniors, prep my sophomores for the cahsee (and I want to do a slam poetry unit) - gosh once I put this down it doesn't seem like a lot. Maybe if I keep saying this it will become less and less.

And if I follow the simple and very helpful words from Creation Corner I choose happiness.

PS if you want any good craft ideas - head your little self over to Creation Corner - She is awesome! and has links to other awesome sites!

Nerdy thought of the day.

I love typing.

My Mom made me take a typing class in the 9th grade. And even though I didn't really see the point at the time - I now love that I don't have to look a the keys.

Today I was able to type up a sample essay to use with my sophomores and Skype with Cuirstaun at the same time.

Oh Multitasking I love you so!

what a day

So I'm sitting here watching my dvr of oprah with the cat sitting on my lap. Trying to think of a way to re tell the events of the day. I keep hoping she will come through my tv and scream that I'm getting a car. I love my car don't get me wrong, but how awesome would that be!

I'm also waiting for the laundry to finish so I can put it in the dryer. *we have an upstairs washer and dryer - go ahead and be jealous. *

The day started out by showing up to school printing out my sub-note, meeting my sub, and walking out the door to go film a video clip for the morning announcements for two new classes being offered on campus next year. Two years ago I helped write a grant, we got the grant and we are now in our implementation year. Today I was spending the day trying to figure out how to spend a whole lot of money that wasn't mine. That's fun - it's also very stressful.

I rapped today on the announcements.
Here is how it went.

Myyyyyy name is Mrs. Parsons and I'm here to say
That I'm going to talk to you about two classes today
Intro to education
And methods in teaching
Now Stop - I know what you're thinking
Why would I want to come to school and learn
About the education that I already learned
Well did you take child development or psychology
These are those classes just rolled up you see
It's about education
It's about how you learn
It's about the college degree that you'll earn
So stop by my room M114
or go knock on your councilors door
For more information yo!!!!

I know - you're impressed - you may not be able to continue because you are so amazed by my mad skills.

but you will because you are a good friend - and you are thinking "If this is how the day started what more could be on it's way?!"

I spend 7 hours planning curriculum for the Methods in Teaching class - and ran around trying to figure out how to spend a lot of money by March 19th.

(Oprah just told me that spicy is the new feeling for spring - Hi I've been spicy for years Oprah, where have you been)

Then at 2:30 I head my happy self back to my classroom. and what am I met with - an angry sub note. One of my classes was going to watch Julius Caesar. Yes I know it was the 1970s BBC version - but it was a movie, on a Friday - And my kids had their heads down and were so rude that he turned off the movie 40 minutes before class ended. Blurg. It's so embarrassing to have your kids misbehave.

Between 2:30 and 5 I talked with a few friends about some upcoming events (Baby shower for Kristine the Blog stalker). and enjoyed some dinner with friends T (the secret agent), Kristine and Ellen. We went to Mama Rosas a very yummy italian food.

But Wait - There's more!

The ASL variety show was tonight. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Two hours of some very dedicated kids putting on a fantastic performance. There was everything from Single Ladies to Imagine by John Lennon. There were many points where I was totally tearing up. But I'm a sucker for a great performance by kids who really love what they are doing. I could tell that they had worked so hard - for their friends, teachers, and families.

It was a great end to a bit of a long week.

Is there a prayer for Teachers?

Cause I really really needed one today. I know all about separation of Church and State - and I'm okay with it, it makes my life less complicated.

But I need a silent little moment to myself sometimes. I have a few students who get on my nerves. I know I'm supposed to care for all of them equally, but as it has been written on the wall of the barn, All animals are equal - some are more equal than others. Thank you Animal Farm for teaching me these very important lessons in life.

Today I stopped no less than three times in one class. THREE - where I just needed something to get me through the moment. This is almost how it went down -

Me: So today we are going to begin learning MLA format - this will help you with your research paper we are currently writing.
D: What is MLA
Me: MLA stands for the Modern Language Association - a group of people who work to format citations and other formalities of writing.
D: Why do they do that
Me: So we have a consistent way to format papers and writing.
M: So Wait - do they have MLA in France
Me: I'm sure they have something to help them format papers - but we are not in France so it doesn't really matter.
M: oh...
Me: Moving on -

5 Minutes later

D: Wait - I don't get why we're doing this
Me: Well D we will be using this to help us format our papers
D: what papers?

At this point the whole class begins to roll their eyes.

Me: I'm not answering that question
D to his friend: I don't get it.

I have stopped - closed my eyes - and said a little prayer that I might be able to keep my sanity for another 20 minutes until class ended.

Now I am all for asking questions in a classroom - After all I was the kid who was told to Shut-up after asking what the Brazilians were feeling about Nazis moving to their country post WWII. But this situation today was just too much.

Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday - I don't know how much more of that I could take this week.

didn't win - but i won - and there's a fire drill tomorrow

So I didn't win the chili cook-off. I was sad, kids gave me a pat on the back to try and console my broken heart. My friend Kristine won. She says she blog stalks me so - Hi Kristine!


Today I was doing one on ones for the research project and I called up this kid J who is an amazing writer. Without any of my help - he came to me this way. He's also in the creative writing class here on campus. And he sits down (he has already started typing all of his work - my other students have not even thought about) and asks some questions about his introduction paragraph. He is writing his paper on the war in Afghanistan - his thesis is that war has caused damage to a culture and that damage is becoming irreversible. It's times like this that I have one of those moments where I think I am not smart enough to be this kids teacher and then I snap out of it and remember how awesome I am. Because the following happens:

J says - So I'm trying to tighten up my language in my commentary but I'm not sure how to do it.
Me - J you are a really strong writer, at this point you have learned all of the rules of the game. What you can start to do now is break them. See here where you have the word and you can use an extended dash here - rather than have it sound so list like.

J gets this look on his face like I had just given him a prize. I smiled and asked why he looked so happy - He said that he was excited to hear that he could start to use some of the tools he had learned in creative writing in his own 'non fiction' work. I felt like I was able to release a kid from years of rules and regulations - of not allowing himself to be everything he could as a writer because the format that had been given to him for so many years was limiting.

I feel like I had won a teaching marathon! It was one of those moments that I wanted to stand up in class and yell - Why can't you all be like this. But then I thought - You can't all be like this because then I wouldn't have a job. And I l.o.v.e. my job.

So the moral of this little story is - it's good to have overachievers in the room - but it's also great to have the kids who want to do better but need a little push in the right direction.

and finally there will be a fire drill tomorrow - but it might rain, so there might not be a fire drill. Ah the joys of trying to plan a lesson when 15-20 minutes may or may not be cut out of the day. We'll just have to roll with the punches.

The tale of Lizards and Chili

But not Lizard Chili - cause that would just be gross.

Yesterday I go out to feed the pup and I notice something in her mouth. It looks like a dark piece of bark (which she has been known to treat like a toy), so I didn't think anything of it. Then I noticed that her piece of bark had a leg, and talons, and it was missing a tail. EWWW! I nearly dropped all of her food - because like a good dog she tried to give it to me. Her poor little face said "here mom I got it just for you, aren't you proud". No Tonka - I'm not proud - I'm slightly grossed out and do not want my day to start with Lizard guts all over my leg.

I went back in the house and she proceeded to run around the yard with the lizard and show it to every tree, piece of bark, and then sat on the top of her house with the lizard hanging out of her mouth like a prize.

At one point in the day I looked outside to see if she was still carrying it around. She didn't have it, so I figured she had buried it in the yard. All was well. She came in the house - had a nice little chew on her bone and off to bed we both went. She has an amazing dogloo that she loves and will only sleep in there - which is okay with me because I don't need a dog in my bed.

Again - I go to feed the Tonka-roo and after pouring out her doggy breakfast I see none other than the dead lizard. It's in her bed. She had taken it into her house and was cuddling with it like it was one of her babies. Again - I'm slightly grossed out. Not as much as the day prior because she was not trying to rub it on my leg. But there is the dead lizard - now what do I do - I proceed to go tell Bren that while I'm out today he needs to get rid of the lizard. Thank goodness I have a great hubby, because when I got home, the lizard was disposed of.

And now for the Chili portion of our tale. Tomorrow there is a Chili for Charity event. It's an annual event at school. I have entered for three years now - and never won. But I'm hoping that this is going to be my year! I'm calling it Parsons' Chuck Chipotle Chili - I got the most beautiful chuck roast yesterday at Henry's. And I will be adding three different types of beans. (Black, Pinto, Red Kidney)

I made a rub this morning and seared off the meat and then put it in the crock-pot. The rub was made up of the following - I eyeball everything, don't really measure, so I will never be able to duplicate this again.

Worcestershire - a couple of good glugs
Soy Sauce - twice around the bowl
Coriander - one and a half handfuls
Cumin - one and a half handfuls
Chili Powder - two handfuls
Tabasco - couple of good glugs
Honey - just a smidge
Cinnamon - even tinier smidge
Three chipotle peppers - it comes in adobo sauce - cut them up so they are in tiny pieces

Once the meat is in the pot - de-glaze the pan with a cup of water and then pour that all over the meat in the pot. Let cook for many many hours. Skim off the fat (chuck is a fatty meat - it makes it very tasty but there will be some skimming involved).

Add the beans and keep cooking away. If it's not thick enough take some of the warm cooking liquid and add some flour stir it up and add it back to the pot.

I really REALLY hope that I win, but only time will tell. And about 50 people who have tickets to the event tomorrow.

So I have this friend.

And I think she may be a secret agent.

Here are some things you should know about my friend T.

- She is very modest. About almost all of her life. Dress, Mind, Brains, everything.
- I work with her and that makes my day better.
- She loves all things food. Her favorite place to shop is Trader Joe's (First off, who doesn't love this place, have you ever had their organic rasberry preserves? if you haven't go make a grocery list and make sure it's the first on the list. Really, i'm not kidding.)
- She loves Dr. Pepper - Dr. Pepper lunch pail - and even brings those cute little mini Dr. Pepper cans.
- She's super smart. Has tons of ideas when it comes to teaching. And is super supportive when i have wanted to try something new in my classroom.
- She loves soccer - plays in three or four different leagues and has scored multiple goals for her team while she was the goaly - I'm not talking about someone who sadly scores a point for the other team, i mean she's so good that as the goaly she has scored for her very own team. T is just awesome.

So here is the secret agent aspect of her life.

Anytime she is asked a question about her life - she simply says - It's a possibility. OR she says nothing and laughs. Hi - to me that's secret agent worthy!

This can be about anything
- Do you like tacos? - It's a possibility
- Do you work for the government as a secret agent? - Walks away and laughs

She knows how to cook crazy amazing food - and then acts like it's something everyone should be able to do. Yesterday she brought in the most amazing looking (and smelling) shrimp fried rice... mmmm so yummy. And when people oooed and awwed about it - a simple smile and a laugh.

Another reason she may be a secret agent - i said something to my students about how i thought she might be a secret agent - it got back to her, and today at lunch she gave me this look like - if you tell people i'm a secret agent, then it won't be a secret anymore ... and then she laughed.

i'm telling you - this is proof. Plus isn't it just a lovely idea that someone you work with is a secret agent? Look around the room the next time you're at work, you'll be guessing who it might be in your group of friends.

the one where i scream at my school computer

Now don't get me wrong. i am completely 100% grateful that i have a computer in my classroom at work. i know that for years and years teachers did all of their work by hand and it would put me into a terrible tailspin if i were to go to school tomorrow and it were gone from my life.

that being said - this was my morning...

This weekend i put together a rocken' assignment for teaching persuasive essays. i don't have ink in the computer at home so i didn't print it here. i figured that it would be okay to print it at work. After all that's what computers are for, right. Now i have known for a few years that my computer takes a while to boot-up. Today i got to work at 7, school starts at 7:30. At 7:15 my computer was still trying to open files, get it's self going, and i sat there waiting, and waiting, and getting heated. Then at 7:23 i called Nicole down the hall to see if she could print it for me - i had also sent her the file because we do a lot of the same lessons. She was able to print it for me and i ran to the copy room - got my copies done and was only 1 minute late for class.

Now between the time 7:00 and 7:23 i began to talk to my computer. At first it was little words of encouragement. "Come on little computer you can do it". Then as the minutes passed by i started to yell. "WHAT'S TAKING YOU SO LONG" - "DON'T YOU KNOW SCHOOL STARTS SOON AND I NEED THIS!" "BLURG THIS IS CRAZY, WORK YOU STUPID THING" - just so you know, the computer did not answer back. It didn't budge - it makes me crazy. It shouldn't take that long for a computer to get moving.

The computer that is in my room has been with me for the past 4 and a half years.

Note: Computers are like dogs - for ever 365 days on the planet it equals multiple years. 1 human year = 10 computer years.

I think this means that my computer is having a mid life crisis. Or - it hates me.

Either way it made me crazy this morning.

4 day weekend.

My school district is good at making schedules.

They have chosen to give one four day weekend rather than two three days - and i'm very happy that they have continued to go that route this year.

i love my job. it really rocks. but there are some times when i just need to veg out and not think about lesson plans, not get up early in the morning, just relax and be lazy.

today i met up with a few of my friends and did a little window shopping and lunch. i did get a really cute top at Express (6$). and then i came home and skyped with Cuirstaun. it was nice to see her. it was snowing there in Georgia. and i think she was missing California, well that was my hope at least.

the plan tomorrow is to pick some weeds of the hill. i can see them growing - dang they grow so fast. but the bulbs that i planted a few months back are popping out of the ground! and i saw some of my daffodils getting ready to bloom those must be the happiest flowers i have ever seen. so while i'm picking the weeds those little yellow smiling flowers can keep me company.