This week's thoughts on teaching

We have less that 7 wks of school and the days are going by faster than I can count. This has been a challenging year, one in which I have grown in classroom management skills. I sure hope that my next year's students are slightly less rambunctious. I received a letter in the mail last week stating that I am no longer a "highly qualified teacher" since I am not ESOL endorsed. (In 2001 they came up with the idea of imbedding ESOL into the core teaching curriculum, before that it was a minor that you could take as an option- whoa to all of us who graduated before 2001!) I couldn't help but laugh at that. Not only due standards vary from state to state, even within the state, counties can't decide what counts as a "highly qualified teacher"- only a select few counties state that it's mandatory to have ESOL certification. To make the matters more hysterical, classes offering this certification are offered on an irregular basis. I called our county office of professional development to complain and was told "We recognize that this is mandatory and that there are more teachers that need this certification that the number of classes offered. However, we only offer 1 section of each class with 25 spots every 3-6 months. It's not our problem." So, I need to take 7 classes, and only 1 has been offered this year.

Add this to the fact that our budgets have been cut, I'm suppling my own paper towels and soap in my classroom, offering extra credit to anyone who will bring in copy paper (I was given 1 ream = 500 sheets of paper in January to last until June!), they want to raise our health care costs, freeze what little salary increase they're considering giving us, is it any wonder why we have such a shortage of teachers in our area?

In light of being told I was a "highly unqualified teacher" I have to look at my ESOL 2 student who is thriving in my LA/ reading class. He currently has a B in both subject areas and is keeping pace with the rest with our 6th grade level reading novel (he reads independently on a 2nd grade level.) Does this mean he understands all that we are talking about? No. Does he understand the similes, metaphors, foreshadowings, etc that we discuss, not always. But, with some tweaking, working one on one, he is successful. He is actively participating and volunteering, the class claps and cheers for him each time he correctly diagrams his sentences, and he loves to read out loud. When I look at him, I can't help but think, that's not to bad for being "highly unqualified"!

'n Korte Bouwer-Reunie

My boet Tian het Sondag aan wal gestap vir 'n weeklange werks- verwante besoek. Ons het hom 15 mnde terug laas gesien en voel bevooreg om hierdie onverwagse pasella te kry.

Intussen duur die soektog vir
'n nuwe blyplek voort. Gister, smaak dit my, het ons nog 20 pleke gaan besigtig!

Saartjie het 8 weke skool oor hierdie kwartaal, en begin vlge week met haar Internasionale Studies. Ek handig oor 2 weke my dissertasie in, lewer my finale projek voor 'n paneel op Saterdag, 3 Mei, en neig Kaap toe 3 dae later.
Min dae!

Weekend Bliss

The ingredients for short-term bliss, for a feeling of instant gratification and relaxation is firstly being outside of Miami, being on a beautiful, quiet, beach, sun, sand, turquoise water, and time!
We spend the weekend in Fort Lauderdale at friends - on the beach - and all was good.

Last Class!

Changes

I love change...at least I used to. Change is something that is inevitable. However, I am way more open to change when it's a complete new, like ending a new book and starting new one. Today however, that did not happen. Instead, it's like a commercial break occurred and the program will be resuming shortly. In short..... we turned in our letter of intent of moving. Where to? I don't know and wouldn't even mind if we were moving from Florida, but we're not. This might not seem like anything big, but to me it's huge! Miami is so flipping expensive that I'm stressing that I'll end up living in a postage stamp like house paying an extortionist rate as we look for a closer place to work.

The problem is I work in the Gables, an extremely expensive area. Anything decent is going to run you $1500 and up. Yet, I'm so tired of driving an hour to work each way for a whopping 11 miles. If we lived closer, then not only would I save on time, but gas, wear and tear, etc as well. Not only that, Marco works north-west and by moving, he'll also be slightly closer.

What's frustrating about this whole thing is we have to give a 60 day notice before moving out. So, as we're looking, the places that we're looking at are not the ones that we'll be moving into- no one is willing to hold an apartment for 2 months. We did ask for a grace period and could we give a 45 day notice of the intent to move out (giving us a little more time to see our options and make a final decision of whether we should do this). Without even a thought our management gave a resounding no- if you want the apartment, you'll have to reapply for it. Never mind that we've lived here 3 years, have always paid our rent early, have made no disturbances ( unlike our neighbors with 3 arrests taking place in this last lease alone!), don't have kids who are selling/ doing drugs in the gym, and pretty much keep to ourselves....

There's just an uncertainty to the whole thing that makes me go, yuck!

An Ad from the Not-So-Distant Past

Washington DC pt 3- Rememberance

Once of the things I loved was the memorials to our heros.  Each monument was one that made me reflect on truly what our country was founded on and that what I enjoy today came at a price.  I stood at the Jefferson Memorial and read Jefferson's words, the words that were to shape our country...

"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal. That they are  endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights... and for the support of this declaration... we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

As we walked through the various memorials, I came upon a large flag made up of bronze stars representing the soldiers who sacrificed during WWII.  I was reminded of a quote that I had challenged my students with, "The dead pay the price for the living."  That which I enjoy today came because someone was willing to pledge their life so that I could have a better one.

         

DC pt 2- A Walk Through History

We spent quite a bit of time in the National Archives, partly to get away from the cold and partly because we're both history lovers.   I just finished a 9 wk study on the Revolutionary War and am currently teaching US government in my SS class.  Seeing these documents that are the foundations to the freedoms that we enjoy today, was very inspiring.  As I stood there and looked, I wondered if our forefathers know that over 250 years later, the words that they penned would still hold such value and importance.

Left- The Magna Carta

Right- 

The Declaration of 

Independence

Cherry Blossom Festival

Upon our arrival in DC, Brandon met us at the airport and gave us a quick tour of Alexandria, VA, a suburb outside of the city while we waited for Heather to get ready. :) Seeing Heather was awesome. We've been friends since I was 16 and she is one of the few friends that I have kept up with over the years. Her friendship is something that I really treasure and I knew it was going to be a blast spending the next few days

with her and getting to know her husband.

After chatting over cups of teas and exchanging all the "vital" news that couldn't wait, we headed over to the Mall to the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was beautiful!! As soon as we stepped out of the subway, a brilliant blue sky met us and there stood the Washington Monument. It was amazing!

The opening day of the Cherry Blossoms also coincided with the annual kite festival so there were hundreds 

of people on the Mall lawn flying kites. It was perfect weather for that. There was a strong breeze so kites bobbed all over.

We followed the trail along the Potamac River. It was so great seeing people out enjoying their city and be able to partake in the festivities!

D.C.