It's almost September and I still love my babies. Have we learned and taught as much as we should've? No. We're working it.
Stealing from KIPP-- Work hard. Be Nice. No shortcuts. No excuses.
31 August 2009
06 August 2009
28 June 2009
Overdue
Here we go...
School is over. It has been over for several weeks now. I've been doing things like being human. And I love it.
Four months of teaching felt like six and I find myself continually referring to it as a six month period of time...which it wasn't. But!! I will be back in the fall, teaching second grade. I am excited. I really am. I will be glad to have a group that is MINE and we will be together the WHOLE year. I don't even know what more to say about that except that I am excited for all the possibilities.
Summer in New Orleans has been lovely. I'm working hard to fulfill my goal to fall in love with this city. What helps is that I found a book called Letters from New Orleans by a journalist named Rob Walker. It's a collection of, well, letters that he wrote around 2000. There was one particular little section that really stood out to me that I shall share now:
Q: Why did you choose New Orleans?
A: New Orleans is not the new Avenue C. This was once the richest city in the South. It is not that anymore, but it is also not the new anything; it is still New Orleans . What does that mean? I think random bullets are a clue. I think that unselfconciousness is a clue. Denial is a clue. Laughing at trouble seems like a clue, and so does dancing at Rock n' Bowl. Of course, I'll look back on all this in a year or two, or more, and be amazed at how badly I read the clues, at how little I understood, early on, about the mysteries of this place. It will all seem clearer then, I hope. Because that's why we chose New Orleans.
January 3-7, 2000
What stands out the most is the part about this city having a certain sort of unselfconsciousness. This is huge to me. In my eyes, Austin is a very "look at me" sorta city. Whether you're a hippie or a dragrat or a hipster or sorostitute you're making a statement. You make a point to show people what you're about by the way you look, where you drink your coffee, where you drink your beer, what you're reading. I don't feel that way here. I feel like I could walk down the street and be pantsless, jamming with headphones and a forty (well, MAYBE I couldn't have a glass bottle) and people wouldn't look twice at me. They really wouldn't give two shits. If that happened in Austin, I'd probably get twenty missed connections on craigslist about that weird girl who was walking down the street today. I MEAN, DID Y'ALL SEE THAT?!?! I don't know. Maybe it's my own insecurities shining through here, but I do know that it has been a major process for me to learn to be less...self-conscious. But I'm learning slowly that NO ONE really cares. Not in a bad sort of a way, but in a, "Hey Annie, quit being so paranoid and thinking everyone is looking at you." And I don't think that I could be learning a better lesson.
I look forward to reading more of this book. I highly recommend it.
I have nothing more to share right now. I need to do some serious house cleaning. We spent the day in the baby pool yesterday and tracked all kinds of backyard debris into the kitchen. Our water is supposed to be shut off tomorrow for some street construction. I don't trust them that it will be back on by five o'clock, so I'm feel very paranoid and trying to complete any household tasks that might require water before 8 o'clock tomorrow morning. Or maybe I'll just continue to watch bad stand-up on TBS...
Anyway, I have to get to reading a book called Seedfolks for a class I'm taking about teaching the humanities through literacy. Google PRIME TIME. It will all make sense then.
Alright, fellas, keep it real...keep in touch.
School is over. It has been over for several weeks now. I've been doing things like being human. And I love it.
Four months of teaching felt like six and I find myself continually referring to it as a six month period of time...which it wasn't. But!! I will be back in the fall, teaching second grade. I am excited. I really am. I will be glad to have a group that is MINE and we will be together the WHOLE year. I don't even know what more to say about that except that I am excited for all the possibilities.
Summer in New Orleans has been lovely. I'm working hard to fulfill my goal to fall in love with this city. What helps is that I found a book called Letters from New Orleans by a journalist named Rob Walker. It's a collection of, well, letters that he wrote around 2000. There was one particular little section that really stood out to me that I shall share now:
Q: Why did you choose New Orleans?
A: New Orleans is not the new Avenue C. This was once the richest city in the South. It is not that anymore, but it is also not the new anything; it is still New Orleans . What does that mean? I think random bullets are a clue. I think that unselfconciousness is a clue. Denial is a clue. Laughing at trouble seems like a clue, and so does dancing at Rock n' Bowl. Of course, I'll look back on all this in a year or two, or more, and be amazed at how badly I read the clues, at how little I understood, early on, about the mysteries of this place. It will all seem clearer then, I hope. Because that's why we chose New Orleans.
January 3-7, 2000
What stands out the most is the part about this city having a certain sort of unselfconsciousness. This is huge to me. In my eyes, Austin is a very "look at me" sorta city. Whether you're a hippie or a dragrat or a hipster or sorostitute you're making a statement. You make a point to show people what you're about by the way you look, where you drink your coffee, where you drink your beer, what you're reading. I don't feel that way here. I feel like I could walk down the street and be pantsless, jamming with headphones and a forty (well, MAYBE I couldn't have a glass bottle) and people wouldn't look twice at me. They really wouldn't give two shits. If that happened in Austin, I'd probably get twenty missed connections on craigslist about that weird girl who was walking down the street today. I MEAN, DID Y'ALL SEE THAT?!?! I don't know. Maybe it's my own insecurities shining through here, but I do know that it has been a major process for me to learn to be less...self-conscious. But I'm learning slowly that NO ONE really cares. Not in a bad sort of a way, but in a, "Hey Annie, quit being so paranoid and thinking everyone is looking at you." And I don't think that I could be learning a better lesson.
I look forward to reading more of this book. I highly recommend it.
I have nothing more to share right now. I need to do some serious house cleaning. We spent the day in the baby pool yesterday and tracked all kinds of backyard debris into the kitchen. Our water is supposed to be shut off tomorrow for some street construction. I don't trust them that it will be back on by five o'clock, so I'm feel very paranoid and trying to complete any household tasks that might require water before 8 o'clock tomorrow morning. Or maybe I'll just continue to watch bad stand-up on TBS...
Anyway, I have to get to reading a book called Seedfolks for a class I'm taking about teaching the humanities through literacy. Google PRIME TIME. It will all make sense then.
Alright, fellas, keep it real...keep in touch.
10 May 2009
Thirteen More Instructional Days
You know when you start doing something and you think, "There is no way I will ever make it. I will die before I'm done."??? Well, that's how I felt about two weeks into teaching and I haven't died (yet). Although, the school did require me to get a throat swab last week to prove that I didn't have swine flu (I don't) and so, I guess that's been the closest that I have come to death. (Allergies) Although I have been called lots of nice names. (Ms. Book, ugly bitch, white whore, racist, cracker white bitch, casper, lady, brah, etc.)
I feel very ready for this year to be over. But I'm still looking forward to the fall. I STILL don't know my assignment, but I do know that it will be a contained classroom. This will be much better than being an elective teacher. (which is miserable)
I can't really decide how I feel about teaching, if it is something for me or not. Sometimes I don't think that just finding kids funny is enough reason to be in a classroom. Because, really, most days, the funny shit kids say to me is what makes it okay. I've really not had any of those "teachable moments" where you impart some sort of wisdom on a young person and watch their eyes change to understanding. Yeah, nope. I am, however, becoming better at being very explicit with directions. (z.B.: "Without putting your hands on another person, place your paper in the green folder, face up, with your name on it. If you don't write your name, I don't feel like playing detective today, so you will get a sixty.")
I can certainly tell you that I hate middle schoolers, though. I really do. I did NOT sign up to play momma to a bunch of 13 and 14 year old assholes. I really don't give a shit that you're going through puberty and all emotional and hormonal and want to be a bitch, I just want to give you your damn spelling test and talk to you as little as possible.... Harsh? Well, spend an hour and a half with my seventh grade class and you'll get it. EVERYTHING IS AN ARGUMENT. I really think if I write about this anymore I'll just piss myself off and Sunday is the day that I'm not supposed to think about students.
Life outside of teaching is minimal. I find myself so exhausted by the time Friday comes that I don't want to do anything. And if I'm not exhausted, I'm probably infested with some disgusting germ a child coughed into my face. I'm just not very good at partying like a 22 year old is supposed to in this town. I'm terrible at being hung over and I don't know how much I even like to be drunk. Meh. It's really that one sentence that makes me think I couldn't live in New Orleans forever. Sometimes, I just don't feel like getting drunk. That doesn't translate here.
I'm looking forward to coming back to Austin this summer. The closer and closer it comes, the more I think I'd like to be there the majority of the summer. I've applied to two separate summer courses, so my acceptance to either of those will affect my plans. I'd also like to go to Montreal this summer. Hopefully I can stop online shopping and actually save two pennies so I can afford to do this.
I guess I'm generally happy with life. I don't know. It could be worse right? I think it's just shocking to "grow up". I think it's something that I was always RUNNING towards (I hated high school the second I stepped foot inside, I graduated early from college, etc.) but now that I've crossed the "finish line" I'm a little bit disappointed. Is it too negative to say that that seems to be how I've felt about most of life's "milestones"? (May I specifically quote the day I got my period? "oh damn, I'm a woman.")
I didn't plan what I would write before I started writing and it's scattered. Oh, I found my notes the other day from the trip with Helki last summer. I sort of thought about making those into entries. I feel like I've forgotten too much to make them anything good though. Sad. I forget things too quickly.
I feel very ready for this year to be over. But I'm still looking forward to the fall. I STILL don't know my assignment, but I do know that it will be a contained classroom. This will be much better than being an elective teacher. (which is miserable)
I can't really decide how I feel about teaching, if it is something for me or not. Sometimes I don't think that just finding kids funny is enough reason to be in a classroom. Because, really, most days, the funny shit kids say to me is what makes it okay. I've really not had any of those "teachable moments" where you impart some sort of wisdom on a young person and watch their eyes change to understanding. Yeah, nope. I am, however, becoming better at being very explicit with directions. (z.B.: "Without putting your hands on another person, place your paper in the green folder, face up, with your name on it. If you don't write your name, I don't feel like playing detective today, so you will get a sixty.")
I can certainly tell you that I hate middle schoolers, though. I really do. I did NOT sign up to play momma to a bunch of 13 and 14 year old assholes. I really don't give a shit that you're going through puberty and all emotional and hormonal and want to be a bitch, I just want to give you your damn spelling test and talk to you as little as possible.... Harsh? Well, spend an hour and a half with my seventh grade class and you'll get it. EVERYTHING IS AN ARGUMENT. I really think if I write about this anymore I'll just piss myself off and Sunday is the day that I'm not supposed to think about students.
Life outside of teaching is minimal. I find myself so exhausted by the time Friday comes that I don't want to do anything. And if I'm not exhausted, I'm probably infested with some disgusting germ a child coughed into my face. I'm just not very good at partying like a 22 year old is supposed to in this town. I'm terrible at being hung over and I don't know how much I even like to be drunk. Meh. It's really that one sentence that makes me think I couldn't live in New Orleans forever. Sometimes, I just don't feel like getting drunk. That doesn't translate here.
I'm looking forward to coming back to Austin this summer. The closer and closer it comes, the more I think I'd like to be there the majority of the summer. I've applied to two separate summer courses, so my acceptance to either of those will affect my plans. I'd also like to go to Montreal this summer. Hopefully I can stop online shopping and actually save two pennies so I can afford to do this.
I guess I'm generally happy with life. I don't know. It could be worse right? I think it's just shocking to "grow up". I think it's something that I was always RUNNING towards (I hated high school the second I stepped foot inside, I graduated early from college, etc.) but now that I've crossed the "finish line" I'm a little bit disappointed. Is it too negative to say that that seems to be how I've felt about most of life's "milestones"? (May I specifically quote the day I got my period? "oh damn, I'm a woman.")
I didn't plan what I would write before I started writing and it's scattered. Oh, I found my notes the other day from the trip with Helki last summer. I sort of thought about making those into entries. I feel like I've forgotten too much to make them anything good though. Sad. I forget things too quickly.
13 March 2009
March
Well it certainly became March quickly. I'm not really sure that I could fully begin to explain what life has become, except for saying something like "grown up".
It is the strangest feeling to be responsible for so many other people...to be responsible for when someone drinks water, eats, goes to the bathroom...really, very strange.
I believe the official count is 47 instructional days until summer. Another teacher was wearing a sticker on her shirt with the number...
I never, EVER thought that teaching would be simple or easy or some other synonym, but it is by the far the most difficult thing I've ever done in my entire life. It's also the greatest exercise in self-control that I have ever experienced. Hopefully next year, I will be a normal classroom teacher, not elective, and will only have 20-24 students (rather than 120+). I suppose it has been good in the respect that a lot of kids know who I am now, but for having it be my first teaching position, it is incredibly overwhelming. I never really feel like I am doing anything effective or that anyone is actually learning. Most of the time I feel like I'm babysitting 24 kids who curse and eat and yell and dance and beat the shit out of each other. That I don't understand as much. Why is everyone constantly hitting one other??
Some good things do happen. The PreK students are pretty hilarious. (See: Banana phones at breakfast, "Kendrick, hang up your banana and start eating!") I find the First Graders to be an enjoyable crowd as well. The other day they were drinking off the water fountain and this one little girl comes to me to tattle about another student saying, "Ms. Brook, he got two scoops of water!!" I could only laugh.
Anyway, that's life now...summer's not that far away.
It is the strangest feeling to be responsible for so many other people...to be responsible for when someone drinks water, eats, goes to the bathroom...really, very strange.
I believe the official count is 47 instructional days until summer. Another teacher was wearing a sticker on her shirt with the number...
I never, EVER thought that teaching would be simple or easy or some other synonym, but it is by the far the most difficult thing I've ever done in my entire life. It's also the greatest exercise in self-control that I have ever experienced. Hopefully next year, I will be a normal classroom teacher, not elective, and will only have 20-24 students (rather than 120+). I suppose it has been good in the respect that a lot of kids know who I am now, but for having it be my first teaching position, it is incredibly overwhelming. I never really feel like I am doing anything effective or that anyone is actually learning. Most of the time I feel like I'm babysitting 24 kids who curse and eat and yell and dance and beat the shit out of each other. That I don't understand as much. Why is everyone constantly hitting one other??
Some good things do happen. The PreK students are pretty hilarious. (See: Banana phones at breakfast, "Kendrick, hang up your banana and start eating!") I find the First Graders to be an enjoyable crowd as well. The other day they were drinking off the water fountain and this one little girl comes to me to tattle about another student saying, "Ms. Brook, he got two scoops of water!!" I could only laugh.
Anyway, that's life now...summer's not that far away.
04 December 2008
New job! (most likely)
Oh hey!
As the title suggests, I've got a new job, or rather, a new opportunity/path to a new job. I interviewed and was selected to become a teaching fellow with teachNOLA. (www.teachnola.org) I will be training for the next month and then hopefully by January 20th (or so) I will be in front of a classroom of elementary age kids. Pretty crazy, but pretty exciting!
What thrills me the most about all of this is that I am finally able to really start what I moved here to do, which is help rebuild. I don't know how many of you visited New Orleans before Katrina, but even for the passive visitor, like I always was before the storm, how the city has changed is clear beyond obvious physical damages. Even still, I know Katrina was a devastating storm and that it takes time to rebuild, but I am still surprised when I see decaying and unoccupied buildings or empty lots. It's easy to forget how long it takes to recover from a storm like Katrina, especially when you come from a place (Austin) that has a seriously active volunteer community and strong interest in the well-being of its residents. That's not to say that their isn't a disinterest in the well-being of residents of New Orleans, but that it is a different sort of interest than in Austin, I think. Furthermore, I discovered pretty quickly how decades (and probably longer) of racial favoritism and corrupt politics have left rather large portions of New Orleanians in the dust...or underwater...too soon?? (as HBW would say)
Diatribes aside...what's most important for people to realize is that New Orleans has a huge potential to become great. People care about this city and that is also something I've learned (big time) since moving here. The passion of people from New Orleans about being from New Orleans is incredible. And I thought I was proud to be a Texan(!)...
There are things that are maybe inherent to the New Orleans attitude that could stand to be adjusted in order to facilitate a faster recovery effort (for example: "we can do it tomorrow, let's party today" or "it's always been this way and it will always be this way" or "who is going to fix this for me?"). But I think that these attitudes are shifting too, or well, being influenced positively by the influx of non-New Orleanians moving to the city. And the other side of this, I feel like I have definitely been positively influenced by moving here too. I can't see myself leaving for a long time. I rather like it here.
Anyway, this became convoluted really quickly. Basically what I wanted to say was that I'm on the path to a new job and I'm excited to be helping, or rather, helping more. I want New Orleans to be great. I want kids to know that they are capable and intelligent. I want people to believe in public education. I guess I want a lot of things, but I see them as being completely possible and I think that's good. You gotta have hope, right? I think I heard some guy say that...
Oh and here's a picture of my house...
As the title suggests, I've got a new job, or rather, a new opportunity/path to a new job. I interviewed and was selected to become a teaching fellow with teachNOLA. (www.teachnola.org) I will be training for the next month and then hopefully by January 20th (or so) I will be in front of a classroom of elementary age kids. Pretty crazy, but pretty exciting!
What thrills me the most about all of this is that I am finally able to really start what I moved here to do, which is help rebuild. I don't know how many of you visited New Orleans before Katrina, but even for the passive visitor, like I always was before the storm, how the city has changed is clear beyond obvious physical damages. Even still, I know Katrina was a devastating storm and that it takes time to rebuild, but I am still surprised when I see decaying and unoccupied buildings or empty lots. It's easy to forget how long it takes to recover from a storm like Katrina, especially when you come from a place (Austin) that has a seriously active volunteer community and strong interest in the well-being of its residents. That's not to say that their isn't a disinterest in the well-being of residents of New Orleans, but that it is a different sort of interest than in Austin, I think. Furthermore, I discovered pretty quickly how decades (and probably longer) of racial favoritism and corrupt politics have left rather large portions of New Orleanians in the dust...or underwater...too soon?? (as HBW would say)
Diatribes aside...what's most important for people to realize is that New Orleans has a huge potential to become great. People care about this city and that is also something I've learned (big time) since moving here. The passion of people from New Orleans about being from New Orleans is incredible. And I thought I was proud to be a Texan(!)...
There are things that are maybe inherent to the New Orleans attitude that could stand to be adjusted in order to facilitate a faster recovery effort (for example: "we can do it tomorrow, let's party today" or "it's always been this way and it will always be this way" or "who is going to fix this for me?"). But I think that these attitudes are shifting too, or well, being influenced positively by the influx of non-New Orleanians moving to the city. And the other side of this, I feel like I have definitely been positively influenced by moving here too. I can't see myself leaving for a long time. I rather like it here.
Anyway, this became convoluted really quickly. Basically what I wanted to say was that I'm on the path to a new job and I'm excited to be helping, or rather, helping more. I want New Orleans to be great. I want kids to know that they are capable and intelligent. I want people to believe in public education. I guess I want a lot of things, but I see them as being completely possible and I think that's good. You gotta have hope, right? I think I heard some guy say that...
Oh and here's a picture of my house...
08 November 2008
New Post!
Hi hi, salutations!
Clearly I'm having a rockin' Friday night. I came home from work today and began final preparations on dinner for Boys Hope (http://www.boyshopegirlshope.org/what-we-do.php). Caitlin and I worked together to make a cake, sandwiches, pasta salad and veggies. Last month when we brought food, Ms. Mona invited us to eat with them, but we were going to see a play that evening and couldn't. Therefore, this time we planned to stay with them and we did. I said grace, which was weird, only because I haven't said grace since I was 12 or something. I've heard it said plenty of times, but I never say it...mostly because I think I get stage fright, which I definitely did tonight, but I think also because I try to think what everyone would be thankful for, besides the obvious food sitting in front of us and then just get awkward and say too much...and anyway. I think it went all right. ANYWAY, I started to volunteer to make this dinner once a month, the first Friday of the month, as a part of my personal campaign to get involved in the world outside me and it's neat that it is becoming something for Caitlin and I to do together...which also sort of happened all by accident anyway. But, that seems to be how everything is happening with life here in New Orleans: "accident".
I got a job offer! http://library.uno.edu/about/jobs/la_services_4548.html That's a lie, by the way! Not the job offer, but that it's available, because I took it!! I put in my two weeks at Earth-Search, which is sad, but necessary. Hopefully I'll still be doing some baby sitting and screaming and running and nose wiping and all of that because I have grown to really enjoy it, but it's definitely time to move on and start using my degree. Turns out I went to college for a reason....
OOH! And, I have another interview coming up for TeachNOLA. I'm pretty nervous but excited and need to call my sister (Sally) for advice about a lesson plan. As part of the interview process, which lasts all day (!), I have to make a mock five-minute lesson plan. I can cover any material I want, at any grade level. I figure that because I am interviewing for the position of an elementary school teacher, I should go for that range and I think that I'd really like to teach fourth or fifth graders. I'd really like to avoid any ages that might consistently "accidentally" pee their pants. I'm done with the defecation in the clothing. Another part of the application process is taking the Praxis I and II tests, which I am also anxious about, mostly because the last time I can remember sitting down for an extended period of time and taking a standardized test was six years ago in High School. Ew.
Anyway, I kind of digressed...After dinner tonight, I came home and reclined with the intention to stay reclined for the first time in several days. I obviously immediately fell asleep. It's probably because I took my pants off first. It is absolutely impossible to sleep comfortably in jeans. But yes, I passed out and woke up nearly every hour to read some sort of silly text message and make a half asleep response and then fall back asleep. I have been worried the past couple of days because I was loaned a copy of A Confederacy of Dunces (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confederacy_of_Dunces), an apparently essential New Orleans read, and thought I had lost it. I was frustrated, mostly, because I was just getting interested in it and wanted to keep reading. I had remembered seeing a copy next to Allison's bed and asked if I could borrow it for the time being. But then I had a "light bulb" moment and thought to check the crack between my bed and the wall. And of course it was there. I had checked under the bed, but not the crack. Almost all things I ever seem to lose have been found in that crack. It's a black hole for my half-thoughts, or something.
ANYWAY, with all this sleep, I woke up around 10:30 to come downstairs and find Allison and Kolbe and John drinking in the kitchen. It smelled like a bar. Don't worry, I put on pants before I went downstairs. It's funny. OR well, it has been funny, living with another girl. It reminds me of living at SRD, mostly because every time I hear a male voice my ears perk up and I immediately go investigate. What's the deal with that? ANYWAY, I came downstairs and ate a banana. I wasn't really hungry but it seemed appropriate to me to have something in my hand because everyone else had a beer. So I ate the banana and flipped through the channels on the TV about thirty times. I watched a couple minutes of what I'm going to assume was Soulplane, got disinterested and came upstairs. I think that maybe I'll see how late I can stay up tonight. I haven't stayed up all night in a long time (sober...sorry mom and dad) and I forgot how nice it can be to watch the sunrise and the early early morning news (you know, the broadcast from New York, from London if you're REAL early). And then you fall asleep at 7:45AM, just as the normal people stir. ANYWAY. I think that's what I'll do and study for the Praxis exams and think about what I'll do tomorrow. The plans already include shopping for interview clothes (pants) and going to see Dark Knight at the IMAX. This has been the topic of conversation for literally months. Perhaps seeing it will finally quell the noise...or just make me become an active part of it.
But, that's what's been going on, today anyway.
Clearly I'm having a rockin' Friday night. I came home from work today and began final preparations on dinner for Boys Hope (http://www.boyshopegirlshope.org/what-we-do.php). Caitlin and I worked together to make a cake, sandwiches, pasta salad and veggies. Last month when we brought food, Ms. Mona invited us to eat with them, but we were going to see a play that evening and couldn't. Therefore, this time we planned to stay with them and we did. I said grace, which was weird, only because I haven't said grace since I was 12 or something. I've heard it said plenty of times, but I never say it...mostly because I think I get stage fright, which I definitely did tonight, but I think also because I try to think what everyone would be thankful for, besides the obvious food sitting in front of us and then just get awkward and say too much...and anyway. I think it went all right. ANYWAY, I started to volunteer to make this dinner once a month, the first Friday of the month, as a part of my personal campaign to get involved in the world outside me and it's neat that it is becoming something for Caitlin and I to do together...which also sort of happened all by accident anyway. But, that seems to be how everything is happening with life here in New Orleans: "accident".
I got a job offer! http://library.uno.edu/about/jobs/la_services_4548.html That's a lie, by the way! Not the job offer, but that it's available, because I took it!! I put in my two weeks at Earth-Search, which is sad, but necessary. Hopefully I'll still be doing some baby sitting and screaming and running and nose wiping and all of that because I have grown to really enjoy it, but it's definitely time to move on and start using my degree. Turns out I went to college for a reason....
OOH! And, I have another interview coming up for TeachNOLA. I'm pretty nervous but excited and need to call my sister (Sally) for advice about a lesson plan. As part of the interview process, which lasts all day (!), I have to make a mock five-minute lesson plan. I can cover any material I want, at any grade level. I figure that because I am interviewing for the position of an elementary school teacher, I should go for that range and I think that I'd really like to teach fourth or fifth graders. I'd really like to avoid any ages that might consistently "accidentally" pee their pants. I'm done with the defecation in the clothing. Another part of the application process is taking the Praxis I and II tests, which I am also anxious about, mostly because the last time I can remember sitting down for an extended period of time and taking a standardized test was six years ago in High School. Ew.
Anyway, I kind of digressed...After dinner tonight, I came home and reclined with the intention to stay reclined for the first time in several days. I obviously immediately fell asleep. It's probably because I took my pants off first. It is absolutely impossible to sleep comfortably in jeans. But yes, I passed out and woke up nearly every hour to read some sort of silly text message and make a half asleep response and then fall back asleep. I have been worried the past couple of days because I was loaned a copy of A Confederacy of Dunces (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confederacy_of_Dunces), an apparently essential New Orleans read, and thought I had lost it. I was frustrated, mostly, because I was just getting interested in it and wanted to keep reading. I had remembered seeing a copy next to Allison's bed and asked if I could borrow it for the time being. But then I had a "light bulb" moment and thought to check the crack between my bed and the wall. And of course it was there. I had checked under the bed, but not the crack. Almost all things I ever seem to lose have been found in that crack. It's a black hole for my half-thoughts, or something.
ANYWAY, with all this sleep, I woke up around 10:30 to come downstairs and find Allison and Kolbe and John drinking in the kitchen. It smelled like a bar. Don't worry, I put on pants before I went downstairs. It's funny. OR well, it has been funny, living with another girl. It reminds me of living at SRD, mostly because every time I hear a male voice my ears perk up and I immediately go investigate. What's the deal with that? ANYWAY, I came downstairs and ate a banana. I wasn't really hungry but it seemed appropriate to me to have something in my hand because everyone else had a beer. So I ate the banana and flipped through the channels on the TV about thirty times. I watched a couple minutes of what I'm going to assume was Soulplane, got disinterested and came upstairs. I think that maybe I'll see how late I can stay up tonight. I haven't stayed up all night in a long time (sober...sorry mom and dad) and I forgot how nice it can be to watch the sunrise and the early early morning news (you know, the broadcast from New York, from London if you're REAL early). And then you fall asleep at 7:45AM, just as the normal people stir. ANYWAY. I think that's what I'll do and study for the Praxis exams and think about what I'll do tomorrow. The plans already include shopping for interview clothes (pants) and going to see Dark Knight at the IMAX. This has been the topic of conversation for literally months. Perhaps seeing it will finally quell the noise...or just make me become an active part of it.
But, that's what's been going on, today anyway.
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