Sunday Afternoon Thoughts

I woke up at 8am to get a head start on my work, when a friend online chats me, "Why are you up so early on a Sunday?" Funny thing is that it isn't that early for me. I have a long day ahead of me and endless amounts of work that have been piling up. I often forget how different my life is than my friends who are still in college or doing their 9-5 jobs. My friend W hates his job because it does not give him a purpose in life. Somehow working at the bio-tech lab cleaning tubes doesn't satisfy his craving to save the world. However much I may dislike parts of my job, at least I know that I have a purpose. At least I know that my efforts are going towards a cause. Makes the tough days seem just a little bit worth it.

This past week was one of the longest of the year. Yes, it was only 5 days long, but it felt like every day was its own week. It was the day before Thanksgiving break and not only was I running out of steam, but my kids were terribly restless. Friday was like working at a zoo, and I was the zoo keeper whose sole responsibility was to make sure the monkeys don't throw crap at each other. It was picture day on top of all things, and my school's very logical method of taking kids to get photographed was to announce their names over the loud speaker or call the classroom every 10 minutes to send another 5 kids down to roam the halls and skip class because there is no one monitoring them anyways. Grrrr..... Most of my classes were rudely interrupted and when I walked downstairs to see why things were taking so long, I found my kids with our secretary doing makeup and primping. Very efficient use of school time. To make things better, this week my face decided to grow a third eye on my forehead. In the middle of class, "J, do you have a question?" "Yeh, Ms. Quane what is that on your face?" "Other then a smile? Oh this (pointing to the shinny red dot)? That is called a PIMPLE!" All I wanted to say was, "Damn, J, have you ever used a mirror before? Pimples are nothing new to you. You don't need a lesson on verbs, you need a lesson on hygiene." The next period I took my school picture: no makeup, end of the day, hair not combed, and my third eye glistening. I need to start taking better care of myself.
Our school is disorganized, undisciplined, and frankly underserving our underserved kids. And all I can do is try to stop the monkeys from throwing crap and jumping on tables (yes they actually tried to do that).

Enough complaining, lets talk about the good stuff: everything outside of work.

Since Laurel now lives 5 minutes away, I have been lucky enough to bum around with her and her friends. From Wednesday night movies, to dinner dates, I am really lucky to have her around to help me escape from work. Even though she is making me clean her new apt, it is worth the moments of sanity that I get from hanging out with her.

Bri (my best friend since we were 6) and I have never gotten to see each other this much since high school, before she moved away. I still can't believe how our lives have changed so much, yet we get along so well. And how the heck did we both end up being teachers?

Mentors- I am continuously amazed at the brilliant people who I meet in the teaching field. My mentor S has gotten me through some rough times and helped me with my teaching immensely. From literally handing over her lessons, to walking me through how to create a lesson, she has supported me from the start. And she strangely reminds me of Laurel. :) Another person who has opened my eyes is M, who is an out-of-this-world teacher from LPS Hayward (the only functioning school of our charter network). He stopped by our apartment and basically counseled us through our teaching problems. It is amazing to talk to a teacher who knows what they are doing, and to hear that what WE are going through is particularly horrible. I am glad to have such wonderful people around me, who are so willing to help.


To be honest, life isn't so bad right now: I have a week off from the crazy kidos, I have been going to the city for fun, I don't have to lesson plan for a week, I have amazing people in my life, I am living in the bay, and did I mention that I have a week off from my students?

-Ms. Quane