I had a real teacher moment today

Today I had one of my two high school classes, wherein we read The Fellowship of the Ring. Tolkien is an author that is near and dear to my heart because he was a medievalist like I aspire to be and I love finding those connections to medieval literature in his works. Last week, this particular section didn't go so well; my kids were really resistant to reading and didn't think it was relevant to their lives, etc., etc.... basic high school excuses.

All week long, I've been thinking about this class and agonizing over it. Part of me wanted to come in defensive today, ready to defend my beloved author and familiar world of Middle Earth; the other, more practical, part of me knew that that was the best way to drive these kids away. I decided that the best option was to go in with an open mind and let them surprise me. And boy did they ever surprise me.

At first, they were reticent to speak, no matter how much I simplified the questions. Then one girl raised her hand and said "Can I be real honest here?"

"Yes," I replied, "as long as you can be nice about it."

"I don't know who nobody [sic] in this danged book is! I read and could probably answer your questions, but I don't know who you're asking about!"

The lightbulb went on in my own head.

"Oh! Is anyone else having the same trouble as A-----?" I asked.

A chorus of "yes!" rose from my students.

So I adjusted. We made a chart on the board with the various characters and who they were and then I sat on the edge of my desk, just like my dear teacher Dr. J did and talked with them. We had a very adult-level conversation about the ethics of Bilbo not killing Gollum when Bilbo got the Ring, as well as Frodo's choice to take on the burden. We talked about why Gandalf could not take the Ring himself, because of the corrupting influence of the dark power and how fraught with peril Frodo's journey would be. It was a truly excellent conversation and I was proud of them because just about every kid got really vocally involved.

After this, we took a break for the bathroom and as I was following my students back to our room, I hung back because a couple of my students (girls with whom I had had some attitude problems last week) were eating. They saw me and promised that they were "almost done," and I told them that when I was in high school, I used to bring food in my purse and sneak eating all the time. They look shocked, so I continued, telling them that I had texted in class before and had conversations behind the teacher's back... that's how I knew that they were doing that behind mine. One of them high-fived me and said she thought I would have been one of those "goody goody little perfect students" and she was shocked. Her shock came, I think, at finding that I was not as superhuman as they thought. After that conversation, though, I had no more trouble with them; it was as if they needed me to come down to their level, just a little, which I did, and we got a lot accomplished when we were on the same page.

This, my friends, is why I do what I do. Even though they frustrate me sometimes (or a lot), I truly do care for every one of my students, from the toughest to the sweetest, and small breakthroughs like this are what let me know that I'm doing my job effectively. And that's worth more than anything.

Growing up

The past few weeks have been crazy, what with finishing the early teaching term and starting the late term this week. I'm traveling twice as far this term (3 hours as opposed to 1.5), but the flip side of that is no extra travel to sub. I'm also fortunate in that my uncle/godfather and his family live halfway between home and my teaching site, so they're letting me spend Saturday nights with them for the next 3 weeks. My new kids are, for the most part, great and I'm sure I'll have some fantastic stories from this term as well!

I have also done some grownup things in the last few weeks. I have:

-Made my first car payment and my first car insurance payment

-Found an apartment

-Set up an account with the electric company

-Sent out 20+ resumes

-Scheduled a job interview for the next school year

-Begun furniture shopping

And in doing all of these grownup things, I've realized something: freaking out doesn't get you anywhere. I'm notorious for getting some kind of awful pain somewhere before a big life change. In high school, it was migranes, the summer before college (and before senior year) it was a stomach ulcer... my stress about new situations seems to manifest itself in my body; this year, it started out as the carpal tunnel in my left wrist that comes and goes (apparently wrist pain is part of being an academic, at least in the humanities!). And then I came to the conclusion that freaking out was really unnecessary. As St. Augustine wrote, "pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you." That's what I've been doing lately and everything is working out. I'm in grad school, with some funding. I have a place to live and will most emphatically not be living in my car. I've even got a job prospect. All of the pieces are falling into place and I'm quite serene about the whole situation. To quote one of the famous medieval mystics, Julian of Norwich, "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well." Yes indeed, all is well

Things I Love Thursdays, vol. 3

This week has been a little crazy, so this post will be pictureless, but I've been working on my list, so I wanted to post it anyway.

5. Photobooth

Oh my word, I'm having so much fun with this. It's kind of dangerous, especially when I'm in hotels by myself, because I end up spending lots of time recording myself talking, then playing it back... all in innocent fun, of course, but a huge waste of time. Not that I'm narcissistic or anything.

4. The Office

My brother got me hooked on it (I know, I know, 5 years after everyone else on the planet), and for some reason, it's the best part of my days these days. I'm working my way through Season 2 and it's positively shameful how much I watched today; I can't bring myself to put the number out into cyberspace where it will exist for the rest of time. Steve Carell's character makes me profoundly uncomfortable and there are a few subjects that make me feel a little squicky, but overall, I've been laughing hysterically, much to the chagrin of my hotel neighbors, I'm sure.

3. Kids

As a teacher, this should go without saying. My kids remind me daily why I'm doing this; it's not about the money, it's about them. They work hard for me and give me hugs and tell me they love me. And if I've made a difference over the last month for just one or two of these kids, then it's been worth it. I love all my kids and I'll be really sad to leave them next week. However, I've just gotten my new assignment and I'll be going out to the western part of the state for 4 days a week over the next 5 weeks, which means a whole new crop of kids to get to know!

2. New Planners

I went to WalMart this evening (mostly because it's really close to my hotel) because I was in need of a new planner; my MC one runs out at the end of July and I hate to get a new one a month into it (most planners start in July). For just $9, I have the planner of my dreams: a big, lovely green weekly/monthly planner that lets me organize to my heart's content. Yes, I am a nerd. Yes, I will also geek out over buying school supplies for my 18th first day of school. It's who I am and I embrace it.

1. Revisiting beloved childhood novels.

This job has been wonderful because it has had me revisit books I loved once upon a time but had forgotten about. In my 4th/5th grade class, we just finished Henry Huggins and are working our way through The Cricket in Times Square. I had forgotten how much I loved them until I reread them; surprisingly, my memories were quite strong. I'm also listening to a new audio book, L.M. Montgomery's Anne's House of Dreams, part of the Anne of Green Gables series. I love Miss Montgomery's books, and I'm finding that as an adult, I'm picking up things that I missed as a child; I understand things that I never did before and I'm able to feel both joys and sorrows more keenly. I can't find my copies of the series, so I suppose it's up in the attic and I'll need to find it before I move.

I went shopping today with a gift card that I received for my graduation. With it, I bought 4 skirts and a sweater; all grownup clothes. To go with those clothes, I needed a new pair of shoes because I had no navy shoes. I ended up with a rather flat pair of loafers: teacher shoes. My camera cord is a bit lost at the moment, so I can't post a picture, but they're pretty basic navy blue loafers. You know, the kind I said I'd never wear until I was a mom.

But... when I'm teaching 3 two and a half hour classes in a day where I'm on my feet the whole time, comfort trumps fashion. So here I am, owning teacher shoes. And not really sure how to feel about that.

Third grade is my favorite

I have 7 third grade boys on Thursday afternoons and I really think it's my favorite class to teach. Today, we were working on punctuation marks as a part of the fluency training we do. We talked about several different kinds of punctuation and what that meant for reading out loud. They had some trouble, so I put some of the marks up on the board for them to identify. Our exchange went like this:

Me: (writes a comma on the board)

Boy 1: Ooo! A pause!

Me: Yep, that's what it does, but we call it a comma.

(writes quotation marks on the board)

Boy 2: Ooo! Ooo! Me me me! Those are... concentration marks!

Me: (stifling a giggle) Actually we call them quotation marks.

(writes an exclamation point on the board)

Boy 3: Hey! An excitement mark!

Earlier in that same class, we'd been reading a book about a dog and the discussion turned to pets. One of my students said he had a new dog.

Me: Oh, wow! What kind of dog?

Boy: A Pomeranian mixed with something else

Me: Is it a boy dog or a girl dog?

Boy: Girl dog

Me: What's her name?

Boy: Lola Ballerina. My sister named it. It's a stupid name. And I'm pretty sure my Papaw hates the dog. Stupid dog.

I love my boys.

Things I Love Thursday, vol. 2

Welcome to this week's edition of Things I Love Thursday. I have to say, it's been a lot of fun keeping an eye out this week for things I might want to write about. So, without anything further, here are this week's top 5 things that I love (this week, I'm counting down to my absolute favorite).

5. Hotel pillows

Part of my job this term is traveling to teach, so I've been staying in a lot of hotels lately. And boy howdy do I love the pillows. There's just something about the soft, yet firm, yet fluffiness of them that can even make a bad day seem less catastrophic. I also love the fact that I've been getting king-sized beds, which means lots and lots of pillows for my happy snuggling. Despite the fact that strangers have slept on them before, they're still pretty terrific!

Image found here

4. The Raleigh Farmer's Market

I wish the picture below was mine, but it's not. I'm usually too busy shopping to stop and take pictures. This past week, I loaded up my Reisenthel basket (the one about which I waxed poetic last week) with fresh corn, blackberries, peaches, green beans and goat cheese. The smell of fresh dirt, the warm fresh peach samples, the farmers who are willing to answer any and all questions: an hour there is a pretty happy hour for me. I'm on a quest these days to eat fresher and more locally (can't wait to get down to Charleston for that!), so having a Farmer's Market so close to my house helps in my endeavors. This week, Jack asked if he could go with me, because he's on a tomato kick. The kid loves them (and cucumbers with hummus) and can't get enough! I'm all for supporting local food and good habits in kids, so perhaps the camera will make an appearance this week.
Image found here

3. Books on Tape

I have to give Sam the credit for this one; she suggested that since I'm spending so much time in the car these days, I should try it. I'm so glad I did. The book pictured below, The Food of a Younger Land, is the one I started on this teaching trip. It's about a book that the Federal Writers Project (part of the WPA) started but never published right around the time the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. It's a look at the traditional food ways that, even then, were starting to die out. 70 years later, it's a fascinating look at what my grandparents and great-grandparents grew up eating and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Sam, if you happen to read this, you're totally right about the voice. This guy's voice makes the whole thing interesting!

Image found here

2. Garmin nuvi

My Garmin is my best friend when I'm on road trips; Cupcake and I have taken lots of adventures together so far this summer and I'm anticipating lots more, especially as I get to know my new city. Yes, I've named my little piece of technology; it's an homage to one of my music professors at Meredith, who called anyone or thing that frustrated her "Cupcake." The first trip I took with my Garmin was to DC; the Garmin takes a while to calculate where you're going, but I didn't know that at the time, so I was driving down the highway yelling "Come on, Cupcake! Hurry it up!" as it tried to read satellite signals. From then on, it has permanently retained the moniker... I actually think it's kind of cute.

Image found here

1. MacBook

Like I said the other day, I've finally jumped on the Apple bandwagon and I am so glad I did. I've envied Mac users for a while now, but this little baby was worth the wait. It's sleek, streamlined, easy to use and did I mention pretty? It finds a wireless signal in no time flat, which is practically miraculous, considering how long it took my MC computer to connect to the internet. Pages and Numbers make a lot of sense to me and I'm very excited about working with this computer all next school year.

Image found here

That's it for this week's edition!