Small Town Survival

I found myself in the police station today. Okay, so it wasn't once again, but I was there. For perhaps the first time in.. ever? No worries, I was only getting my finger prints taken. Yep. For a background check. So I could substitute teach in the Ann Arbor Public School System. Settle down. It was fun. And the police officer was nice. He even made fun of the University of Michigan students. (big rivals of MSU - where I went to school). He also gave me some advice about going back to school.

Yeah, that's the other bit of info. I'm probably going back to school in January. I'm about 89% sure. I've also taken time to update Coffee and Chocolate with a new feature and a little bit about the book I finished today. Oh, and if you go back a little ways you can hear about the last movie I saw. I promie to spend more time updating about my media intake and less about how I've been in the police station. Stop worrying.

Two days ago I received my first call to substitute in my school district. It had only been about a week and a half since I finalized all the paperwork. Of course, I was still wondering if they would ever call me because I don't remember having that many subs when I was in school. That's probably not true of course, especially considering that all 13 years tend to blend together into one big mess. Mostly I wanted to make sure that the money I put into my application and background check would come back to me. No sense in wasting time and money, right?

So the first call was to sub for two days (which more than pays back what I put in). The first day (today) I was going to sub for the librarian. I arrived at school and went to the library because the office was locked. The library aid was there to tell me a few things before I got started and she had just finished showing me around and explaining the last few details when I found out that they wanted me to sub for the art teacher instead. I was supposed to sub for her on Friday and they would rather have me in the same place for two days. Who was I to complain about that?

It's really true that subs don't have a lot of control and if you add that to the fact that I'm short and look about 16 it's probably a losing battle. Some of the kids were helpful and some of them were quiet. I didn't have any real problems all day unless you could the kid who wouldn't stop playing computer games even when I asked him on several occasions. I decided eventually to let it go since he was being quiet and no one was complaining about his lack of compliance.

In one of the hours a freshman offered me over 100 dollars to do his typing assignment for him. I tried to convince him he needed to learn how to type but he didn't buy it. I suggested it would make typing papers easier and he said he'd pay his sister to do it like he pays her to clean his room. I don't even want to know how that kid came into that much money. I rarely have even 20 dollars.

Another student wanted to use an inappropriate quote on his mission statement and the typing-kid asked me what I thought. The quote was "Woman was God's second mistake." And I said "And man was the first." Typing-kid still didn't want the other student to use it because their regular teacher was a woman. I agreed that I didn't think it was appropriate for a mission statement, regardless of who the teacher was.

Mostly I learned that outside of having more money and a better building not a lot has changed since I was in high school there. The gossip involved different people but the same sorts of situations, the groups are fairly consistent and the jokes have the same themes. Some of the kids don't seem as smart as I remember, but some of them show a lot more potential. I'm not sure if I should be satisfied or worried that this is the future generation.

If I could change anything I would make sure that the school tells the sub more about what the jobs and responsibilities are. I know I went to school at this high school but I don't know all the rules and regulations and I don't know what's changed. I guess this means that when I'm a teacher I'm going to leave things a little more spelled out for the subs. It couldn't hurt.

There's something about subbing that I'm not used to and it involves getting up so damn early. I'm trying to train myself to get up earlier but I'm not sure I'll ever get used to it. I think back to when I was in high school and I would stay up half the night and get up at 6:30 or 7 and be fine all day. Where did all that energy go? And where does it come from because these kids certainly have an abundance of energy. They're loud and talkative and then they just keep going, hour after hour.

Today was a little more relaxed for me thought because the freshman were out of class for a challenge day. A lot of the teachers went too which is why I was subbing. Two of my hours were mostly freshman so I played computer games with the few students that were left. The other classes were at least semi-quiet. I told them they could sit anywhere they wanted as long as the volume level stayed low. They normally have assigned seats so this seemed to work pretty well. In the meantime I had a chance to work in my sketchbook ? of which I've made a visual journal of sorts. I haven't had a lot of time before this to work on it, or maybe I haven't had any inspiration lately. It's something I hope I can spend more time on in the days to come at least. Subbing seems to be a good time to catch up on some of those sorts of things since as long as I pay attention to the kids. Not too bad at all.

And when did Barenaked Ladies come out with a new song? Actually lots of artists have new stuff that I didn't know about. I should stop listening to my Liz Phair cd in the car all the time and start paying attention to what's on the radio. Oh, Impact, how I miss you sometimes.

It's a little funny that when I'm not busy I don't have a lot to talk about (obviously) and when I am busy I have all kinds of things to talk about and not a lot of time to do it. I had this afternoon off work because of the rain but I also got called at 6:20 a.m. to sub for the middle school. Instead of catching up on work or fun or anything at all I was so tired that I could hardly sit up long enough to think. I tried to take a nap but all that did for me was make my head hurt and left my body wondering why I wasn't still asleep. I guess you can't win them all. Then again after a long day of dealing with 7th graders I managed to clean my room and the fridge and help a little in the kitchen. I think that salvages the day quite nicely. If nothing else I'll be tired enough tonight to get a decent amount of sleep.

I was teasing my mom about my cleaning my room because I'm no longer a teenager and no longer a college student so I don't really have any excuses not to do it. I find the same thing about my bedtime. In college I would never get to bed at 10:30 because that's way too early ? which is true when nothing really happens until at least 11 or 12. These days things are starting to happen at 7 am so I'd better get all the sleep I can get ? even if it means going to bed earlier than I think is right.

For some reason the middle school is scarier than the high school to me. I think it's because I was in the high school only 5 years ago and I still know most of the teachers there. The middle school on the other hand? well, I haven't been there for 9 years and I don't know many of the teachers anymore. I didn't think we were all that small when we were in 7th and 8th grade, but then again I'm amazed by things every day, why should the students be any different. They also didn't give a lot of instruction in the middle school. At least it wasn't my first day subbing ever.

I guess the teacher I was covering for had just called in that morning so there weren't any lesson plans. Instead she called in again to the school and left a few things for the kids to work on. I think the worst thing was in the Language Arts class where they read a story aloud. It wasn't a bad story but I had to hear the thing four different times. Yikes. I could probably tell it again to someone if I needed to. I was a little surprised at the reading level of some of the kids; I thought they might be better than that. I also don't know what level they should be at because I've always been a strong reader and I'm not trained in those sorts of things.

The rest of the time we played what was supposed to be silent-seat-ball but of course you can't get them to be quiet when you're a sub. I tried and tried and mostly settled for a mostly quiet room. I know when we used to play that game in middle school we couldn't get away with anything. Sometimes these kids are babies about it: "I didn't get out!" "You can't do that!" etc., etc,. etc.

I think the day went pretty well though and overall the students were good, cooperative and some of them helpful. Occasionally too helpful, I'd get a few who wanted to tell me how I should do things or what should be different or offers to get the principal. Yikes. Who knew kids could be so useful.

At least they didn't see my dad pick me up at the end of the day. His car is busted and since last Friday he's been dropping me off and picking me up. Talk about embarrassing. I can only imagine what I'd say to my parents if I saw the sub getting picked up by her dad.

Luckily yesterday's early morning call prepared me for today's early morning call. Apparently the teacher I was subbing for heard good things about me from the secretary and requested that I be her sub again today. I was so tired last night that I was in bed fairly early and didn't have too much trouble getting up this morning to get ready and make it to school. Once again I was about to face a day of 7th graders.

The morning started out pretty similar to the one before. They talked and played games and eventually we struck a deal during the first class that if it was silent for the next 15 minutes we'd play a game at the end of the hour. I had no idea they could be so quiet. When the time rolled around they played silent-seat-ball and there was none of that baby behavior from yesterday and they were (surprise!) actually silent.

In the Language Arts classes they were to write paragraphs about the story that we read yesterday. Apparently 4 paragraphs are too many to write, but what can I do. We narrowed it down to two and got on with our lives ? the same promise that if they were quiet while they worked they could play a game. It went on like that for most of the day, pretty steady, predictable and not that interesting. I took the time they were working on their writing to work in my sketchbook. Apparently sitting in a room decorated with sea-esque paraphernalia is inspiring to me. Of course, there was also a lot of University of Michigan stuff. As a MSU graduate I can't say I approve, but it's not my room so it wouldn't really be appropriate to tear it all down. :)

I dealt with a few awkward questions today like "Are you married?" "How old are you?" and my favourite "Are you in high school?" but managed to get through without too much trouble. I also had some students call me awesome and their favourite. I even got a high five from one of them. It's probably because I let them play games, but who knows, maybe I'm actually the makings of a great teacher underneath the fact that I look like I could be one of the class.

After subbing I went to work at the range. The weather is still a little shady this week but it cleared up and was fantastic in the afternoon. The day went by quickly and I was out in time to stop to shop for some new jeans. The Divine must be smiling on me because I found a few pairs that fit first try. I really hate being in between sizes but if I go with the stretch jeans they don't give out to be too baggy at the end of the day and they give a little so they aren't too tight straight from the dryer. Whoever came up with that idea gets my gratitude and thanks.

And even after a long day I didn't go straight to bed. I'm almost certain they won't call me in the morning for another day. I'll probably sleep in and then enjoy the season premiere of the Gilmore Girls that my dad taped for me. Things are starting to look pretty good around here.

Today at the high school every class was full of rumors. It doesn't surprise me that sometimes the kids are more aware of things than the teachers, but then again that could simply be my opinion because I'm only a sub and I'm not privilege to that information. I had seen the cops in the hall and kids were joking about doing drugs and talking about the drug dogs. It wasn't unusual in my day to have kids in school with a small stash of something and I think on one or two occasions someone either had alcohol in a locker or was under the influence. It wasn't until lunch that I found out what was going on.

Apparently one of the teachers, Mrs. A, sent a student to the office because she thought that the student had pink eye. The student made her way to the office and asked the secretary to look at her eyes because Mrs. A thought she might have pink eye. I don't know if the secretary actually took a look or was too busy at the moment, but the student remained in the office long enough for another teacher, Mr. B, to come in and notice something amiss. Our lovely student wasn't a victim of pink eye but rather a one of stupidity. She was apparently at school high and Mr. B smelled it when he walked into the office.

These days they can administer tests on the spot and now we're back to where the rumors started flying. Like I said, I'd seen some cops in the hall and I knew about the rumors of drugs but I had no idea someone would be stupid enough to come to school high. What seems worse to me is that they gave the student a 10 day out of school suspension. Gee, you did something bad now get out of school and feel bad about it. Right. Ha.

Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to be that it would make more sense to have an in school suspension where you sit in a cubicle and do your school work. Obviously someone who comes to school high doesn't want to do the work so making them sit there and learn is probably more punishment than staying home where drugs and video games, etc. are easily available. I don't know about the student's home life but I suspect that the parent(s) are pretty unaware. Cutting off the social life and providing the work seems like a better solution. Or, of course, there's always community service that could be done, either around town or around the school. If you make the punishment unpleasant maybe the message will get through.

I might add that I'm not completely against to the idea of using a little of this or that recreationally but to come to school under the influence is just stupid.

Today was supposed to be my catch up day but as usual that fell by the wayside. It probably started when my mom let Indie in my room and he greeted me with bites and licks and his nosey nose stuck right in my ear. He also had cold, wet feet and he wanted to put them all over me. This is not the way that I want to wake up. I won't tell you exactly how I want to wake up but if you know me very well you can probably guess. Anyway. Today was supposed to be my catch up day and I suppose in some way it was but it was with friends and not with my work. So the morning was shot and in the late afternoon I was helping out with casting for the high school play.

I was actually impressed with some of the students and their acting ability. I was also a little disappointed in the number of people that showed up. There were a ton of girls ? there always are ? but for most of the time we had only 5 guys. Near the end one more showed up so we had 6. Apparently he is a regular to the drama program and even if he wasn't damn good (and he is) he's a guy so he'll get a part. Sometimes being a girl sucks. Anyway, we had one later comer and he got a part too. What really gets me is that I was there from 4:30 until nearly 10pm deciding who would get what part. I had no idea it would take so long. It also cut into my other time to catch up. I guess that's what I get when I commit to something. Woo.

Outside of the time commitment I spent a lot of time wondering how to build up the drama program. Maybe not in this case now, but for the future chance that I hope I have to work with a play, etc. Did that make any sense? I don't know if it's a cease of promotion or the director or funding. What makes a great drama program? Does this stuff go in phases or does it just happen to work out this way. Is it the small school system.

Subbing can be really boring some days. I think the biggest challenge can be getting everyone to shut up long enough so I can get their attention. And then there're the kids that want to know how old I am. I replied by explaining that I'd graduated from college and the reply came as "Wow! That's more than our last teacher!" I certainly don't know who teaches these kids but then again, I don't know much about all this myself. I think I'm an exalted babysitter. If I could get paid to do this all the time? There wasn't much going on in class today so I made a pair of dice and colored and took notes from a book. This is the kind of stuff that everyone should get paid for. Hi, I'm creative and I get paid for entertaining myself. What do you do?

This evening I spent some time in Ann Arbor shopping. I found a new lipstick and some turkey bacon. After wasting some extra time pretending that my coffee craving wasn't driving me crazy I gave in and then went to the theatre to meet Kevin. I was there first, and early so I talked to Erika for awhile (who doesn?t love free nights and weekends). We saw School of Rock and you can read what I pass off as a review over at Coffee and Chocolate. I'm not kidding when I say "what I pass off" because I usually just write a few thoughts, tell you who might have been in the movie and then move on to something about not having expectations. It's really quite silly but I like the site so I should use it, right? Right.

There's something about Saturdays that means they never go quite as they're planned. Of course, today was no exception. I was planning to sleep in a little and maybe head up to Michigan State a little early for the tailgating and the dedication of the Dick Purtan Studio. I thought maybe I'd catch up with Erika a little before the alum dinner and get home at some reasonable time. Maybe even in time to watch Saturday night live with John Mayer and Jack Black.

Instead, and you knew there was an "instead" coming, my mom came in my room at 7:30 (yes, a.m.) and said "I thought we'd do some shopping today." Now, I'm not stupid enough to turn down shopping with my mom, I am however a little annoyed at this because I was going to sleep in and I got home late. I whine all this in my head to myself and slowly drag myself out of bed. Of course, another instead comes along and instead of leaving to shop within the hour like I was originally told we ended up leaving in the next 10 minutes to go to breakfast.

We ended up at this nice little place just north of town that serves huge meals for great prices and the food is pretty fantastic. It's that small town yummy that you'd expect. The place is clean and they seem to have a thing for cows (according to the d馗or). After that we went shopping and took advantage of one of the greatest sales I've seen in a long time. I'll break it down into something easy ? we saved over $200 dollars, I got some great shoes, some clothes I can wear to work and a fantastic down comforter for my bed (although it's queen/full in size and my bed certainly isn't), and we were handed $10 certificates for every $50 we spent. I'm sure that I'll be making good use of those pretty soon too. Yeah, I know ? I've turned into a girl. Who knew I would actually like shopping.

My only complaint, and you knew there would be one of these as well, is that the moved their petite section upstairs next to the maternity and kids stuff. Who knew that petite women would be classified into such a weird space? For a few weeks I'd been agonizing over the fact that I couldn't really find anything to wear and I was confused as to why I couldn?t find the petite section. Guess I wasn't looking hard enough. Yuck.

So like I said, my day didn't go exactly as planned. Instead of getting to catch up with Erika I found myself rushing to the station so I could find a few people and then I was rushing over to the place where the dinner was. Instead of seeing everyone I thought I would it turned out that some of them couldn't make it and others had to leave early. Instead of talking to those people I ended up talking with others, some of whom surprised me and some of whom were exactly what I expected, both good and bad. The dinner was nice and the dessert was fantastic.

The drive home was nice and instead of getting caught in construction traffic I found out it wouldn't start for another two days. Overall I guess sometimes instead can be better than what was planned. I'm sure I missed out on a few things, but those are just the sort of things that I'll do later instead of something else I planned.

First I'd like to point out that I don't seem like much of a gift giver considering that I said I'd post all the days of December and then promptly left you hanging for three days. Suck. Anyway. I'm back for good this month and if you keep reading you'll see what sort of things have been keeping me away. In this case I have some thoughts on dogs and children. The rest is all a lie because I've been watching too much Alias (if there is such a thing) and specials on tv (dude, I was totally going to write last night but when CSI ended there was something on Lord of the Rings, do you really expect.... okay, shut up.)

And now that I'm hyped up on coffee and I've survived a strange day of subbing I'm ready to tell you why I think dogs are like children illustrated through the following examples:

Kid plays with glue gun. I say no. Kid plays with tape. I say what are you doing? Kid tapes book closed with tape. I say, what are you doing? I don't think so. Kid plays with box cutter. I say be careful. Kid tries cutting model house with box cutter. I say don't do that. Kid tries cutting book with box cutter. I say don't do that. Kid sharpens stick with box cutter. I say, what are you doing? Kid sands stick down with sand paper. I look on in amazement. Kid stabs cardboard box with sharpened stick. I say, don't do that.

Dog chews on pillow. I say no. Dog jumps on me. I say, what are you doing? Dog tries to eat plant. I say, what are you doing? Don't do that. Dog tries to play with cat. I say, be careful. Dog tries biting cat. I say, don't do that. Dog gets something out of the trash. I say don't do that. Dog tries to eat quarter. I say, what are you doing? Dog sleeps for five minutes. I look on in amazement. Dog tries to sleep on couch. I say, don't do that.

It's honestly the constant "what are you doing? Don't do that that." that reminds me of the dog. Or is it the dog that reminds me of the kids? Either way, it's the lack of an intelligent decision or real consideration for what the kid/dog is about to do that amaze me. Honest.

In other news I dealt with a rowdy group of 8th graders today who wouldn't listen to me, gave me a hard time and then expected me to do them some favors at the end of the day. I even warned them halfway through the class that they should settle down or I would leave a nasty note for the teacher (yeah, today I was *that* sub) and in reply I got a few "I'm ADD" or "we're always like this." Oh well. I left the note for the teacher and hope he actually grows a pair and gets these kids back in order.

So minus the killer headache this morning, the 6 am call, the way kids are like my 6 month old puppy and the obnoxious 8th graders my day was pretty damn good. I even got invited to the real teachers' Christmas/holiday party. Sweet, I get to see teachers I used to be.. uh, taught by getting wasted. Is that cool or what? Or ? er? is it? I'm pumped. Or at least I will be if they actually give me an invite like they said they would. PS. It was CuteTeacherGuy that specifically extended the invitation. This is totally appropriate for two reasons. He's young. He's married. Oh, and as a third he brings me coffee when I'm there. How can I not dig someone who brings me coffee? Exactly.

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It seems to be my specialty or some strange luck that they call me into sub for the guided study or the special needs kids. I'm not sure if it's because I don't complain, won't say no or if that's just where they need a sub a lot of the time. It's probably the easiest subbing I do and then again it can also be the hardest.
There are fewer kids (typically between 3 and 10) and they may have bigger challenges in front of them but sometimes they are really sweet. It's true that they can be big pains and that sometimes I have to be very careful when I'm looking after them, but sometimes they are the most fun.

Somehow between the confusion and the fun I managed to make it through the day. I helped a girl with her spelling and tried to explain to a fifth grader what a message board was. I don't think she believed me. I had a heartbreaking moment when I helped a boy type up a story for a class that he had merely told but not written because he can't read. I actually know him from my days in church, but he was too young to remember me. It's so sad to me that kids reach fifth grade (or higher) and still cannot read.

I worked on holiday puzzles with other kids; we tried to see how many words we could make from the letters in "presents" and another from "holidays." I helped some kids search for an instance of truth in US History (and hopefully there's more than one) and watched two girls write a skit that reminded me of my own skit writing days.

I'm glad it's Friday and I can sleep in tomorrow, but mostly I'm glad I could spend the day with some pretty clever kids. They're a little strange sometimes and a little crazy, but they like to laugh and have fun and thankfully they let me share in a little piece of that with them today.

Tomorrow something about my hometown and or a bit about the holidays and the movie we watched today.

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So I said I'd tell you about the holiday video we watched in class and I have this tendency to call movies films. As in, we're going to watch a film to day and I'd like you to be quiet during the film. Or something like that. Does it make me sound old? On to the uh.. movie. It was called Olive, the Other Reindeer and the summary goes a little something like this:

"After mis-hearing a radio broadcast about Santa canceling his Christmas trip due to an injured reindeer, Olive the dog decides to travel to the North Pole and volunteer to be a replacement. Unfortunately, Olive must deal with an evil postman who's tired of handling all the extra Christmas mail. Will Martini the penguin be able to help Olive realize her dream?"

Now I watched the movie at least twice and I'm not sure what Olive's dream was other than to love Christmas a lot more than anyone I've ever met. She even rivals Leslie on her holiday spirit. And before you start questioning why I've seen a film (there I go again) with a penguin named Martini (who does use the line "I'm fine, shaken but not stirred") more than once I'll get on with the little bit of adult humor I found in there. I don't mean that kind of adult. Hush.

See, Olive mishears the radio announcer who says "Santa's counting on all of the other reindeer?" now think about it and say it out loud. All've the other reindeer. Exactly. There's also a moment when the character Richard Stands thinks the Pledge of Allegiance is about him. You know.. For which it stands? uh huh, try it out loud again. Oh, and the guy who thinks that Silent Night is about him. "All is bright, Round yon virgin, mother and child?" His name is Round John Virgin. Okay, so that one's a bit of a stretch. Don't hurt yourself.

As far as these things go it was a pretty cute film and the kids loved it. Some of them were even in both classes that viewed it and wanted to see it again. Only hours apart. I know. Even the evil postman mentioned has a pretty good reason for not liking Christmas. He talks about (okay, he sings) all the heavy packages he has to carry and the excess number of catalogs that are sent out and heavy gifts, extra mail, and on and on. Someone should give him a clue that it's the corporations that are causing his grief and not Santa. And his first solution of sending hate mail to Santa in the names of children wasn't very cool. Dude, again, not Santa's fault. He should have asked for a new shift or a roll cart for Christmas instead of ruining everyone's good time.

So that's the movie in a nutshell and probably the best review I've ever given on an actual movie I've seen. Scary isn't it.

Tomorrow: thoughts on a wedding reception I went to or at least some thoughts that occurred to me while I was there, or driving home. I also saw Pirates of the Caribbean again so I might comment on that. OR you know, find something that doesn't involve me and the TV and write about that.

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It seems like even when I get the chance to get out of the house I end up watching TV or movies at least. I was scheduled to sub yesterday, today and tomorrow and it turns out that in order to entertain the kids we're watching movies. That's right. Over the course of three days I'll see about four movies. Yesterday and today was spent watching Fantasia with middle school kids. They really like the Pastoral Symphony (Beethoven's 6th), which is actually one of my favorites for completely different reasons than the kids. They like it because they centaur's are half naked and you get to see ? uh? parts. They call it the horsie one. There's also the part where everyone gets drunk. Apparently they like that too. They also want to know if the movie is rated R because of ... uh.. the naked horsies. Good grief.

Then up at the high school we're watching Finding Nemo which is a fantastic movie until you have to watch the first half (and then the second half) two times in a row with no break in between.

It's not like I can pay attention to the whole thing though because there are so many kids in the class that I have to constantly answer questions and watch the doors lest the kids sneak out when I'm looking the other way. Luckily the only thing they do when they get out is wander the halls, but I don't really want that reflecting back on me. Like anything some classes are better than others, some movies are better than others and I think I'll take the Italian Job in tomorrow to save myself from watching Daddy Daycare.

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First, I want to make sure you know I'm okay. I've been avoiding the computer lately, on and off, for reasons that I'm not even sure of myself, but I think things are going okay. I'm dealing with some issues around the home and with my bank account but it's not the end of all my fun (it just means I can't buy any cool new gadgets and I have to cut the coffee habit when it includes having coffee that costs more than $0.70). I've started classes and I've started updating scatter joy more often. I'm reading a lot more and watching the occasional movie. I even have this odd idea that I might like to review the stuff I take in for a little zine I work for. In the meantime, I'll try to go back a few weeks and let you know what's going on with me, but before we get to all that you might like to know that, not only did I go on a fieldtrip yesterday, I rode a school bus for the first time in.. oh... 6 years at least. Fun and curious, no?

Oh, and I still watch a lot of Alias, but you know, it's not on for the next three weeks so I'm going to need something to entertain me on Sunday nights. Draw a number and you could be the lucky winner. Woo.

So, I get that nice and early call -- the one that comes way before 6 a.m. these days -- and find out I'm subbing at the middle school. I can handle that, plus this is the answer to some of my problems. I mean taking into account that before this assignment, I'd worked about 1 day in 4 weeks. I wish I were kidding. I like the middle schoolers for the most part. Okay, it's the 8th graders that I have a hard time dealing with, but 6th graders still have a little ... respect. I think.

Except that when I arrive, the teachers are saying things like, "Did you bring your skates?" and "Are you ready for a fun day?" and I'm thinking, what the hell did I miss? It turns out that they really weren't pulling my leg about the skating thing. The 5th and 6th graders would be spending the first half of the day at the ice rink. Cool. So we make our way to the bus to go skating (and I get free pizza out of the deal and some time to catch up on school work and read). The kids look like they're actually having a really good time, even the ones that can't skate, and the best part is when we arrive back at school. The first class is so tired out that they can't bother to make a lot of noise. Or trouble.

It goes a little down hill from there. For example, while helping the kids color and label a map of the United States -- they had to label the states and color each area based on Northwest, West, Northeast and South -- I discovered a kid who didn't really understand the concept of state abbreviations. He was also causing trouble so I pointed out that Texas wasn't TE and neither was Tennessee. He said, "It is NOW!" and I suggested that he could settle down or we could go through his whole map together. I think he liked the idea of settling down and now I'm losing sleep over the fact that Georgia isn't GE. Did I fail that poor kid by not correcting him in his youth? What kind of person will he grow up to be? Okay, I'm not losing sleep. I'm sure he'll learn. It's GA.

The last class of the day is called CAREERS (and it's written like that everywhere I've seen it). Instead of playing the stock market and writing reports about our future jobs like I did when I was in school, these kids had a lesson called Signs of Respect. This is where we entered an alternate dimension for the rest of the day.

It starts out with me asking them about street signs and who can name one and why it's important. This is called the transition, apparently. Then we talk about what we think respect is, after which they break into groups to make lists of signs of respect. We list them on the board and then we go around the room and tell why each one is important. They were really supposed to make signs out of paper and whatnot, but I didn't know where that was and the regular teacher didn't leave any notes to that effect. Anyway.

The amazing part is that these kids can suggest signs of respect, explain why they are important, and then totally ignore the fact that they aren't applying them now in this in the current situation. Amazing. Seriously. I was all, no, listen. First, while the teacher is talking you are not: that is a sign of respect. Also, Eye Contact. Up here. Now. Thank you. And on and on.

Overall, I've learned that when I'm subbing I have a higher tolerance for bad behavior than the regular teachers do and I figure that's because I don't have to deal with their craziness all day. Oh, and the other teachers were amazed that I have the most luck with high schoolers. I'll find out later this week if it's true or if I'm just delusional.

More on Chicago to come, promise. I was going to take this time I have before class to write about my visit to a Detroit Public School but the keyboard is so loud I can hardly stand to use it. Hold still and I'll most likely be back between classes to finish it up and hopefulyl on a different computer with a nice quiet keyboard.

Plus the girl next to me is looking at wedding dresses and it's giving me hives.

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Okay, so it took me an entire day to get back to you, but what can you do?

So yesterday, I told you about going to a Detroit Public school. It was a pretty good experience once we got there, but it was the getting there that was the problem.

Sadly, I got up at 5 am. No one should have to get up that early. Ever. I made my way through my morning, even letting the dog out of his crate. He decided sleeping on my mom's bed after I left was a good idea. Luckily he didn't bother her, he just went back to sleep.

I arrived at EMU on some nice schedule and there was the bus sitting there waiting. I go on the bus and it turns out that it was another class waiting to go on their trip. This is the problem of course with having an internet class, it's like meeting everyone for the first time.

So I went up with another girl and asked the driver if he knew if there was another bus coming. He said there was, but I wasn't so sure. We got off the bus anyway, deciding to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And.

Wait.

We were supposed to arrive at the school by 8 and it was after 7:45 at this point. There were a lot of us waiting so it's not like we were the few mistaken one. One guy called the teacher and she was in the process of giving us alternatives when the bus showed up. Finally. At 8:05.

Luckily the kids at the school were cool, the kids in my class were cool and I met some really nice people.

Thankfully.

The semester is coming to a close. I have one exam left, next Tuesday. It feels good to complete everything. After that I have about a week and a half off before I start spring classes. I think taking everything into account this first semester at Eastern has gone pretty well. I’m still getting used to the things that they do different. Spring semester at MSU is called Winter at EMU and instead of having two summer sessions EMU has spring and summer. We sign up for classes in the Winter semester for Spring, Summer and Fall and then in the Fall semester for Winter. I guess it works out for people who might come in mid year like me, you know that you’re signing up along with everyone else so you don’t get left out of classes. At MSU you sign up in the Spring semester for Summer (both sessions) and then both Fall and Winter. It’s nice that you don’t have to fuss about the when and where of the rest of your year. Is anyone else as confused by this as I am? Welcome to Eastern.

I have a lot of classes left to take. Well 15 at least. I could take 5 and have a second BA, but that doesn’t get me a job, so I guess I’ll take the long road.

In other new and exciting news we’re getting a deck at our house and as an excuse to use my camera I’m going to document the whole thing. Woo. I hope you’re excited as I am. If not, you can pretend for my sake. If you do, I might invite you to the deck party I’ll be having in 2006 when it’s finished (since I have no idea how long this will take – think of it as an opportunity to be pleasantly surprised).

The last week has been pretty busy for me. I've been subbing almost every day and when I'm not subbing or after I'm done subbing I start my day at the driving range. No complaints about any of this for sure, but I wasn't completely ready for the onset of a busy schedule.

Luckily school is done as of Tuesday. As in this past Tuesday, that is. I think I did pretty well on both my exams, but it’ll be awhile before I find out.

Oh, and yes, for those of you wondering I did have a birthday last summer and am now the lovely age of 24. It seems so old and so young at the same time. I don’t have a lot of feelings about this birthday. I’m disappointed that more of my friends couldn’t make it but I’m pleased with the people who did show up to eat tacos and cake and celebrate in a nice laid back, casual way.

Classes start again in a week, although I’m wondering if I can get out of one of them. Do I really need to take a course on how to write about literature? I’ve had so much writing that you’d think I was beyond that at this point. Or maybe you read my website and secretly think I need to take more writing classes. You could be right.

In the end I’m just looking forward for the arrival of the nice weather. It was a record breaking 86 degrees on my birthday so I must have done something to deserve that but now we’re back in the mid 50s and low 60s. Summer, whenever you’re ready, I’m here waiting.

PS I'm really updating over at coffee and chocolate. Honest. I'm going to keep doing it too.

The one phone all I think every college student dreads making is probably that one to the office of admissions. To ask about the status of an application. Then again it might be the call to that girl whose number you got the other night or that cute guy in class who said you could borrow his notes. Or maybe the one home to ask for money or a ride home since you were expelled after you were caught sneaking around the castle after dark for the sixth time. Although you’d probably send an own for that last offense. Unless your parents are muggles and Hogwarts has a phone they haven’t mentioned.

As for me, I dread calling the office of admissions. But I was forced to do it. Three times.

And you know what? I was surprised. Luckily, the nicest lady in the whole world (with the exception of the lady who makes my morning coffee. Oh, and my mom.) answered the phone and she ran around solving problems and calling me back. A lot.

If it were me I probably would have been tempted to tell someone to get her ass up to campus and run her own damn errands and check on things herself. But I was luckier than I would have been if I had answered the phone. Good thing I don’t work there. In the end I’ll think twice before I refuse to take than extra step to help someone.

Now if I could only figure out why they want my Aarhus transcript in Danish.

In my English Ren. class we're doing a project where we keep a common place journal. For those of you who aren't familiar with them, and I don't know anyone who is, it's a book that people of ye olde days used to keep because libraries were too expensive to have. So instead they would write down passages that moved them or might become useful later. Apparently you don't have to site your source in these things either, just enough so you have a vague idea of what you're talking about. So the class came up with a list of topics or headings of sections for our books and then we fill the thing with quotes that uh.. move us or might become useful later.

It might sound sor t of... I'm not sure how it sounds, but I'm finding that it's both exciting and disappointing at the same time. I really like it when I find a passage or a quote that I want to copy down. It makes me pay more attention to what I'm reading, and the way that words are structured on a page. It's not just that someone said something interesting, it's that they said it in such a way that it resonates and might be applicable for years to come. Or just in some strange situation down the road.

The disappointing part is when I read so much and don't come across anything to copy down. I feel like these quotes and words should be everywhere and either I'm not paying attention or I'm just not reading the right things. I want to be inspired that's all.

The difficult part is deciding what section a quote might go under. The idea is to find what it's really talking about which might be a key word in the quote or it might be the underlying idea.

I'll leave you with an example, and if you're so inclined to start one, let me know. I'd like to tell my instructor so he knows I'm a suck up because I'm trying to spread his ideas around. OR maybe we'd both be interested to know that it's a good idea and that I'm not crazy and he had a good point. We'll see.

So, the example. Under my category for Hope: "Hope, which whispered from Pandora's box only after all the other plagues and sorrows had escaped, is the best and last of all things, without it, there is only time."
And continued under Time: "And time pushes at our backs like a centrifuge, forcing us outward and away, until it nudges us into oblivion."
- from The Rule of Four

Happy Halloween! for those who celebrate. Also, I hope by now you've managed to set your clocks back. If not you've been very early everywhere you go and you're probably wondering why people are so rude that they can be an hour late. I know your time is worth more than that.

In other news, I've been dealing with migranes all weekend and working the rest of the time. I did get more knitting done, but I'm keeping the talk of that to a minimum around here.

There's a quiz in my English Ren. class about some poetry we're supposed to read. I'm not sure how much I care about that although the poetry isn't that bad. Sorta. I'm also researching Thomas Hobbes for a presentation this week so if you have any information about him lying around feel free to pass it along. Mostly I'm kidding. While some of his life is fascinating the rest of it makes me sleepy. I wouldn't ask you to do that to yourself.

Erika should be here this week, so that's exciting. Stay tuned for updates on all the fun we'll have. And if you ever want to talk about literature over coffee I might just take you up on that offer. Otherwise the weather and gossip are perfectly acceptable topics.

I spent my morning with second graders. They like to tattle, annoy, play games, not listen, listen, ask questions, explain things and have a memory like an elephant and the attention span significantly shorter than that of a gold fish. And still they can be incredibly cute when they don't even mean to be.

I am never prepared to deal with small children and even less so today. I thought I was going to be at the high school yesterday and then at the middle school by this moring. When I arrive it turned out I would be at the elementry. I even had recess duty.

Sometimes the kids try to talk to me, sometimes they avoid me. They also have this neat ability to try to show off and help out because I'm new and then totally disrespect me because I'm not their regular teacher. Sometimes both sides of the coin come from the same student.

And yet, in the end I keep going back. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I don't mind this age group. I don't think I could do it every day, but they fascinate me. I like helping them with their worksheets and watching them come up with the answers on their own. I like the way smile shyly one moment and act out the next. Hopefully they learn as much as I do.

It's pouring rain today, echoing off the roof, filling the spaces between conversations in the room. Conversations that center around things that used to be familiar to me. They aren't about art.

When I was in high school the art teacher was a little bit crazy. There were rumors that she picked up road kill and who knows if it was for artistic reasons, image reasons or supper. She also let ferrets lose in the school (on accident) and had a front yard that housed unknown treasures and dangers and items that might do worse than stub an unweary toe.

I wonder if I would have taken art if there were a different teacher. The one MHS has now is awesome. She's young and friendly. She has a lot of cool ideas for projects and really gives a lot of creative license to her students. I'm also not in any of her classes and I have the benifit of a few extra years so maybe I'm looking at this from the other side. I still think it would be cool to take some art classes from her. It'd probably be cool to take some art classes in general.

One more thing for the personal to-do list.

There's something... unique about subbing in the art room with 1st graders.

The assignment seemed simple enough. I was to pass out a large sheet of paper to each child, make sure there were crayons on the table for them to use and then play some music. The kids were supposed to listen to the music with their eyes closed and draw what they felt based on the music in the form of lines or squiggles.

This was only the first part of the activity. You can only half imagine where this ended up.

I tried a variety of things when it came to handing out the supplies, but I find that passing out the paper and having the crayons ready in bowls on each table is really the best way to go about it. The next magical step was to have everyone pick out one crayon and hold it up when they had it so I could see that everyone was ready to start. I had no idea it would be so hard to pick out a single color. Then again, I probably had that trouble when I was their age. Or maybe last week.

So they close their eyes and I start the music. I picked out two pieces, one that was slow and mellow and one that was more upbeat. It doesn't really matter what the music was like. Some of the kids were scribbling their little hearts out. Some were drawing tractors and trees and puppies. (Of course when they open their eyes they say, "Wow! Ms. M look what I drew! And I had my eyes closed!!!") I tried telling them that I would be able to tell who had their eyes open by what was on their papers... Other kids were getting kind of into it and you could see they were really trying. Very cute.

Then they open their eyes and flip their papers open with a lot of oohs and aahs and wows or look what I dids. The next piece of music starts and we do it all over again.

Once they're done I try to explain to them that they're supposed to look for shapes in the lines. Maybe they see a heart, or a fish or an alien. I tell them to search with their imaginations. A lot of the kids are already saying they can't find shapes in their lines. I'm not sure they've even started. I spent the next however long walking around trying to help them find shapes, answering questions and praising kids that can find triangles or "drew a tractor with [their] eyes closed!"

After they found the shapes they were supposed to color every internal line space a different color but mostly they just colored things however they wanted. And when they were done they got to draw whatever they wanted. I have serveral drawings on my fridge now. One is a pink butterly, another is a family of dogs and I have a very cute note from a young man that is filled with red hearts on the inside.

The crazy unexpected fun of these days always make me consider teaching elementry and the I remember all the crayons on the floor and realize I'll be happier at the high school.

I'm back in the art room today but this time it's with high schoolers. They're a lot better at working on whatever it is they're doing. In fact, today feels like glorified babysitting. Instead of having to wander around and answer questions I'm here telling you about how that's not what I'm doing. Huh. Oh well.

I had a chance to read an except from this book for my Social Foundations class. It's really interesting to think about the way that technology affects our lives. We think we're saving time by shopping online or by using other new technology. Instead other things seep into the time gaps filling them up like sand or water fills in to replace anything that's removed.

My favourite quote from this except is about the little stuff in life (the junk) and says: "The junk is what keeps us human -- grounded and connected to our lives, to others, and to our world. It is the realm of the impromtu act, the glace, the word, the thrill of being seen as a person, not because of your title, your position, or you rmoney but because you are there and involved."

Turns out the junk is more than junk and is actually the essential element of being a human being. Since Valentine's Day is coming up, Februrary seems like a good time to make human connections, to remember to say hello, to smile or just engage in our surroundings. And if you're looking for a little more inspiration the next edition of All Things Girl launches on the 1st, entitled Heart and Soul.

So I'm supposed to be planning a 10 day unit. For high schoolers. Somewhere in my head I decided that something about modernism and poetry would be a good idea. The purpose bhind it is to give kids a better first or second experienec with poetry. There are some really cool poets and fantastic interpretations out there and so many people have such a shitty first experience with poetry that they then avoid it like the plague. So... now I've got to come up with a cool way to make it fun and exciting. Wish me luck.

In other news I was sitting in my assessment class today and I noticed that the teacher had on another tie that was school themed and I started to wonder if there was a special retailer for "school ties." Obviously I'm lacking on sleep these days.

So NOW I want to talk about Diamonds. Well, one in particular. And in a weird instance. It's this part in the program where I admit things about myself that are probably supposed to be embarassing. I promise I am not under the influence of alcohol. I have, however, been subbing all day, barely had lunch, am getting over my cold, oh.. and I just don't care. It's funny and I'm not afraid to admit that some tiny part of my education probably went a wee bit off track. I know because of the Hope Diamond.

Let me set the scene for you. I'm in 8th grade. We're the first group to take a class trip to Washington, DC. I've been complaining for months that it's the Tour of DEATH. I've always been a tiny bit of a drama freak, 8th grade was no exception. We're doing the run around on a school tour thing. I'm not as interested as I would be were I to find myself in DC these days. We see Arlington and some battle stuff (this is how much stuck). We walk up a big hill, or check out the Ford Theatre. We see museum after museum. Eventually we get a chance to see the Hope Diamond.

Everyone is gathered around and I'm waiting with my friends to see this thing. My imagination is telling me it must be as big as a house, or maybe a basketball because it's the LARGEST in the WORLD. Of course, when I get a chance to see it I'm sorta disappointed. It's not that big, I want to say. But it's pretty and probably pretty special. I guess. That thing over there has more sparkle colors, but whatever. Hope Diamond, you're pretty cool I guess. If nothing else it sure was nice for Bob Hope and his wife to lend their really big diamond to the museum.

No, really. I'm sure that's exactly what I thought. And it wasn't until today when I was reading that article and I read that Henry Philip Hope pruchased it that it occured to me where the diamond got it's name. Now I can't say that I actively thought that Bob Hope was the owner of the Diamond all these years, but it simply occured to me today that it's something I *used* to think.

So, education finally wins out and well, I guess my imagination should be slightly proud that it could hold onto that little bit of incorrect information all these days.

Middle School kids are still not my friend. I discovered that it's the constant asking to go to the bathroom and wanting to get a drink. Grow up and sit down and do your work and stop trying to find reasons to leave the room. These kids had a snow/ice day yesterday and their break is friday.. I want a three day week, but instead I get to go to school to learn and then I get to deal with their constant annoying requests. You just got back from your break, what were you doing that you didn't have time to do the essential stuff. Next time, this is so not happening.

I'm sure part of the problem was the headache I could feel sneaking up on me. By lunch it was gaining control and I started to feel sick to my stomach. Never a plus when you know you're going to have a rowdy afternoon class. I did my best to make it through, but I'm pretty sure I failed and the headache won. A lot. By the time I was driving home my eyes were watering and all I really wanted was the most powerful pills in the world. Sadly, I didn't have any of those, but I managed to find some Excedrine. It worked, I managed to take the headache down without too much trouble. Although it did reappear late last night. I honestly can win the war, just each little battle.

And last, but not least, I love Scrubs. It cracks me up. It made the whole hard day worth it. And of course caused me to procrastinate my homework. Furthered by another half hour where I watched Committed. Is that the girl that used to be on Crossing Jordan? I think it is, but I never remember to look it up. Maybe I'll do that today after class.

In the end, points distributed as above. I might give the kids an extra point because one of them brought in chocolate covered strawberries for the class (for Valentine's Day) and even though I didn't have any, that was a really sweet gesture (no pun.. well maybe sorta). So, happy Day, people!

The high school kids are performing the play Alice in Wonderland in about two weeks. While I was walking back to my car today after subbing I saw some playing cards on the ground. The few I noticed were read and one in particular caught my eye... the Queen of Hearts.

So now that all my major projects and papers have been turned in I'm thinking I'll be back on a regular basis, at least until spring starts. To give you an idea of how busy I've been.. well, let's just say that I still have a winter layout and the fact that finals are coming up seems like a nice break from all the other work I've been doing for my classes. That's right, I said finals are a break. Wow.

In other news, the creative juices are starting to bubble and we'll see what comes out of it. There are a few things I'd like to try making, but I'm not sure I really understand the concept, but what the heck.. that's what experimentation is for. So, I'll keep you posted on those things as well.

As for school, if everything goes well *knock on wood* I should be done in a year. A lot better than the two I was originally looking at. Also a little scary because I have to take an incredible number of credit hours between now and student teaching to make sure everything gets done the way it should. If I thought I was busy before.. I'm sure that this time will redefine the word busy in my world.

Subbing is still good, indie is still crazy and yours truly is kinda close to getting another year older. Cake and ice cream at my house Wednesday. We'll be on the deck being silly.

Saturday is my turn for standardized testing. I'll take my tests for certification in Arizona. I think I'll pass. Or, are you supposed to say "I know I'll pass. (!)" The only real complaint that I have is that unlike Michigan, they don't give both tests to me at the same time. So I will be there at 8 am for the first test, and regardless of when I finish I will be there at 1 pm for the second test. Talk about a long day of testing!

Either way, wish me luck and a good night's sleep on Friday. Whenever they send out the results I'll let you know that I'll be teaching here again next year.

I'm currently teaching Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Sometimes I think it's more fun for me than the kids, but they seem to be getting into it. We're using the SparkNotes version of the text which has the original text side by side with more modern text. They read both and are at least giving it a good effort. We've also looked at clips of Shakespeare in Love and the 1996 version of Romeo and Juliet.

As for me, it means that I get to watch both movies on my own. Shakespeare in Love is such a fun movie. I really enjoy the hints of Twelfth Night that are intermingled throughout as well as the inspiration of Romeo and Juliet. If you haven't seen either, I recommend both. Absolutely.

On other fronts, this week has been wonderful. Thank you all for your well wishes. Birthday week still survives and I think today will be another day of fun and relaxation. It's also marking the end of the school year. Or rather it marks the fact that we can see the end of the school year in the not so distant future.

Last night's graduation was officially my last duty before I can start my summer vacation. Today is officially the first day that I didn't have to be somewhere or don't have anything to do.

Even though it's half past seven and I've been up for a half hour I consider that sleeping in. Of course, I was also up quite late last night because I had the chance to go out with some people from work for a drink after graduation. I work with some of the neatest, coolest people and I had a blast last night.

Unofficially I'm not really done because I signed up for summer work. I'll be doing some curriculum and assessment work for the district with some of my department people and then we'll be doing some work within our own high school. That stuff starts on Monday, but I will still get to sleep in, so I won't complain.

As for today, I think I will relax, watch some movies, read a book, or just do a little more nothing.

The Play is tomorrow. Tomorrow. I am very glad about this for so many reasons. It's coming together quite wonderfully. It's wearing my out because I've been here so long so many days in a row (including weekend). I'm curious to see the turn out and the reactions and the cast as they perform in front of their real audience.