Back to School

I have started back at school. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the "job" God has for me. I see it as so much more than a "job." It is definitely my calling in life, and personal mission to advocate for and educate English Language Learners. However, it is exhausting. First of all, my numbers went from 8 to 18. Of course, I still have people that think 18 is nothing, because they teach 125 kids. What they fail to realize is that my kids are from all different countries, are on different language levels, and I must support content teachers spanning 7 grade levels with no teachers aide. I have about 50 minutes to give support AND teach my curriculum to kids who just came to America and kids who have been here 7 years. I am expected to give history tests, welding tests, earth science tests, and provide homework help for about 35 different courses with different teachers. I travel between 2 buildings. ALWAYS forget something at one school. In the middle school, I have ONE table and a room with curtains for walls. And while it sounds like I hate this job, I wouldn't quit for anything because I would do ANYTHING for these students of mine. I feel like I am on my own missions field in small town, PA. Here is my issue: the lack of support I get from co-workers. I really don't want recognition that I play superhero all day- I am far from perfect. I really don't want to blog about my co workers either. I just need to "vent" about why the last 5 days I was made to feel like my job was meaningless.

Day 1: A teacher says that his class has become a "dumping ground" for "those [my] kids."
Day 2: I overhear a teacher say that this year will be the best because they don't have any ESL kids. Do I take this personally? Of course. Should I? I don't know.
Day 3: A teacher asks if there are any 8th grade ELLs. I say "only 1" and she says "Thank GOD!"
Day 4: I meet with a teacher who says "I want to send all of my work down to your class. It is a studyhall, right?"

I have had to run across the school 4 out of the first 5 days to meet with teachers who are freaking out because they have a kid who can't speak English. I would LIKE to remind them that when I offered an ESL inservice in September, NO one from the high school showed up. Now, I come home late from school everyday because I am educating them on my time.

Also, there is the whole humanitarian issue. I make home visits (tonight I spent more than an hour rocking a baby at one of my student's houses while helping him and his mother with homework for social studies). I fill out free lunch applications, forms, help with bills, mail, etc.

But, I am made to feel useless. This never was meant to be a complaining blog. I really do love my job. But it feels SO good now that I wrote about it, and this could explain why I have been averaging 4/5 hrs. of sleep per night and cried the last 3 nights before bed. UGH. Talk about STRESSSSSSSS!

Shady Ghetto Fabulous

Corey has already completed 2 weeks of his second year at Temple Law. I had the joy of moving him in with my parents help, to this beautiful blue row home in North Philadelphia. He lives in a tiny bedroom on the second floor and has 4 other guys in undergrad at Temple sharing the house with him. While we were moving him in, there was a crazy college party going on. They asked my parents to pay admission and get drunk with them, and Corey's bath/shower had 2 huge kegs in it. My mom scooped some ice out of the bathtub to use for our warm water that we were going to drink out of our red party cups. I informed her that that was absolutely disgusting. Oh brother, pray for safety and Corey's sanity...it is going to be a looooong year. PS- If you were looking for a nice house number, you won't find it because it is squiggled in black spray paint on one of the steps.

Children

This week I have been watching my cousins from upstate New York. I see them about 2 times a year. They are 9 and 7. They will be here until Saturday, unless I drive them back up to New York (quite a feat since I don't drive on highways) in about 3 minutes. Which brings me to the subject of this post: Brats.
I feel a little guilty for calling family members brats, but...I will.

My mom has been helping me watch them/entertain them, until today and tomorrow when she works. I have about 100 things to do to prepare for school, but I have had kid duty since Sunday.
I loved spending time with my cousins when they were like 3 and 5. Soooo, I have decided that I don't like children ages 6-13. My reasons may be shallow, but here they are:
1. Greed- my mom tells me all children are greedy to some extent, they can't help it. I was not a greedy child. Really, I wasn't. When my mom would offer to buy me a toy at Toys R Us, I would say "No thank you. Maybe another day." These kids are greedy.
2. Whiny.
3. Wasteful- I HATE wasting food. It is one of my pet peeves. I think I got this from my Nannie. I made an entire bowl of Mac n Cheese for Isaac because he wouldn't eat a sandwich. He took a bite, and threw the rest out! They never finish their cereal. They ask for chips and then don't eat them. They play with their food. Moving on...
4. Picky. My mom had to go to 3 different places for lunch, because no one could agree. Isaac hates burger king. McDonald's makes Liz sick, she loves Burger King. Subway for lunch- Liz whines because they don't serve Strawberry Milk. Complains that we use "I can't believe it's not butter spread" and not Brummel and Brown margarine. We are awful for not having Sunny Delight in our fridge.
5. Everything is lame. Our swimming pool is lame because it isn't heated. The prizes at Chuck E. Cheese are lame. (Ungrateful) If my Aunt Karen or someone in my family took me to Chuck E. Cheese I would NEVER DARE have said that the prizes were lame.
6. Sugar binging- At the community pool, I took them up to each pick a snack. Liz wanted Nachos with Cheese, A ring pop, A pack of Swedish Fish, and an orange soda.
7. LOUD. I was woken up this morning -only morning to sleep in this week- by Liz busting in the door and jumping on my head. Seriously. And do we have to bang on the piano during quiet time?


So, while not all kids are all of these things...most are, and it disturbs me. Now give me a moody teenager, and I can have some fun! This is why I don't teach elementary school. Maybe Pop-Pop could raise my kids from ages 6-13. Or, I could find a nice boarding school. Or, I will just try my best not to raise them to be brats.

So, It's August now...

Nothing much new with me. I have been all Negative-Nancyish lately, so I haven't been blogging. I don't know why I didn't just blog negatively, because I will probably end up being negative in this post, anyway. I swear, it is the month of August. Usually around the second week, I get these pity thoughts for myself and struggle with trying to make the most of the end of my summer and I never do anything. I am just lazy. It is a vicious cycle. As much as I love Christmas, I love summer more than anything. And I must say, this summer has been mediocre, at best. First of all, I never went away for more than 3 days (and that was once and cost me an arm and leg). Second of all, I have only one friend here. Third, I fell, causing bodily injury ruining a solid 3 weeks and disabling me from working out, so I feel like fat lard. Annnnddd, now I have to prepare myself for going back to school, and since I teach, I kind of have to prepare stuff now. Both of my classrooms are a mess and I have no lesson plans. Also, this is the worst time of the year because I have to get ready to say "goodbye" to my best friend, and get ready to be ignored for about 9 months while law school takes my spot on the stove and I move to the back burner. On that note, I just helped Corey move some stuff to his new townhouse and for the record, it is on the scariest block of North Philly that you can imagine.

I really don't have a horrible life. Just kind of lame lately. Also, I should cherish the time I do have left of summer. I will end with a positive thing. I am going to be in my first wedding ever on Saturday. I shall carry out bridesmaid duties in the great town of Mineral Wells, West Virginia. So, alas, my second 3 day trip of the summer. I don't even want to get into how 'hick' this wedding could possibly be. :-] Let's just say, my mom had a dream that she woke up there and didn't have teeth!

A Nice Trip

Don't be fooled by the title of this blog. I didn't go on a nice vacation or anything.

On Friday night, I went to Lititz with my mom to check my mail, and pick up some of the refugees to spend the weekend at my parents house so they could sing at church. It was pouring rain and before I left my apartment, I grabbed some things to take home with me and with full hands proceeded down the wet wood deck steps (there are about 20). The next thing I know I am on my butt near the bottom of the steps. I don't even remember actually slipping. The glass bowls in my hands shattered everywhere and there was blood all over my back and my elbows. I hit my head so hard that I thought my brain bursted out of my skull. It throbbed so hard, and I was just screaming in pain. I landed right on my tailbone, then smacked and scraped my shoulder blades, and hit the back of my head. I probably should have gone to the ER except I wanted to pick up my students because I was going to be late. I was completely covered in dirt and mascara ran all down my face (I thought it was waterproof!?)

So anyway, now I have an egg on my head the size of Louisiana, a hideously bruised back and scraped shoulders. I have whip lash so bad to the point that I feed like I'm in a body cast. It even wraps around to the tendons on my chest. I am pretty sure I jarred everything in my body. Needless to say, I can't sleep. I can't lay on my side, back, or stomach, and what else is there to lay on? My doctor is on vacation, so I can't get pills. I just pop advil all the time. Saturday, we we planned on going hiking to waterfalls, which I did. I was exactly like an old lady. I had my arm looped around Courtney's. Oh, what I do for my students! And it was the stupidest idea ever, because I can't move now.

Corey believes that I just have sore muscles...he says "Beth, you are fine. I played flag football before, I know how it feels." OK, Corey...this doesn't feel like that kind of soreness. AT ALL. He also said last night that he loves me so much, except for my ailments that I have all the time. He said he doesn't like handicapped people because they are annoying, get a good parking spot, and most of them aren't even nice anyway. I feel the support just dripping off of him. :)

So this is a rough way to be in the summer- like a vegetable. I can't swim or jump on the trampoline, or play volleyball with the students because I ...can't. And I feel so badly, because they are already going back home tonight. At least last night we got to go to the Farmer's Fair- shout out to Trish, who loves our town's cheesy festivities. We saw all kinds of vegetable freaks- mutations of townsfolks veggies. Also, Trish, I saw Robert Alan Krome III there and he and his wife of two years are expecting their first child in February! Thought I would keep you up to date on Pen Argyl's news.

Week of Lazy

I never realized how lazy I could be until this week. There have been random moments of productivity: laundry, cleaning, cooking, tutoring, and sending off some emails for work. Also, these all sound so boring, so: I never realized how lazy AND boring I could be until this week.

Today, for example, I woke up at noon (the latest I have slept all summer) and then laid on the couch and watched TV for an hour, then went outside and laid on the back deck for 2 hours. Finally, I became so consumed with gross guilt that I went inside and got a book. One of those books on spirituality that makes you think. Why is it that if you lay down with a book in your hand, vs. with nothing in your hand, you are suddenly slightly more acceptable and productive? I am not sure, but it did the trick. Then I came in and did a 7 minute power ab workout-again, hoping to wash away some of the lazy guilt.

I am going to be jealous for a minute...everyone's life (broadcasted via the facebook) sounds so summery and interesting. I would like to think that the summers between college, I was interesting and fun too, but now reading about other people going to beaches, hiking, taking trips to cities, parks, museums, parties, and picnics, make me feel sooo lame. I feel as though I have evolved straight up into old lady status. I called my family today and they were on the beach in Maine.

Tomorrow I am babysitting the same kids I watched without pay for 11 hours Monday, when I realized I won't be having children for at least 10 years. The boy threw a ball into the hot oven while I was pulling dinner out and the ball melted and got stuck under the coils, creating an awful plastic-y smell and my face bright red yelling, and resulting in Corey's forearm burning while removing the ball with too-short grill tongs. So yes, I am looking forward to tomorrow.

I apologize for any negative energy this blog gives off. I really am happy! Just bored...and contemplative.

"Staycation"

I am not sure which person coined this lame term, but I'm using it all week. So thank you to them. My sister and her boyfriend and my parents went off to our annual vacation for the 4th of July up to Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. As much as I love going there even though I have been there 20 times total, I don't love being a 5th wheel and being a tag along to either my parents or Courtney and Kyle. So, I am dogsitting Murphy and watching the cat and rabbits for 10 days. There are several perks to this: Corey gets to help me, and this means I get 10 days of cooking for him and practicing being good wife material. Hahhhh! Well, the cooking thing is a huge excitement factor for me. Also, we plan on movies, board games, and taking several walks in the neighborhood. He will have to work the whole week, but that's when I plan on catching up with reading, preparing for next school year, and scrapbooking!

Corey had off today and we were planning to drive to Lititz for the 4th of July Parade, but a few days ago I came down with a terrible chest cold and couldn't breathe all day. So we stayed home. I tried to perk up his day by making him 9 huge sea scallops and corn on the cob with rhubarb oat bars for dessert. :) Tomorrow we are going to try to go to Aunt Nancy's for her picnic and then maybe head to Lititz for fireworks at 10. I love 4th of July fireworks!! Actually, I love fireworks whenever.

So here I sit enjoying my chest cold, getting ready to watch Marley and Me, and have a blast on my STAYCATION! WOOOO!