Tuesday, March 24, 2009
3 Witty Comics in a Row...
On my homepage I have it set to show 3 silly comic strips. I thought all 3 of today's were especially good. Click on the picture to see them full-sized and get a little chuckle yourself...
Friday, March 20, 2009
Field Trip to the Music Center in Los Angeles
Today was Field Trip day at school. It went fairly smoothly.
Last year I made the decision to skip the field trip because I had too many unruly kids. This year I have 90% of the same kids as last year, but the most difficult ones have gone their separate ways and have been replaced with very sweet kids.
We were invited to take part in the Children's Festival in downtown LA. We were given a DVD to use to practice this dance called Rocka My Soul. Today we took the bus downtown and navigated our way through crowds of hundreds of kids from other schools. It was very well organized. There were many volunteers who helped us and one very nice man gave us a tour of 2 of the 4 theaters on the Music Center property.
We got to go inside the lobby of the Walt Disney Concert Hall, we sat inside the Ahmanson Theater, and then the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is where the performance we were to see was going to take place.
The performance was by Ailey II, a west coast offshoot of the Alvin Ailey dance company. The performance was fantastic--just long enough so that the kids didn't get bored. Just cultural enough to expose them to something new, and just jazzy enough to really keep their attention. Thanks to YouTube, I was able to find some videos of what we saw today:
This is part of a dance called "Revelations" that was actually choreographed by Alvin Ailey himself in 1960:
The whole performance had the kids mesmerized and I'm so glad that they had the chance to experience something like this.
When the performance was done, the kids went outside and had a change to get in circles and perform the dance that they had learned, which was done to the same song as the closing number in today's dance concert.
Afterwards, the teachers made the command decision to get as all back to school and then eat lunch, even though it was around 1pm. We were worried about not getting back on time. But we did, and broke out the lunches with minutes to spare before the 1:50 bell.
The weather was good, the traffic was kind, and the kids did great. You never know how things are going to turn out on field trip days. But today was smooth, just the way I like them. Yay!
Last year I made the decision to skip the field trip because I had too many unruly kids. This year I have 90% of the same kids as last year, but the most difficult ones have gone their separate ways and have been replaced with very sweet kids.
We were invited to take part in the Children's Festival in downtown LA. We were given a DVD to use to practice this dance called Rocka My Soul. Today we took the bus downtown and navigated our way through crowds of hundreds of kids from other schools. It was very well organized. There were many volunteers who helped us and one very nice man gave us a tour of 2 of the 4 theaters on the Music Center property.
We got to go inside the lobby of the Walt Disney Concert Hall, we sat inside the Ahmanson Theater, and then the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is where the performance we were to see was going to take place.
The performance was by Ailey II, a west coast offshoot of the Alvin Ailey dance company. The performance was fantastic--just long enough so that the kids didn't get bored. Just cultural enough to expose them to something new, and just jazzy enough to really keep their attention. Thanks to YouTube, I was able to find some videos of what we saw today:
This is part of a dance called "Revelations" that was actually choreographed by Alvin Ailey himself in 1960:
The whole performance had the kids mesmerized and I'm so glad that they had the chance to experience something like this.
When the performance was done, the kids went outside and had a change to get in circles and perform the dance that they had learned, which was done to the same song as the closing number in today's dance concert.
Afterwards, the teachers made the command decision to get as all back to school and then eat lunch, even though it was around 1pm. We were worried about not getting back on time. But we did, and broke out the lunches with minutes to spare before the 1:50 bell.
The weather was good, the traffic was kind, and the kids did great. You never know how things are going to turn out on field trip days. But today was smooth, just the way I like them. Yay!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Pink Friday...Could-a Been Worse...
Pink Friday in CA. The day that thousands of teachers received their "pink slips." (Notice of possibly not being rehired the following school year...)
I was one of them.
I've known about this day since January and had mentally and emotionally prepared for it. And now it has come and gone.
What I didn't realize is that this was a state-wide day of support for all those teachers. At my own school, every staff member, and even the administrators, were wearing pink.
Still...there is hope. These are just "warning letters." These are not "you're laid-off, go start looking for a new job" letters. I'm hanging onto that glimmer of hope. And I could very likely be safe when final decisions are made in May at my district. I understand, this is all about covering the bases and the whole "procedure" of things. Along with those "procedures" are some upcoming meeting and even a hearing, that people like me are encouraged to participate in. Fine. I'll jump through their hoops and not let it consume me. That's all I can do.
Thank goodness for my family and friends, near and far. They have been so supportive.
The ones who really surprised me were my students. My little 5th grade munchkins who I have now been with for 2 years.
I'm a big believer in being very straight with my students. It is the way I was raised and, frankly, I think they appreciate being in the loop and being respected like that. So, they have known that my job was in jeopardy. I wanted them to know because, let's face it, it is HARD not to let those kinds of things affect me and, possibly, affect my teaching. So, we've talked about it.
On Friday we were getting in shape for an upcoming physical fitness test, so I wore sweats so I could go running with them. Our wonderful stock & materials lady, Ms. Yvonne, had cut out a bunch of pink hearts and put pins on them. I wore one and brought the rest to my room for my kids to wear. Hearts. PINK hearts. Surely few of them would want to wear one.
We ran out. They all wanted to wear one.
The real surprise came at lunch.
I had been checking my box at recess and then at lunch for my "letter." I just wanted to get this next grisly step over with. Then it occurred to me that something like this probably had to be given in person.
After lunch I brought my kids inside for their water breaks and a story. They were all giggly and secretive and they had something for me:
FRONT:
INSIDE: (I couldn't believe they would do all this....)
All of the class had signed it. They even hunted down a few former students, some of the ELD kids from my morning group, and had signed the names of the kids who had moved away. The funny ones? Check out the "signatures" of Harry Potter, Roald Dahl (they know he's my favorite author,) and Barack Obama!! As they explained it, "Yeah, Teacher, Barack Obama flew down in Air Force One, signed your card, and went back to Washington DC!" BACK:
What can I say? I couldn't help but be deeply touched. They don't realize what a thing like that means to a teacher.When the kids were in the library I went to the office and, finally, collected my letter. All the fear and anxiety wasn't there, as I expected it to be. I took it, I read it, and that was it. I picked my kids up from the library and we went and listened to our choir sing some songs from The Sound of Music. They did a great job!
After school I went to the district office and dropped off some paperwork to get the ball rolling with all of this "procedure" stuff. Then I came home, went to the cemetery with my mom and nephew...it had been one year since my grandpa had passed away...and then to the mechanic for my car's check up.
The night passed nicely and quietly, and I was calm over all this job business. Me. Calm when I've received a letter like this. Who would-a thunk it?
The irony is that, despite the "letter," my day was actually pretty GREAT. And that was my Pink Friday.
Monday, March 9, 2009
My Birthday Weekend...WOW!!
I had such a great birthday weekend, it almost made me forget my newly acquired age! And, because there are so many things to share and so many different things that made it special, I'm going to break this entry up into parts:
The Birthday Wishes
What can I say? It is really nice to be remembered on your birthday. Last year, my birthday was very much downplayed because Tito, my grandpa, was at the end of his life and all attention was on his care--as it should be. I didn't mind. He ended up passing on March 13th. My birthday consisted of my mom and me having a quiet dinner in her family room, watching a movie, and my blowing out a candle on a little cupcake.
Like I said, I didn't mind. All of us were focused on Tito at the time. But at the same time, it sure was nice to receive so many birthday wishes this year! Cards, emails, about 35 "Happy Birthdays" from different friends on Facebook, and 2 song dedications. I'll talk about those in a bit... :-)
The Family Party
I have made no secret that my family is, well, AWESOME. We have made it a tradition over the years to rotate homes every month and celebrate the birthdays in that month. Whoever can make it, can make it, but we always have a good time. Sometimes we sit around the fire pit outside, sometimes my uncles will bring their guitars and we'll sing, sometimes we'll have deep discussions about life. With the passing of both grandparents last year, our conversations have often turned to some of life's deeper subjects: mortality, the importance of family, the transitory aspect of material things, always trying our best to uphold the traditions our grandparents began and honor their memories.
This past Saturday we gathered at my Uncle Ruben and Aunt Alicia's house. Their house is awesome...all spread out and filled with Uncle Ruben's art. The group was small, only 9 of us, but we had fun. At our biggest, we number around 18 people. The dinner was yummy, we had pie a la mode for dessert, and we hung out in the kitchen and living room. Baby Alexander was the star of the show. I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday evening than with family like that.
Here are some pictures:
By the next morning, I lined up some of my birthday gifts and took a picture, still feeling the love:
Left to right:
A card from my good friend and co-worker, Nancy (accompanied with some chocolate chip cookies--yum!), a card and a really pretty anklet from my dear friend Eric, a card from my Grandma Chevalier, a card from my mom. Also, a gift card to Borders bookstore from my brother, flowers from my mom (also theater tickets and a visit to the mechanic,) and a reproduction of a painting by Uncle Ruben.
Like I said, I'm really feeling the birthday love this year! It's been very nice and I feel so fortunate.
The Song Dedications
As I've posted here several times in the past, one of my relaxing hobbies is karaoke. It's a lot of fun for someone like me who really enjoys singing and doesn't have a lot of opportunites (or time) to perform in public, which I'm not really interested in doing anyway.
My friend, Eric, who also does karaoke, and I have birthdays one day apart, and we were thinking, wouldn't it be fun to each request a birthday song of the other person? As it turns out, we each chose a song that the other did not know. He wanted me to sing To Sir With Love from the Sidney Pointier movie, and I requested an Elvis song called A Thing Called Love, because I knew that it would show off his very nice lowwww voice, which it did.
And, since MySpace and Blogger links don't gel very well together, all I can do is post the names of the songs with links attached to them.
So...click on the song titles if you wish to hear them...
Eric's birthday song request, sung by me: TO SIR WITH LOVE
My birthday song request, sung by Eric: A THING CALLED LOVE (and I'm just going to do a little PR for him here and encourage you to click on some of his other songs, because he is an excellent singer...)
Fun! We are arguing about who did a better job, but since this is my blog I'll take the lead and say that he did awesome!
And then, out of the blue, my friend, Steven, (my duet partner on You Don't Bring Me Flowers,) did a birthday song for me too--a great surprise. He did Barry Manilow's Mandy. You can click on the song's title and see it. Yes, "see," because he does the whole video singing thing (very well, I might add.)
Some additional fun and misc:
The weekend was so good and fun that, in the process, I sort of shelved the fact that a cold was coming on. Last night with the lost Daylight Savings hour I could not fall asleep. That, coupled with the fact that I'm sick, was too much. I awoke feeling l-o-u-s-y this morning. I hadn't really planned to call in for a sub today, but it was necessary. I hope my kids are kind to her and that the plans I emailed to our secretary at 7am this morning were easily understood and followed.
And, let's end on another fun "note..." On SingSnap, which DOES let Blogger embed their codes, Steven and I did 2 more duets these last couple of days. They are too fun, even though the sound quality isn't great. We each picked a song and, poor guy, I ended up picking one that he didn't know, but he recorded it anyway, like a champ.
So, we did A Little Fall of Rain (my choice) from Les Miz:
And We've Got Tonight (his choice.):
We're both pretty happy with this one. All in good fun!
And, in the words of Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride, "Let me esplain...no, there is too much...Let me sum up..."
Naturally, there are some people who I especially miss at a time like this who are no longer with us: Tito, Tita, my dad, and Brad, but I could almost feel their love trickle down through everyone else's. I get a little misty looking at all their names in that list--and I don't want to end on a depressing note, because this weekend has been anything BUT depressing. :-)
I'll just recap by saying what a great birthday weekend this was--one of the best in recent memory. I've been very honored and humbled at the attention I've received. I have felt truly, truly blessed, lucky, and happy.
Thank you to ALL who had a hand in making this a very special birthday. You're very important to me. Love and gratitude to you all!
The Birthday Wishes
What can I say? It is really nice to be remembered on your birthday. Last year, my birthday was very much downplayed because Tito, my grandpa, was at the end of his life and all attention was on his care--as it should be. I didn't mind. He ended up passing on March 13th. My birthday consisted of my mom and me having a quiet dinner in her family room, watching a movie, and my blowing out a candle on a little cupcake.
Like I said, I didn't mind. All of us were focused on Tito at the time. But at the same time, it sure was nice to receive so many birthday wishes this year! Cards, emails, about 35 "Happy Birthdays" from different friends on Facebook, and 2 song dedications. I'll talk about those in a bit... :-)
The Family Party
I have made no secret that my family is, well, AWESOME. We have made it a tradition over the years to rotate homes every month and celebrate the birthdays in that month. Whoever can make it, can make it, but we always have a good time. Sometimes we sit around the fire pit outside, sometimes my uncles will bring their guitars and we'll sing, sometimes we'll have deep discussions about life. With the passing of both grandparents last year, our conversations have often turned to some of life's deeper subjects: mortality, the importance of family, the transitory aspect of material things, always trying our best to uphold the traditions our grandparents began and honor their memories.
This past Saturday we gathered at my Uncle Ruben and Aunt Alicia's house. Their house is awesome...all spread out and filled with Uncle Ruben's art. The group was small, only 9 of us, but we had fun. At our biggest, we number around 18 people. The dinner was yummy, we had pie a la mode for dessert, and we hung out in the kitchen and living room. Baby Alexander was the star of the show. I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday evening than with family like that.
Here are some pictures:
By the next morning, I lined up some of my birthday gifts and took a picture, still feeling the love:
Left to right:
A card from my good friend and co-worker, Nancy (accompanied with some chocolate chip cookies--yum!), a card and a really pretty anklet from my dear friend Eric, a card from my Grandma Chevalier, a card from my mom. Also, a gift card to Borders bookstore from my brother, flowers from my mom (also theater tickets and a visit to the mechanic,) and a reproduction of a painting by Uncle Ruben.
Like I said, I'm really feeling the birthday love this year! It's been very nice and I feel so fortunate.
The Song Dedications
As I've posted here several times in the past, one of my relaxing hobbies is karaoke. It's a lot of fun for someone like me who really enjoys singing and doesn't have a lot of opportunites (or time) to perform in public, which I'm not really interested in doing anyway.
My friend, Eric, who also does karaoke, and I have birthdays one day apart, and we were thinking, wouldn't it be fun to each request a birthday song of the other person? As it turns out, we each chose a song that the other did not know. He wanted me to sing To Sir With Love from the Sidney Pointier movie, and I requested an Elvis song called A Thing Called Love, because I knew that it would show off his very nice lowwww voice, which it did.
And, since MySpace and Blogger links don't gel very well together, all I can do is post the names of the songs with links attached to them.
So...click on the song titles if you wish to hear them...
Eric's birthday song request, sung by me: TO SIR WITH LOVE
My birthday song request, sung by Eric: A THING CALLED LOVE (and I'm just going to do a little PR for him here and encourage you to click on some of his other songs, because he is an excellent singer...)
Fun! We are arguing about who did a better job, but since this is my blog I'll take the lead and say that he did awesome!
And then, out of the blue, my friend, Steven, (my duet partner on You Don't Bring Me Flowers,) did a birthday song for me too--a great surprise. He did Barry Manilow's Mandy. You can click on the song's title and see it. Yes, "see," because he does the whole video singing thing (very well, I might add.)
Some additional fun and misc:
The weekend was so good and fun that, in the process, I sort of shelved the fact that a cold was coming on. Last night with the lost Daylight Savings hour I could not fall asleep. That, coupled with the fact that I'm sick, was too much. I awoke feeling l-o-u-s-y this morning. I hadn't really planned to call in for a sub today, but it was necessary. I hope my kids are kind to her and that the plans I emailed to our secretary at 7am this morning were easily understood and followed.
And, let's end on another fun "note..." On SingSnap, which DOES let Blogger embed their codes, Steven and I did 2 more duets these last couple of days. They are too fun, even though the sound quality isn't great. We each picked a song and, poor guy, I ended up picking one that he didn't know, but he recorded it anyway, like a champ.
So, we did A Little Fall of Rain (my choice) from Les Miz:
And We've Got Tonight (his choice.):
We're both pretty happy with this one. All in good fun!
And, in the words of Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride, "Let me esplain...no, there is too much...Let me sum up..."
Naturally, there are some people who I especially miss at a time like this who are no longer with us: Tito, Tita, my dad, and Brad, but I could almost feel their love trickle down through everyone else's. I get a little misty looking at all their names in that list--and I don't want to end on a depressing note, because this weekend has been anything BUT depressing. :-)
I'll just recap by saying what a great birthday weekend this was--one of the best in recent memory. I've been very honored and humbled at the attention I've received. I have felt truly, truly blessed, lucky, and happy.
Thank you to ALL who had a hand in making this a very special birthday. You're very important to me. Love and gratitude to you all!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
A New Step in the Karaoke Thing...
Check this out! I have a karaoke bud on MySpace who suggested that we try a duet. He's in Michigan and I'm in California. On another site called SingSnap we did it. This is our first attempt at this. Fun!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Fun With Xander...
This afternoon I had the wonderful opportunity to babysit my nephew, Alexander, for about 2 hours. I have to say, I'm getting a lot better at this, and I do love spending time with him.
We came to my house (after I put out the confused dog,) and just played. I gave him a little bowl of Corn Flakes--because we are always trying to get him to eat--and he sat on my knee and we played with the webcam for a few minutes while he tried to feed me Corn Flakes that he's already put in his mouth. (Fun!)
Then we sat on the floor and looked at a book, played rolling a ball, stacking little plastic donuts on a plastic base, and then I turned on some music and he started swaying back and forth. When I started to keep the beat by patting my knee, he came over and started patting my knee! It was too cute.
I can't think of a better way to spend a couple of hours.
We came to my house (after I put out the confused dog,) and just played. I gave him a little bowl of Corn Flakes--because we are always trying to get him to eat--and he sat on my knee and we played with the webcam for a few minutes while he tried to feed me Corn Flakes that he's already put in his mouth. (Fun!)
Then we sat on the floor and looked at a book, played rolling a ball, stacking little plastic donuts on a plastic base, and then I turned on some music and he started swaying back and forth. When I started to keep the beat by patting my knee, he came over and started patting my knee! It was too cute.
I can't think of a better way to spend a couple of hours.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
All I Know...
I was looking through the songs on the Zune marketplace when I came across this wonderful song by Art Garfunkel. It is so pretty! I just wanted to share:
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