Evolution of a Workout

Curves has produced motivational CDs for purchase by members. There is spunky music playing in the background, and every 30 seconds, a female voice says a positive affirmation. She says things like, "You are loyal!" and "You are healthy!" At the Curves where I work out, they play these every now and then instead of the regular voice that says, "Change stations now." So yesterday, I was on the arm-curl machine and there is no voice telling me to change stations. My arms are starting to lose feeling, and I said, "TINA!! (that's the gal who manages the place) There's something wrong, it's been more than 30 seconds."
So she goes over to the machine and says, "Ok, 5 more seconds." Then I hear, "You are motivated!"
Well, the whole place erupts in groans and complaints because everyone professes to hate this positive affirmation thing instead of the regular voice saying change stations. And truly, I was grumpy yesterday when I was working out. I had a monster headache all day, the freaking cyst behind my ear hurts, burns, and itches, and my administration PISSED ME OFF. The really funny part is how susceptible I am to that voice, and how my attitude had changed by the time I left. It sorta went like this:
"You are loyal!"
Fuck you. I hate you.
"You are wonderful!"
Wish I could say the same about you. Shut the hell up.
"You are positive!"
Positive I hate you. Jesus Chocolate Christ.
"You are strong!"
You're right, I am strong. I could probably beat the hell out of you.
"You are healthy!"
Well, true enough, this is a very healthy thing I am doing right now. Other than following each positive affirmation with a negative one.
"You are determined!"
Obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be here listening to YOU!
"You are wealthy!"
????
"You are beautiful!"
Well yes, I guess you could say that.
"You are loving!"
Most of the time, yes.
"You are loyal!"
True enough.
"You are wonderful!"
Thanks... so are you.
Then I left in a much, much better mood than I was in when I got there.

O M G

The phone call I had been dreading for months finally came. I talked to an investigator from California about the case against my mother's sister's husband (I would say uncle but I refuse to claim him, or my mom's sister for that matter) and found out that the records of my case in Tucson from 26 years ago are nowhere to be found. So I had to relive the whole thing - well, I didn't have to, but I did because otherwise the creep's granddaughters won't be safe from him. It will be a month or so before I find out if they are filing charges against him. I hope it goes to court because I'd really like to testify. I didn't get to do that when I was a kid because he took a plea, which he will probably do again if given the opportunity. I hope he goes to jail and becomes some bruno's girlfriend.
The first two weeks of school are done. Eight more to go until fall break. We have five new teachers on our staff, and two of them are close to quitting. I am surprised every day they show up for work. I feel so sorry for them, because I remember what that felt like, being new to my district and trying to do everything they want us to do, which isn't humanly possible by the way, and trying to decide what was urgent and what wasn't because it all seems urgent, so I would just dissolve in a puddle of tears, which is what these teachers are doing. So I keep dropping what I am doing to help them, which leaves me with a LOT to do over the weekend. So now I've really cooked my own goose because there aren't enough hours to do everything I have to do. Watch:
I have about 10 hours worth of homework for my online class. That's 2 weeks because I haven't done any homework since school started. This is a class that is required by the state of Arizona in order to keep my teaching certificate.
I have about 10 hours worth of lesson planning to do. I didn't get any done over the week, plus I have to plan Tuesday and Thursday for a sub, which takes longer.
I need about 3 hours to clean the house, and that's if my bratty daughters help me, which is a pretty big IF. I'm gonna have to take away their phones and stuff in order to convince them. Ugh.
I have about 2 hours worth of planning for the union meeting, for which I am the vice president, and it will take 2 hours because I've never done it before.
I've already committed to spending Sunday between 1:00 - 5:00 with the new teachers, helping them plan for the coming week.
Sleep is about 16 hours. Won't give any of that up.
The fam is coming Sunday for dinner, so Sunday night is shot.
I have about 2 hours worth of grading papers, which absolutely has to be done. No wiggle room there.
So that is 48 hours worth of stuff, and guess what, I just blew 1/2 hour writing on my blog so I am left with 47.5 hours to do all that. I better get going. And hope I don't have to poop any time in the next 2 days.

Day Three!

I am carpooling today with one of my coworkers. We are going to help each other leave at a reasonable hour. Also she is going to help me with my exercise program. She is a runner, and she changes before she leaves work to make sure she goes. How she goes in this heat, I will never understand. Anyhoo, I told her I am going to change too, and so now I have that accountability piece of sticking with my plan. Plus we're saving gas. So we'll see how that goes.
The students have been great so far. I can't believe how happy I was to see those 8th graders - the ones I taught last year. It's so wonderful to watch them adapt to being 8th graders! They already know my management style, so it has been a breeze working with them. Maybe it's all going to come crashing down, I don't know!

Which teachers are these??

Secondary school teachers are expected to increase in numbers by up to 17 percent by 2014. Salaries are rising as well; the American Federation of Teachers estimates the average salary of all public elementary and secondary school teachers in the 2003-2004 school year was $46,597.

Second Day

The first day went well! The 7th graders are scared to death, as usual. It's their first year of switching classes, and they were exhausted by the end of the day. Of course so were the 8th graders since they've been staying up all night during the summer break. Anyway it went well. Except when I went to lunch, I was taking my food out of the microwave and butterfingered it and it fell facedown on the floor. Luckily the plastic cover saved half of it. And then I dropped my nectarine and made marks all the way down my shirt. But other than that it was good! Here's hoping today is just as good! And that I get to eat my lunch and not wear it!

First Day of School!

Today's the day. I think I am ready. I put a big banner above one of the white boards that says, "If you don't have time to do it right, you must have time to do it over!" That's my favorite part of my classroom decorations. I got a good night's sleep, no bad dreams! And I am really excited about meeting all my new 7th graders.

The First Very Long Day

Today is the first Very Long Day of the school year - Open House. We have high parental involvement so a lot of them will probably be there. They vote for site council representative, find their kids' classrooms, and meet the teachers. It will be a 12-hour day but it's worth it. This way the first contact I have with all those parents will be positive. Then they will react better when I call them in a few weeks to tell them little Johnny is a shit.

I'd just like to point out...

There is a one page writeup in People magazine about whether or not Harry Potter will die in the seventh book. At the bottom of the page there are tips for parents to deal with their children's grief if it does happen. Now, I realize People isn't exactly serious literature. Still, I'm just sayin'... prepare.

Or maybe I'm just an idiot.

I am taking an online class right now so I can learn how to teach people who don't speak English, without speaking their language while I do it. The state is requiring every teacher to take this class, and it's free if I take it online. So last night I am trying to get through chapter 1 of the textbook, and I've been trying to get through it for days and it's just not going well. I keep drifting off, my eyes running over the words but my brain not reading them. I am thinking about everything I still have to do in my classroom before school starts, whether I should have another root beer float, I didn't exercise again today, my clothes are too tight, etc. Every paragraph I do manage to get through I have to go back and re-read at least once. So I finally started to ask, why is this so freaking hard?? I am a reader! And then I saw it. The book is chock full of scintillating gems like this:
"As Erickson and Shultz (1991) have discussed, student comfort with the social participation structure of an academic task, for instance, can vary according to culturally learned assumptions about appropriateness in communication and in social relationships, individual personality, and power relationships in the classroom social system and in society at large." HUH???
And this:
"The model is operationalized in the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP)." WHAT??? I feel like the Geico caveman.
Here's the best part - the title of the book is "Making Content Comprehensible." They might start by making the freaking textbook comprehensible, dontcha think??

Great quote

"If you hear a voice within you say, 'You cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."- Vincent Van Gogh

It's so good to be home

I left class at 8:30 p.m. and drove all the way to Tucson... that's how desperate I was to get home! The girls stayed awake with me so I wouldn't fall asleep driving. They were really excited to get home too. They've already made plans with their friends for today.
I have one week off before I report for work. I think it will be just perfect. I'm already itching to get back into my classroom, but a quick visit should take care of that because I'll see all the work I have to do and then I'll want to leave.
Flagstaff was awesome and I learned a lot. Hopefully my next trip will be to the Galapagos Islands. Toyota sponsors a program to get teachers there for research.