let the rain fall down

I am officially on Spring Break! Just 4 more screening interviews, 1 follow-up interview, 1 rehearsal dinner & wedding, 1 children's musical performance, and 1 staff meeting until I get to go home and... work for my dad for a week.

BUT grades are almost done (they're due the week I get back) and I'm hugely looking forward to spending tomorrow night with Lindy and the girls relaxing before an exciting Saturday of wedding madness.

I hope I get hired before my birthday. Talk about celebrating!

EDIT: Today I had my 9th graders watch the Oprah Building a Dream special about her Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. We had an interesting discussion afterward about the value of schooling in South Africa versus the United States, which eventually led to the topic of the "American dream". I told my students that, for many people, the American dream consists of having a lot of money, a fancy car, and a huge house. For me, however, it pretty much just entails teaching students.

They looked at me like I was crazy. And maybe I am.

when you're happy to be alive

Shane Claiborne gave me a high five today. Shane freaking Claiborne gave me a high five.

He also gave an incredible talk this morning at William Jessup University and I was so blessed to listen to it. My life is complete.

we don't need no water

I have this awesome Greasemonkey script called Profanity Filter and I'm pretty much in love with it. I read a lot of blogs - education blogs, theatre blogs, parenting blogs (what?), and just plain random blogs. And through the perusal of said blogs, I run across a lot of (unnecessary, might I add) profanity. I didn't even realize I needed a Profanity Filter script until I saw it and then I was like, "That's awesome! I don't need to be reading that much profanity every morning!" I have cleverly tweaked the script so that instead of inserting "***" wherever there is a swear word, it inserts "bleep", which makes me chuckle.

Now that I have it though, I kind of wish I had a Profanity Filter for, like, every day life. Then I wouldn't have to listen to my neighbors yelling out by the pool or to the kids walking through the halls every day calling each other every name in the book (which I discovered, after reading the script so I could rewrite it, has a lot of names!)

now we're getting somewhere

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

you really got me now

I had my last university class of winter quarter on Thursday. I have my first class of university spring quarter this coming Wednesday. Sheesh!

This upcoming week is going to be totally nuts. My schedule has been totally upended, which stresses me out, and, strangely, I'm looking forward to the second week of April when both of my spring breaks will be over and I'll be back to a normal, functional, manageable schedule.

However, I get to hear Shane Claiborne (of The Irresistible Revolution fame) speak, have a billion (OK, 6) interviews, and will be singing and partying at Lindy's wedding between today and next Saturday. Not bad.


Countdowns, ahoy!
Days until HJHS spring break: 6
Days until "The Rockslinger" opens: 8
Days until my birthday: 26
Days until me and Nick's joint birthday party of awesomeness: 29
Days until I graduate (!!): 82
Days until I start teaching summer school: 86
Days until Daniel and I (hopefully) go to Disneyland: 118

watch me rise up

So I was interviewed by WJUSD's Director of Human Resources Operations and their Director of Professional Development. I didn't know this at the time, of course, and when they asked if I had any questions about the district, I asked about their professional development opportunities in light of the new goals and missions they've adopted.

Because I'm awesome.

They told me to call them if I wanted to work for them and said that I'd basically be hired in the next two or three weeks.

Because I'm awesome.

(rejoice!)

times are getting a little crazy

Oh crap, the first of seven interviews with school districts begins today. It's only 7am and I already want to take a nap...

bring it

I hope she's been declawed...






kitten vs. frontrow on Vimeo

got a secret handshake

I just turned in my PACT.

I feel like the quarter is over even though I have two more classes next week (during finals week! Boo.) and a ton of stuff to do to get ready for all my interviews, plus Lindy's wedding. Yikes. I'm still swamped.

Today the Davis schools had a minimum day and I got a call from one of my seventh grade girls, inviting me to have lunch with her and a bunch of her friends at Pluto's. I think I literally saw every junior high student in Davis this afternoon. Sterling even dropped by and asked me when I was going to start working at Davis High, which prompted a fight with the girls because they want me to work at Harper next year. Bethany interjected, "Are you sure you want Megan as your Bible study leader and your English teacher? What if you get tired of her or decide you don't like her anymore?"

"Wh-what?" Sterling sputtered. "Why wouldn't you like Megan? She's awesome. She's going to be the best teacher ever."

It warmed the cockles of my heart, it did. I love kids.

In other news, nine of my students turned in their CD projects. And they're great! Hopefully I'll get some more turned in after the weekend.

talkin bout the car wash

Get your car washed for FREE this Saturday!

It's that time of year again - UCC's Annual Free Car Wash. Bring your car to University Covenant Church this Saturday from 10am-4pm and get it washed for free!

Our high school students are raising money for their Spring Break Mexico trip with Amor Ministries. They get sponsors for each car they wash, so they will be receiving ~$50 for washing your car, and you don't pay a cent!

University Covenant Church is located at 315 Mace Blvd. Get there early for a shorter wait time and don't be discouraged by long lines, there are 5-7 wash stations. No donations accepted - tell your friends!

bronze skin and cinnamon tans

This Thursday, my Eng9 class will submit their "Romeo & Juliet" CD projects. I'm excited about this project because it's an opportunity for the students to show me that they understand the plot and themes conveyed in "Romeo & Juliet" without having to do a lot of written work.

They're also really easy for me to grade.

In the spirit of being a good teacher, I also completed the CD project and brought it to class with me today to model for them what I'm looking for. The entire project consists of a CD case front with an illustration, CD case back with the track listings, complete lyrics for 2 songs, and a completed CD planning worksheet. The worksheet asks students to list bits of lyrics from each song and then show why they chose the song by connecting them to lines from the play.

Here's my soundtrack:

"Summer Jam" -Underdog Project
"Please Forgive Me" -David Gray
"Cupid's Chokehold" -Gym Class Heroes
"Ordinary People" -John Legend
"The Red" -Chevelle
"Don't Matter" -Akon
"If You're Not the One" -Daniel Bedingfield
"Wonderland" -Dexter Freebish
"Far Away" -Nickelback
"Never Leave Your Heart Alone" -Butterfly Boucher


My PACT is still unfinished, but I remain optimistic. This weather makes it hard to get anything done though, as I just want to lay out by the pool in my bikini.

Which I did, yesterday...

nothing at all

Did you know that the average American IQ is only 98?

How do they expect any self-respecting student teacher to take the completion his or her PACT seriously with such a low national IQ? God, we're lucky if we can get high school students to count to 10!

OK, I'm obviously stressed out and annoyed by this assignment, and getting more and more agitated the closer I am to finishing it. I honestly probably only have about 3 more pages to write. Why can't I just get it done?

I'm unplugging my internet.

anthem

"I am gonna make it through this year
If it kills me"
-the mountain goats

Watch the weird music video here.

all i want

Today I had a meeting and it messed everything up. And like, I'm not allowed to talk about it for another four weeks or so, but trust me when I say that it is seriously messing things up right now and I'm a total wreck and I'm not sure what God has planned for me anymore.

I've spent all day making a 14-page writing packed for my 9th grade collaborative essay project. I haven't worked on PACT. I need to go to the gym (but am avoiding it because of creepy hitting-on-me guy). I love this sunshine.