mojomaven's Xanga

News

Fri, 01 May 2009 01:40:16 GMT

Just in case anyone hasn't been filled in...

I'm pregnant! About four months along, expecting in late September. Very happy.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 01:13:14 GMT

I think maybe I'm over Xanga. Or maybe it's just the whole new grown-up job thing.
Work is good. UW school stuff is fine. Family and friends are well.
That's it!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:46:16 GMT

We got 10" last night. How about you?

Heading to Chicago for a baby shower, then our good friends' for a pre-Christmas "Christmas." I have school Monday and Tuesday, then we're off to Cleveland for the holidays with Chris's family. Hello drama. I am looking forward to seeing his folks and a few select relatives. And I am getting excited about Christmas. I wasn't for the longest time, but suddenly now I am. Must be because I got my shopping done. =)

In Case I Haven't Said It Yet...

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:59:42 GMT

I am very excited! =) We were in downtown Madison to watch the election results, which was a great vantage points. Very happy, partisan crowd. At one point, I heard a rendition of "America the Beautiful," and upon trying to drive home shortly after midnight, we found ourselves caught in the midst of a spontaneous demonstration of happiness by thousands (yes, thousands!) of people spanning from the campus to the Capitol. It was wonderful.

Only one thing gives me pause. I heard some people translating "Yes We Can" into "Yes We Have." Not yet, folks. We have done something wonderful as a country, something we couldn't have imagined just a generation or two ago. In January we expect another peaceful transition of government, one of the great strengths of this democratic nation. And we should feel hopeful and happy because of these things. But we have by far the toughest challenges ahead of us yet. Let's not get the feeling that we have done our job by voting, and now we can sit back and wait. It is now that we are needed.

My jack-o-lantern's taller than your jack-o-lantern

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:37:59 GMT

Lousy couple of weeks. Bank troubles, oversleeping, and it snowed today. And tomorrow the supervisor from my UW class is coming to observe me. This cannot go well.
On the flip side, my assistant principal came two Fridays ago and it went great! She even said my principal mentioned that they really want to find a way to keep me -- a BIG vote of confidence since my contract is a one-year limited term at the moment.
Other than that, just pressing on. We did a chapter from McCain's memoir and a chapter from Obama's, so today & tomorrow we're working on comparison-contrast. Then Wednesday are PT conferences. I wonder if any of my parents will come. It's not usually their thing, for a lot of complicated reasons, many of which are on the part of the school. I always get a little nervous when my Spanish gets a real test.

Current Events

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:36:44 GMT

As you can see, the teaching gets in the way of the blogging. =) Oh well. What's going on?

Just finishing a unit on folklore. It went pretty well overall; I'm pleased. I've also developed really good rapport with my students over the first month, so I have a good feeling about the year to come.
Beginning a unit on memoir this week. I think we'll read a chapter from Obama's and from McCain's, the stuff about their early life. Give the students a chance to engage with these guys a little during election season. Just a month away, people!
I went to a Saturday workshop on teaching during the election. Pretty good, and I got a graduate credit for it.
My boss resigned last week (our ESL/bilingual coordinator). There is drama afoot. More on that soon. I don't expect it to have any major effect on my job this year.
Just returned from WITESOL, where my presentation went great and I had a nice time overall. The drive up to Eau Claire was long but beautiful -- gorgeous weather and foliage both days. The only snag in the whole thing was losing the projector power cord, and I still may get that back. We'll see.
CPR class tomorrow. Why do I keep signing up for things I clearly don't have time to do?
UW class is going OK, but it's tricky. One woman dropped the class and plans to pursue another program, and another several are having real difficulty. The instructors are my advisor and her TA, a disseratator -- they are not kind, Midwestern people, and it's a hard transition for my colleagues. To be honest, I don't love it either, but at least I'm used to my advisor by now.
My evening Spanish class is going really well. Lots of fun, pretty low pressure.

I suppose that's enough for one post. More to come shortly.

I'm On a Roll

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 01:42:31 GMT

Can I just say how great things are? I have wonderful students, fabulous colleagues, the Huskers and Badgers and Packers all won...

Seriously, I'm in such a good place. I can hardly believe I'm getting paid (decently!) to do what I love this much. The only thing in classes that hasn't gone well was my fault, not the kids', and I have a plan to fix it Monday. My UW class is practical and useful, and church choir just started back up. We had a party yesterday for Chris's department classmates, which was a lot of fun. And my brother just got a job!! He's going to be writing for Popular Mechanics, so he'll be staying in NYC. I hope we can swing a trip up there maybe next summer.

What else... ? Mom & Dad are doing well, and Chris seems to be having a great semester so far. I haven't had much time for sewing (or really anything but school), but that's OK. During the summer I kept saying I was looking forward to the rhythm of life in the fall, and that's turned out to be true. I'm really enjoying being back at high school and working with teenagers, and my school schedule is outrageously good. I couldn't have planned it better.

Jealous yet?

Suddenly I'm a Teacher (Again)!

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:55:32 GMT

Classes have begun, and things are going... well. =) Very well, really. I scrutinize and over-analyze every tiny detail, but on the whole it's going beautifully. My mostly-freshman sections are especially nice, and my section with more upperclassmen will probably be more sedate when it starts meeting at its regular time (tomorrow, 8:30 a.m.). I have a super-fabulous aide who is essentially running my 4th period ELL resource, which means I can follow her lead and do the 5th period section the same way. (She did this same class last year, she knows the kids and the system.) My mentor is wonderful, extremely generous and helpful, and right across the hall. I think my grad class Wednesday nights is going to be fine, a little intense, but OK. And I have eight different native languages represented in my classes! But only one prep -- seriously! (Teachers out there, you get the gravity of this.)

We're starting with a unit on folklore. After all, the oral tradition is at the heart of culture and literature. Plus, they need some work on their oral language skills, particularly speaking. I think I'm going to have them tell stories, maybe even learn and present one to the class. And my friend C is coming as a guest speaker on Monday morning, which I'm really excited about.

In other news, today I mostly finished getting over a heinous sinus infection (just in time for back to school). My Spanish is rusty, but I start a conversation course in a couple of weeks. The amount of "extras" that all teachers have to do is once again overwhelming. I have a month to get my presentation for WITESOL ready.

Also: they made me take down my beautiful batik curtain because it's a "fire hazard". #@$~! I'll fire hazard you! Anyway, I'm going to ask the fire marshal if I can have it dipped/sprayed in fire retardant and put it back up. Yup, apparently, my room needs to be more retardant.

(Sort of) Free 2 Minutes to Post

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:34:36 GMT

It is 12:35, and I have just finished all the work for my last grad class as a masters student. Well, all of the work that's going to get done. There are a few readings I didn't do, but the class discussed them in my absence anyway, so it shouldn't matter. After all, she had to turn grades in today, and the stuff isn't due till tomorrow (yes, really -- crazy schedules!).

I was absent because my new job out at VAHS started yesterday. I've been in inservices all day yesterday and today, then working like mad all evening on class stuff. Glad that's over and I can finally start thinking about being a teacher!

Big party this Sunday if you're in town! Ask for details. To celebrate Chris's 30th, other friends' birthdays, and my M.S. and new job.

Other great news: I got invited to present on my thesis at my professional conference, WITESOL, in October! This is exciting -- the work is meant to be shared, and this is a nice opportunity. Also looks great for me.

Bedtime. Hallelujah.

Status Report

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:51:34 GMT

Thesis: Defended
Bubbly: Chilled
Flowers: Received

Straight pass, no revisions required. Can we say "WHEW!"