dolls are OK

a steady rhythm is developing in my classroom.  i am very pleased with the relationships i'm developing with my students and how well they respond to lessons that i sometimes fear to teach.  i finally know the ticks of most of my kids and how to best respond to them, encourage them, and whose parents i once in a while need to ring up.

i am beginning a unit on Tolerance.  tolerance toward others in all forms. i am going to start out big: Holocaust, Mexican American unions, a bit of the Civil Rights Movement; and end small: respect toward homosexuals, peers, the girl with the weird earring, etc.  i include sexual orientation in the "small" category because i want to address some discriminatory situations i've noticed around the school.

so today we started talking about Gender Differences.  Zack is a big tough kid, who is covered in tattoos and is the one who told me the current prices of a pack of smokes and a 6-pack.  i heart him.  i also owe him $20 for a coupon book.  in the lesson i asked various questions:  is it okay for girls to tickle each others' backs?  is it okay for guys to?  is it okay for 2 girls to sleep in the same bed on vacation?  for 2 guys?  i was trying to get to the point that standards are quite different for men and women.   Zack responded immediately to my question of, "is it okay for little boys to play with baby dolls?"  with a "hell yes.  i played with dolls until i was ten."  

awesome.

same class, Samir was standing by the door right before the bell rang.  he is from Bosnia.  a girl came in to ask me something, and after she left he said, "i came to America with her."

i love the diversity in my classroom!

Whoa Tarzan

my new friend Trisha called me up this afternoon and asked me to go country dancing with her.  i love to dance, but not usually with people since i can find no one's rhythm but my own. it sounded fun though so i said yes.  the place had this sign posted, which i thought was quite funny.

i haven't been in Utah Mormondom for quite a while.  i'd forgotten what the mass social dance scene was like since i outgrew institute dances when i was like 19.   in the country dance realm, it's full of lots of early-twenty-somethings excited to show off their muscles.  

one kid was swinging me around with particular intensity.  i think he felt hot in his tight Hollister t-shirt.  and he was quite excited about the speed with which he was able to twirl himself around.  

after i guess he was satisfied that i wasn't going to let go, he asks me, 

"How strong are your stomach muscles?" 

"Uh...they work."

"Well, like, can you hold yourself up in a lift?  'cause, see, i wanna do this lift."

"what kind of lift?"

"how about this, how stiff can you hold your body?"

"WHAT are you trying to do?"

then he just lifted his two arms as if they were pushing up a barbell far above his head.

"No."

dude.  who are you?  do you seriously think i trust you enough to let you put me up in the air like that?  right.

that's like kissing on the first date.  you need to do a little more to get that than flexing your biceps.  in fact, you have to be really good.  and probably foreign.

big biceps are nast.

side note: speaking of dancing and foreigners, in Brasil i was told, "you're a really good dancer.  except you dance like an American girl."

I need to branch out.

i just painted a wall in my living room the exact color of this blog.  

Moving Out

i have an advisory class of seniors.  i see them every thursday for half an hour, and can use the time for whatever i want.  i've decided to teach a series of lessons about moving out of the house for the first time.  

here is a list of topics i brainstormed.  does anyone have any other ideas for things they wish someone would have talked to them about before they took off on their own?

• finding an apartment: planning and seeking
  
• unpacking the apartment contract
• legal issues around eviction, landlord/tenant responsibilities, deposits
• stuff you need for your new apartment
• documents you need to have and how to get them: birth certificate, social security card, passport, insurance info, tax info, etc; be aware of what's in your wallet (in case of loss)
• travel/studying abroad/learning languages
• budgeting
• credit: credit cards, credit history, student loan maintenance
• paying for school
• paying for life in general
• finding cheap groceries and planning healthy meals; easy recipes
• getting and maintaining reliable transportation
• manage time, stress, etc.; depression, eating disorders, other emotional health issues?
• roommate issues
• volunteer work
• insurance: car, renters, health
• laundry

what else did we learn via hard knocks about being adults?

ps-why is it still snowing?

The Thing about Living in Utah

is this:  i have family around.  

i've been the one that lived far away for the past 12 years of my life.  despite this, i just realized i've been on my own for a long time. 

until recently, i didn't know i didn't know this.   

Sunday night i cooked meatless chili for my vegetarian cousins.  it was pretty gross, but that's okay because vegetarians are used to eating gross things.  scott and annalyn gave me advice on paint, getting furniture upholstered, and talked with me about my classroom.  today, scott gave me two versions of the audio book of the next novel i'm teaching at school.  i needed it and was going to have to buy it for $25.

a couple of weeks ago, i finally went and got new license plates for my car.  of course i didn't put them on right away.  when my dad noticed, he took my keys and went out in the ice and put them on.  

despite the fact that i am trying hard to be especially frugal, i couldn't stand to buy my needed pots and pans at the DI.  it was just too gross and rusty a day for me.  i told my parents the story.  a week later, i had a huge box of pans.  

i moved into my sort-of grandma's apartment.  she told me i didn't have to pay rent until i got my first paycheck from the district.  

when i moved into said apartment, my mom and best friends spent a Saturday helping me clean it.  

i hadn't know how nice it is to be helped.  living away family, i've either forged things out on my own (experience i value) or asked for help when needed from friends.  i hate asking, though,  so it was always uncomfortable.  but, here, with my fam, it's normal.  and it's incredibly relieving.  

i also love being so close.  usually my family visits are a big deal because they involve a plane ride.  now, i can run out to my parent's house for dinner on a Tuesday, go see my grandma for a weekend, and go running with my cousin.  i know these things seem so simple to most people.  but the fact that i have missed such a life during my adulthood makes me quite appreciative of it now.  it is very fulfilling to be an active dynamic in the lives of the people i love. 

my dad recently told me that i should settle down.  "a rolling stone gathers no moss," he reminded me.  coincidentally, an old boyfriend used this exact phrase the other night at dinner. except from the other view, "you're a rolling stone.  you can't stay in one place.  it's not who you are."  

two men that know me best, each understands a different side of me.  i am tempted to stay because i am happy here.  but i am tempted to go because i always curious and restless.  

who knows.

Chats

tonight was night 1 of parent teacher conferences.  i had a table amongst all the A-B named teachers and was the only one that ate her own welcoming candy.  no one really knows me yet so i happily sat there alone munching on Swedish Fish and reading Consumer Report.  9 people did stop by my table.  two of those were Zack and Ben, who were on their way back from the mall. these boys were mentioned before.

Zack began the conversation with, "Miss, you voted for Obama, huh?" 

"Yes."  

"I knew it by the way you say stuff.  You know he smokes, right?"

"Yeah.  Lots of people smoke."

Long pause.

"Well, just so you know, I was for McCain all the way.  He woulda had my vote if I coulda."

interesting.  i've never said a word about my political preferences, yet i guess they're pretty transparent.  at least to those who would recognize them.  a concept brought to my attention in grad school is that teachers are always in danger of pushing an agenda.  even indirectly.   it comes out through pedagogy and book choice and descriptions.  and, as in my case, "the way i say stuff."  somehow, this particular manner reveals my Choice.  being in a position of influence over children, this passes an agenda.  possibly this is unavoidable.

curious, also, that Zack wanted to clear up his stance on the issue.  i'm impressed.

 

i decided then that since we'd opened up about the president, i could broach the acne problem. i know it's a touchy subject, but is still one that needs to be done if the opportunity permits.  i told them about my sure cure.  it's this:  Aqua Glycolic toner and Rosac cream.  the toner doesn't require a prescription, but it is purchased in the pharmacy.  it's blue.  maybe it's green, i can't really tell those colors apart.  Rosac is only prescribed.  once one has those things, they should use the toner morning and night in place of any other cleanser, and rinse it off.  nothing else.  then, the cream.  a new face is on the way.

again, an agenda.