true blood and grit

I am now an official member of the Ontario College of Teachers! Just need to forward my NYS teaching certificate and Medaille College transcripts when they become available in August and my file will be complete.

Applied to several jobs today:
- San Carlos Apache Indian Reserve, Arizona. Close to Tuscon and Phoenix. SUN!!
- 17 postings all over Peel Region, for Full-Time Permananent as well as Long Term Occupancies (LTO, ranging from Kindergarten (!!!) to grade 8 to a behavioural classroom. For postings that I am not qualified for (i.e. grade 7-8, special ed), I just added whatever qualification it is that I need as "pending" in my cover letter.

Keepin' the fingers *and* toes crossed!

I made it into LP school yesterday, for the first time since my placement ended in May. It was worth dragging my ass out of bed in the morning to see the looks of excitement on the grades 4/5's faces when they walked into the classroom. It was like old times again, me standing at the front of the class, greeting each of them. I know there is a divide between the "hands-off" camp and the "kids needs hugs" camp but I just couldn't resist hugging them all back. It was nice to hear "You're back! Can you stay for good?" and "Things haven't been the same without you." *tears up* I am going back next Wednesday to say goodbye, their last day of classes being on Thursday. As the end of the school year approaches, teachers are clearly anxious and the kids are hyper. Not much teaching happening now but I did do some round robin reading with them to calm them down after lunch.

In other news, I have put off writing chapter 3 of the damned dissertation. It is due in a couple of days but for the life of me, I just can't begin. It seems like a complete waste of time and focus when in the end, I don't even get a letter grade. Unless you count an "S" for "Satisfactory." I have no impetus to put an effort into this long-winded piece of crap. UGH! Well, I have been somehat distracted by the HBO series True Blood. I bought the first season this week and I can't stop watching it every night. Southern-fried vampires...mmm mmm good! I wish that I could put this much focus onto my work...

can't get started

Ugh, I am in dissertation hell. Have to write an approximately 100 page dissertation or "capstone" action research paper as the Americans call it (imagine the accent)and chapter one is due by midnight on Monday . 10 pages of garbage, as I see it. I'm a teacher, not a researcher on "To what extent is 'X' affected by 'Y'?" and also sub-concerns of how 'X' affects 'Y.' FAWK OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Last semester hasn't even officially started yet and here it is, the dissertation, haunting my nightmares, weighing down my shoulders, wreaking havoc on these summer-like last weeks of May. Goddamn you!

I don't even know if I want to keep my topic of female relational aggression with a focus on cyberbullying and what teachers can do to intervene. I am thinking of changing it to how a balanced literacy approach in the classroom is beneficial to English and non-Engrish learners. I hate being a student. I hate teacher's college. The problem is that school really seems to love me.

So I kept forcing myself back to sleep this morning, until 2:30pm, having originally woken up at 9:30am, knowing that I had this to deal with. I had some oatmeal and coffee, made up a carpool schedule, listened to music, looked up lyrics, chatted on msn, shot off some emails, and basically fucked the dog in order to avoid doing this goddamn dissertation.

Anyone, words of encouragement will be appreciated.

How do you force yourself to do something that you have no interest in but know that the deadline is looming? I intend to finish this thing SOMEHOW by Sunday since I've got an all-night MJ tournament planned (no KFC allowed except for the food).

In the meantime, I'm gonna go and watch some FMA.

Listening to: LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends

Grade One

The last day of my practicum with my grade one class during the Morning Message, March 13, 2009.



Grade ones were a sweet bunch but a handful! Every Friday afternoon, I would go home and nap for a few hours, exhausted from the week. They are very needy and what seems like common sense to us is not the case with the sweethearts. Many of my professors have deemed grade one their favourite grade to teach because they say that it's the most rewarding grade where one sees the most progress. Children come in lacking social skills or the ability to read and by second term, they are amongst the most vociferous in the schoolyard as well as gone up five reading levels. The kiddies are obedient, respectful, and eager to learn for the most part. But they are also very young and are liable to burst into tears of homesickness or even soil their pants during a poetry lesson (yes, my minilesson drove a little boy to poop in his pants, haha). I loved singing songs with them, motions and all, as well as the many read-alouds and shared reading that we did as a class. Having completed the practicum in the Winter, what drove me crazy was how freaking long it took them to put on or remove their winter clothing before and after recesses, boots flailing everwhere, missing mittens, snowpants that were threadbare and held up by safety pins. What I definitely do miss are the spontaneous hugs children greet you with or even the random "I love you"s that they are prone to say just because you are their teacher.