Author Archives: Elisabeth

About Elisabeth

The joyous and sometimes odd adventures of a former English teacher and her trusty sidekicks, Jared the Hottie Husband and her two Italian Greyhounds, Stinky Stevie and Bonnie Boo. Recently the adorable baby, Princess Evelyn, has joined the clan to shake things up!
Jul7

Fowards

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Fowards

Warning to all readers: This is a rant. If you do not like rants, then please do not continue reading. Thank you.

One thing that drives me CRAZY are email forwards. Of any kind. I do not care for your lolz cats or husband-bashing or motivational food-for-thoughts or political opinions or  stories about a sick child’s dying wish or a warning you to not pull over at _______ because ______ will happen AND YOU MAY DIE.

And oh, don’t forget to forward this on to  as many people as possible because if not, you will have seven years of bad luck and then you or someone you love will die a horribly tragic and excruciating death. So, to cover all your bases, you do a mass forward to anyone who ever had the misfortune to be included in your email address book.

Come on, people!

If I wanted to see the cute, cuddly animals, I could do a Google search. I have a lolz cats of the day on my iGoogle page, which I rarely look at and while I am thinking about it, I may just get rid of it now.

I rather like my husband, and he’s excellent at putting his clothes in the hamper and dishes in the dishwasher, so I don’t want to bash him or men in general.

Political opinion pieces generally include extreme character attacks, and it’s just depressing to read.

And all those warnings or “Oh my gosh I can’t believe ____ happened!” emails? Check out snopes.com and the likes first to make sure it’s not purely made up. Because most of those things never happened.

So, don’t send me your forwards. Unless something like the Second Coming has started AND IF that were to happen I could probably hear about it first on CNN.com or the news, so really, forwarding an email chain isn’t necessary.You could even just post a link to it on your Facebook page, and give me the option to -click- and view it if I so choose to.

One in fifty might be worth resending, and if it is, at least include some personalized “I really thought of you when I saw this” note at the top. And make sure that the actual email is included. Thank you.

Tune in next time for my thought-provoking essay on how the word “epic” is completely overused in today’s youth and media…

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Jul5

The Help

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The Help

I just finished reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Wow.

You always hear people going on about a great book, and then the hype usually doesn’t live up to the expectations you formed. And plus, it wasn’t a fantasy/sci-fi novel that I tend to gravitate to; it’s more of a historical fiction.

It just got me thinking about all the lines, borders, fences, etc., we put up between ourselves and anybody else who might be considered “different”. In our daily chats at CTWP, this came up over and over again, in multiple settings and different issues.  Race. Religion. Sexuality. Social status. Abuse.

We fear different. Different might even be better than what we do, and we can’t have that. It’s like the Demotivator: The tallest blade of grass is first to be cut by the lawnmower.

Underacheivement

(Thanks, Despair.com)

We often like to pretend those lines aren’t there. It’s wrong or inappropriate to discuss them as a teacher in the classroom setting. Some things are acceptable now that weren’t when my parents were children. And even then, some people still have deep rooted prejudices towards the Civil Rights movements of the 60s. And students are amazed when they realize, in several parts of the world, the country, the state,  some people still keep their lines drawn firmly between themselves and “The Others”.

So it’s always there, the current deep and powerful, lurking under the waters. That’s why I love novels, reading, writing, so much–because deep in every important story, the lines are discussed, crossed, eliminated, or held up. And your reaction to whatever it is, tells more about you than you even realize.

Stories like The Help tear at me. I wonder how many times I just accepted something that was told to me because it was “just how things are”? How many times I treated somebody based on a preconceived stereotype, not thinking about what I was really doing or saying? How naive and ignorant have I been?

In the end, I desperately wish that people could just truly care about each other the way they should, not withstanding these lines. What a place this world could be, I wonder, if everyone treated each other with a little more kindness and acceptance. If we all lived by The Golden Rule: treat everyone how you would want to be treated yourself.

Would we have those lines still?

Jun26

South Beach…

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South Beach…

I’m completely and unabashedly an emotional eater. I feel stressed; I want to eat. I feel sad; I want to eat. I feel frustrated; I want to eat. Considering that I felt all of these emotions the vast majority of the past year, I discovered that the weight I am at was not what I wanted to experience.

But it’s hard to retrain your body when you have gradually built up a response system the whole previous year. It’s like how I have to go to bed by a certain time every night, or else the next day is absolutely miserable for me. I’m a junkie for my sugar and carbs. I know it’s not healthy for me, (especially because my myriad of health problems make physical workouts hard to do,) and it definitely hasn’t done anything nice for my vanity, either.

Enter: South Beach Diet.

Principle 1) Eating food that are lower on the glycemic index (essentially, low on sugars- natural or added). First two weeks, no sugar or carbs–mainly veggies and low fat dairy and proteins.  No fruit (too much sugar), no bread or grains (cutting out both sugar and carbs), and not even some veggies (carrots and beets are high on the glycemic index).

Essentially, I’m going cold turkey.

I am hoping that by sticking to this, it will help me break the “addiction” my body has to the bad stuff. I’ll eventually add whole grains and fruit back into my diet. When I did the diet several years ago in college, it was amazing how much it helped me feel better about myself and my weight. I’m hoping it will happen again now.

It’s been one whole week, and I am happy to report that I have already lost 5 lbs.

That almost makes it worth not having my daily dose of bread and sugar… right?

Jun21

CTWP 2011

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CTWP 2011

The last day of school was the best last day of school I’ve had since starting teaching. I can’t pinpoint what exactly made it better; perhaps the change in scenery and administration, or maybe the sweet gifts I received, or thoughtful/funny notes written in my yearbook I bought (Come on people, it was the school’s first year. I had to buy a yearbook!).

Anyways,  since school has ended, I’ve been involved in the Central Texas Writing Project. This links back to the National Writing Project (www.nwp.org). Kids are having a harder and harder time these days with producing thoughtful, well-written anything. The purpose of the project is to educate teachers to do meaningful, best practice teaching to help get our schools up to par, no matter WHERE or WHO you are.

For being together for just 2 weeks, our group is like family. There’s something about the writing process that helps you open up, turn around and face issues, or just express your emotions in a safe place. And honestly, there’s not a lot we haven’t covered in our time together. And think about it. Eleven people, willingly giving up their a good chunk of their summer time just to better themselves for their future students. I absolutely love these incredible teachers and have already learned a lot from them.

A huge chunk of the project is writing. You have to write a:

-Memoir piece (Which conveniently turned into a Father’s Day present… :))

– Experimental piece (poetry, fiction, multigenre… you name it)

-Book review with a few partners on a book the CTWP bought us (My group is going tomorrow for Penny Kittle’s Write Beside Them” -a great example of writer’s workshop)

-Demo Lesson: Roughly 2 hours of teaching the class a lesson like you would teach the students about writing. (I went last Wednesday, sharing the memoir I wrote about Grandma S. last summer. By the time we were done with the lesson, everyone had shed a few tears. Definite bonding experience)

– Research piece: Researching a “burning question” about teaching practices and presenting them in some format next Thursday.

And, of course, I am writing every day from 8:30-3:30 at the campus meeting site. And reading articles and short stories they give us. And participating in everything else I need to do to be successful in life.

I’m tired- no denying that. But would I change the experience? Nope. I’d go back again next summer if they’d let me, even without grad credits involved, because it’s been that great of an experience.

May31

Three More Days…

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Three More Days…

Three more days. Three more days. Three more days…

This has been the craziest year.  I know I have said that before, but it’s so true. For example, today we were told what our rooms for next year would be. And several people found out that they might be a different grade level by where they were placed in the layout (since we have a separate hall for 6th, 7th, 8th grade and electives). Several of my coworkers came into work today thinking they were teaching, lets say, 7th grade math, and found out by email that they might be a 6th/8th split.  Yeah. And the best part is that we found out placements today, and by Monday June 6, we have to have everything moved from old rooms to new ones… while still teaching. Awesome! I’m actually one of the lucky ones who gets to stay in my room, so that’s nice at least.

But, that’s just an example of craziness. And I may have 60 creative writing stories to grade (varying from 2-13 pages, depending on the student) and 68 The Lightning Thief tests. By Thursday, ideally. And here I am typing a blog post because it requires less energy than grading. oy.  🙂

I truly hope I never have a year like this one again. This year has just been horrible and problematic and energy-consuming and depressing with all the budget cuts, responsibilities, and expectations. Fortunately, my kids this year have been the best bunch I’ve ever had in Texas, and that in itself has been a lifesaver. You’ll always have battery-drainer students, but I have had more awesome students added up this year than ever before, and they are the only reason that I am still able to push through.  There are many, many, that I will miss. And that’s a nice, but bittersweet feeling; I would be surprised if next year kids will be able to be as great as these kids have been overall.

Anyway, enough reminiscing.  Even though my “to-do” list before the school-year ends is pages long, it’s not going anywhere if I don’t get started now. 🙂