Pick me! Pick me!

I am so excited! I just applied for a summer fellowship with the Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education. They place teachers to work for "high-performance work sites" for the summer, with the goal of teachers taking back to their schools knowledge of what students will need to know for the workplace. If I'm selected, I would work in the corporate world for 8 weeks on a project, and get to spend 10% of my time designing a project for my classroom, using what I've learned from the summer experience. And, I'd get paid!

I'm really hoping to get a fellowship doing curriculum design. Some of the sample jobs were things like working for Adobe to create teacher training workshops on using Adobe software in the classroom. I would absolutely LOVE that. I'd get to learn something new about computers (yes!), and design curriculum (yes!). I know my inner geek is coming out, but I really hope I get a great fellowship. And corporate experience will definitely look good on my resume.

Oh, and the cat has nothing to do with this post. I just like it when cats do "cat eyes," where they slowly blink their eyes at you. It seems like some sort of zen acknowledgment of you.

Visual Aids

I have been prompted by Donna's blog entry to add a visual aid from the Chuck Close exhibit.

An Oustanding Description of Adolescents

This morning I've been reading "Meet Me In the Middle" by Rick Wormelli. In it he quotes Carol G. Freeman on surviving adolescence:

"These are the years in which they learn how to interact with the world around them. At times they will lie, cheat, bully, and make you want to volunteer them to test bungee cords. However, keep in mind that they are a work in progress and may be super-gluing their tongue to thier locker one day and organizing a recycling effor the next. Therefore, we must view thier indiscretions as opportunities for growth. But we must make it absolutely clear that we place a high value on respect and be prepared to stand by this priority."

Well said. Especially the super-glue part.

little earthquakes

I think I felt a tiny earthquake today, around noon. I suppose it could have been aircraft taking off though...

Post-O-Rama

I guess I just have a lot to say today.

This weekend was a fine one. Yesterday I went to the San Francisco MOMA with some friends, and then to another gallery with amazing photographs of fire in landscapes, at least that's what I think you would call them.

The MOMA had a Chuck Close exhibit which was really cool. I hadn't ever thought about artists as having very strategic, mathematical processes for creating their art, but Close must've spent oodles of time planning out every tiny bit of his paintings. They had some of his studies and grids on display that show exactly how he would map out a photograph to turn it into a painting. I can't imagine spending all that time meticulously choosing colors and patterns getting the effect he wanted. I think it's amazing, but I never really knew that artists were so logical, as flippant as that sounds. I always imagined that you started a painting, and it sort of evolved as you went, ala Bob Ross.

You learn something new every day.

Oh, and we watched the Olympics after the museum. I also learned something new from Mr. Bob Costas--the Olympic games are the civic maypole around which we dance. No, he really said that. And there was something about olympic pixie dust...

Is this because you were home-schooled?

I almost forgot we had another moment with the previously home-schooled kid this week.

My 8th graders are supposed to be using their class time as of late to take notes for their research papers. Becky and I have given them pretty specific guidelines, with 6 essential questions they're trying to answer. We've talked about how to take notes, done some examples, and talked about how many notecards you should have to answer each essential question.

So early in the week I announce to the kids the deadline for finishing their notecards. As I talked about it, I repeated our expectations that they should have approximately 3-4 notecards per question. (8th graders HATE ambiguity)

Previously home-schooled kid raises his hand and says:

"Um, if the information I've been taking on my note cards, from all the books I've read, have nothing to do with the questions you were talking about, what should I do?"

I looked around the room, because often the other students can see how difficult it will be for me to answer this kid without being openly facetious, and sure enough, a few were watching to see what would happen.

To give myself time to think, I often repeat the kids' questions. So I say "So, what you're telling me is that the information you've been gathering for the last two weeks has nothing to do with the questions we've asked you to answer?"

And straight-faced--"Yeah."

Me: "Ok. STOP! Don't write down anything else that has nothing to do with the assignment, and focus all of your energy from here on out on answering the questions that were given to you."

Him: "Oh, okay."

Me, internally, but really wanting to say it out loud: "Is this because you were home-schooled?"

Heart of Darkness

Here's a good kid story, or at least mildly funny.

Two kids in one of my 8th grade classes have been arguing over a pencil for a few days. Everyday M comes in and screams "L took my pencil!" Yes, this is the balls boy. So today the argument went on and on. She says he let her borrow it, he says she stole it.

Anyway, I was sick of it, and said "Well, M, if it's that big of a deal, go talk to the principal about it."

And he looks at me and with huge eyes says "But she has a heart full of darkness!"

So I say "Yes, and so do you and all the rest of us in this room."

And he counters with "Yeah, but hers is pitch black!"

I'm not sure if the humor in that comes across, but M's voice is sort of like what you would imagine if Cookie Monster was human. In real life, it was hilarious.

Bon Bagay

I've decided to go back to Haiti for a visit in June, and so I've been catching up with some people I know there. I've been surprised to find so many of them have websites now. I've been reading them lately, and they've sort of re-oriented me into thinking more humbly.

Here is a great blog, written by people I don't know and have never met. But, the expatriate community there is so small I'm sure we have friends in common. Their blog is a good intro. to life in Haiti, and they're from MN so they feel like family. Their blog gives a lot of the details of the daily trials and tribulations involved in living and working in Haiti, and some good visuals as well.

To the Least of These is the website of missionaries John and Jody Ackerman. Their daughters went to Quisqueya when I taught there. John was the doctor for all the teachers, and always brought us fresh bagels from the Baptist Mission. They're the definition of good people.

Here's another blog, from Phil and Lonnie Murphy, also missionaries in Haiti. Their son David was in my very first class, although from the pictures he's way old now, probably in high school. They're very into sustainable agriculture in Haiti. I remember my friend Charity saying that Phil would bring suitcases of soda cans to Miami to recycle them since facilities weren't available for that in Haiti.

And last, but certainly not least, my good friend Charity's blog. Charity has been working and living in Haiti for way too long, maybe 5 or 6 years. She and I were roommates the year I was there, and she is definitely what kept me sane. And helped me to have some fun. She's the one I'm going to visit.

If anyone's interested, there are some good books set in and around Haiti as well. My favorite is probably The Comedians, by Graham Greene. I stole (borrowed?) this from Amanda, and never gave it back. Sorry, Panda! Anyway, it gives quite an accurate feeling of the desperation and fear that exists in Haitian life. Another favorite is Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticant. She's actually written quite a few books that give a glimpse into Haiti. An interesting, but long read is Song of Haiti, the story of Gwen and Larry Mellon who set up a hospital in the central valley of Haiti.

Hey! That's my uncle!

As I was scrapbooking today I had the tv on, and was watching a program called "The Ebay Effect" on CNBC. As I was watching, I saw this guy who looked familiar, and it turns out it was my uncle! He was at some Ebay convention (he's appearantly a Powerseller), and he was caught on camera.

Super Productive!

I love President's Day weekend. Usually when we have a long weekend from school I spend a lot of time in pajamas and don't get anything done. Not so this weekend. I have been productive, and crafty! Yes, I can be crafty at times. Here's what I've accomplished:

• Cleaned the entire apartment--picked up, vacuumed, dusted, etc. And if you know me, you know this is a feat in itself
• Scrapbooked! Every once in a while I get the urge to make something. When I was little it used to happen on Sunday afternoons, and so my mom would end up with some bizarre earring holder. Now, I scrapbook. Just to clarify though--paper, pictures, and occasionally cutting in circles and/or ovals. No stickers. Ever.
• Cleaned out the fridge
• Bought and potted plants. I'm hoping they live.
• Went to the library, both the largest one west of the Mississippi, and my newly re-opened neighborhood library
• Framed pictures that have been waiting to be framed for months and months
• Compiled my tax information for my tax guy
• Returned movies that have been waiting to hit the mail for weeks
  

It feels good to have a list. Not that anyone else should find it interesting. :)

It's a Dutch Bingo small world after all

This morning at church (PA CRC again) I ran into a girl I knew in high school. Actually we didn't really know each other as such, but we knew who each other were. She's from Rock Valley, and her family goes to the same church that my brother and sister-in-law go to. Anyway, she sat down in the same row as me, and after the initial weirdness of "You look really familiar...are...you...Kristi De Ruyter?" we got it figured out.

The weirdest part of this is that although we weren't friends at all in high school, and her experience of Western was probably much more positive than mine, we have lead quite similar lives since then. She's a travel nurse, moving to different cities with nursing shortages. She's lived in about 3 or 4 different places since college, and spent some time in the Dominican Republic.

We had lunch together after church, and got to talking about N'west Iowa. We both agree that we appreciate a little more diversity, but I think we differ on whether or not it's okay to not really acknowledge or want to know about parts of the world other than N'west Iowa. I somehow feel that it's just plain wrong, even if just so that those who live there permanently can be more accepting of people different from themselves, even those in their midst. She seemed to think that it was fine if they want to stay in a closed community, but that for her she wanted something different.

A few months ago I heard something that sort of changed my mind, or at least softened. Wiseman Josh asked a question (at Christmas maybe?) about if everyone is so worried about the whole world, who's going to be paying attention to and taking care of the local community...a good point I think.

And to think I was feeling ungrateful when I left for church...and then I'm smacked in the face with blessings.

Can I sleep now in peace?

Preface: About a month ago, I stayed home for a morning from school to work on a teacher inservice on curriculum that I was leading. While I was working, I decided to bake blueberry muffins. I preheated the oven, and about 30 seconds after I put the muffins in the oven, the smoke detector started screeching. I freaked out, called maintenance, and Guillermo, our maintenance guy, came and pulled out the batteries. Right now, the smoke detector from the kitchen is sitting on the kitchen counter. I'm counting on the fact that there is one in the bedroom, and sprinklers everywhere, to save my life. Anyway, I have a fear of fire alarms...I set one off at my condo. in Charlotte last year after some broiling gone bad, and then it was connected to my home alarm system which meant ADT called me and sent firemen, you get the idea...

So tonight I'm checking my e-mail one last time before bed, about 11:30pm, when a fire alarm starts screeching. I know it's irrational, but I first thought that somehow the fire alarm in my kitchen (dismantled on the kitchen counter) somehow could work without the batteries and was getting revenge on me. Then I saw flashing lights outside. Someone set off the alarm for the entire building, giving me flashbacks to my senior year at Dordt College when fire alarms went off when 1) someone set his fart on fire, and 2) someone decided to grill through their window.

I opened up my door, only after other neighbors in pajamas did so, and there was a woman above me (out of my sight, but talking with a neighbor across from me whom I could see) apologizing profusely. Her explanation was that she was trying to find her keys, that she had the wrong key...This didn't work for another neighbor either, who pushed the issue saying "Yes, but how did you set off the alarm?" The woman said something about how that happened in the parking garage. I don't quite get it, but whatever.

So now I have a list of a few things I know about these neighbors, all of which add up to an interesting picture:

• They have set off the fire alarm in the parking garage, and blamed it on not finding the right keys for their apartment...um, yeah.
• They have a bumper sticker on their Jeep that says "George W. Bush is a Muggle"
• They occasionally work out together in the morning at our complex's gym, and the guy wears these Docker-type shorts
• They create the only noise I've ever heard here from another apartment--the springs of a bed, usually on Sat. and Sun. morning.
• They have pissed off most if not all residents in our building, and probably Guillermo.

Can I sleep now in peace?

Long Weekend...

We have today and Mon. off of school for President's Day. And since I love nothing better than coffee in my pajamas, this morning was wonderful. Let me re-phrase...not coffee inside my pajamas, but drinking coffee while still in my pajamas. Today I didn't actually get dressed until 4pm, and like Kristin, I love that.

I started off the long weekend last night by watching March of the Penguins...I wasn't as excited about it as I had hoped. The penguins were unique, and the babies adorable, but it just left me with too many questions. Like why don't they just live by the water's edge instead of trekking back and forth all the time. And I would imagine it'd be warmer by the water's edge as well. And I had heard some sort of hubbub about the fact that penguins are monogamous, something about Christians using that as evidence for some sort of assanine theory, but if you listen closely, Morgan Freeman makes it clear they're only monogamous for a year. Which is sort of like hanging around till the baby's born, then taking off. What about child support?

Anyway...I'm glad for the time off school. I've been feeling sort of mean and aggressive lately, so it's good I'm not with the children. I understand road rage now though. Something that made me feel less mean was buying a charming "nursery bath wrap" for a colleague's newborn baby. I love any baby clothes with hoods that have ears. They rock.

Frosty

Today was a frosty winter day, at least by CA standards. Here's how I know--I came to school and the kids were scraping frost off the picnic tables to make "snowballs." Actually, it was more of an ice ball. They had no experience ever being pelted by a compacted ball of ice, so it was pretty amusing to see them throw it at each other. I've also acclimated myself. It felt really darn cold even though it was only in the 40s.

An Observation

In my 7th grade classes we're watching an episode of the Twilight Zone. It's called "To Serve Man," and it's about an alien race that comes to earth. They have this book, and the earthlings decipher the title, which is "To Serve Man." They think the aliens are there to altruistically help them, but they figure out eventually that it's a cookbook.

Here's my observation about the episodes though--we've watched two now, and television watchers in the sixties were definitely more intelligent than tv watchers now. Here is a smattering of the vocabulary I've heard in the first few minutes:

incisive
Euclidean geometry
felicity
subsequently
perusal
"shake hands figuratively with a Christopher Columbus from another time"
altruism
insurrection

As an English teacher, I find it sad that language like this is now scarcely understood, much less used in mass media.

Sweet

M, the boy with the balls comment, came into class today with a new haircut. I said "Wow, M has a new haircut." And he looked at me and said in a very loud/loss of hearing voice "I feel like I have a mullet. I'm never letting my dad cut my hair again." And it was true...

I think I heart Victoria

Yes, it's Valentine's Day. When I woke up, I was just not feeling in a Valentine's mood. Actually, I just didn't feel like being nice to anyone, much less lovey-dovey. I also hate the fact that V-day means people give each other gifts because they should. I think that the gifts would actually be much more meaningful at other times, when you're not expected to do it.

Being in the foul mood that I was, I didn't wear a shred of red or pink today. Instead, just a black and white skirt and a black button-down shirt. My kids actually said "You look like a real teacher today! That's weird!" I don't quite get that, but whatever...

So I walk up to school, not yet having had breakfast (running late), and I see a real cheery mom who says "Miss De, where is your red? Or pink?" And she's grinning from ear to ear. I quickly debate whether to tell her I'm wearing red underwear (I'm not) or to just laugh. I chose just laughing, it was easier. So the day goes on, and my kids all have cupcakes and doughnuts and other stuff I'm trying to stay away from. But, as the day goes on, my heart softens. A few kids gave me really nice Valentine's cards, and even though they weren't real heartfelt messages, they did go out of their way to give a teacher a card.

With a softened heart I was walking toward my car when I saw the same mom from the morning...ugh. This time she says "Oh, still no red?" Uh, I was supposed to change during school? And so finally I fess up and say "Well, I'm just not really big on Valentine's Day." And she looks at me and says "Oh, well, I was starting to worry about you." WHAT? For not wearing red or pink? Gee whiz, golly.

But, tonight, I found someone I can heart. Her name is Victoria, and she's my new hairdresser. Perhaps Amanda is the only one who's heard the extent of it, but my hairdresser woes the last few years have been harrowing. But Victoria rocks. My haircut looks very similar to the picture I showed her, and she got the color right. Plus, she's nice and not so super chit-chatty. I heart Victoria.

Oh, and school mom? Here's my red for today.

Today was the Pinnacles trip. I'm exhausted, but I wanted to post a few pictures. Pinnacles is about a 2 hour drive from here, so we packed a picnic lunch. Then, we hiked to the caves, a pretty easy hike. The caves were narrow at some points, and very dark. Actually, the ranger told us "Flashlights required!" After the caves we had to hike uphill a bit, which I despise. I only like hiking toward something good. Unfortunately there weren't many animals, although John did hypothesize whether or not lions would have an easier time navigating the caves than humans.

Bring on the Bats and California Condors!

Yea! Tomorrow I'm going to Pinnacles National Monument with some friends, and I'm hoping to see many good animals including the Townsend's Big-Eared Bat, and hopefully a Condor or two. Jen and I were sure we saw Condors in Big Sur a few years ago, but alas, Brian was right--they were not condors. However, tomorrow there's a good chance. Appearantly they've been breeding and releasing Condors at Pinnacles to bring back the population.

I'm usually not so outdoorsy, but being back in California encourages me to get out. Oh, and the fact that we're not hard-core hiking, more like hiking lite. We're mostly going to see the caves and animals, and to picnic. I'm hoping to come back with some kickass pictures to post here. I'm a little nervous though...the last time I went hiking, in Haiti on my birthday, I lost my camera in a gigantic, beautiful basin under a waterfall. I'm still not sure if our "guide" dropped it or stole it. I'll have to go easy on the drinks before hiking.

A Matter of Taste

My DVD player as of late has particular tastes. It has refused to play some DVDs, and completely accepts others. Here is what I have found thus far.

It likes:

• To Have and Have Not
• I Am David
• The first half of Anne Frank
• All the Real Girls
  

It does not like:

• The second half of Anne Frank (Hannukah to the end)
  
• Control Room
• The Dreamlife of Angels