Flashback Friday: My birthday 2010

I turned 24 a month ago (that is long enough ago for a flashback right?) and I took a couple photos that day and never posted them so here you go. Brad and I decided that we would go to a Hindu festival that was being held that day. I thought I might learn something cultural or find something cultural to buy to put into my classroom, and Brad was hoping for some good Indian food. I called my friend Heather (the other geography teacher at my school) and the three of us went to the Sri Ganesha temple near our home for the celebration. We were approached by a man as soon as we got there who offered to help us purchase some food. It was greatly appreciated because the names of things on the list were all words we had never seen before. I feel like it is safe to say that while we were there we were the only white people who weren't accompanied by an Indian friend or someone who knew what was going on. It wasn't a very large festival and there were only a couple of tents. One for food, one for the entertainment (small children's dance class recitals) and one for Mehndi, the art of the Henna Tattoo.

Most of you know that I have a tradition that started with college roommates and has continued with Brad once we were married. When we go on road trips we get fake tattoos. I thought it would be fun to get Henna but any time I've seen them they are super expensive. These tattoos were only 3 dollars so I figured W T Heck. (yes I say that. small inside joke with my students.)

A close up of the Design I had....

And Brad played too!

Some people have asked why I did it on my palm. There are several reasons. The first being that in Mehndi it is traditional to use the henna on your palm. Don't believe me? Google image Mehndi and tell me what you think. Henna is used to decorate bodies for any special occasion. But it is very common to see Henna used as part of the celebration at weddings. In fact since most of you didn't go to google here is a picture of some traditional bridal mehndi.
The palms and feet are used because the skin absorbs the color better and holds onto it for longer. Anyways.... my other reason was that Brads sister was getting married the next weekend and so I didn't want a large tattoo on my shoulder or ankle or somewhere visible so I put it on my palm.

So I learned about Mehndi and I got a sweet henna tattoo and that is what I did for my birthday.

Jobs

I am bothered. I have had several job interviews in the past couple weeks, which is exciting since I have a job but would like to work closer to home, full time. I am not worried about not getting these jobs because again, I have a job. I had 2 interviews last week. I expected to hear from one on Monday and one on Tuesday. I was assured by the interviewers that I would hear by those days. When I hadn't heard from either one on Wednesday I already knew I didn't get the jobs. If they were going to offer it to me they would have called me asap.

I finally heard from both today. What really bothers me is how I heard. They sent me letters. Like I didn't make it into a college or something. Like they had 2000 applicants for one position and couldn't be bothered to call them all back with the bad news. What REALLY bothers me is that the letter from the job I was really hoping I would get is full of lies. First of all they are both completely form letters. "I regret to inform you that we have decided to go with another candidate." But this one is signed by the principal... who wasn't even at my interview. He was "out of the building" during the interviews and so to get a letter, signed by him, telling me "you interviewed very well" and that "it was a pleasure meeting with you", that just really irritates me. Just call me. I would rather you would call me the second I walked out of the interview and tell me "we're not even going to continue considering you because you just didn't feel right for the job." They didn't even call my references. If you feel that strongly about hiring someone else then let me know so that I can move on with my life and start revamping my lesson plans for the job I DO have.

That being said I'm going to stop telling people about any interviews I have at all. I feel like such a loser when I have to admit I didn't get the position. I'm a good teacher. I promise. I think these schools are just so intimidated by how awesome they can tell I will be that they don't know how to move forward with hiring me. That or they are all just prejudice against midgets. Is there a lawsuit I can file for this?

Killer 'Stache dude

I teach ninth graders during my actual "teacher" hours at the school I work at, but the rest of the day I work with the resource teacher and I work with students from all three grades. It's amazing the difference between the 7th grade and the 9th grade. One thing that they all have in common is the hilarious things that they say and do.

When learning about Stalin I had a student raise his hand and ask "Mrs. Dimick, do all dictators have to have a mustache?"

This question got me thinking about mustaches and it reminded me of a funny story that I forgot to share with everyone.

One day while I was working with a study skills class with both 7th and 9th graders in it and a small (smaller than me even) 7th grade boy came to the desk and asked me if I had any lotion. I gave him a little dab of lotion and he began to rub it on his upper lip. I asked him what was going on and he said "well last night my brother and I tried to dye our mustaches black and now my lip burns."

Farewell to 2009 and also to Canada

2009 has been a great year. But that's not what this post is really about. This post is about Canada.

I teach geography to 9th graders. (One of the many great things that happened in 2009) I recently finished a unit on Canada. The students each researched a province and gave presentations on their province. As an end of unit wrap-up I had the students write a farewell to Canada. There weren't many rules. It was to be 1 page long and it was to mention the required information from their powerpoints. (history of the region, culture of inhabitants, economic factors, and physical geography) Some students wrote poems, some wrote songs. I got a rap, I got an angry letter, I got several break-up notes. I'd like to share with you a few funny parts from their papers.

To Canada in general:
"Don't be an ice-hole." (The student gave credit to the Colbert Nation, I shouldn't laugh but I did)

To Prince Edward Island:
"At first I thought I loved you,
loved your fishing, beaches and pastures too.
But now Prince Edward Island we're done, finished, we're through.
At first I thought I'd stay with you forever, leaving you never!
I was drawn to Green Gables, the horses in the stables,
But those horses smell weird,
and Green Gables should be feared!"

To Canada:
"We still have 5 cents on your dollar!"

To Canada (tune of Frosty the Snowman):
"Farewell to Canada
goodbye to mind numbing cold
We've had some fun
Now it's time to run
On to Central America!"

To Canada (a 2 page breakup note):
"Red and white look especially cute on you my little bread basket."
On Canada's "Stunning Figure"
"You have very intoxicating Rocky Mountains plus clear reflective lakes specifically in Banff. I don't even know if I could live without your long luscious plains/crops."
"You have a strong history which makes you interesting. I mean French and English men were constantly fighting over you until I came in and swept you off your feet."


As you can see, we are having a blast in class. The last note I read to the class like I had confiscated it from a student and it took the class till about halfway through to figure out what it was. They crack me up.

So farewell 2009 and Canada, we're moving on to 2010 and Central and South America whether you like it or not.

P.R. for the H.R.

**Disclaimer**
I have a job. I love my students. My last post alluded to some of the frustrations I have been having with said job. I have begun more actively searching for a new job. Not because I don't like where I'm at. I am not full time where I am at. I want to be full time. I want to be taken seriously and not taken for granted like I am at my current job. The interview I am talking about is for a job that wouldn't start until next August so it isn't like I am abandoning my current job. I just wanted you all to know this. The real post can begin now.

Today I did my hair. This is a rare occasion. I like to save it for special days so that it means more. "Oh Amy did her hair there must be something really important today!" Or maybe I'm just lazy. It is much faster to just spray a bunch of product in my unruly hair and pretend like it's "done". I know I'm not fooling anyone but it just takes so long to straighten. I know it's been too long since I've put effort into my hair when people are convinced I've cut it or dyed it when all I've done is straighten it. But this is only part of my story today......

Today I was supposed to have a job interview. It was a special occasion so I did my hair. I wore heels. Teaching in heels isn't a fabulous idea. Walking down the halls in heels draws way too much attention to yourself from the classrooms you pass. (Is that a horse I hear coming down the hall?) I was supposed to have this interview before Thanksgiving but they had to reschedule because the administrator who wanted to be present couldn't make it to the first interview. I told them I am already teaching and would need to schedule an afternoon interview. You would think that this would be a pretty standard request when interviewing teachers for a teaching position on a school day...."I teach at a school across the valley currently can I schedule an afternoon interview?" "Sure. How is 12:30 on Tuesday." Seriously? Luckily that was the interview they decided to reschedule and so a 3:30 interview was looking much better. I did my hair, wore my heels and put my phone in my bag, in a filling cabinet while I taught. Because good teachers don't conduct telephone business while teaching. Which is why I was surprised when I checked my phone at 1:00 and saw that the scheduler had tried to call me multiple times during the morning. She left a message saying I needed to come a half hour early or tomorrow. I got permission to leave early so I could make it. I called and she didn't answer. I called again a half hour later and she said that my early option was no longer an option, so she rescheduled with me for next Friday. (with no option for tomorrow like her message said) She had the exact same reasons as last time. The other interviewer couldn't make it.

Where is the communication? Shouldn't the scheduler be checking with the interviewer before scheduling? If an administrator is agreeing to an interview time and then canceling repeatedly is this a good sign? I had many struggles with this same district over the summer and have actually been trying to schedule this interview since last March but have been getting the run around since then. Even in school as future educators when discussing job opportunities with current educators this district was never spoken highly of. Sure the schools are nice. Sure the teachers are good. Sure the kids tend to be highly motivated and well supported. But every time they talk about the district it was negative. (Think about it... I'm sure if you pay attention to the news and talk of education you know which district I'm talking about... what have you heard? making decisions without talking to the community, taking away retirement money from long time teachers or forcing them into early retirement...) So here is what I think. I think the H.R. department needs some P.R. training. (Ashley? You on this?) Stop treating the "customer" badly when that customer is actually the person who will be teaching your children. Because when you treat teachers badly, they go elsewhere or they never come at all.

Unfortunately, with the way the job market is these days, I'll take the job in a heart beat and the run around will be validated to them.

Back at Bennion

I got a phone call from a very pregnant teacher at Bennion (where I did my student teaching) and she was in a panic because she was due in less than 48 hours and her long-term sub had just torn his Achilles and had to go to emergency surgery. He wouldn't be able to stand, drive or walk for the next 6 weeks. So I am back with my seventh graders, and some new 8th graders that I hadn't known, this time teaching science. I wanted to be a science teacher once......... I was 5. It was what I picked right after carpenter (my favorite show to watch as a child was This Old House). I'm enjoying it even though it's outside my realm of previous teaching. The seventh graders were sad that their previously scheduled sub wouldn't be there (he is a regular at the school) but by the end of the first day I had students running into the room yelling, "Is it true?!" because word had spread that I was back.

Because I'm not teaching any of my 9th graders this go-around it has taken them a little longer to find me. Every day I see a few more and they all get excited and shout my name in the hall. It's like they think I'm not aware that I'm back. I had two 9th graders who were so excited to see me that they nearly tackled me before class started on Wednesday. Today they both were standing in the hall way with their science class waiting for their teacher to unlock the classroom door after a trip to the computer lab and they decided it would be a good idea to start yelling, "I love Mrs. Dimick!" Right in the middle of class. My students were watching a movie and they all looked at me confused. I just got up and shut the classroom door. I've figured out classroom management fairly well but for some reason I can't seem to get the kids to stop loving me so loudly..... It makes me nervous that the other teachers will dislike me because their students are yelling my name. So if you are one of those teachers...... I'm sorry.

Also, if you are an employer, I'll try to not be so awesome so the kids at your school wont yell my name in the hall. But I can't promise anything.

Parent Teacher Conferences

Even though I am "just a substitute" I was asked by the school secretary to stay and sit at my teachers table for parent teacher conferences. The teacher I am covering for needed to be out of town so she couldn't go in like she originally planned and so since I know all of the kids and how they are doing and I am the one giving them their grades anyways...... I went. It made for 2 very long days but since they fed us before it was fine. I heard several funny and odd comments from parents and since I haven't updated my blog for awhile I thought you ought to hear them too.

One of the other teachers that I know, is a new teacher, and she happens to be just one year older than I am. She and I were standing outside the cafeteria waiting for the doors to open so that we could take our seats. It was getting close to time for the conferences to start and parents began lining the hall. One father kept looking at the other young teacher and myself. I thought he was just amazed that we both looked so young to be teachers. Finally the reason for his staring surfaced when he just blurted out "Which one of you two is the mom?!" He then picked for himself and asked me, "Are you the mom?" That's right. I'm a 22 year-old mother of a 23 year old. We laughed and explained that we were both just young teachers. He agreed that made much more sense.

I have one student who likes to argue with me no matter what I say. This frustrates me to no end. Especially since she was one of the first students I met before I started subbing at this school and I had planned on making her my go-to student. I quickly learned that wasn't going to work. I understand she has some home isssues, and she brought her neighbor to PTC's which I think is great that at least SOMEONE cares about her education. Well her neighbor happens to be the PTA president. She also seems to know a lot about this girls day to day activities. She knew all about me, plus some.... You see the student told this woman that I HIT HER! Now those of you that know my student teaching experience may think this is possible.... but I did NOT touch this student. I was furious. So there goes my letter of recommendation from the PTA president of that school. Even the teachers around me commented on what a weird experience that particular conference was.

I had a couple students whose parents didn't speak english and so the kids would translate what I was telling them. One students mother began talking to her and the student kept agreeing with her mother but then didn't ask me any questions from what her mom said. I finished the run down of her grade and asked if her mom had questions and she said, "Nope, but she wanted me to tell you that you have really pretty eyes." That was kind of random, but nice. So what did I say back? "Thanks, I grew them myself." Sometimes my oddness surprises even myself.

I should be getting hazard pay

Those of you who watch Utah's news religiously (I wouldn't blame you since I love Whit Johnson's smile....) might have heard about the lockdown that happened at Kearns High School today. There was an incident and a student was shot. It happened off campus and I was never in any danger. I don't want to perpetuate rumors but I want to say this: As a sub at a school that goes into lock-down things can be a little confusing and slightly scary. My first thoughts were that I couldn't believe no one told me there would be a drill that day. I then sensed the urgency in the principles voice as he continued making announcements about different codes and schedules and all this weird stuff. I normally have a teacher across the hall that helps me out with things but of course her class had gone to the computer lab. Looking out in the hall I began to see cards sliding out from under teachers doors. I realized if they had cards I probably had cards too so I found the firedrill packet and sure enough, inside were the instructions for all of the codes being announced.

Luckily I know the username and passwords to all of my teachers files and so I was able to get into her email and recieve the emails from the office as things were being passed down to the teachers. This all happened while I was in my prep period and so I had no students in the class and so I didn't have to worry about keeping anyone calm or entertained as they continued the lock-down. My biggest worry was what to do with myself in a classroom all by myself for 2 and a half hours. I had my sudoku book and so I sat in a corner and worked on sudoku until the lockdown ended and everyone was released.

So my friends, if you are subbing at a school you should make sure there is a way to be in contact with the office and you should find out where the emergency instructions are because you never know when you will need them.

Kids do the darndest things

I am officially back at work. For those of you who know, I'm being a long term sub for a lady in my ward while she stays at home taking care of her brand new baby. She had him last night. One week over due. She kept working until last Friday (2 days past due) but I took over her classes this Monday. She has her classes so well planned and prepared that I hardly have to do anything. It is so much more relaxed than student teaching. PLUS I get paid! It's nice to feel like I am contributing to our family again.

In honor of being back in the school here is a couple of fun things that have happened the past couple of days:

• On the way to the library for a group lesson the very last student thought he was all alone in the hall. Just as I rounded the corner I caught him looking at his reflection in the glass of a trophy case, brushing his hair to side, and giving himself an approving thumbs up.

• Today as I was entering scores for the journal entries the students do to start class I was reading through a few of the entries. The classes are starting a unit on marriage and so the topic for the entry today asked about qualities they desired in a mate. One of the girls had written one thing down. "Robert Pattinson". I hope she is willing to compromise a little on that one.
  

My Michael Scott moment.......

Once a week all the student teachers in the Salt Lake area get together to provide support to one another while we struggle through our student teaching. There are some student teachers in the group who admit to struggling while building relationships with the students and it got me thinking.....

On an episode of 'The Office,' Michael Scott is quoted as saying "Would I rather be feared or be loved? Both, I want people to be afraid of how much they love me." Sometimes I feel like this. How come I have to make the students fear me to respect me? When I tell people that the students really like my class, and seem to enjoy me as a teacher, they act as though I must have no control over my class, and my students must not be learning. Why can't the students enjoy me as a teacher and still respect me?

I honestly feel like they do.

I've had this internal struggle before. While growing up I had some really good Young Women's leaders. The girls in my ward built relationships with these women and trusted them with our deepest teenage secrets and in return they shared their love and advice with us. Because we had a FRIENDSHIP (that's really what it was, it was more than a teacher/student relationship) we called these women by their first name. It was suggested that the girls in the ward were not showing respect to these women because we didn't call them by "Sister.........." I honestly do not feel like this showed any lack of respect towards these women. The women that I knew who were lovely women but did not share this relationship were refered to as "Sister .......... " Sure I respected those other women but I didn't care for them the way I cared for my first name basis leaders. So is it impossible to like someone and still respect them? I don't think so.

So why does everyone freak out when I suggest that my students like me AND respect me?

Parent/Teacher conferences

I just finished my first day of Parent/Teacher conferences from the other side of the table. It's so interesting to me to see the parents who are upset about an A- and then have the next parent be ecstatic about a B. The kids are all so different and of course the same goes for parents. Even though I didn't get home till almost 8 tonight, I still loved it. I loved that the kids were so excited to introduce me to their parents, and I loved that the parents seemed comfortable with me even though I have the dreaded title of........... STUDENT TEACHER! The title really does frighten some, and brings up painful memories for many others, but I hope that I will be able to reverse that stereotype and I will be able to reach these kids!

Did I mention that I'm loving it?

I honestly thought the middle schoolers would eat me alive. I was so worried. But tonight I feel like I would take a job in a middle school in a heart-beat. So if you have a job in a middle school to offer me........

The praxis exam

I feel like the praxis exam is not the best way to gage a persons teaching ability, seeing as how it is created by some test bank across the country. It is also hard to test someone on their knowledge of social studies, seeing as how there is a lot of history in the world and there is no way to know which history classes the person has completed. But no mater how I feel about the exam it is required that you take the exam to be able to teach anywhere in the United States.

I was required to take the Social Studies Content Knowledge test. Teachers also have to complete a "Principles of learning and teaching" test within the first three years of their teaching to advance to a level 2 teacher (whatever that means). I decided to just take the PLT test at the same time as the other required test so that I only had to pay the registration fee once. I figured that I would get a good feel for the test and then if I needed to take it again I would have 3 years to study for it. I took both tests on April 26th. It was a long day and I was pretty stressed out. I thought I was stupid for taking 2 tests that you can't really study for on the same day.

So today I got my scores in the mail. I passed both tests. I passed them with flying colors in fact. I passed the PLT test so well that they sent me a certificate saying I was super awesome. It also means that I got in the top 15% out of anyone who has taken that test. It came in a big blue folder and everything. I'm so happy to be done with these tests and not have to worry about them anymore! Now all I have to do is student teach and I can officially be hired as a teacher!