October 19, 2009

I'm kind of failing at this, aren't I?

Wow, it's been a while. Sorry about that! I think about writing, but then I go and do something else, like write a lesson plan or something crazy like that.

Student teaching is flying by! I'm finishing up with my first placement this week. In fact, because it's a six-day cycle, I'm saying goodbyes all week to my students. It's pretty sad. I've been given drawings, cards, hugs, and even a round of applause from my students...in addition to a lot of other less tangible lessons. They're crazy, their lives are impossibly hard, but they're so sweet and they work so hard! Well...most of them do. I'm feeling sentimental, so I'm being a bit generous.

Other than teaching, my life is pretty normal...I went home last weekend and went to see Where the Wild Things Are with Ken, HS Beth and Anna. It was, um, kind of a downer. I mean, it was beautiful and well done, toed the line between sweetly heartbreaking and devastatingly painful. There's kind of a sinister thread that runs through the whole thing, with each wild, childlike scene reminding you of how cruel and broken childhood can be. By the end HS Beth and I were both tearing up while my sister tapped me and saying "WHY IS THE MONSTER CRYING???" I wanted to answer her with "Because life is awful and broken and relationships are impossibly complicated!" but I settled for "Because...um...because he's sad." Or something.

This Saturday I'm going with the Thayers to visit Whit, and I'm going to Virginia next weekend...so things are picking up! And starting next Monday I make the switch from poor, Hispanic, elementary school to rich, white, high school. So that should be interesting for sure...