Letters of Appreciation

We just finished an essay this week in class, so I wanted something low-key before our Thanksgiving Break. (Here we get the ENTIRE THANKSGIVING WEEK OFF. It's lovely.) We've been discussing gratitude and today the students had to write a letter of appreciation to someone in their lives.

A nice self-esteem builder in this activity is that I always get just a few for myself. And although I LOVE teaching AP, sometimes a thank-you from a less intellectually gifted student just warms my heart like no other.

Dear Ms. I

I would like to thank you for making english so easy to understand. Thank you for helping me get a book and reading it and finilly able to finish one. When I didn't understand an assiment [assignment] you help me even tho I never raised my hand. Your the first teacher I had that actually pass me. Cause you made me do my work. I bet if I had a different teacher I might be failing at this point easy. Well thank you for everything your one of my favorit teachers at [our school]. Keep up the great work. Your the best and once again thank you for everything. Now I think you should give me an A for trying to write this letter HA HA.

[Student]

When I told the class that they would have to read a book of their choice on their own at the beginning of the year, he told me he did not read, and has never finished a book. I recommended this one, and after the first chapter he said, "actually it's not that bad." Now I need another one to recommend because they are to read one more on their own before the semester ends. Any suggestions? It should be highly interesting with not-too-difficult vocabulary and not too long.

I am thankful for students who are thankful.

Talent Show & Idaho

For mutual (i.e. youth group) at church the young men wanted to do a ward talent show, and I took some pictures with our broken camera. These pictures, and our last ones from our weekend in Idaho, have proven to me that we need a new camera. We only guess at what is in the frame when we press the button, and now the picture quality is also going down, down, down.

(Dear Santa,
Please bring us a new camera. And a sewing machine. I've been good this year. Also, I saw you out on Halloween night.
Thanks, Beth.)

But here's some of the many talents of the rising generation.

skateboarding

guitar playing

Polynesian dancing

acting

There were lots of other acts as well, but there's just a small taste. It was a really fun activity, and both performers and spectators enjoyed themselves.

Also, we went to Idaho a couple weeks ago, but we don't have many pictures to show for it. I'm always up for a weekend getaway, especially if there's family and cute kids involved. We got to go trick-or-treating, go to Peyton's baby blessing, and just spend time with people we don't often get to see.

Taylor Swift, a monkey, a skeleton, a person with a parasite attached, and a witch.

This is Tim acting like this tree we saw where all the branches turned down.
It was in the fashion of a weeping willow, but I'd never seen this type of tree before.

Doug and I with autumn trees. So pretty. And it even smelled like Fall/Winter.

Peyton. The one we all came to see. She's adorable!

Plan a future.

"Miss I, is DeVry University a good school?"
[Think fast, think fast...]
"Well, that depends on what you want to do. Look into their programs and see if it has something that will help you get to the career you want."
"I heard you can get a bachelor's degree in three years. Is that good?"
"Most of the time it takes about four years, so yes, that's pretty fast."
"Okay. I'm thinking about it."
"Okay."

OUCH!

In honor of this, I am wearing my BYU soccer shirt while jogging today.

Notes from the substitute.

I was out of town this weekend, and it was a wonderful opportunity to miss a day of work! (More on our fun trip to Idaho later.)

I love looking at the clock and thinking, "It's second period. And I'm not there! Ha!"

But then I have to come back and see how their behavior was for the substitute.

Verdict: everyone was overall good. Things like "They were good." "Really well behaved." "Overall really good kids." "They worked and were respectful."

Except third period. And third period were little hellions.

The sub's very own words to describe the 50 minutes of horror:

"They turned the lights off. Were throwing paper and cursing horribly. I called the AP. [Insert profanities they said while the lights were off.] Peter had more than 20 paper airplanes. He refused to give them to me. I wrote him up. I did say, 'Some people will not make it in life.' They were verbally threatening, saying, 'Oh, you are a sub, that's nothing, you're nobody. You have not succeeded in life.' Unreal behaviors."

What? I read it again. What? There are about 50 problems in this note. The students' behavior? Yes, absolutely crazy. Who are these kids? I am well aware my third period has about 8 kids with major issues, but I have never had problems like this. However, I will let you all in on a little secret about dealing with kids with issues: don't tell them they won't succeed in life.

So today I had to deal with the day the teacher comes back and hears about how you acted for the sub.

Fun.

P.S. There are always a few funny things that happen when there is a sub. Yesterday someone tried to get away with giving the sub a 6-day old pass. Two girls tried to say they had never heard of "imagery," which was part of their assignment. And my favorite: "Sally Jones--dropped restroom pass in the toilet. Maintenance got it out."

Sorry, he's taken.

From bad to better.

My first year of teaching, especially in the first semester, many of my work days ended in me wanting to quit teaching. Forever. It's no fun.

Those days are gone. Mostly. Very rarely, I have a day that is terrible. I hate it. I have no faith in the future of the world. Teenagers need a good slap. And then they need to learn how to be nice. And then they need to learn how to work.

Wednesday was that day.

Mostly, third period on Wednesday. 90 minutes of me with 23 ridiculously annoying and disrespectful "kids," who weren't listening and were acting like idiots.

I have to say, I'm thankful for a husband who is awesome, the young women at church who are supercool teenagers, doing some visiting teaching, and being reminded several times in the next two days that I am extremely blessed. And if I had 90 minutes of pure frustration and stress, I will be just fine. I'm healthy, my family is healthy, and the Savior knows what I can handle.

Teaching gets a mixture of good and bad press. I saw a few minutes of a CNN blurb about how teachers are not adequately trained. I think teaching is somewhat like parenting, however, in that you can't quite be trained until you're in the classroom. How do you train someone for two 220-pound teenage boys arguing about a piece of gum who aren't listening to you or anyone else in the room? How do you train someone for kids who will not do work some days when they've had who-knows-what happen at home? How do you train for boys who tell their teachers that they would date them if they were younger? You don't. You deal with it as it comes. You can't prepare for every situation. Each student is different. And there are some who will absolutely shut down and give up on life if you handle a situation in the wrong way for that child.

You learn teaching--real teaching, not just your subject matter--by doing it.

Well, sheesh. I wasn't planning on writing all that. But I am leaving it there.

The better part of my post comes in from last night. Tim and I went on an awesome date and saw Brian Regan live in Houston. During the opening act, I chuckled a few times, but I thought to myself, "Hmm, maybe this won't be all that funny."


But when Brian Regan came out, I was laughing so hard my face and my abs hurt. Hilarious. Even better in person. Here's a picture and a video from his encore when people were requesting some of his old stuff. (Our camera is still broken, and so we can't see anything we do with it until we put it in the computer.)

Secret: I love this song. I know it's all fluff and the lyrics are rather dumb. (Movin' my hips like yeah?) But it puts me in a good mood every time I hear it. Here is a unique ASL version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmKnQjBf8wM