- Talking about reading and writing all the time.
- Being consulted by boys about their plans for the big dances. It's cute how much it means to them to impress their dates.
- Getting little thank you notes in journals and emails and Digimon cards and yearbook pages.
- Having opportunities to help people every single day.
- Seeing the smiles on the faces of kids who have been struggling but who finally get it.
- Doing service projects with my National Honors Society kids.
- Hearing about how students apply what I teach them (semi-colons in text messages, research papers about family vacation destinations that win them parental pride and money for the trip, etc.).
- Going to pep rallies and assemblies.
- Seeing someone I recommended a book to read it and love it as much as I did.
- Working with other English teachers; they are kindred spirits.
- Watching my seniors walk at graduation.
- Knowing that, if I do it right, I can make a difference in the world.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Best Parts
Here are my very favorite things about teaching.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
My Nerdy Friends Will Be So Jealous
You guys! I'm breaking my incredibly long streak of not posting anything at all to tell you something awesome!
There is this book club in my district cleverly disguised as a professional development workshop. It's such a ruse though. I mean, how can this be work? Here's the deal. I pay $65. I get 7 YA books to keep. I get to go to once a month meetings to talk about books and eat treats with smart teachers, including at least two of my teacher friends from school. I get some college credit. And, the real kicker for me, the authors of the books we read will be at the meeting for their book!
Want to know who I'm going to get to meet and have literary discussions with? Here's our book/author list.
September- Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
October- The Kiss of a Stranger by Sarah Eden
November- Possession by Elana Johnson
December- Beyonders by Brandon Mull
January- Mark of Royalty by Jennifer Clark
February- Candy Bomber by Mike Tunnell
March- Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
I'm really, really excited. I haven't read any of these books yet, and I'm pretty much the nerdiest when it comes to meeting authors.
Actually, that's a good story... The first time I met a real life author, it was Dean Hughes. I got paid an "allowance" in books (which was totally awesome of my mom to do, I think) when I was a teenager, and his Children of the Promise books were the ones I remember being the most excited about. He was a guest speaker in my very first English major class, and it was so neat to meet him, but I was way nervous about it. I guess I was worried that he'd be mean or egotistical and my ideals would be ruined. But, then he was just super nice and smart so all was well. I've met a few more authors since then, but it's still way exciting to me.
There is this book club in my district cleverly disguised as a professional development workshop. It's such a ruse though. I mean, how can this be work? Here's the deal. I pay $65. I get 7 YA books to keep. I get to go to once a month meetings to talk about books and eat treats with smart teachers, including at least two of my teacher friends from school. I get some college credit. And, the real kicker for me, the authors of the books we read will be at the meeting for their book!
Want to know who I'm going to get to meet and have literary discussions with? Here's our book/author list.
September- Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
October- The Kiss of a Stranger by Sarah Eden
November- Possession by Elana Johnson
December- Beyonders by Brandon Mull
January- Mark of Royalty by Jennifer Clark
February- Candy Bomber by Mike Tunnell
March- Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
I'm really, really excited. I haven't read any of these books yet, and I'm pretty much the nerdiest when it comes to meeting authors.
Actually, that's a good story... The first time I met a real life author, it was Dean Hughes. I got paid an "allowance" in books (which was totally awesome of my mom to do, I think) when I was a teenager, and his Children of the Promise books were the ones I remember being the most excited about. He was a guest speaker in my very first English major class, and it was so neat to meet him, but I was way nervous about it. I guess I was worried that he'd be mean or egotistical and my ideals would be ruined. But, then he was just super nice and smart so all was well. I've met a few more authors since then, but it's still way exciting to me.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Animal Rescue
One of the many side jobs I have as a teacher is being the advisor for my school's chapter of the National Honor Society. It's a service organization for students who excel in academics and leadership. So, basically, they're the best kids ever, and it's a lot of fun and very uplifting.
Last week, we had the chance to help out at a local animal rescue center. I was surprised to find out that they had a lot more than just dogs and cats. They also had horses, chickens, pigs, goats (regular and pygmy), emus, geese, ducks, and even a couple of yaks! Here's a picture of an emu for you, I think it's Clyde. I'd have a picture of the yak too, but when we stood by the fence to look at it, it false charged us and scared me to death.
We fed the animals first thing, and, dang, they eat well! A lot of local businesses donate produce and bread for them. After they had eaten, and the owners of the facility had relocated Andy the head-butting goat, we split up into groups and cleaned stalls.
Mike and I mostly helped to clean out the pygmy goat stall, and then the sheep stall. I was okay with this, because I love pygmy goats. They're kind of adorable. I mean, look at this:
Also, it turns out Mike is the small-livestock-whisperer. All the goats and sheep wanted him to pet them.
After the hard manual labor was done, we took a couple of giant dogs for a walk. Mike got to walk a huge, gorgeous Siberian husky, and a walked a black dog that could have passed for a black bear.
By the end, we were sunburned, exhausted, and very happy. It's really fulfilling to work hard alongside of a very cute (and strong!) husband and some very impressive and talented kids. Our next big activity is a tour of the food bank and helping out a little bit there. I'm pretty excited for it.
Last week, we had the chance to help out at a local animal rescue center. I was surprised to find out that they had a lot more than just dogs and cats. They also had horses, chickens, pigs, goats (regular and pygmy), emus, geese, ducks, and even a couple of yaks! Here's a picture of an emu for you, I think it's Clyde. I'd have a picture of the yak too, but when we stood by the fence to look at it, it false charged us and scared me to death.
We fed the animals first thing, and, dang, they eat well! A lot of local businesses donate produce and bread for them. After they had eaten, and the owners of the facility had relocated Andy the head-butting goat, we split up into groups and cleaned stalls.Mike and I mostly helped to clean out the pygmy goat stall, and then the sheep stall. I was okay with this, because I love pygmy goats. They're kind of adorable. I mean, look at this:
Also, it turns out Mike is the small-livestock-whisperer. All the goats and sheep wanted him to pet them.
After the hard manual labor was done, we took a couple of giant dogs for a walk. Mike got to walk a huge, gorgeous Siberian husky, and a walked a black dog that could have passed for a black bear.By the end, we were sunburned, exhausted, and very happy. It's really fulfilling to work hard alongside of a very cute (and strong!) husband and some very impressive and talented kids. Our next big activity is a tour of the food bank and helping out a little bit there. I'm pretty excited for it.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Why We Crave Drama
Something that is interesting about people is the seemingly inherent need for drama. Even if you don't think you want it, there seems to be something that pulls you into a juicy story or a venting rage. Or is that just me?
I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and I think I've put my finger on it. To explain, I first need to present a detailed analogy.
One Christmas, my cousin gave my little brother an old west style fort made out of wooden blocks. That fort, simple as it was, substantially changed our play time. We invented the most time consuming and intense game yet. The premise was simple: you have spring, summer, and fall to plan, grow, build, and trade. Then, winter comes, and the fortmaster would determine whether or not you survived the winter.
Our neighbors, 5 siblings close in age to us and each other, my brother, my sister, and I were the contestants. We each had a plot of bedroom carpet staked out. And then, we'd have a free for all to vie for starting capital. The toy box was opened and you grabbed like mad for my brother's farm animals, cowboys, marbles, socks, anything that could possibly be helpful, until time was up. That's when trading began.
Of course, we were kind of cutthroats, but we were also endlessly creative. We were almost manic in the way we gathered, traded, and prepared for an imaginary winter and it's dangers. Of course, there was little real danger except for the danger of the fortmaster's declaring a disappointing, or embarrassing fate. We loved that too; creativity in explaining that you didn't have enough blankets or firewood, so you had to cut open a cow and sleep in it for the last 2 weeks of winter (we obviously, had just recently watched Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back), was crucial to making the game fun. It was invigorating to have the sensation of fighting something huge and dangerous, and, yet, being completely safe.
I think that the gossip and drama of life can be the same way. We create a temporary enemy, a person who has upset us or done something we dislike. This feeling of conflict brings an adrenaline rush because we are choosing to fight, even if our enemy is not present (they usually aren't). And yet, there is seldom any real danger. We can criticize, theorize, and even demonize a person or group of people in the safety of like-minded people with very little chance of anything happening. Essentially, participating in gossip and negativity is giving us a rush of adrenaline without any risk.
I assume, like most chemical induced responses, this can be addictive. I guess that's why it's so easy to slip into the cycle of negativity. Hopefully this isn't coming off as self-righteous or preachy, it's just that I've been trying to eliminate some of the negativity in my life, but it's turned out to be hard. It's really hard. And I think thinking about it this way has given me a little bit more objective way of looking at these situations as they come up. Hopefully that will help me to try to deal with things in a positive way instead of wallowing in negativity because my brain loves the chemical hit is gets when I fight an imaginary battle.
I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and I think I've put my finger on it. To explain, I first need to present a detailed analogy.
One Christmas, my cousin gave my little brother an old west style fort made out of wooden blocks. That fort, simple as it was, substantially changed our play time. We invented the most time consuming and intense game yet. The premise was simple: you have spring, summer, and fall to plan, grow, build, and trade. Then, winter comes, and the fortmaster would determine whether or not you survived the winter.
Our neighbors, 5 siblings close in age to us and each other, my brother, my sister, and I were the contestants. We each had a plot of bedroom carpet staked out. And then, we'd have a free for all to vie for starting capital. The toy box was opened and you grabbed like mad for my brother's farm animals, cowboys, marbles, socks, anything that could possibly be helpful, until time was up. That's when trading began.
Of course, we were kind of cutthroats, but we were also endlessly creative. We were almost manic in the way we gathered, traded, and prepared for an imaginary winter and it's dangers. Of course, there was little real danger except for the danger of the fortmaster's declaring a disappointing, or embarrassing fate. We loved that too; creativity in explaining that you didn't have enough blankets or firewood, so you had to cut open a cow and sleep in it for the last 2 weeks of winter (we obviously, had just recently watched Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back), was crucial to making the game fun. It was invigorating to have the sensation of fighting something huge and dangerous, and, yet, being completely safe.
I think that the gossip and drama of life can be the same way. We create a temporary enemy, a person who has upset us or done something we dislike. This feeling of conflict brings an adrenaline rush because we are choosing to fight, even if our enemy is not present (they usually aren't). And yet, there is seldom any real danger. We can criticize, theorize, and even demonize a person or group of people in the safety of like-minded people with very little chance of anything happening. Essentially, participating in gossip and negativity is giving us a rush of adrenaline without any risk.
I assume, like most chemical induced responses, this can be addictive. I guess that's why it's so easy to slip into the cycle of negativity. Hopefully this isn't coming off as self-righteous or preachy, it's just that I've been trying to eliminate some of the negativity in my life, but it's turned out to be hard. It's really hard. And I think thinking about it this way has given me a little bit more objective way of looking at these situations as they come up. Hopefully that will help me to try to deal with things in a positive way instead of wallowing in negativity because my brain loves the chemical hit is gets when I fight an imaginary battle.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Live Every Week Like It's Shark Week
Forever and ever ago now, we made these awesome shark cupcakes with Stephanie and Cortney.
Here's a secret about me, I love themed parties. So, I was really excited when we planned to make the cupcakes and watch Jaws (which I had never seen before). It was fun, and the movie only made me scream like twice.
Luckily, I now get the "That's some bad hat, Harry" reference (Mike says it's in the credits of either Lost or House).
To make sure we can go to the beach in the future, Mike looked up the odds, and you're more likely to get hit by lightning than attacked by a shark. Unless you wear a swimsuit with fish designs and swim around sharks while they eat. So, that's good to know.
I think we'll have another themed cupcake night soon. We're watching Tremors this week to prepare for the live episode of Film Sack we'll get to see at the conference we're going to on Friday (this time, it's Mike's professional conference), maybe killer worm cupcakes? We'll see.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
It's Finally Summer!
There were days I thought it would never come. But, we're pretty much having a blast! Here's our latest adventure... at home s'mores. Maybe this is a thing people do, but I have only ever made them over a fire.
Anyway, we turned on the broiler and toasted the marshmallows, and warmed out hands...
... toasted them...
... and enjoyed their gooey goodness.
(They are purple looking because they are chocolate marshmallows, not an effect of the cooking method.)In other news, we're making some exciting changes. Mike is transferring to the U of U because they have a great computer science with a nationally ranked emphasis in video gaming. We are so lucky because we get to spend tons of time together. We're headed to Alaska soon, and hopefully we'll be able to go to California later on to check out some of the big video game companies and do fun things. I'm not going to lie, this has the potential to be the best summer ever.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
My Friends, the Dinosaurs
I think I have always loved dinosaurs. If you don't believe me, ask my mother, who stopped me at the front door of our apartment during my only known bout of sleep walking.
"Where are you going, Aubrey?" She inquired.
"To play with the dinosaurs." 4th grade Aubrey replied.
On top of that, we didn't travel much when I was little. The first time I went to Disneyland, I was 20 (and I still dragged my dad to see all the princess-y stuff). But, I didn't feel developmentally lacking because of this. After all, I had Dinosaurland.
Dinosaurland (also known, to less fun people, as Dinosaur National Monument) is located in Northeastern Utah. I have been there (I think) 4 times. Maybe more. The first time I went there with my grandparents and my little sister. We don't have a lot of home video footage, but we do have footage of me dragging a 4 year old Martina around a museum yelling out the names of different species of dinosaurs. Seriously, I was such a know it all. I don't know if I was cute or annoying. I'll ask my grandma next time I see her.
I think the best thing that happened to me all of last summer was Mike taking me to the Ogden Eccles Dinosaur park. We took a lot of silly pictures and it was so much fun.
One of my greatest regrets in life is not going on a dinosaur excavation that I was invited to by a paleontologist in Price.
I guess I'm telling you all of this to make it clear that I am not a casual dinosaur lover. I have strong feelings on the subject. Which is one of two reasons that I had never read Jurassic Park until now. The other reason being that I generally make it a rule not to read a book which has the author's name bigger than the title on the cover, and this was my first exception to that rule for a long time.
Mike bought the movie of Jurassic Park for me for my birthday (since we have been searching for it in the $5 movie been where it is falsely advertised at Wal-Mart every time we've gone since November). We watched it and he convinced me to give the book a try. Overall, I liked. It was more intense than the movie in some ways (except for the kitchen scene... shudder...), and it was very engaging. I don't really want to write a whole book review, but I have a few thoughts after finishing the book today.
1. Even though the raptors were laying low until the last 100 pages or so, I would have been FREAKING out once I realized that the dinosaurs had been breeding and there were 37 of them, obviously not contained. For the majority of the book people are out chasing the T-Rex and getting eaten by other various carnivores, and I'm mostly terrified that they're going to run into these loose raptors. It just baffled me how they never even worried about the raptors at all until they had conveniently tranquilized the big T-Rex.
2. Also, what happened to the big T-Rex? She was tranquilized by the waterfall, but probably wouldn't drown (according to one believable character). But then later, there is only one T-Rex found. Did she drown? Did the scan not pick her up because she was tranquilized?
3. As Grant and the kids are traveling back to the headquarters they are continually surprised by the appearance of dinosaurs, especially T-Rex. Seriously? You choose to go through the dinosaur habitats, knowing that T-Rex is chasing you, and you're not on the lookout? I don't know how they made it back alive.
4. Relatedly, after barely surviving the raptor massacre, why would the survivors feel it was necessary to find the raptor nest? There was some unclear explanation of moral duty to count the eggs even though the entire island was about to be obliterated by the Costa Rican government, but I did not get it at all. If you did, please enlighten me.
5. Why did the last page have to create a weird cliff hanger? Are Grant and Sattler and Muldoon going to be kept in Costa Rica against their will until the sequel? Probably.
And, in closing, I would like to express my dismay at the continued delay of the re-opening of the Quarry at Dinosaurland. I have been planning a trip for literally three years, but they just never finish it. How will I ever prove to Mike how awesome it is if they keep the main part under construction all the time? Ugh, life.
"Where are you going, Aubrey?" She inquired.
"To play with the dinosaurs." 4th grade Aubrey replied.
On top of that, we didn't travel much when I was little. The first time I went to Disneyland, I was 20 (and I still dragged my dad to see all the princess-y stuff). But, I didn't feel developmentally lacking because of this. After all, I had Dinosaurland.
Dinosaurland (also known, to less fun people, as Dinosaur National Monument) is located in Northeastern Utah. I have been there (I think) 4 times. Maybe more. The first time I went there with my grandparents and my little sister. We don't have a lot of home video footage, but we do have footage of me dragging a 4 year old Martina around a museum yelling out the names of different species of dinosaurs. Seriously, I was such a know it all. I don't know if I was cute or annoying. I'll ask my grandma next time I see her.
I think the best thing that happened to me all of last summer was Mike taking me to the Ogden Eccles Dinosaur park. We took a lot of silly pictures and it was so much fun.
One of my greatest regrets in life is not going on a dinosaur excavation that I was invited to by a paleontologist in Price.
I guess I'm telling you all of this to make it clear that I am not a casual dinosaur lover. I have strong feelings on the subject. Which is one of two reasons that I had never read Jurassic Park until now. The other reason being that I generally make it a rule not to read a book which has the author's name bigger than the title on the cover, and this was my first exception to that rule for a long time.
Mike bought the movie of Jurassic Park for me for my birthday (since we have been searching for it in the $5 movie been where it is falsely advertised at Wal-Mart every time we've gone since November). We watched it and he convinced me to give the book a try. Overall, I liked. It was more intense than the movie in some ways (except for the kitchen scene... shudder...), and it was very engaging. I don't really want to write a whole book review, but I have a few thoughts after finishing the book today.
1. Even though the raptors were laying low until the last 100 pages or so, I would have been FREAKING out once I realized that the dinosaurs had been breeding and there were 37 of them, obviously not contained. For the majority of the book people are out chasing the T-Rex and getting eaten by other various carnivores, and I'm mostly terrified that they're going to run into these loose raptors. It just baffled me how they never even worried about the raptors at all until they had conveniently tranquilized the big T-Rex.
2. Also, what happened to the big T-Rex? She was tranquilized by the waterfall, but probably wouldn't drown (according to one believable character). But then later, there is only one T-Rex found. Did she drown? Did the scan not pick her up because she was tranquilized?
3. As Grant and the kids are traveling back to the headquarters they are continually surprised by the appearance of dinosaurs, especially T-Rex. Seriously? You choose to go through the dinosaur habitats, knowing that T-Rex is chasing you, and you're not on the lookout? I don't know how they made it back alive.
4. Relatedly, after barely surviving the raptor massacre, why would the survivors feel it was necessary to find the raptor nest? There was some unclear explanation of moral duty to count the eggs even though the entire island was about to be obliterated by the Costa Rican government, but I did not get it at all. If you did, please enlighten me.
5. Why did the last page have to create a weird cliff hanger? Are Grant and Sattler and Muldoon going to be kept in Costa Rica against their will until the sequel? Probably.
And, in closing, I would like to express my dismay at the continued delay of the re-opening of the Quarry at Dinosaurland. I have been planning a trip for literally three years, but they just never finish it. How will I ever prove to Mike how awesome it is if they keep the main part under construction all the time? Ugh, life.
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