Top 10

Here it is, Wintermute, the top ten workout hits that get me movin':

1. SOS, Rhianna
2. Lose Yourself, Eminem
3. Dirrty, Cristina Aguilera
4. My Personal Moon, Madison Park
5. Gasolina, Daddy Yankee (it's TERRIBLE, but good for sprinting)
6. Da You Think I'm Sexy, Rod Stewart (disco-y terribl-y, but Do you think I'm Sexy?!?, C'mon now, you know it!)
7. Dance to the Music, Sly and the Family Stone
8. No Diggity, Blackstreet & Dr. Dre (it rolls well...)
9. Family Affair, Mary J. Blige
10. Float On, Modest Mouse

They change quite a bit, but its a good mix of high and low and just plain SILLY! Because really, zumbale mami para que mi gata prenda lo motore...What?!?

And that's really what its all about.

Over-achievers

I leave the real eduspeak to the professionals. People who actually care about acronyms and the mumbo-jumbo that goes with education. The policy analysis you can get at Eduwonk or in your local paper if you need it. No one really wants to hear me "debate" the finer points of edu policy. I speak to something that constantly bothers me. We all do it and try to find ways around it because really no one likes to be labeled. Students are "low," "under-achievers," "problems," "ELLs" (said typically with a negative tone or meaning...such as, "if we didn't have so many English language learners...") and my personal favorite "GATE." Okay first of all, the students aren't GATE kids. GATE is the program that is offered to students who are considered gifted and talented. However, just because a child is an "over-achiever," does not mean s/he is also gifted, or vice-versa under-achiever=not gifted. Regardless, I detest these friggin' designations. All of my students are gifted, so there. All of them deserve enrichment activities that challenge them and motivate them. Why does Johnny-low-achiever or Susy-problem-kid get dumped in the doesn't deserve art, music, science club, bin?!? I would really like teachers to be more careful with their language. Children ARE gifted. So the question is, are we finding ways to engage that potential or merely assuming that all these poorly labeled students aren't cutting it because they lack a, b, and c. I am of the camp that likes to assume we fail our "struggling" students when we don't consider other learning modalities. We definitely do a lot to support those same "struggling" students, but I often look around and see the same types of activities after school as they are being forced to do during school that didn't seem to meet their learning needs then. And the funny thing is, the reality of it doesn't actually set in until after they leave the elementary grades and get into junior high and high school. Because in first grade they can be pretty motivated by the whole learning for learnings sake thing. I also believe that children are motivated to learn when they find value and purpose in what they are doing. I sure don't spend time doing discreet math problems, because I have no head or use for them. Doesn't mean I don't spend hours reading about other stuff I enjoy. I find purpose in the learning I do as an adult. Ahh, time for track practice. It will give me more time to rant and rave in my head as I loaf 1200m with a busted foot. (I kicked a table by accident today - ouch!)

Product Endorsement

I have several staples in my wardrobe. I like my Keens a lot - the H2 sandals. I have even worn them hiking/backpacking when other shoes have failed me. A few years ago, I bought some Prana Riva pants in yellow with my REI dividend and loved them so much, I bought another pair and kept hoping for them to go on sale. I tend to shop in two places, actually three - online, Express and REI. I like Express because I am pretty much guaranteed to find stuff in my size that I like for work. I don't like shopping enough to spend hours looking in store after store. I also kind of get annoyed at all the stuff out there. But I degress. I found a new staple for my wardrobe, which pretty much means I better go out and buy three because they will discontinue them before long and I will still be wishing I had another pair for when the first falls apart. I bought a pair of crop pants from Stonewear Designs. (www.stoneweardesigns.com) They are fantanstic. So unbelievably comfortable, great for climbing, yoga, running, walking around town. I find something and I wear it again and again and again. These pants will be getting a lot of wear.

Home Sick

I don't play hooky often, nor do I stay home sick, but as part of my new goal to stay healthy I did so today. It was probably not fair, but I was feeling really run-down and knew that all day at school and back to school night would do me in. I looked at my absence log online and in two years, I have only actually taken two sick days and my six personal days. I think that is pretty fair. The other times I have been out were for district trainings. More than fair. And last year, I got sick a lot, but I still suffered through work. Not this year. I slept all day today. Read a book and then got up to get ready to go back for back to school night.

I hope to spend the weekend doing more of the same - sleeping and reading. Hopefully I will be up to some running too.

Life is funny. We are funny. I get up, go to work, enjoy my students, come home, enjoy my hobbies, go to sleep and do it again. I had to make a pact with myself, not to let stuff get to me. I am a passionate person, easily riled up by stuff - particularly at school. I think I have found a way not to care about that stuff, remove myself from anything that isn't kid-oriented. It took much of the first month of school and my kind of going through the motions of doing a good job for awhile, but I am closer. I can see why teachers burn out. I am burnt out and I need to reinvent stuff, but for now, I need to take care of me. My mental and physical health have not been great this last year. China was good for me. I got away from my work-work mentality and did things I enjoy - travel, meet new people. Just keep asking that all important question: Does it matter? No, then let it go. I will crash and burn if I don't.

Somehow the passing of my friend's father helps to serve as a constant reminder to me. He did what many people struggle to do - enjoyed what he had everyday.

Laugh often. And as my own parents always told me: don't sweat the small stuff...it's all small stuff.

Extreme Pain

I turned on the television and some show with people doing extreme (and extremely dumb) sports was on. It always looks a lot worse than it is, right?!? The kite surfer who was dragged across the rocks and then slammed into the water was pretty gnarly. And the repeated showing of his crash caused me to cover my eyes and cringe. Ooooowwwww. Okay, yes I started rock climbing, but its a rather risk free, controlled environment at the gym (although at some point I will do it outside.) I don't get the whole extreme sports thing. I like feeling good. I like the rush of getting to the top of the mountain or finishing a race. I like pushing my body to certain limits, but broken bones and concussions don't interest me all that much. I really cringe when they show the shots of people falling on their crotch. Aaaaiieee. I also find it pretty interesting that it is almost always men doing these things. Like the Jack@#$ guy and his crew, all boys. Is there some wiring in the male brain that women don't possess that leads to a higher incidence of such acts of genius? Sorry boys, but I just don't see the point.

Another great weekend. Saturday I did my long run and I couldn't have asked for a nicer day. Today was equally as beautiful. California suck$, don't move here.

Training

I started trianing again for a half marathon. My goal this time around is to stay healthy and injury free. I think I am off to kind of a bad start. I had a great 9 mile run yesterday through the trees. There is this spot right as you come across a bridge and look up the creek that is just perfect, right about mile 6, and you just have to smile and run a little faster because everything just fits. I hurt today, but not from the running. On Friday, I think I fell badly and gave myself whiplash. Pretty silly. My head and upper chest kind of jerked backwards as I fell from the bouldering wall. I think the jerk caused my shoulder and neck problem to come back and a pinched nerve in my shoulder is telling me to do some yoga and take it easy.

It was a great weekend. I got a lot done, got a lot of exercise and ate healthful meals. I am still immensely tired today. Prior to this past weekend, I had been doing a lot of playing and it left my week feeling really chaotic. But at least I am fulfilling one of the two goals I set for myself this year - to have a social life and to improve my math instruction.

Math is one of those subjects that seems to be very kid unfriendly. As a student, I struggled with math a ton. As an adult, however, I find I really enjoy math. I try to help my students recognize the patterns because I wish someone had showed me the patterns. But perhaps the patterns only make sense when you are an adult. Our school uses a math program that I was quite resistant to at first. I didn't use it much last year because it would have required getting rid of P.E. (yes, I know that is federally mandated, someone actually suggested it to me,) and well, I am an active adult whose parents made sure I was an active kid. I don't really feel like contributing to the problem of obesity. Neither here nor there. I also don't want a computer activity to be the core part of my math teaching. I want it to be an assessment tool that informs where I need to improve my teaching. There is the option of breaking down by strands the students performance - number sense, mathematical reasoning, etc. That's useful to me. Supposedly it is ideal when used 20 minutes per day. So I have to decide, 20 minutes, plus an additional 10 or so to get there and back and set up, dedicated to going everyday, or writing. Hmm...a no-brainer. So we go twice a week and I spend most of the time trying to log kids in on various computers because several of them seem to not work at any random time. It seems like that 20 minute session is taking into account all the flubs that can possibly occur. We also used to have audio books which I thought was great and the kids loved last year and well, there just isn't time for that. It was like having your own personal read-aloud. Always a new gimmick in education. Alas.

Tomorrow should be fun. We all get to give up our prep time to go and learn about a new social studies curriculum. Social studies?!? Who has time to actually teach social studies?!? We are busy learning to read and write - bah! Of course, I find the first time they present any new curriculum the trainers know about as much as I will after a 5 minute reading of the first 10 pages of the teacher's edition. And then I will sit and whine about how utterly useless said training is. Hey, can I help it if I am a fast learner?!? It is made worse by the fact that KS won't be there to pass notes back and forth with and made snide comments. Text messaging!! Cha-ching!

Don't worry, I reserve the very highest expectations for myself, then again, I am the only one who can meet them. Au contraire.

Breakthroughs

It feels as if I have had nothing to post about. I try to avoid posting about my personal life and things at work that seem contraversial. It is hard because a part of me wants to share with people the ups and downs of being a teacher, a human being and a woman. I need to slow down. I need to not get so worked up about things. I had two good meetings. I went into both of them thinking I was going to be annoyed and feel like it was a waste of time. I left both feeling like some ground had been gained and some real successes were made. It felt good. I do good work and I just have to keep reminding myself of that. Tomorrow is Friday and like all Fridays I look forward to math exploration, art and end of the day "exploration." It is important the students learn how to socialize, just as much as they learn how to read and write, not to mention we have art standards, but that only seems to apply to those who can "afford" to do art. We all need that time.

It took awhile, but I feel as if I am understanding the dynamic. Last year they were self-motivated and engaged. This year they need movement with learning. A lot more than last year. My students are different types of learners than I and I must embrace that and adjust to their needs. It was a hard transtition because the group from last year and I just fit.

They are all brilliant, wonderful, and deserve my best. It saddens me that I haven't been able to give what I am capable of. Sure I am a good teacher, but a little more effort could make me a great teacher and time will make me an exceptional teacher. I know it sounds trite and egotistical, but this is a world where you have to be. You would die without giving yourself props because no one else will.

I climbed today. I was supposed to meet someone, who never showed. I bouldered for awhile and then found someone to belay. It was intense, great and exactly what I needed. I have been tired and lagging all week. I will be glad when this week is over and I can recover from the Labor Day festivities, a slow week and a good cleansing end to something that needed to have closure. Hard as that may be, I needed to do what was best for me. I may never find what I need, but at least I find out what I don't need with each passing lesson.

It is a long way between now and Veteran's Day, keep it fun, keep it light and enjoy what life has to offer. That is my advice to myself and anyone who chooses to connect with that idea.

Ciao.