November 2012
1 post
Kismet and Reunion - France
Goodwill or St. Vincent de Paul is the equivalent of Emmaus in France. Because we were missing some essentials for camping and didn’t want to buy new things if we didn’t have to, Elo and I spent a few successful hours digging around for a cooking stove, plastic-ware, and knives. Wandering through the vintage typewriter section, I was astonished to read this sentence typed on all of...
October 2012
1 post
4 tags
“Low expectations are soft bigotry.”
– The only thing G.W. said that I agree with…
August 2012
1 post
An Intro To the Beginning
Wanderlust. Vagabond. Adventurer. Globetrotter. Free spirit. Traveler. In my mind these titles conjure something far more romantic than my self-image communicates. But I like to think there is something in these words that lives in and through me. I’m not sure what gives me and so many people I know and love this insatiable urge to pack a backpack, get on a plane, go to a place where we don’t...
April 2012
1 post
Please, Take My Passion Too
I’m sorry if you had a teacher who only asked you to open a textbook. Someone unfeeling and stern. Someone who scared you. Someone who sat at the front of the class, behind their desk, barely glancing up when you finished yet another insignificant worksheet. If you only had teachers like this, I forgive you for not reading much further.
Now think of the teacher that changed you in some...
December 2011
3 posts
Strangers (link) →
To stories. Sad. Simple. Hopeful. Welcome, 2012.
“The most important thing to know about someone is what you don’t know...”
– The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
Revolution
What’s been happening in Ms. Fitz’s classroom? Considering the topic of revolution as we analyze the American Revolution and Occupy. My aim was to connect the civil strife and actions of 18th century colonists with contemporary frustrations and efforts to create change.
Our essential question for the unit: How do you show your government you want change?
The students and I examined...
September 2011
5 posts
2 tags
Phastasmagoria
You’re screaming. They can’t hear you- or don’t want to. You’re upset. Frustrated. You wake up- defeated.
This scene is admittedly trite. But it may be played out because it’s so pertinent. Karen Russel’s novel Swamplandia!, is, metaphorically, some 400 pages of this dream sequence. Initially, I regarded the book with ambivalence. Just this morning, however, I...
An Intro to Seedfolks: "Morning Papers"
Seedfolks is a great book to begin the year reading. It also creates a lot of opportunity for intentional and unintentional micro-aggressions, and straight up racism. There are a couple of chapters in particular written in language other than standard English. Windows…
For a community like Parkrose, much of what is expressed in the book is perfectly accessible and relatable to the students....
Trauma
A student cyclone ruined my classroom. It’s ironic, yes. But something in the cosmos deemed it necessary.
Unfortunately there’s nothing funny about this story. It’s just sad. Not sad because my classroom was destroyed and a small team of teachers and administrators spent three hours of their afternoon cleaning it up before I witnessed it. It’s sad for reasons you...
Our Classroom
The first time I saw my new classroom, I sat there for an hour. It was drab and uninspiring. Posters covered the walls, but most pertained to behavior or made failed attempts at being educative. The built in bookshelves had become a dumping ground for archaic “teaching” materials. One set in particular, Career Choices, published sometime in the 70’s, was a self-help text book,...
July 2011
1 post
What Harry Potter Knows →
An essay that reminds us that fantasy novels can be the most influential in the evolution of our souls despite them not being particularly high-brow literature. I was reminded of my loved and worn copy of James and the Giant Peach, the book that continues to help me bend and reinterpret reality.
May 2011
2 posts
Thoughts on The Importance of Unwritten Postcards
If we experience something exquisite, absurd, unique, or unhinging do we completely internalize it? Do we sketch it down and layer it onto our world views? Do we know what we’ve learned from it, or what could be gained from it?
What Steve Himmer suggests in his essay The Importance of Unwritten Postcards, is that often times - we don’t. For those of us “plugged in” to the...
Life - Amped Up →
I don’t know how I forgot that music is indeed the cure all. Life hasn’t been doing me many favors lately - or I just haven’t been looking carefully enough - so I’m seeking out favors compliments of internet tracks and a sick new sound system. I’ve been sedentary with no one to blame but myself. It’s time to start exploring again - in every capacity possible.
...
March 2011
1 post
Bloody Knuckles and Hip Hoppers ~ March 5
I think the saddest thing I’ve witnessed all year was when my student, unable to cope with his anger, punched a wall so hard his hand started bleeding. We all know this student: he waltzes in to class a few minutes late almost every day, whistling, pacing, complaining of headache, without a pencil, refusing to join the rest of the class. His favorite line for a week (before I know how the...
January 2011
3 posts
Turning $20 to $100: A Sparrow Club Fundraiser ~...
The Sparrow Club is an organization that believes in the potential of school communities helping children and their families. It’s a simple system in which schools sponsor a student in the area with a terminal illness. Nearby businesses then sponsor the school. Students earn money for their sparrow by volunteering their time in the community and organizing small fundraiser projects.
Our...
Post-Break Reset and Dollar Store Bribery ~ Jan 4
Glow stick bracelets, Sponge Bob compressed towels (just add water), bubble gum Dum Dum’s, retro plastic tops… ah the Dollar Store. What was once our childhood playground of useless, but endlessly entertaining, goody bag goodness-madness, is now easing itself into my PBS strategy (notice the acronym… I still can’t fully accept that I started accepting extrinsic rewards as a...
December 2010
3 posts
Shelfari →
Book lover’s social networking site. Warning: Addictive!
Portlandia & hipster bashing - click here →
I’m pretty excited for a show that reveals all of the oddities of Portland. After living in a foreign country and seeing Portland through an Irishman’s eyes, I have to say that Portland is obviously odd, but perhaps more notably, pretentious. The hipster movement, once categorized as something unable to be categorized, is simply annoyingly rampant in these parts. And while combing...
And we're back
If this is part-time reality, I really feel for the full timers among us. Although things are “under control” now (this is by comparison), I spent the first two months of this schools year feeling absolutely and completely inept. I was working close to 40 hours a week to put together 15 hours of class material for my ELD 1 and 2 students. Nothing was as I expected it to be. I...
September 2010
1 post
Misplaced Mental Manuals, Peace, and ELD
Me: the motivated grad student, to a tired student teacher, to an exhausted teacher, to an exhausted student, and finally, to a motivated teacher, to a confused teacher…
I feel like some mental instructional manuals for navigating through basic tasks such as backward planning, and pre-assessments got misplaced under files marked ‘Floating the River’ and ‘Dance Your Heart...
August 2010
7 posts
Diggin' this album... Ra Ra Riot "The Orchard" →
Enjoy! (Click the “Diggin’ this album…” link)
First week in the pirate's cove ~ August 19th
I moved to a neighborhood in Portland called Sullivan’s Gulch. This name just tickles my fancy to pieces. Originally, my mind’s eye imagined a pirate’s cove, but further research proves that I actually had no concept of the meaning of ‘gulch’. A gulch is a narrow and steep-sided ravine that marks the coarse of a fast moving stream. This area was once flooded with...
Northwest Teachers for Social Justice →
Rethinking Schools is hosting a conference for teachers during the first weekend of October. Click on the title above and join me as an ally!
“Rethinking our classrooms, organizing for better schools.”
Fears... ~ August 3rd
The list of the fears hovering over my head:
1. Can I learn the lesson I though I learned over this last year to stay balanced, take time for me, and play? I already have hip hop class lined up for once a week. I’m also looking forward to cooking in my own kitchen. I will go to one live show per month. I hope that’s a good start.
2. Building community is so important to me, but how...
Yummy Quinoa Salad Recipe ~ August 1st
I’ve been on a quinoa kick since I started removing wheat from my diet. For those who don’t know, quinoa is an amazing little grain packed with amino acids and protein. It’s easy to cook. All you have to do is boil the amount you want with double the water. It tastes delicious, and it makes fun popping noises when you eat it. I think that’s my favorite part :o)
Anyhow, I...
July 2010
16 posts
Enjoying "Toy Story 3", analyzing it, then...
I went with my mom to see Toy Story 3. It was enjoyable. I laughed, even cried kind of a lot at the end: growing up is hard. Unfortunately-or fortunately depending on how you look at it-I can no longer only enjoy these films that indoctrinate our youth, I have to critique the cuss out of them. Blatant language discrimination, homophobia, the promotion of racial stereotypes,and ignoring the...
WatchA video of my brilliant and inspiring fellow students and professional colleagues. What is the most important quality of good teaching? Push play to watch.
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
Dear Annie Leonard, I feel guilty about myself as...
First, the thoughts that inspired this posts’ title. I went to the outlet malls on the way home from Portland. I was seeking teacher-type clothing, but more importantly a teacher friendly messenger shoulder bag for my soon to come urban adventures in Portland while living without a car. I did indeed find such items. I found a Banana Republic skirt for 70% off and a durable, leather shoulder...
Tune! “Mouthful of Diamonds” by...
Filling out forms ~ July 20th
I really hope that there aren’t questions I should ask tomorrow that I’m not aware I should ask. I’m meeting with HR for Parkrose Public Schools in the morning. Meeting with HR… That just sounds so strange to me. I’m suddenly occupying a body that is supposed to enact the versions of professionalism seen in movies and sitcoms. They never really show you these things...
Fish that nibble toes ~ July 19th
When the dust clears and you begin to see glimmers of yourself in the people that never left your side, clarity and happiness rise up from the rubble, form healing clouds around you, and bring you back home.
I meandered through a part of myself that had yet to be explored over this last year. I was vulnerable. New niches of the cove offered uncharted territory. Appealing and intriguing, but...
Tune! “Hold On” - Rusko feat. Amber...
Just dance... ~ July 16th
An avocado cream cheese snack. The delectable end to a delightful evening. Completed by getting down on the dance floor.
Shoulder pop right - left. Head tilt, turn right, pause—-freeeze…. and, left foot sliiide, pop right, and knees- arm hit and groooove. The end of my night went a little something like that. And let me just say, that after a year like this one, letting my body loose...
Poo Poo H2O ~ July 14th
Simulation success!
Now that I’m confident it works, I feel like I can divulge the details. We split the class into three groups: A, B, & C. They represented corporations, an American family, and the globalized third world. The “teachers” stood in for other forces such as natural disasters, the economy, etc. The groups receives 30, 10, 5 candies respectfully, as well as a...
WatchPromoting creativity for a sustainable future.
If I could pay in skittles ~ July 13th
M & M’s. No skittles. Jolly Ranchers! And food coloring. All the makings of an engaging, environmental awareness lifting, simulation. We’ll see how it plays out tomorrow when 15 unsuspecting new teachers are asked to pay up in individually packaged sweets, and cringe (hopefully) at the thought of tainting their group’s water supply with hunter green dye.
As my group members...
The beginning? ~ July 12th
I had something entertaining and worth sharing to write before I took the time to set up this blog. I still do. But now, I honestly don’t have the energy. I used it all talking myself out of the need to buy a $9 Vintage theme for my new blog. Self conscious postings on a background that doesn’t reflect the inner me will have to suffice for now. When I get my first paycheck in two...
Tune! “High Road” - Broken Bells
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”
– ~ Anais Nin 