I'm Trying Something New

So... this summer...

I've had a lot of conflicting feelings about what to do with myself. This hasn't been a problem for me for a long time. Here's what I've done the past few summers:

2006- School. I took all the pre-requisites for my major so I could apply the fall of my sophomore year. That would include: British Literary History (to 1500), American Literary History, Introduction to English Language (a linguistics class), and Fundamentals of Literary Interpretation. You know, the light stuff. I used to have this goal of graduating from college in 3 years. I can't remember why. I did it in 4, but it was a 5 year program, so I still feel good about that.

2007-A whole lot of working. After so much school the year before, I, for some reason, thought it would be very refreshing to work 10 hour days at the library and then get Friday off. Yay, three day weekends every week! Nope. 10 hours is a very, very long time at a library. (Luckily, I worked with awesome people- hey guys, thanks for reading!)

2008- Class/working. Over the summer I had my YA literature class and a film and literature class. They were so fun and awesome and great! The reading load was kind of heavy, and reading 40 books in 8 weeks was kind of time consuming. I'm also pretty sure that I had some sort of sleeping disorder, because I was tired all the time. So, I was either sleeping or reading basically all the time. Not so bad.

2009- Be unemployed/date future husband. Which was actually a whole lot of work as I was applying for jobs left and right, dealing with constant rejection, and holding all these weird, random temporary jobs. Also, on a wonderfully bright side I spent my evenings with Mike doing fun things. That part was nice.

So, in conclusion, I am usually extra busy during the summer. I was planning on keeping very busy this year too. But, after having spent the last 9 months in high alert panic mode, I have been thinking about taking a break. It is new for me. It is a little strange and uncomfortable. But, I'm going to try it. I'm really not that good at it yet.

Before you judge, please know:
*I still get paid- yay!
*I have plenty of things to do. Like get ready for a big conference in Park City :) And help my sister get ready for MRU. And use the sewing machine my adorable husband bought me. And read books.

Okay. Now judge.

Anything You Can Do I Can Do Meta

Happy first day of summer! The year wouldn't feel complete without some end of year reflection. Wikipedia says that "some evolutionary psychologists hypothesize that metacognition is used as a survival tool," and I believe it because thinking back helps you figure out how to move forward. Here's what sticks out to me from this past year.

1. I am setting an example.
In the middle of a presentation on some literary period a student raises their hand.

Student (12th grade boy): Mrs. H., you make your own PowerPoints, huh?

Me: Yes...

Student: I can tell. You always cite everything.

Me: Yeah, I guess I do.

Student (thoughtfully): Mrs. H.

Me: Yes?

Student: You're setting a good example for us. Thank you.

Rest of Class: Yeah, thanks Mrs. H!

That was kind of an odd exchange. But, it made me feel good that they're getting something positive from me. Also, I feel like I should attribute the title of this post to Dr. K. Matthews- my rad American Modernism professor- I think it's funny.

2. Make friends. You need them.
You need to be able to rant, to get second opinions, to share ideas, to borrow Diet Coke money, to sit next to someone during pep assemblies... it's important.

3. Parents May Be Adults, But That Doesn't Mean They're Mature
At a point pretty square in the middle of the year, I got a pretty nasty email from a parent about the grade I had given her daughter on her essay. She went so far as to pass the essay along to a former English teacher and quote his response that strongly implied that I wasn't intelligent enough to recognize her daughter's genius. It hurt a whole lot.

I took it to my department head, showed her my rubric and the essay. And, she was outraged by the immature things the parent wrote. Turns out we all pretty solidly agree that even if your kid is a genius, her essay (about legalizing marijuana- a topic geniuses do tend to dwell on) still needs to meet the essay requirements. And, if you're mean to me, Mrs. R. might maim you. From this one I learned to stick to my guns and not take anything some coddling parent says too much to heart.

4. Reading Makes People Happy!
Hamlet rocked the 12th graders' world (The "Homelet" (Hamlet + omelet) Party didn't hurt either). And, 9th grade girls cried when Romeo and Juliet end their lives. A couple of 10th graders read books in their entirety for the first time in their lives... and they liked them. And, even the surly 11th graders felt good about The Princess Bride.

5. Your Attitude Will Make or Break You
I would be lying if I said I was a ray of sunshine every day... really, really lying. But, I saw very clearly that whatever my attitude was would be the attitude I got back from my classes. When I was excited and happy, my students were too. When I was exasperated and exhausted and overwhelmed they tended to become exasperating, exhausting, and overwhelming. Let's just say, there were good days and bad days, but I want to change the ratio. Because really, why do it if it doesn't make you happy?

Mood Reading

Today is a day for Catcher in the Rye because Holden Caulfield swears almost as much as I'd like to today.

I'd maybe even risk one good swear, but I'm going to be on my best behavior for awhile. I did a bunch of checking up on a research paper last night that was totally just the regurgitation of a conspiracy theory, and it might have gotten me put on a watch list.

Best behavior.

17 days. 2 hours. 18 minutes.

Lessons From the Kitchen Sink

There is a reason people throw rotten tomatoes.

If you're ever low on tomatoes, but would really like to express your dislike of someone, I'm pretty positive that sloshing leftover spaghetti sauce that is way past its prime would do the trick too.

Ew.

Confession

I am passive-aggressively sabotaging graduation by not telling anyone that the quote being used as the theme is by Seneca, the famous playwright, and not "Senica" the non-existent person with poor syntax.

Good News!

It is a huge relief to be able to say... I have a job for next year!

I'm staying at the same school, so you'd think that wouldn't have been much of an issue... but you'd be wrong. Since I only had a one year contract I had to reapply for my job. Besides the other hundred people who applied, there were two other provisional teachers. The three of us were going for two jobs. And, of course, the rumors were flying. One week there was no hope, and the next week there was no reason to worry. It was exhausting.

Finally knowing that Mike and I will not need to move in to my parent's basement or a set up a tent under an overpass or something is nice. So is the fact that we now have some security. Unlike last year, I actually get a full contract this year. All teachers with less than three years are provisional, but this means that I have the job until I don't want it any more, or if something catastrophically bad happens.

Another perk is that I will no longer be teaching all four grades. In case it's not immediately apparent- that's not super easy. To illustrate... My district has a New Teacher Academy every other month. A woman I from my home stake (a very cool English teacher from Lehi) is one of the people in charge. She came over to give me a hug and say hi. When I told her what I was teaching, she grabbed my hand in an encouraging squeeze and said, "Oh, honey. I'll pray for you." So, the change is I will only be teaching 9th (2 classes), 10th (1 class), and 12th (3 classes). Not a huge change, but it will dramatically reduce my workload.

Perk number three is that I will be teaching mostly 12th grade classes. I love my 12th grade class! I'm hoping I've just found my niche and this isn't just a good mix, but I've had a lot of success with them. At the beginning of the year it was tough to keep them awake, but now they argue over who gets to read parts in class. We just finished Hamlet, and as they requested we had a Hamlet Omelet party on the day they did their presentations. It was so fun! And, they did such a good job! Like, it made me tear up a little bit because I was so proud of them. Yeah... I get like that sometimes.

Status Updates

Research Papers: Graded.

Plagarized Research Papers: Three. One may be accidental. All fully documented. Thanks Google.

Punishment/Course of Action for Plagarized Papers: Not yet decided. (Yes, should have already been decided... but still not.)

Apartment: Messy. But, the papers are graded.

Curtains: We have some in the living room now!

Car: Oil changed. Even with discounts I got suckered into paying $70. But, no more lectures from my concerned father.

Other car: Rescued from accidental abandonment at the park and ride.

Sleep: Far above weekly average.

Harry Potter Series: Finally finished. It is perhaps a small miracle that no one (including those chatty 7th graders) gave away the ending before I could finish it. Not sure why it took so long to get the motivation to finish it.

Husband: Adorable. And late for work. ;)

Self: Happy, happy, happy.

Number of Hours Until Mini-Vacation: 1.5. Cannot wait!