A little perspective please...

All it ever does is rain in this damn city. Murphy’s law would of course apply when I say my umbrella was sitting safely in my bottom desk drawer. I wasn’t thrilled with the weather, but I had better things to worry about than the rain. I had an interview to get to, one that might just change the course of my life. Taking the shortcut though, that is the moment that changed my life.

You know those moments that you replay in your head over and over, what if you had thought things through before jumping head first into unforeseeable consequences…before jumping headfirst into oncoming traffic?

It truly happened in slow motion. The light turned red, the expensive sports car careening out of control, the eyes of the prissy, manicured woman at the wheel-wide with terror as just moments before she was probably wondering what her live-in cook would make for dinner as she hurried from yoga class to pick up the kids from their expensive nursery school. The light had been red ever since she turned onto Maplewood Drive. Aren’t we all preoccupied? Don’t we all have really important things to do? Did she even consider her actions would affect the lives of other people? Or are the other people just insignificant to her, her money being most important of course, people like that really make me angry.

I don’t know why I didn’t think about what would happen. I saw the soccer ball roll into the street. I heard the squeal of tires. I screamed for the child to stop chasing the ball, and when he didn’t my body moved by itself as if possessed by some unearthly force. I don’t even like kids. The last thing I remember is the look in that lady’s eyes, that and seeing the little boy standing safely on the curb, looking at the blood.

I have a book....

...in my soul. I do. Yes, I have a book in my soul. It's dying to get out. I'm not sure if it's a memoir, because it's totally about me, or if it's winding its way into a novel with the characters that make up my life evolving into different people with different endings and different lives. It scratches at the back of my mind during everyday events, begging me to drop what I am doing and WRITE it DOWN! I find myself ignoring other pressing issues and day dreaming story lines and chacters and conversations....

Scholastic.com offers advice for beating holiday stress for teachers. Here are my faves--

Keep in mind that no matter what colleagues, your principal, students, or parents think or say, you're basically a good teacher who can't please all the people all the time.

Think of things that make teaching fun for you - and do them!

Give yourself permission to do absolutely nothing for five minutes a day — and not feel guilty about it.

Be grateful to have a meaningful job.

Keep in mind this Christmas....

I was just talking to a guidance counselor about one of my students and was moved to tears as I learned more about this student's life.....

I have friends having babies, adopting children, applying to become foster parents, and loving their toddlers' first words. I have cousins who's children are the most important members of our family and who get covered in hugs and kisses the moment they walk in the door. These kids are much loved....but there are kids out there who are not.

Please keep in mind, (and not just during the holidays) how lucky you are to be loved. Share that love. Be kind to each other, especially those who are most difficult to be kind to. Think twice before mocking the weird kid, the smelly kid, the little rich girl, the socially awkward one, the band geeks, the prissy popular girls, the poor kid, the teacher who wears weird clothes, the guy who dropped all his books on the stairs, the girl who sits alone at lunch, the guy who tells annoying jokes....we are all a product of our environment. Be conscious of when you are kind, know when you are unkind. Make an effort to not hurt others. Seriously think about what you do and to whom....

And above all know that someone cares about you. I do. Happy Holidays.

Merry Christmas.

Let the Countdown Begin:

HAPPINESS RULES!
Lalalaaaaa....only 4 more school days till Christmas break! I am so so happy!


GLOBAL WARMING AND ALL THAT JAZZ
Nope. I do not believe in Global Warming. (I'm a republican for goodness sakes) Have you checked outside lately? Yup. Cold. I'm not sending Christmas cards this year. This will be the first time in 13 years that I have not sent my own Christmas cards to my friends and family. I'm not holding back the card delivery as a measure to impact the environment, I'm not trying to save trees. I'm lazy and broke. That's it. Although I did take some nice pictures of my dog in a Santa hat with the good intentions of putting them in a card.... life goes on. Merry Christmas and all that jazz.

NONSENSE
Mwahahahahaha. My poor students. They really want to watch movies and do nothing next week. How does that formulate their intelligent minds? How does that improve their education and their ability to be productive in society? No, my poor little naughties, we will be editing our memoirs next week and working in the computer lab. I am the evil teacher of your nightmares and I get pleasure from your pain.

Pssssssttttt......

Teachers do not want coffee mugs for christmas. We can only fit so many in our cabinet..... now books. There's always room for another book.

...that is all.

I want my students to read and love reading. (I'm reading the Kite Runner right now for the first time. I'm also reading Nineteen Minutes and When I was Puerto Rican.) What are you reading?

I love these two, really cool teachers who are working together on reading instruction and workshop.

I want my students to write and love writing. (I'm working on a short memoir about a cute boy I met in London. :-).....)

I sorta want a nap.