Envy

Being a teacher is fun. It really is! Granted, I haven't fully assumed the role of teacher in the traditional sense (I am not the one providing the majority of the content in my classes) but students ask me if they can go to the bathroom...so that has to mean SOMEthing.

However, I will say that I miss being a student. I miss going to class in sweats and a t-shirt. I miss getting to relax my face and not emote when I'm learning whatever it is that I am learning. Going to my ISU classes are kind of a nice break from feigning enthusiasm during some moments at the high school. It's a lot harder to feign enthusiasm when I am not speaking (I do speak some of the time, but I am not given a ton of opportunity to do so yet). It's a lot like when I'm working at Flarget or, indeed, anytime I am just IN Flarget. I feel obligated to smile at least a little bit all the time, so it's ready whenever a guest approaches me. That's just part of my job. Here, though, more hangs in the balance than where a particular sweater is.


((There are so many comic/blog hybrids out there that I read and I know you do too. I have an HP tablet through the school where I'm interning and I thought I'd try it out. Sadly, not even technology can make me a better artist.))


On the other side of the same coin, being a student in a classroom is AGONIZING after being a teacher in a classroom. Even the spatial difference is significant: Up, walking around, speaking loudly versus sitting in a desk-chair (that really is too small for people my height) listening to someone else speak, constantly thinking to msyelf how I would teach what I'm supposed to be learning. I want to be just as active as the teacher but then (even in college) I would be the teacher's pet, and you don't want that label, no matter how removed from middle school you are.

Hermaphrodites

Sometimes, when we're young, we are introduced to words that we are unfamiliar with and someone clarifies them in a memorable way.

When I was younger, my parents watched X-Files. A lot of X-Files. The theme song was essentially my lullaby. One episode that I walked in on late one night had a terrifying worm-person in it. From what I remember (I could look this up but it's more fun this way), the worm-person couldn't reproduce sexually but rather by multiplying itself.

Having just learned what sex was...more or less...I deduced that this worm-person wouldn't be able to make little worm-children and that would be unfortunate for it. So I stepped in to help this worm-person have sex the only way I knew that sex worked, "Well, is it a boy or a girl?" My dad replied, "It's both. It's a hermaphrodite."

And then the camera panned into a sewer drain and we suddenly saw the elusive creature and I was granted an image that will forever be stuck in my head when I think of the word "hermaphrodite":
















Thanks dad.

I Learn Therefore I Teach

Today was my first Friday of my first week of my internship.

I am having a blast! Like most 20-somethings, I was not a fan of high school when I was IN high school. Now that I've come out the other side (and almost am on the other side of college), it's my favorite place to be in the whole world. The environment for learning is so RICH at this school and my opportunities for becoming a better teacher present themselves every hours. I don't want to say too much about it here because I feel that would need to be in a different blog altogether, one about student teaching and nothing else, but I just wanted to communicate that I am feeling like I am in the right place more than I ever have.

Things that I've learned so far:

- In my 9:00 class, I am exhausted. Drink coffee BEFOREhand. It's free in the office, go for it.

- Dressing like a teacher is so much fun, and cheap at GoodWill (I'll have to post a photo of one of my outfits. I'm pretty proud of them to be honest since apparently I "have no fashion sense" according to my sister). Last year I was able to go my entire time at the high school for a curriculum and instruction class without wearing the same outfit twice.

-Learn which students you can be sarcastic with BEFORE you are sarcastic with them.

- Always look at browser tabs when you are helping a student on their netbook. They StumbleUpon.

- Comfortable shoes are super important

- Include students in ALL lectures and discussions. Ask questions or have them repeat instructions to ensure they aren't zoning and also that they are learning.

- When doing group instruction through the netbooks, make sure everyone is in the same place before moving on.

This school is really unique because it implemented a netbook initiative where each student receives a netbook upon entrance to the school and they are used very heavily in every course. It's really sweet and awesome most of the time, but the rest of the time they're just a pain in the ass. Instant distraction plus technological failures make it difficult to teach with them, which is why I came up with a classroom management solution for them when I teach:

- "Hand check!"

Cavia Porcellus...And Other Things

You guys...it has been a while and so much stuff has happened.

Jay and I have moved from our apartment at Pine Crest with Garret to an apartment at Lancaster Heights (probably about 2 miles away, maximum) with Nicole and Zach, a married couple, the former whom we know through Target. The move went really well with help from my dad who truly is The Man. If you haven't met him yet, just know that he IS The Man. All of us are settling into the awkward phase of getting used to living with one another. I remember going through that with Garret hardcore and now it's like I've adopted a stocky blonde brother.

The biggest adjustment is all of the pets. There is one pet for every human in the apartment. An affectionate cat, a hyperactive dog and two apathetic guinea pigs. Zoe, the cat, is just freaking adorable and she's really easy to live with. Henry, the beagle, requires us to be a bit more aware when it comes to closing closet doors and putting food and valuables down certain places but he's lovable enough. Both of them are interested in Murray and Theo but not enough to harm them, so that's good news. Zoe likes to stare at them a lot...like right now.

As for our two boys, they were separated with a piece of cardboard in their cage because of a slight altercation they had before we moved. Blood was involved. Not a lot but enough to cause worry. They were trying to gnaw through the cardboard ever since. Not to get AT each other, just out of curiosity. Today we really needed to clean out their cage (which is a pain in the ass when there ISN'T a flimsy barrier taped in the middle of the wire) so we took the opportunity to try and reintroduce them.

I was expecting a lot of mounting like last time but they just chattered angrily at one another and nipped a bit harder than they should have for having lived together for, like, six months. However, one more night of cardboard chewing and tape crinkling was going to drive us to insanity, so we came up with another barrier solution:



Those are two sides of those wire cube shelving units that no one likes to put together. Taped and zip-tied together and to the cage. I figured that this way they can SEE each other but they can't GET to each other. Phase one of reintroduction: complete.

I don't know what will happen if they can't get along. Worst case scenario: we have to give one of them away. The only other option is separate cages which we don't have the room for, but we we'll run blindly across that proverbial bridge when we get there.

We do so much for them. Would it KILL them to love us?!

Edit: Apparently while Jay was going in and out of consciousness today in between jobs, he saw Zoe with both of her paws in Theo's side of the cage, batting around in the air while the guinea pig sat in the corner eyeing her warily. She got discouraged, did the kitty equivalent of a sigh, and then tried the same thing on Murray's side. I'm not worried about her hurting them, I think she's just curious as to what the hell they are.

Potter-ing

We saw Harry Potter about a week ago. Probably more interesting things have happened in my life since then, but I promised a post containing what I thought of the film.

*SPOILERS START HERE*
It WAS excellent. When it began, it simply began. It didn't give you some big to-do about the Harry Potter 'verse. There was no time for that. There was a repeated shot of Voldemort getting the Elder Wand just as a reminder, Warner Bros logo, Harry Potter logo, and BOOM: Harry at Dobby's grave. Within the first minute, you're buckled in, ready for the last run of this brilliant ride.

The only problem I have with the beginning was how looooong it took and how much diiiialoooogue there was. I realize Griphook and Ollivander are old but good God how long does it take to tell Harry what he needs to know? I wonder if they felt they had to go slow to make sure the audience knew what was going on. If that was the case, r u srs? This is the EIGHTH film. If anyone in the audience is jumping in at this point, they don't deserve to know what's going on.

There were 2 other minor issues I had with the film. The entire time, I was counting horcruxes in my head. There were multiple points while watching where I went "Okay...the diary, the ring, the locket [and then from memory of the books] that cup-thing in the vault...[once we got there in the film] okay Ravenclaw's diadem aaaaaannnnnddd.......?" The end of the book totally escaped me.

And as Harry was going for the diadem he said something about how it was the last one. Well...of course it wasn't. They had 2 more to get and they didn't know what they were. Then they found out they were Nagini and Harry (the latter of which I totally called in the middle of reading the 6th book).

Other than those minor neural interruptions, I want to see the film again. I also want to read the book again, but have you SEEN that tome? It's too much for right now. My favorite moments in the theatre were closely related to audience reactions. Everyone cheered and clapped when Molly killed Bellatrix and the girl in front of me almost had a happy-seizure when Neville killed Nagini. It was pure fandom and I will miss it all.

I cried a few times, partly from reaction to the story and partly from how real these characters have been to me for so long. So when I lost Snape, when Neville became more than the bumbling kid, when two of my best friends finally got together...there was no way I couldn't react.

In conclusion, I just have one question regarding the entire movie saga: Where the hell was Charlie Weasley?!
*SPOILERS END HERE*

In non-Potter related news, one of my cooperating teachers is my mom's best friend from high school and thus a very close family friend. I will be teaching two sections of Oral Communication, World Literature & Composition and Sophomore Writing. ^_^ Internship, ho!

Keep It Together Man!

Jay and I are going to see Part 2 tonight with another couple (If you don't know what "Part 2" I'm talking about, you deserve a boot to the head. Go get on the Internet). I was just on /r/Harry Potter (the Harry Potter Reddit [I'm now a Reddit n00b]) and just reading all of the stuff about the new movie, seeing costumes and realizing that this is it got me kind of choked up.

And then I saw this:
Aw hell. I'm going to be an emotional wreck at this movie. Someone will need to remind me to bring a box of tissues, and that is no hyperbole. The last movie that I lost it at in the theatres was, oddly enough, District 9. Wasn't expecting to cry at that movie or indeed be moved by it at all, but there were at least 2 distinct moments where I sobbed openly. This was after about a year of being with Jay and he was utterly bewildered by my tears...and also slightly amused.

I plan on joining the ranks of bloggers who have been posting opinions and spoilers about the final film, perhaps tomorrow but it could be in a couple of days. I've been so preoccupied with everything that Harry Potter love kind of had to take a backseat.

But you better believe I will be wearing my Quidditch goggles tonight.

Chill

Warning: May contain information you can never un-know about my bowel movements.

Ever since high school, my stomach has been the center for my anxiety. I never throw up or get nauseous when I'm anxious. I sometimes have 30-minute sessions in the nearest bathroom, intensely embarrassed (especially if it was in a public space) which will, in turn, increase my anxiety and make my insides churn evermore. I'm sure it's brought on by some kind of food but I haven't narrowed down what it is yet.

In the last few years I've tried to find ways to cope with my irritable bowels, trying not to turn to medication (I was prescribed something a long time ago for IBS but the side-effects were not worth it). I become highly sensitive to everything that my senses take in when I get like this. I want to murder someone for saying "Hi!"...mere thoughts of future worries can send me over the edge into a wave of pain. I've come to realize that my mind is the perpetrator in all of this and I've been searching for ways to control its wrath. For now I'm satisfied with putting a towel over my head and pulling down on it whilst covering my ears to block out every sound save for my deep breathing while I wait for things to...pass...

A few months ago I found this great blog Rejuvenation Lounge. It's been very beneficial to me in controlling my irrelevant and unhelpful thoughts. I also got a cookbook in .PDF format full of foods that are good for the body and soul. Check it out, relax a moment. I've found great enjoyment in relaxation, but it takes great effort for me to get there.

Jay Update: Surgery was a success (as far as we can tell). He's in a lot of pain, post-op. Movement isn't so good for him. He can't bend forward very far and needs some help maneuvering from spot to spot, but we knew it would be this way for at least a week. The day when he doesn't need narcotics to control his pain is almost visible on the horizon.