Just A Quickie

Hubby and I are heading to College Station to watch the Aggies lose to...sorry, I mean play Texas Tech. This season has been singularly unimpressive...but I'm optimistic about next fall. This weekend though, we're going to hang out with some friends that we haven't seen since this summer. Or at least, not since the Astros game at the very beginning of the school year. Then Sunday it's my Nannie's 71st birthday, so there will be family fun to be had by all.

My seventh period class is doing better...slowly accepting the loss of their privileges and acting like the young adults they are instead of the three year olds they wish they were. Seriously, I'm beginning to wonder if some of my kids have EVER had to think or figure out ANYTHING for themselves. Some truly expect to be spoon-fed every bite of information. And then there are my angel babies and brain children (mostly in 3rd period) who I actually enjoy teaching and talking with. I feel closer to a couple of the girls in 3rd, beyond the average teacher-student. It's more like a mentor relationship...which I'm trying to figure out if its a good thing or a bad thing. Since I'm 23 (which several students have assured me is not THAT old...thanks guys...) it's very easy to treat some of the more mature students as though they are older than they are. That's not to say I see them as "peers" or "equals"...more that I can relate to them in the same way I relate to my oldest cousin who's a junior in high school going on 25 lol. As a young and first year teacher (though my kids only know I'm a first year teacher AT DOBIE...not first year teacher period) I know I have to be extremely careful about maintain authority in the classroom. And I know there are times I react more as a grad assistant might react (tho I never was one :-P) than a teacher maybe should react.

That said, I had similar relationships with some of MY teachers in high school...particularly my freshman Spanish and English teachers, and my AP Spanish teacher. And those relationships did me much more good than harm...those teachers encouraged me to be myself and I knew I could trust them if I needed help or advice. Granted, nowadays, I have to be very careful about giving "advice" to kids...like today we talked about tattoos as a cultural trend and the perspectives or "whys" of said trend. I told them my father-in-law owns a tattoo shop (he does, by the way...it's pretty neat) and went on to caution them against several of the most basic "tattoo mistakes"--boy/girlfriend names, tramp stamps, etc. I also strongly encouraged them, if they were to ever get a tattoo, to go someplace CLEAN with STERILIZED equipment.

I also made it clear that I was neither condemning nor promoting tattoos...nor was I encouraging anyone to go to the father-in-law's shop (strangely enough, several students already had heard of it or knew where it was, and one or two had actually BEEN there...that was a little weird...I'm kinda hoping I don't run into any of them at the shop at some point...that would be a bit (again) weird). Of course, the hubby worried about whether or not that was a "school appropriate" topic for me to be discussing with high schooler...but the truth is prolly about 1/3 of my kids already have a tattoo, or are planning to get one before this school year ends. Also, the majority of the conversation was concerned with the "whys" behind tattoos. I don't think giving some good advice while neither condoning nor promoting the practice itself was out of line. And maybe it will keep someone from getting an unfortunate tattoo or Hepatitis.

Anyway, today was supposed to be the first day of La Madrastra (The Stepmother), an award-winning telenovela muder-mystery. But my order from a seller on amazon.com still isn't here, despite arriving in North Houston on Wednesday :-P. So today was cultural perspectives day, and a free day for the kids. Which meant a grading day for me...I'm ALMOST caught up! One and a half classes to go! Oh, and did I mention I'm getting formally observed on Monday...yeah I'm nervous. At least its my mentor, not the principal...yet. Though he did do a walk-through during 7th on Monday......as I was dressing them down for their behavior and explaining what privileges they had lost. I talked to him later and apologized for THAT being what he observed...but he was actually complimentary and said I reminded him of himself when he taught! Score!

Other than school stuff, life is pretty good. I found a Wii Fit through amazon.com and, even though the price was higher than in stores, bought it! After all, the store price is irrelevant when I can't FIND the product in ANY store! Anyway, my Wii Fit arrives on MONDAY!!! If the delivery isn't delayed that is. The only damper on the goodness is that hubby leaves for Flagstaff for testing on Tuesday, and won't be back til Nov. 1. Sigh. So, I'll get super-caught up on school stuff, play a TON of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Brawl (which ROCK by the way!) and work out with Wii Fit. I'll have a Dia de los Muertos party for my classes, and I'll buy and carve a pumpkin for the back porch. I'll prolly get candy just in case any kiddos swing by. I'll hang out with friends when I can...but pretty much, it'll be me and the pups. Shit it's gonna be lonely. But hey, lonely can be good, once you get used to it. And hubby will be back in just under two weeks!

For now, I'm going to go spend some time with the aforementioned love of my life...and enjoy every minute!

PS: Funny how the quickie turned into quite the long post...love it when that happens!