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Sunday, September 24, 2006
How many perfect weekends at the coast can one girl fit into one September? The answer: plenty, especially if she lives in Oregon. For the information of you non-Oregonians who choose to reside somewhere outside of paradise, September is the best month to visit the Oregon coast. The sun is out, the wind is quiet, and the out-of-state tourist season is pretty much over (I'm actually breaking the Oregon code by telling you our little secret about September). So, needless to say, I had a fabulous time--a very nice break from school stuff.
Of course, I'm paying for it today. In fact, I'm only taking a quick break here from my grading and entering of grades. I dashed over to school to take advantage of the school computer, which--unlike me--was determinedly on vacation until Monday, thank you very much, so my whole trip over was pretty much wasted. I did decide, though, that after dark our campus would make a setting for a very impressive horror movie. Unfinished concrete gym, dark forest, unlit sidewalks... Tell me you're picturing it too.
Of course, I'm paying for it today. In fact, I'm only taking a quick break here from my grading and entering of grades. I dashed over to school to take advantage of the school computer, which--unlike me--was determinedly on vacation until Monday, thank you very much, so my whole trip over was pretty much wasted. I did decide, though, that after dark our campus would make a setting for a very impressive horror movie. Unfinished concrete gym, dark forest, unlit sidewalks... Tell me you're picturing it too.
Labels: beach
0 commentsTuesday, September 19, 2006
Pottercast and Shakespeare
I'm starting a unit on Romeo and Juliet this week, which --as you may know-- is my favoritest of favorite Shakespeare plays. I'm lucky to be teaching it to 10th graders, since most high schools teach it to their freshmen. Anyway, I'll be starting off the unit talking about sonnets--Petrarchan and Shakespearean--which means I'll get to use some of my grad-school acquired knowledge (don't worry! not too much. Don't want to scare the poor kids away!). Mm, I cannot express how much I love Romeo and Juliet. You may remember my post last spring about the high school performance I went to see in Eugene. I wanted to stand up and quote my favorite lines along with the actors. (I didn't, though. Relax.)
Anyway, in other news, I have a fish. A new beta. I've never really liked betas all that much, but I have such a pretty vase, with a water plant, and a beta is the only fish who will be happy living there. So I went ahead and got one that matches the decorative rocks. I'm thinking of bringing him to my classroom. Hmm, maybe I'll name him after the principal. :) That could be fun, as long as he doesn't die....
And, thirdly, (but by no means third in importance) I have a new link on my sidebar, which you may have noticed: a Pottercast audio button. Now you don't have to go hunt down The Leaky Cauldron to listen to Pottercast. Whenever I talk about it on here, you can just click on the button to find out what I'm getting so excited about. (Too bad they didn't have this button back when I called in and made a fool of myself on the air... then you all could have joined in my humiliation with just a click of the mouse.)
And, just to put in a plug for the show, it's not just for complete Harry Potter nerds like myself. I believed I've mentioned before how excited I am about the Harry Potter phenomenon--not only because, as the media mentions ad nauseum, it gets kids to read--but because it also gets them talking about books. Which is a much bigger deal in my book. Kids who aren't necessarily the bookworm type will read Harry Potter because then they can talk with all their friends about their theories and "shipping" (which characters' romantic relationships they root for) and all that. And Pottercast (and The Leaky Cauldron, of course) is at the center of that kind of discussion on the internet. And, really, where else can you find literally thousands of people who have all read the same book (what's more, the same six books) and are eager to talk (and talk and talk and talk) about it. And where are there books that can hold up to that kind of intense scrutiny? They're rare, I can tell you. Plus, this isn't going to last forever. Soon, maybe even within a year, the seventh book will be published and the impetus behind all this discussion will disappear. So time is limited, people. Get in on it while you can.
Now, the reason this button has just now appeared on my sidebar (or, one reason, since I would naturally want to send anyone in the direction of Pottercast as often as possible) is that there is a new contest. Put a Pottercast button on your blog and win a prize. Some kind of Harry Potter paraphernalia, as I understand it. (Mention was made of a life-size Dobby. And who wouldn't want that?) So anyway, this is the part where I list off a bunch of key words in the hope that they guide the Google search engine to my blog and help me win: John, Sue, Melissa (the hosts), "Dobby is freeee", Canon Conundrums, Modcast, Asphodel Wormwood, Extendable Ears, Dawlish, Leaky Mug, Voldemort's Outside, squee, aaand... that's all I have. If you don't know what any of that meant, you're obviously not listening to enough Pottercast. (And Pottercast people, if you're stumbling across this, I gave up some prime lesson-planning time to make this post, so I maybe deserve to win, right? Right? ....)
Anyway, in other news, I have a fish. A new beta. I've never really liked betas all that much, but I have such a pretty vase, with a water plant, and a beta is the only fish who will be happy living there. So I went ahead and got one that matches the decorative rocks. I'm thinking of bringing him to my classroom. Hmm, maybe I'll name him after the principal. :) That could be fun, as long as he doesn't die....
And, thirdly, (but by no means third in importance) I have a new link on my sidebar, which you may have noticed: a Pottercast audio button. Now you don't have to go hunt down The Leaky Cauldron to listen to Pottercast. Whenever I talk about it on here, you can just click on the button to find out what I'm getting so excited about. (Too bad they didn't have this button back when I called in and made a fool of myself on the air... then you all could have joined in my humiliation with just a click of the mouse.)
And, just to put in a plug for the show, it's not just for complete Harry Potter nerds like myself. I believed I've mentioned before how excited I am about the Harry Potter phenomenon--not only because, as the media mentions ad nauseum, it gets kids to read--but because it also gets them talking about books. Which is a much bigger deal in my book. Kids who aren't necessarily the bookworm type will read Harry Potter because then they can talk with all their friends about their theories and "shipping" (which characters' romantic relationships they root for) and all that. And Pottercast (and The Leaky Cauldron, of course) is at the center of that kind of discussion on the internet. And, really, where else can you find literally thousands of people who have all read the same book (what's more, the same six books) and are eager to talk (and talk and talk and talk) about it. And where are there books that can hold up to that kind of intense scrutiny? They're rare, I can tell you. Plus, this isn't going to last forever. Soon, maybe even within a year, the seventh book will be published and the impetus behind all this discussion will disappear. So time is limited, people. Get in on it while you can.
Now, the reason this button has just now appeared on my sidebar (or, one reason, since I would naturally want to send anyone in the direction of Pottercast as often as possible) is that there is a new contest. Put a Pottercast button on your blog and win a prize. Some kind of Harry Potter paraphernalia, as I understand it. (Mention was made of a life-size Dobby. And who wouldn't want that?) So anyway, this is the part where I list off a bunch of key words in the hope that they guide the Google search engine to my blog and help me win: John, Sue, Melissa (the hosts), "Dobby is freeee", Canon Conundrums, Modcast, Asphodel Wormwood, Extendable Ears, Dawlish, Leaky Mug, Voldemort's Outside, squee, aaand... that's all I have. If you don't know what any of that meant, you're obviously not listening to enough Pottercast. (And Pottercast people, if you're stumbling across this, I gave up some prime lesson-planning time to make this post, so I maybe deserve to win, right? Right? ....)
Labels: HP, literature, Shakespeare
0 commentsWednesday, September 13, 2006
Ok, people, here's the thing. Teaching is sort of like being in one of those ball pits that they have at Chucky Cheese. Only the ball pit is bottomless, and every ball represents a task of some kind. Little red balls for all the lesson plans. Yellow balls for the grading. Green balls for the copies and handouts you have to prepare. Orange for the administrative paperwork. Blue for the endless exceptions that have to be handled individually--late work, lost handouts, absences. Purple for classroom upkeep--maintaining bulletin boards, organizing file folders, shelving books, rearranging desks.
So you are constantly trying to get on top of the balls (so you don't sink, right?), only when you push one down, five more fall in to fill its space. And when you push several out of the way, the balls behind those slip to the front.
The upshot: I'm exhausted. I have lists of my lists. I have pages and pages in my notebook of things to remember, but I don't have the time to reread the pages to see if I forgot anything. This is like the exact opposite of grad school: there, I had a few, vastly important, dreadfully difficult tasks with great lengths of time between them. Here, I have millions of tiny, individually insignificant, comparatively easy tasks, with almost no time to complete them.
It's an adjustment.
I'm getting there, but it's an adjustment.
So you are constantly trying to get on top of the balls (so you don't sink, right?), only when you push one down, five more fall in to fill its space. And when you push several out of the way, the balls behind those slip to the front.
The upshot: I'm exhausted. I have lists of my lists. I have pages and pages in my notebook of things to remember, but I don't have the time to reread the pages to see if I forgot anything. This is like the exact opposite of grad school: there, I had a few, vastly important, dreadfully difficult tasks with great lengths of time between them. Here, I have millions of tiny, individually insignificant, comparatively easy tasks, with almost no time to complete them.
It's an adjustment.
I'm getting there, but it's an adjustment.
Labels: teaching
0 commentsSaturday, September 09, 2006
Spent five hours today organizing my books.
Can five hours be better spent???
Can five hours be better spent???
Labels: books
0 commentsFriday, September 08, 2006
I don't think I have ever appreciated a Friday as much as I do today. High schoolers are more exhausting in large numbers. I think I prefer them in small, class-sized doses. And when I see them all at once, I'm more overwhelmed by how many of them I don't know. I'm frantically trying to learn their names, but it's slow going. Especially the boys. Girls names tend to have more variety, whereas with boys its just Matt, Mike, Mark, David, Dan, Joe, John, Jake, Josiah... you know?
On the whole, though, Eagle Fest went well. It was funny, we were having chapel (and it was a trip, let me tell you, being back in an East Linn chapel after all these years!), and I was singing along with the worship songs, being the good teacherly role model that I am. And despite my well-documented contempt for modern worship songs, I was actually starting to get into it. I mean, no closing my eyes or swaying or anything--not that into it--but I was finding the experience actually worshipful. And then another part of my brain was thinking, weird. Where's my usually snarky self? Why am I not standing here wishing for a good round of the Kyrie--perhaps with an organ accompaniment?
And then it hit me: Oh yeah. I've been praying all summer to have a better attitude about this stuff. And here I do, without even noticing it. Not just a cerebral I'm-in-this-for-the-long-haul-so-I-better-start-enjoying-it attitude, but an actual, unconscious, honest-to-goodness change of heart. Huh.
So there I am, tearing up in the middle of "Be Bold, Be Strong" over this gift of unexpected engagement. Which is kind of embarrassing, since "Be Bold, Be Strong" is not exactly the kind of song that it is appropriate to start crying in the middle of, even in Christian circles. So, you know, I kind of blinked it back, and tried to get on with the singing. But I knew, then, that I was going to be OK, here. Rejoining mainstream evangelical Christianity is not going to make me hate the Church, or send me back to that place I was a few years ago. Not if I don't want it to. Turns out God can be faithful that way.
On the whole, though, Eagle Fest went well. It was funny, we were having chapel (and it was a trip, let me tell you, being back in an East Linn chapel after all these years!), and I was singing along with the worship songs, being the good teacherly role model that I am. And despite my well-documented contempt for modern worship songs, I was actually starting to get into it. I mean, no closing my eyes or swaying or anything--not that into it--but I was finding the experience actually worshipful. And then another part of my brain was thinking, weird. Where's my usually snarky self? Why am I not standing here wishing for a good round of the Kyrie--perhaps with an organ accompaniment?
And then it hit me: Oh yeah. I've been praying all summer to have a better attitude about this stuff. And here I do, without even noticing it. Not just a cerebral I'm-in-this-for-the-long-haul-so-I-better-start-enjoying-it attitude, but an actual, unconscious, honest-to-goodness change of heart. Huh.
So there I am, tearing up in the middle of "Be Bold, Be Strong" over this gift of unexpected engagement. Which is kind of embarrassing, since "Be Bold, Be Strong" is not exactly the kind of song that it is appropriate to start crying in the middle of, even in Christian circles. So, you know, I kind of blinked it back, and tried to get on with the singing. But I knew, then, that I was going to be OK, here. Rejoining mainstream evangelical Christianity is not going to make me hate the Church, or send me back to that place I was a few years ago. Not if I don't want it to. Turns out God can be faithful that way.
Labels: Christian sub-culture, teaching
0 commentsWednesday, September 06, 2006
Something they don't cover in education classes is how to deal with the scarcity of one very important professional commodity: bathroom breaks. I tend to carry my water bottle around with me when I'm teaching; I started bringing it to class at the UO because my mouth would get dry if I was nervous, and then it kind of became like a security blanket. But now it's becoming a security risk.
How quickly can I hurry students out of my room after class? Which is worse: being 90 seconds late to a staff meeting or sitting uncomfortably for another 20 minutes? These are the questions that fill up my day. You thought I was busy thinking about educational objectives? Fun learning activities? Nope. I'm thinking, how many more minutes until lunchtime? Like student, like teacher, I guess.
Anyway, I'm more or less moved into my new place. (Which, speaking of bathrooms, has two--one for me, one for my roommate. Yay!) I've stayed there two nights so far, and the neighborhood cat has stopped by once or twice to convey his welcome by peering into nooks and sniffing at crannies. I let him in for a spot of tea (or, rather, milk), and I think I'm becoming a regular stop on his nighttime rounds.
I've set out all my houseplants and begun the process of reviving them from the combination of moving stress and summer neglect. I truly love my houseplants: in the absence of a pet, they are quite good company. (Regular readers will remember "Sonnet to my Plant" from February 14, 2004.) The more care they require, the more I like them. I have a maidenhair fern that practically requires its own personal maid to tend to its needs, so naturally it's my favorite. The outdoor plants survived the summer fairly well, despite being locked in a hot truck for a few too many days. My little maple tree lost all his leaves thanks to that mishap, and I thought he was dead, but they grew back and now he looks as good as ever.
Anyway, I should have time this weekend to finish all the unpacking and reorganizing stuff, which otherwise usually seems to stretch on indefinitely. The school has this thing called Eagle Fest on Thursday and Friday, which essentially translates into "get-to-know-new-students-and-start-off-the-year-by-going-to-the-park-and-eating-hot-dogs*" Fest...with a few chapels thrown in for good measure. So, students play games; I have time to get caught up. Sounds win-win. Unless I get water thrown on me. Then it's lose-lose (lose, lose, lose...)
*Note to self: bring sandwich tomorrow.
How quickly can I hurry students out of my room after class? Which is worse: being 90 seconds late to a staff meeting or sitting uncomfortably for another 20 minutes? These are the questions that fill up my day. You thought I was busy thinking about educational objectives? Fun learning activities? Nope. I'm thinking, how many more minutes until lunchtime? Like student, like teacher, I guess.
Anyway, I'm more or less moved into my new place. (Which, speaking of bathrooms, has two--one for me, one for my roommate. Yay!) I've stayed there two nights so far, and the neighborhood cat has stopped by once or twice to convey his welcome by peering into nooks and sniffing at crannies. I let him in for a spot of tea (or, rather, milk), and I think I'm becoming a regular stop on his nighttime rounds.
I've set out all my houseplants and begun the process of reviving them from the combination of moving stress and summer neglect. I truly love my houseplants: in the absence of a pet, they are quite good company. (Regular readers will remember "Sonnet to my Plant" from February 14, 2004.) The more care they require, the more I like them. I have a maidenhair fern that practically requires its own personal maid to tend to its needs, so naturally it's my favorite. The outdoor plants survived the summer fairly well, despite being locked in a hot truck for a few too many days. My little maple tree lost all his leaves thanks to that mishap, and I thought he was dead, but they grew back and now he looks as good as ever.
Anyway, I should have time this weekend to finish all the unpacking and reorganizing stuff, which otherwise usually seems to stretch on indefinitely. The school has this thing called Eagle Fest on Thursday and Friday, which essentially translates into "get-to-know-new-students-and-start-off-the-year-by-going-to-the-park-and-eating-hot-dogs*" Fest...with a few chapels thrown in for good measure. So, students play games; I have time to get caught up. Sounds win-win. Unless I get water thrown on me. Then it's lose-lose (lose, lose, lose...)
*Note to self: bring sandwich tomorrow.
Labels: teaching
0 commentsTuesday, September 05, 2006
School has started...
Two words:
Dead. Tired.
I'll blog more when I have two seconds to catch my breath. 0 comments
Dead. Tired.
I'll blog more when I have two seconds to catch my breath. 0 comments
Monday, September 04, 2006
Depoe Bay Picnic
Imagine (if you will) a blanket on the beach, flapping in the breeze, held down with a bottle of wine, a basket of breads and cheeses, hummus, grapes, and vegetables. The sun is shining, waves are crashing a few feet away, and five girls have sprawled themselves around the food, eyes closed in the sun, heads resting on rocks, talking of books and movies, of cabbages and kings.
Throw in some star-gazing, a trip to Powell's, and Tillamook ice cream, and you have, in a nutshell, my Labor Day weekend. In other words, perfection.
Throw in some star-gazing, a trip to Powell's, and Tillamook ice cream, and you have, in a nutshell, my Labor Day weekend. In other words, perfection.
Labels: beach
0 comments