Anybody else notice these Target commercials?
2nd Grade Teacher Commericial
Music Teacher Target Commerical
Gym Teacher Target Commercial
Target: Do you have to make teachers seem so clueless and annoying? Your marketing is not working on me. If you didn’t have such good stuff, I would boycott you just because these commercials drive me NUTS!
Okay. Just had to get that out of my system. Am I just crazy, or are there any other pet peeve commercials out there for you all???
A great article from Los Angeles Times about the continuing challenges of teaching…
Exerpt:
I’m willing to work as hard as I can to be an excellent teacher, but as a country we have to admit that I’ll never be excellent if we continue to slash education budgets and cut teachers, which is what’s actually happening in California despite all our talk of excellence, particularly in schools that serve poor children. Until we stop that, we’ll never have equal education in this country.
To read the rest of this, click here!
Two summers ago, when we first bought our house, the weather decided to make a run for making the record of the most days over 100 degrees. As you might imagine, it was hot. Jared and I were still euphoric about moving into our first home, so we didn’t let the heat stop us from starting to move our things from our apartment to the house.
That is, until the AC stopped working.
Even though we had the controls set to mid-seventies inside the house, the temperature rose into the eighties, and eventually, the nineties in the afternoon. And there is not much motivating about moving and cleaning up things in a house that is trying to cook you alive as you do so. As we investigated, we realized the problem wasn’t with the controls, but that the AC unit itself. It wouldn’t turn on.
Jared’s first thought was perhaps that it was a circuit breaker issue, but when we looked at the box in the garage, there was nothing labeled for the AC. So we did the next natural thing when you have a home warranty that is mandatory to get when you are buying your home: we called for an AC guy to come look at our unit.
A few days later, he showed up, and after about 15 minutes, decided that there’s nothing wrong with the unit and it must have been something with the circut breaker. Jared explained the dilemma about nothing being in the garage labeled for AC. The AC guy just stifled a laugh, shook his head with amusement, and walked us around the house, to point us to the circut controls that are on the OUTSIDE of the house.
Until that moment, we did NOT know that box even existed. He opened it, pointed to the somewhat clearly labeled AC part, flipped the switch, and immediately the AC unit turned on. We paid the guy, and thought it was over.
Until a few days later, when the AC stopped working again. We flipped it again. Then the next day. And the next day. And the next day. Then it increasingly got worse and worse, to the point where it would only last a few minutes, if we were lucky. So like the smart people we were, we called the electrician, who when he came, opened up the box, and showed us the circut breaker (or what was left, at least):
The electrician held up this charred piece of plastic and metal next to a new, bigger and better breaker. He then patiently explained to me that the circuit breaker was technically the required # load for the job, but a solid, good breaker that would be capable of standing up to the load that was needed (especially in one of the hottest summers ever) would be nearly twice as thick as this one. This poor guy just couldn’t take the load it was labeled for. He then put in the bigger breaker, same # caliber as the other one but twice the size.
Our AC has been amazing ever since.
I bring this up though, because lately, I feel like I’m the fried circuit breaker. Despite the many things I’ve done to “flip the switch” to get things back on track, it’s not enough. Even the positive experiences I do have only last a short while before it runs out.My metaphorical batteries are run dry (apparently, I didn’t get Energizer brand) and every task I do takes so much more energy than I could have ever predicted. Getting up out of bed in the morning is a chore.
And teaching… All my previous years, I was excited to go back. Even after my month in June, and YWC, and a few weeks rest, I am unsure if I am doing the right thing. If I’m even GOOD enough to do it. I’m plagued with all kinds of doubts. Example: If I was GOOD enough to be a teacher, wouldn’t I be able to teach a grade level I want? If I was GOOD enough, wouldn’t have somebody at a high school taken me on by now?
Generally we want to be the hero (or heroines) of our tale. Somebody brilliant, brave, talented, who can stand up to any challenge thrown at us. The Harry Potter, Bella Swan, Ender Wiggin, Aragorn, Kendra or Seth Sorenson of our own life.
But right now, all I am is a broken circuit breaker, trying to make it one day at a time.
Because I wasn’t busy enough this summer, right?
I actually wasn’t going to do the Young Writer’s Camp this summer, but I was asked to do it. Part of me was flattered at the time, but now I am thinking it’s just because they couldn’t find enough people who were qualified for it to volunteer. (By the way, I DO get paid for it!) So for the next week, I will be going to a local high school from 7:30-12:30 to work with 6th, 7th and 8th graders on how to become better writers. Woohoo!
I did not want to get up this morning. I didn’t sleep well. Fortunately, I didn’t have any of the typical teacher nightmares that usually happen when I know I’m about to get a new group of kids to teach. Like, not knowing where I’m supposed to go, walking in late, not having anything planned for a lesson, having repeat students from years before, or not knowing anybody’s name and looking like an idiot. Oh, and then there’s the part where I APPARENTLY AM NOT WEARING ENOUGH CLOTHING. Ugh.
So nothing like that. Just my typical run of the mill weird insomnia and stupid dogs deciding that 2:00 AM is an acceptable time to whine at the door until we let them outside.
I also had a sort of emotional weekend. Nothing life threatening, but for an anxiety-ridden person like me, it was enough to make me stressed out. I might have to do a blog post on all those things separately, later on. I started to try and put it in here, but it was going to take awhile. So to sum it up: Harry Potter movie 7.5, late night noisy neighbors, and a fire ant invasion in our family room. Throw in a bout of PMS, and it was a recipe for disaster.
The camp itself was actually pretty good. The normal awkwardness of the first day got over pretty quickly, and the most of the kids were really good.
The group of kids I have are split about half and half. By saying half-and-half, I mean half are there because they like writing and want to be there. Then there’s the half there because their parents think they need extra writing help. If anything, it’ll make for some interesting activities.
So, all in all, it was a pretty good first day. Especially because I’ve never done anything quite like this before.
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.