'Tis the Season to Try to be Positive

I like how Scully started her last post of “tis the season.” I was thinking how it ‘tis the end of September and time for me to hit my first burn out of the school year! I am exhausted, stressed, and everything that could possibly have gone wrong this week so far, has. So, I am trying to think about all of the good things about this season:
1. PHS won their first homecoming game in 20 years. My football boys are happy.
2. The mountains are turning beautiful colors!!! I love the fall!
3. I don’t have to use my fan at night, or roll down the windows in my car anymore.
4. I can wear a sweatshirt outside! Yeah!
5. I love the stormy, moist, cloudy, rainy, weather that comes with fall in Provo.
6. My classroom is no longer a sweat box of 90 degrees!
7. I had to scrape off my windshield this morning, it was covered in ice. Okay, okay, one complaint had to make it on this list!
8. And yeah, can’t think of a lot of good things right now, maybe there will be more good things tomorrow, after I post mid-term grades, after I spent all night at parent teacher conference, after I plan my lessons for the rest of the week….
9. I saw Hairspray, and it was really good! Love the music. I can’t wait until someone can say to me, “you’re old and your fat, but you will never be old hat to me!” Good show. I recommend it.
10. Late entry: Airborne. Airborne makes me happy; Zesty Orange flavor to be exact. Staving off the head cold—so far, mostly good.

Conspiracy Theory

You know how there was always that one teacher that you had your suspicions about? For me it was Mr. Swartz, 10th grade, Chemisty. He had a toupee, he just had to. No one's hair was that fixed. It never changed, and never moved. We speculated for hours. Now I, apparently, am the target of a conspiracy theory. Apparently, according to my 3B class, I am really a math teacher, trapped inside of an English teacher's body. Evidence: I misspell things on the white board: frequently. Guilty as charged? Who knew.

What is this the jungle?

I am being strong armed into the teacher's union! I do not want to join! I feel like I am in an Upton Sinclair novel, or in the middle of some other early 1900's story, where people are forced to join unions or die~. I know, I know, I should be responsible and join like every other teacher in Utah, not open myself up to harrassment and ostracisim from co-workers. The thing is, I don't want to spend $600 dollars a year right now on union dues. And I really, am bugged by the fact that the PHS representative of the union is my old bishop. Okay, sic my old bishop of me please! Whatever happened to separation of church and state? Of course I will feel guilty and join the union if you send my former ecclesiastical leader! Well, I love the man, I really do, he is great man. But I just don't want to be guilt-ed into the teacher's union! I have avoided him since he left me another phone call about joining the union....I also don't want to feel the need to avoid a fellow teacher/old bishop either (which said emotion I am currently feeling). But I-Do-Not-Want-To-Join! And it is my right not too!

A Thousand Words

The American Dream?

"An American Dream is something little. It is a dream that anybody can dream. It's something that happens at night when you are sleeping most of the time. It's when you dream about something American. I don't know what but something like that. You can even day dream about it. In fact that's what most people do in an American Dream. You do it in American of course. But ya, that's it what I think what an American Dream is."


I gave an assignment on the American Dream, and that response was so funny I laughed out loud. She is a conscientious student, but apparently has no clue. LOL! I also really liked the one below, and though I would share!


"I would say the American Dream is to graduate college, get a degree, have a family, and also to own a home and car. And not have to pay any more for them. Oh and to go to the mall and have a Paris Hilton shopping spree. And have no speed limits. You wouldn't get fat of off fast food. Well just to be able to eat what ever you want."


This one however, was really touching:


"It's what many immigrants think about when they come to the USA, I know because I am an immigrant; my dad told me he would hear the term all over his town "El Sueno Americano" in Mexico. Some of them achieved that just like my dad because my dad is way much better now than he was when he came here illegally. He is now a citizen and he made my whole family citizens. He says that in Mexico we would probably be really poor and I think that's true. So the American dream is freedom and being better than in the country you were in before."


I learned so much about each one of my students and our modern American culture from reading 150 of these! I hope you enjoyed stepping into the minds of my high school students!

Help! Advice.

So, that guy I kissed in CA, I have been emailing him, and we have talked on the phone a few times, now he is UT having major life threatening type surgery at Utah Valley, and I didn't know about it, until today, when his brother sent out a mass-email to his contacts about a blog they are keeping updates on his condition on. So, my question is, what do I do? anything? I emailed him after I found out, hope that's not awkward, kind of a good luck type thing, but ideas? We aren't in a relationship so, but still...what is called for? This is like a life time television movie. :)