Mosaic Meme

Something fun from Kassey while I should be cleaning my room.

Answer the questions below in Flickr search, and then pick a picture from the FIRST page of photo results. Use Mosaic Maker to plug in the pictures and make your own journal mosaic.


1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favorite food?

3. What high school did you go to?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. Favorite drink?

7. Dream vacation?

8. Favorite dessert?

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?

10.What do you love most in life?

11. One word to describe you

12. Your flickr name, or if you aren't a member of flickr, your blog name, etc

1. Flying Megan......, 2. Açaí, 3. St-François d'Assise, Vienne – Saint Francis of Assisi, Vienna, 4. My purple all star for the first time at the park, 5. McDreamy getting dreamy, 6. natalia's prize..., 7. Sydney on the harbour, 8. Day 267/366:Halloween Week - Mini Pumpkin Cheesecake. Explore #109 on 10-26-08, 9. mom n baby, 10. Worship - Jesus set me free, 11. The Trees of Loyal Love, 12. The barefoot selfportrait

where were you

The week has gotten marginally better as we wrapped up Part 1 of the Odyssey in Advanded 9 today and began Romeo & Juliet in Benchmark. Things that pleased me immensely in both classes:

Advanced 9 - As we read the section in which Scylla eats six of Odysseus' men and Homer then compares the way she plucks them from the ship to fly fishing, Cody (a favorite from last year) walked into my room to give me roses for Valentine's Day. Without missing a beat or even waiting for me to ask about it, as I am hugging Cody, another student says, "Wait, that's an epic simile!" This is exciting because even though these kids are smart, they are kind of lazy and have been expecting me to spoon-feed all the literary elements to them so far. I am glad to see they are starting to take some initiative and get involved in the story.

Benchmark - We read the prologue together and then I asked them to determine the ryhyme scheme. After they figured it out (ABAB CDCD EFEF GG), I asked them if that particular rhyme scheme looked familiar. And in every single class? "A sonnet! Oh! Does that mean it's written in iabic... imbanic.... iambic pentameter, too?!"

Good times. I'm still glad it's the weekend, though.

rise up

I have been trying really hard to practice gratitide this month. Every day I do my best to think of one thing I am thankful for and post it as my Facebook status (silly maybe, but it reminds me to do it). Today though, I am not feeling grateful. Instead, today I am tired of overweight, apathetic students listening to crappy music on thier iPods as they saunter through the hallways, too cool to make it to class on time. I am tired of skinny jeans and weird-printed hoodies and black lace-up Vans. I am tired of "But I don't like reading," and "At least a 60% is passing," and "I lost my textbook because I put it in Bianca's locker and now it's gone" I am tired of sending kids to the nurse because "they don't feel good," when really they didn't study for the test and I'm tired of tracking them down during lunch and study hall to make up the test when I know they are just going to get a 17/50 anyway. I am tired of giving up my prep period to grade essays in the Learning Center and I am especially tired of "friendly reminders" from the tutors during 5th period that I have 15 essays to finish grading. I know how many essays I have to finish. Why do you think I haven't come in to grade them? It's because I'm not interested. It's because I'm tired. It's because I don't get paid enough to deal with obnoxious, ignorant, rude, and uninterested students every day. I am tired of having a class that is 95% weirdos and only 5% normal kids. Where are the regular kids? Where are the students with parents who make them sit down at the kitchen table when they get home from school and do their homework? Where are the parents who give out consequences for bad behavior and poor grades and reward their kids for doing well and raise their kids to be productive, positive members of society?!

I feel better now.

touch the sky

Thank you President Lincoln, for giving me the day off!

Yesterday Brian and I went to The Melting Pot for dinner to celebrate our one year anniversary! Crazy. We cannot believe that a year ago we were awkwardly sitting in the Tower Cafe and now we are getting married!

Today I slept in and then went for a painful run, reminding myself that when it comes time to do the alterations for my dress in June, we can either let it out or take it in, and I want it to be taken in. I have lost some weight already, so I need to start lifting weights again so I can tone back up.

The rest of today has been... strange. I read on a blog this morning that a girl I went to college with has moved down to LA with her husband of two years and while he works as an engineer, she started a wedding planning business and is selling jewelry on the internet. I found myself both disgusted and jealous at the same time. On one hand, I would never want to stay home all day while my hubby made the big bucks. I would get bored and would wear sweatpants all the time and would probably gain weight from all the lattes I would drink. However, I would also love the opportunity to sleep in and drink coffee and go to the gym when it is not overrun with people and pursue fun things that I enjoy like cooking and decorating and the like. Why do I have to be so driven? Why do Brian and I have to have jobs that require us both to work? Why can't I just be a lazy, crafting bum? Gah!

Consequently, I spent the day puttering around the kitchen and not getting my grading done. Now I feel overwhelmed with the amount of real work I have to get done before I go into my classroom tomorrow. And I never changed out of my sweats after my run (see?).

However, I did perfect my granola bar recipe (I can't remember where I found the original one, but I think mine is better - and better for you). They are awesome! Here's the recipe:

Grab and Go Breakfast Bars

1 cup Quaker Oats
1 cup Shredded Wheat 'n Bran
1/2 cup almond slivers
1 1/2 cups dried fruit (I used a combo of apples, apricots, prunes)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/3 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil or coat an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. Place the oats, shredded wheat, almonds, dried fruit, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor and pulse until the mixture is finely chopped
3. In a large bow, whisk together the eggs, honey, and vanilla. Add the oatmeal mixture and chocolate chips and stir to combine.
4. Transfer to the baking pan and flatten down gently with the back of a spoon or spatula to spread evenly.
5. Bake about 18 minutes until the edges turn golden brown and the bars are done. Let bars cool completely in pan before slicing and serving.

It is supposed to yield 16, but mine only yielded (yielt?) 12. I can't imagine cutting them much smaller than I did, or they wouldn't really be very satisfying in the morning. I should have taken pictures, but didn't. Oops.

They are about a million times better than the Fiber-1 bars I have been buying at the grocery store, and way cheaper, in the long run. I think next time I will use dried pineapple, guava, and mango and omit the chocolate for a tropical treat to psyche me up for Hawaii this summer (and motivate myself to work out some more so I look irresistible in my bikini).

Then I tried to figure out my espresso machine, which has been sitting abandoned since I opened the box at Christmas. I succeeded at steaming milk and making a super weak pot of espresso. I decided to try again for a stronger brew, but must have screwed the filter on incorrectly, because the pressure from the water caused the whole basket to explode and I got gross coffee grounds everywhere. It was disgusting. I added my steamed milk to a cup of Earl Grey tea and gave up for the day. Maybe barista is not the non-teaching job for me after all...

Now I'm considering doing some laundry and making dinner (Butternut Squash and Cumin Couscous - our favorite vegetarian meal) before our soccer game tonight. And maybe doing some lesson planning. Why am I so unmotivated today?

EDIT: I can't believe I forgot to mention that I wrote the entire wedding ceremony script on Saturday! It is so multi-cultural and hippie-ish and beautiful, I just want to read it all the time. I can't wait for July!

holy moly

Several exciting things this fine Wednesday afternoon:

1. We booked our honeymoon! Leaving CA on Tuesday, July 28 we will fly to Maui, drive the Road to Hana, and stay at the beautiful Hana's Heaven until Thursday. Then, we will check into my family's condo on Ka'anapali and stay for another beautiful week full of snorkeling and sun and all around fabulous good times. I am so excited already!

2. Spring Break. Cruise to Mexico. Enough said.

3. Last night I purchased software for my computer for the first time ever. I am so unbelievably obsessed with MacGourmet, it's kind of ridiculous. Brian watched in amazement as I clipped (hundreds of!) recipes that I have saved in my Delicious into the most ingenious software that is, essentially, iTunes for foodies. I am in heaven. The best $25 I have ever spent, hands down.

4. I should be expecting my photography contract to arrive in the mail any day now! Two months until engagement photos - hooray!

5. I have been running with my soccer team and I feel like I will look hotter in my dress already.

6. Brian updated our wedding website (which I cannot access on the school server- lame). "His story" is pretty adorable.

this rut that i fell into

A first-year teacher from Iberia, Missouri just emailed me to ask for my point-of-view worksheets which she found the instructions on my student-teaching webpage through Google. Also, I just realized that the abstract for my thesis has been published on the School of Education Inquiry Projects page. I'm like a famous teacher person or something.

sweetness

Some cute things from my students yesterday.

Adri left this note on my board while I was heating up my lunch:


And Sonja made this in MS Paint during 5th period while the rest of the class watched Goonies (it was Career Fair Day, so no actual teaching got done):
Alright, so the grammar and spelling leave something to be desired. Perhaps more time should be spent teaching and less time introducing my culturally deprived students to works of cinematic genius from the 80s? Oh well. All together now: "Aawww."

sledgehammer

This year I want to simplify my life and I am trying to do so by being more organized. Consequently, I spent much of today's work day in my classroom cleaning, and filing, and organizing, and throwing away crap I don't need. I have also cleaned my bathroom, put away all my laundry immediately after washing it, loaded the dishwasher, and decided that I do not have to grade every single assignment my students turn in.

I feel better already.

this could be

New wedding-related posts up at Weddinged! Mom and I have accomplished a lot in these last two weeks. I'm so excited for July!

My time in the Bay Area is up and I have to drive back to Sacramento tomorrow morning. Unpacking, lesson planning, and finals grading will take up Sunday afternoon and all day Monday, and then I see students again (including my brand-new 1st period with 32 new students!) on Tuesday. I am trying to psyche myself up to be back in the classroom after the debacle that was the last two weeks of last semester. At first, I was telling myself, "Only 18 more weeks, and then you can get a new job in a new school with new students and new co-workers," but I realized that that's not the best attitude to take. I do, after all, have to teach this job at this school with these students and these co-workers for another 18 weeks and I don't want to be miserable and counting down the whole time. I need to remind myself why I enjoy teaching and remember that second semester is so much easier and way more fun. Poetry, Odyssey, and Romeo & Juliet, plus a unit on Brave New World for the Advanced kids. Honestly, second semester is my dream job. Plus, I'll be coaching and it's always nice to see students in a context outside of the classroom.

Brian is stressed out about his Master's (but wasn't I at this time last year too?), so I'll be in charge of cooking comfort food dinners and orchestrating coffee house weekends coming up. Plus, you know, planning my wedding.

just say yes

After cleaning up my room this afternoon and finally escaping into my beautiful holiday break, I realized that I had left every single final exam and paper sitting on my desk in my classroom.

So much for finishing my grades over break...

last dance

I am sitting in my classroom. 5th period is taking their final and I just finished taking roll. There are 12 students absent. 12! 12 students in a class of 32 decided not to come to school today and to miss their English final that is worth 10% of their total grade. 12 students who are already in danger of failing decided to say "F--- you, Miss Garcia! We don't give a crap about your class or about our grade or about how hard you have been fighting for us this semester!"

Blah. I can't wait for 12:30.

hello it's me

You can read a rather abridged version of the engagement story here. There are only 2 days left of school before the holiday break, I ran a 100+ degree fever last night, and it looks like my closet vomited into my room. Glorious.

Happy Holidays, all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This post is belated, but you'll soon understand why. Hopefully I will come up with a massive list of things I am thankful for this year soon (a la 2007 and 2006), but right now what I am most thankful for is my amazing fiance!


We are squinting because my ring is so shiny, obviously.

mighty to save

Here is a school update :)

Last Friday I was scheduled (at the very, very last minute) to be observed as part of my formal "I'm a new teacher so I need to be observed several times each year to ensure that I'm not destroying the literary competancy of my students" obsesrvation. The only period available for observation? Fifth.

Oh. Crap.

Here's the deal. My fifth period is kind of crazy. Like, monkeys in a banana factory crazy. They are loud and off-task and goofy and immature and generally pains in my rear. They are sweet kids but, good Lord, I would pay so much money to just get them to be quiet and let me teach.

So. Formal observation during fifth period. On a Friday. With only one day to prepare. Awesome. This is totally going to go so well.

So I cobbled together a lesson plan involving a reading quiz, a Think-Pair-Share activity, a worksheet about parallels and conrasts in Of Mice and Men, and some independent work time to let them get caught up in their reading packets.

I prayed for a fire drill. Or a real fire.

Friday rolled around and the kids came in from lunch, sat down, and did their opener - quietly. I passed out their quizzes and they took them - quietly. I collected the quizzes and reviewed the questions. Several students raised their hands to answer and the rest? They sat quietly. We started talking about parallels. I gave some real life examples, and then one or two obvious examples from the text that we have already discussed. I then asked them to think for a minute and write down one more parallel. When they were done, I told them they were going to share their parallels in pairs and then we were going to share them with the class (See? Think. Pair. Share.).

Surely, I thought, this will not go well. This activity will, as numerous activities before, instantly devolve into madness. I stood back and watched....

My students thought quietly for a moment. Then, they turned to their pairs and shared briefly. Then they all looked at me and waited for their turn to share with the class. And then they raised their hands to share! And they shared! We had an amazing discussion, everyone was engaged and participating, and no one spoke out of turn.

It was a little creepy.

When I gave them time for independent work, I reminded them about one page in their packet called the "Chronolog" which was designed to help them review the plot of the story. Victor raised his hand, "Is it in chronological order?"

"It is," I replied. "Does everyone remember what that means from the first week of school?"

And then, as though inspired by angels, the entire class chorused in unison, "The order that events happen in time!"

My post-observation conference was today, after I threatened to rip the gum out of a fifth period student's mouth if she blew another bubble while I tried to teach and made another student sit outside for the duration of the period because he couldn't just sit quietly while we watched the end of Of Mice and Men.

"You are doing an incredible job," my VP said. "I don't have a single recommendation for you."

Oh, come on.

political musings

Like many others, I am so proud to be an American today. I spent yesterday evening on my couch, under a blanket, watching the election results come in like I was watching the Superbowl. My roommate(s) walked in and out, asked uninformed questions, and looked at me like I was crazy. I ate a mini Snickers bar and read The Last Empress during commercial breaks and may have shed a tear or two when Obama's electoral vote count jumped from 200 to over 300 at 8pm.

Obama's speech... I don't have words for it. I am excited at the prospect of change. I do not think Obama has a magic bullet to fix all of American's problems, but I do believe that he desires to make positive change in our country and, as I told my students this morning, begin sewing up some of the gaping wounds from the last 8 years. We don't need a Band Aid, we need major surgery. I am disturbed by the tendancy that Obama opponents have to demonize our new leader just because he is different and represents change. How can anyone not realize that what we desperately need right now is change?

McCain ran a good race, but in the face of an economic crisis I believe that America is reluctant to trust another Republican. We saw this with the presidential race, but also with the House and Senate races. As one of my students pointed out, all the blame will fall on the Democrats if something goes wrong, but I don't know what else the Republicans could have done to secure this election when the Dems made such a concerted effort to turn the big swing states blue and McCain focused mainly on shoring up his own defenses. In the end, it just wasn't enough. When economics go south (especially as a result of a war that many do not support that was started by a Republican), it is hard to concede the leadership of our contry to another Republican. I believe that McCain did all that he could do, but the situation was against him. Do I think he would have won without the depression we are in right now? I'm not sure. But I do think it would have been a much closer electoral vote race.

So while I am proud to be an American today, I am disappointed to be a Californian. Although I'm not shocked at the Prop 8 ruling, it still makes me sad that, as many of my friends have already pointed out, right now we care more about the rights of farm animals than those of our actual citizens. How sad that we live in a state that can elect an African-American man as our president but cannot get past our own ignorance and close-mindedness to allow people to live their lives the way they choose to.

As a human being, I believe that we all deserve to be treated as equals. No one should have their basic rights as citizens taken away because of a lifestyle choice, because they are different. Who do we think we are to tell somone that because they are different from us, they deserve to be treated as "less?" It literally makes me sick to my stomach. Gay marriage is not about education, nor is it about religion. Gay marriage is about treating people like human beings, with the dignity and respect and fairness that, as human beings, we deserve.

As a Christian, I believe that we are instructed by Jesus, first and foremost, to love. I do not believe that it is my place to judge the lifestyle choices of someone else, nor do I believe that I have any right to tell someone that they are living their life incorrectly until I fix all of the junk that is in my own life. I think that we need to be a little more concerned with love and a lot less obsessed with legality. I cannot believe that Jesus would actually want me to tell someone that they are not good enough to share the same rights that I have just because they are living a lifestyle that is more openly taboo than some of the more private sins that I personally deal with. It's sometimes hard for me to wrap my liberal Christian mind around it, but in the end I always come down to love. Prop 8 passing has nothing to do with love and everything to do with ignorance and judgement. I am a sad Californian and a sad Christian.

I think Prop 8 is largely a generational issue and I do believe that in coming years we will start to see a definite shift.

There's more but.... I'll get off my soap box now.

never leaves too soon

Do you dream that the world will know your name?
So tell me your name
And do you care about all the little things,
Or anything at all?

Do you believe in the day that you were born?
Tell me do you believe?
Do you know that every day's the first
Of the rest of your life?

This is to one last day in the shadows
And to know a brother's love
This is to New York City angels
And the rivers of our blood
This is to all of us, to all of us.
-Thriving Ivory, "Angels on the Moon"

some women are dripping with diamonds

Today I felt like my students actually learned. I mean, we do stuff every day. We journal and read out loud and do vocabulary exercises and practice our grammar. We answer critical thinking questions and have discussions and take quizzes and study for tests. But today...

Today I gave a mini-lecture about the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl to set the backdrop for Of Mice and Men. And they were rapt with attention. They were fascinated. About the Dust Bowl! They wanted to know about the stock market and why it crashed and what did people do if they didn't have money. "Where did the farmers in Oklahoma go, Miss G?" they asked. "What did they do when they couldn't farm their land anymore because of the drought?"

"They moved to California, young scholars. They moved to California and California said, 'We don't want you either. We don't have any money to pay you.' So they were kind of screwed."

"But then what? What happened? Where did they live?"

I slapped a picture of a Hooverville up on the overhead.


"Whoah. People lived there?"

"Yep."

And in one class: "Isn't that what happened in The Grapes of Wrath?"

Breakthrough!

dancing in the moonlight

I received an email today from an individual with a considerable amount of authority at my site that asked me to meet with one of our new teachers as often as possible to share teaching and behavior management strategies with her, because she is struggling considerably. This was in response to my request that no other students be transferred into my class from her class 8 weeks into the school year because they are coming to my class too far behind to be successful.

I would post the reply I wish I could have sent, but to be perfectly honest I am still too flabbergasted that she actually suggested this in the first place to even begin to form coherent thoughts.

My department chair wanted to know if the school was planning to pay me to teach our new teacher how to teach properly. Indeed.

cover me

According to Glassbooth, I should be voting for Cynthia McKinney this November. Go Green Party!

Don't worry friends, I'm still 80% compatible with Obama and the Democrats will, as usual, be receiving my vote (and to be fair, McKinney used to be a member of the Democratic party).

The kids are benchmarking today. I'm getting so much done for once!

oh susanna

This has been a pretty fabulous weekend, if I do say so myself (and I do!).

Yesterday AM I slept in, then walked up to a coffee shop, rocking out to my iPod in crazy blustery windy weather and planned for the next two weeks. Major breakthrough! I have really enjoyed having the time to really plan out what I will be doing in my classes far enough ahead of time that I don't feel like I'm running around like crazy at the last minute. Brian and I had lunch after his class and we headed out to ANOTHER coffee shop, where I made about a million worksheets (but it felt so good!). And then I cleaned out my closet, putting all my summery things in boxes and unpacking my sweaters and corduroy pants and fleecy PJs.

With my luck, it will be 90 degrees this week. Damn global warming.

This morning we started the Old Testament Challenge Part 2 at UCC with the book of Joshua. It was serious good times. Brian and I had a sweet talk on the drive home about the Old Testament and what I believe as far as, like, what the heck it all means. After some lunch, Brian and I did MORE grading/planning/worksheet making at Tupelo and then took a nap. Well, Brian took a nap. I may have done some more planning. I can't help it! Sometimes I just get so into what I'm going to be teaching that I just can't stop prepping! It's weird, I know.

And now, Brian is at Alpha at UCC. I have taken advantage of this glorious alone time by making a Carribean Chicken Stew and.... more worksheets. But really good ones!