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

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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.

"This is not about being open to gay, lesbian, and trans-gender students. This is about being open to people... Every single one of your students has a story." -Sylvia Aquino

I hear an alarming number of my colleagues say, "I'm just not sure why I'm here or if this is what I want to do" or (my personal favorite) "I just really don't like my students" during the course of the typical "So, how are your classes going?" discussions. Holy cow, this irritates me.

I realize that the purpose of student teaching and the credential program is to help us discover our strengths and weaknesses as teachers and, essentially, find our niche in education. And I realize that, undoubtedly, some people are going to discover that they aren't good teachers (I can pick out several right now...). But what I really can't fathom is why you would even consider the teaching profession if you don't, oh I don't know, like kids? Or believe in the worth and validity of adolescents?

I have a lot more to say, but I'm in the middle of a lecture about Title IX and am simultaneously taking notes, finishing lesson plans, researching the concept of a classroom blog, and looking up YA titles for this summer. And blogging.

Did I mention PACT? Yeah, that's due soon too...

the way home

I have a job for the summer! Today I was hired by LASD to teach an Upper Grade Enrichment class this summer, which means I get to develop my own curriculum and teach junior high for a month this summer. I'm really excited and will hopefully get to create a Young Adult Fiction course. Hooray for employment! Now, for fall '07....

all on my own

Daniel and I caught NBC's new series The Black Donnellys last night. It was, in a word, incredible. Not surprising, considering Haggis and Moresco's work on Crash, one of my favorite movies of all time. Check it out.

And speaking of great writing, we saw Pan's Labyrinth this weekend as well. Gorgeous! Thought-provoking! Amazing! I could watch it a million times. Thank you Guillermo, you are my hero.

maybe you need her

Best thing about this week? 3 hours at Sudwerk with Nick. It's nice to remember how great my friends are.

light my fire

Amazingly, the annual February 19th birthday countdown kick-off came and went and I didn't even realize it. I've been stressed lately (could you guess?) and actually just gave up this morning and let my ESL class watch "Shrek" for the last half hour of class.

What? You would do it too.

I'm having a really hard time believing that I'll be 23 in (hold on....) 55 days. I don't particularly want to be 23, mostly because I associate 23 with officially being an adult and have this irrational fear that as soon as April 19 rolls around this year, I'll suddenly become boring and practical.

This is, as usual, probably just a product of grad school, which has made me feel very boring and practical for the last six months. After all, part of being a teacher is justifying every single thing you do in the classroom. I don't do much adventuring and staying up late and, dare I say it, even as much laughing as I used to. This makes me sad and I hope it's just a phase, that as soon as PACT is turned in, I settle on a research topic, and I get hired somewhere, I can relax a little and loosen up some.

And for anyone who's wondering, I hated Grey's Anatomy last night. Hated it.

wouldnt that be sweet

Today was the greatest day of my teaching career.

Let's back up. Today was the dreaded "filming day". I slept horribly and had nightmares about forgetting my tape, the battery on my camera dieing, and none of my students showing up, just to screw me over. Fortunately, none of those terrible things happened, class went smoothly, and we had a rousing Reader's Theatre of Act 3, Scene 1. Thank you, English 9.

About halfway through the class, one of my students asked if there were any theatre companies that perform Romeo & Juliet anymore. I explained that lots of companies still perform works of Shakespeare, it's just a matter of finding one in your area that is playing the show that you want to see. I have been looking for a local company who is doing R&J so I can invite my students to check it out, but aside from a one-night showing by Aquila and Mondavi, there's not a lot of Romeo & Juliet happening right now.

This student in particular is one of my favorites. Not because he's well-behaved, or does his homework, or comes to class on time everyday. In fact, he does none of those things. He never stops talking, never turns in any work, and routinely walks in 15 minutes after the bell. However, he's got such spirit. And he tries really hard. And he's funny and charismatic and encourages the rest of the class to participate. And, for whatever reason, he has really latched onto Romeo & Juliet.

So, I accidentally left my camera running as class ended and my students started packing up. As I was reviewing the film this afternoon, I could hear this student in particular talking to my master teacher in the back of the classroom. I had noticed him speaking with her that morning, but didn't think much of it. I can't catch some of the dialogue because of all the other noise in the room, but as far as I can tell, he was asking her about their senior projects (big research projects they must complete and present to a panel in order to graduate) and, get this, if he could incorporate some sort of production of Romeo & Juliet into his senior project.

This is a kid who got a 13% in English last semester. This is a kid in danger of getting kicked out of school for whole host of issues. This is a kid who, in his first written assignment, said that he has been told "you'll never make it" his entire life. This is a kid I believe in because, underneath the beanies and baggy pants and gang symbols, he is passionate about Romeo & Juliet, of all things!

This is why I want to be a teacher.

the fear you wont fall

So I have a lot of work due in the next week, specifically Task 2 of my PACT which involves a lot of extensive lesson plans and getting filmed (again? seriously?) while I teach. Boo.

I'm home for the long weekend and find that I simply can't motivate myself to get anything done. I really just want to sit on the couch with my dog and read Zadie Smith's On Beauty, eat purple grapes, and drink lattes.

The whole "get a job for next year" thing is a little stressful as well, but again, I can't bring myself to do much about it. Basically, I want to teach in a Davis junior high or at my old high school. These are two very different schools in two very different locations and the constant mental comparisons I keep making are beginning to make my head hurt. I just want a job. And for this academic year to be over. I freaking hate grad school.

Winter Camp was awesome as usual, even with my ex-boyfriend in attendance and his random, weird comments about coffee and my nose ring. My pictures are up here and everyone else's will be here soon enough.

OK, back to work. Maybe.