Calgon, take me away!

Today is the last day of the semester, and I have been up to my eyeballs in grading papers. I know, I know...it is mostly a predicament of my own making. If I would only be better about doing it throughout the quarter, I would do just fine. Well, that's true. I don't know what is is about my genetics, but I'm not sure that is a lesson I will EVER learn! I know what I NEED to do...I need to give each assignment a "closing date", and not accept that assignment after that date. I had so many students attempting to turn in make-up work...even today, when grades were being entered and students were off for the day, I had 2 of my students drop off work they had just finished! I need to also give myself the same "closing date", and have all of the assignments graded by that date, and enter "0" for assignments that aren't turned in. I think I owe my students that much, because the chances I am giving them to turn in late work is certainly not preparing them for any of the reality that will come in their future.

Now, for my gripes!

1. One of the assignments my students had to do on the digestive system recently involved a diagram of the digestive system, with each organ numbered (mouth labeled "1", salivary glands labeled "2", esophagus labeled "3", etc). The directions read, "Answer each statement with the number of the organ it describes." And then there were statements, each with a blank in front of them for the answer, such as, "_______ This organ is divided into three parts: the duodenum, the jejunum, and the ileum." And the students were to place the number for the small intestine in the blank. Simple, right?

Well, I had not 1, but 4 students in my health tech class who answered each blank with a letter ("A", "B", "H", "F", etc), instead of numbers. Granted, the assignment on the previous page was matching letters. And here is my gripe...One person getting it wrong is stupid, but I can understand just placing random answers and not taking the assignment seriously. The ones I'm REALLY irritated with are the 3 who COPIED!! There was nothing on the page that had any letters listed...and not one of them caught that little fact. Genius!

2. I am fed up with students who are OK with failing when they have the ability to pass. It so pisses me off!! I had students who would have passed if they had completed a few assignments during their last couple of classes, and they chose not to. It wasn't worth it to them. I've seen it time after time, and I know it will become important when they are seniors and wanting to graduate and realize they blew off a mandatory 1 credit of health. And I get irritated knowing that I will have to have them in class AGAIN because they wasted the first trip through. Ugh. I HATE potential that goes unrecognized by the person who possesses it! I HATE it when they don't care at all about how their decisions today will affect their tomorrows! It makes me want to slap some sense into those thick skulls!! Being a teacher is about making a difference, and I struggle with the times when I can't do that.

OK, venting done. As for the light at the end of the tunnel, my grades are entered, I have no papers spread in piles over my living room floor, and I have a weekend to relax! Hallelujah!

My poor feet!

I have evidently been too soft on my feet lately.

As much as I like my feet, I do try to take good care of them. I generally wear shoes that are "sensible"...well, not so sensible if you consider that I wear sandals all year round here in Oregon, but sensible in the fact that they are comfy. I wear Birkenstocks or flats to teach in, and tennis shoes when I have to walk a lot or when I'm working out. I've even brought out my fake Ugg's when my tootsies need to stay warm. Of course, when I'm not out in public, I am barefoot...which I firmly believe is the way we were intended to be! :~)

However, I had a few occasions this weekend to wear heels. I chose a couple of pairs that I hadn't worn in a while, one of which was a bit higher than the other pairs. Man, can my feet feel it today!! It was also reaffirmed that heels work your calves in ways that mere weight machines can even come close to doing! I think I may drive over to mom and dad's this afternoon when I get off work, and let my feet dangle in the jets of their hot tub. It's the next-best-thing to a good foot rub...which I would just about kill for at the moment!

Wow! All I can say about the turn of events last night in the championship game is "Wow!" My heart went out to Colt McCoy. To work for something your whole life, to put your heart and soul into a team and a program, to have a goal and have everything you have dreamed of right within your grasp...and to have it all taken away with one play is just heartbreaking. Yes, he will have a great NFL career, and yes, its not the end of the world, but I bet he feels like it is at the moment. To be told by coaches and trainers that you can't return to the game, to be scared due to the uncertainty of what is wrong with the throwing arm you can no longer feel (not a good thing for a quarterback!), and yet to have the heart to return to the sidelines and become your teammate's biggest cheerleader, knowing that you can do nothing to physically help them win, shows great strength of character. And talk about class! When he was interviewed after the game, even though he was choked up to the point that he was having difficulty getting the words out, he congratulated Alabama on a great win, said that he was proud of his teammates for continuing to be in the game and not rolling over, and praised Garrett Gilbert, the freshman quarterback who had stepped in to take over at the helm of the Texas offense. He gave full credit to God, and said that he knows all things happen for a reason. In the midst of possibly the worst moment of his life, he showed what a great young man he is.

Now, on to Garrett Gilbert! What an improbable turn of events for the freshman quarterback. To know that your team has one of the best quarterbacks in NCAA history, to know that your role in the championship game is going to be to learn from the best, and then be thrust into the role of leading your team in the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP against a raging Alabama defense...WOW! Talk about shell-shocked, deer-in-the-headlights moment! Talk about having to grow-up in the blink of an eye! Even though you could tell that he was nervous, and yes, he made his share of freshman mistakes, but I was impressed. He, thanks to some help and lots of encouragement from his teammates, got himself calmed down, and showed that he has the foundation to take over for Colt McCoy and lead Longhorn Nation. The experience that he gained last night will be invaluable...he learned that he can make a stand, with everything on the line, and have some success. I loved watching him jump up and down in excitement when he led their first touchdown drive...showing that he is still an 18-year-old kid. :~) He showed some great passing skills, some good scrambling skills, and showed that there is not much that he will not be good at...maybe even great at...with experience. I can't wait to see how he grows throughout his collegiate career...and it wouldn't surprise me to see him back at a National Championship game in a couple years. Oh, and if his mother is anything at all like me, I hope she has recovered from being a nervous wreck in the stands! :~)

Disc Drop

Alabama Crimson Tide

vs.

Texas Longhorns

Who will be #1?

There was a lot of FRUSTRATION in my classroom yesterday, which led to a lot of really good conversation...about concepts that I believe are at the heart of what teaching (especially teenagers) is all about. It was one of those days where you are provided with multiple "teachable moments", and can only pray that somehow what you are saying is getting through and making an impact somewhere in their brains.

A little bit of background. I have one girl in my class who turned 16 a little over 2 months ago. She has decided that she is going to get her GED. Here is the baffling part...she is one of the most capable, most intelligent students I have had, has a good home, has done well in school in the past (A's, into sports, lots of friends), and has no crisis in her life (not pregnant, homeless, has to work to support the family, etc). She got frustrated when she was told yesterday that, even with getting her GED, she still needs to complete the state-required Transition credits. She doesn't see the importance of moving past her GED. She says she has no need for college, for a diploma. In the class discussion, I kept repeating the phrase, "You have no idea!"...no idea what college is like, how different college life is from high school life; no idea how your choices now are going to affect your long-term happiness and abilities; no idea that there are more options in life than the limited vision they have right now. In reality, I didn't have a clue when I was their age, either, but at least I had people who had given me glimpses of what could be out there for me. I knew there were endless opportunities, and I knew that I could head in whatever direction I chose to go. I wasn't afraid to try out life and see where it might lead me.

Which leads me to the next topic...

FEAR. One of my other girls came over to my desk, and one of her comments was "I'm not good at anything". And the worst part of that thinking is that she is afraid to try new things because she is afraid of failing. She gets so nervous that she will fail that she sometimes refuses to start. What they seem to not get is that failure is not really failure at all...as long as you are learning and growing as a result of "failing". Thomas Edison "failed" to create a light bulb after many, many attempts, but when asked if he felt like giving up, he replied: "Young man, why would I feel like a failure? And why would I ever give up? I now know definitively over 9,000 ways that an electric light bulb will not work. Success is almost in my grasp." Michael Jordan failed to make the varsity squad as a sophomore at his high school in North Carolina. Abraham Lincoln was defeated for Speaker of the House, for the Senate, and for the Vice Presidency before he was elected President of the United States. Did the first plane the Wright Brothers made fly? The first "hot chocolate" was terrible...they hadn't added sugar yet, and it was made with bittersweet chocolate. Walt Disney tried to get MGM to distribute Mickey Mouse...and was told it would never work because Mickey would terrify women! Coke was invented to be a cure for headaches...but when is the last time we had to have a doctor's prescription to get Coke? Penicillin was the result of someone who "failed" to clean up his work area. And I could go on and on! Time after time in life we will "fail" to achieve what we started out to achieve, but that doesn't mean we have failed. We are constantly learning, and like Edison, figuring out what DOESN'T work. In my own life, I started off in college to be a Marine Biologist. I "failed" to get there, but love where my life has taken me. If you set a goal of walking 1000 miles, and yet only travel 999miles, you are still 999 miles further than you would have been if you had never started at all! There is nothing in life that says that a decision we make now, for the direction our life is going, has to remain a decision forever. We are free to make alterations, to take new courses, to follow where our hearts lead us. When we come to a fork in the road, we get to choose which path we want to take. We just have to be willing to put ourselves out there enough to START, to take that first step, to make that initial leap of faith. This is my new goal for my classroom...that I can somehow get my kids to see that the only failure in life is failing to try.

(I meant to include this with the last post :~)

Believe it or not, I made the call today.

Although I have gone 1 year and 5 months without Internet and cable TV in my home, I will soon re-enter this century and be equipped with both. When I moved, I had decided to not have cable and Internet so that I would focus on endeavors that are more productive, and usually more important. I wasn't sure how long I would last, but I have found that I did pretty well without the added distractions. So what made me decide to make the call? Simple. The Olympics will be airing in February, and I am truly a fan of watching the World's best compete for national and personal pride, pushing their bodies to compete and perform in AMAZING ways. I get all teary when I hear the National Anthem of the United States of America played and I see our flag being raised. I cheer and holler for the athletes who have conquered despite circumstances that would have hindered others. I pull for the underdog, who will forever be defined by that one shining moment. I love it! :~)

Let the adventure begin!

I have been wanting to start a blog, simply as a way of keeping track of the thoughts that run through my head on a fairly consistent basis. Writing them in a diary is fine, as far as diaries go, but I seem to have the problem that my diary turns into a venting mess that I would be embarrassed to share with anyone!

So, what made me decide to take the plunge, especially knowing how technologically unadvanced I am? Well, it started with a notebook...Knowing that I've always half-seriously wanted to BE Wonder Woman, Leah had found a wonderful Wonder Woman notebook that had been planned as a back-to-school gift, but ended up as an add-on to my Christmas present. (I'm sure we can all relate to life getting away from us occasionally!) She jokingly told me that I would need to write great things in that notebook, and I said, "Yeah, I'll write my memoirs. I'll call them "Ramblings of a Wonder Woman Wannabe." After a good laugh, the thought kind of took hold, and here I am. We'll start with thoughts, maybe progress to the memoirs...we'll have to see how it goes. For now, I have a start...and as they say, every great adventure must start somewhere!