set alarm for 6:15 AM

"What keeps you going isn't some fine destination but just the road you're on, and the fact that you know how to drive. You keep your eyes open, you see this damned-to-hell world you got born into, and you ask yourself, 'What life can I live that will let me breathe in and out and love somebody or something and not run off screaming into the woods?'" - Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams

usually i roll out of bed at 8:30, giving me 15 minutes to throw on clothes and get to work by 9.

but now (*drum roll*) i have to get to my middle school by 7:30 AM!!! this is insane. i need to figure out how take my caffeine in the mornings intravaneously. coffee wont be enough! especially since ive been staying up until the wee hours of the morning reading the sportswriter and watching family guy .

but alas there is good news!

the reason i will be at my middle school so early is because the student i want to tutor is willing to get up early himself and take the public bus to school 40 minutes before the bell rings so i can spend time tutoring him. we are talking about a student who at the beginning of the semester didn't even want to show up to class!

this is so very exciting. i have hope!

so under the theme of "hope" im posting a photo taken after brad hawpe's home run during game 4 of the world series. hey that gave me hope too! and hope is all i need with my caffeine.

observations

last week in my 8th grade class i attempted to help a student write a paragraph. it became instantly clear that this student does not know the sounds of letters in the English alphabet. he is 13 years old and an ESL learner. the rest of the class is reading at about a 5th grade level and they are entering 9th grade next year. the class moves on, and many students (though not all) are improving every day with reading and writing. yet this particular student is left so far behind. its a sobering glimpse at the reality of our public education system and the challenges ahead for me, as a future teacher. as if i dont have enough going on, ive spoken to this student and im going to start tutoring him in the early mornings and on the weekends. i have no experience tutoring an ESL learner. my idea is just to start learning the sounds of the letters by using flashcards combined with reading out loud (a combo of phonics and whole language learning).

for my final school project, ive submitted a proposal to my professor to let me write a short book or story designed for students like the one im tutoring. i think im going to base it on the story of julius casear, since SuperDork is a roman history buff and i think this story will have special meaning to the student im tutoring. the books in the class written for students with low reading proficiency are horrendous! such as a "play" based on a king of the hill episode. i love king of the hill...but im not sure of its literary value!

im still humored by my students' quirks such as: "sneaking" a bulk-size bag of cheetos into class via an oversized backpack-- a bag almost the size of the student himself. or wearing house slippers to school and grandma's rosary as a necklace. they are also thoughtful kids. in one class discussion they all agreed the U.S. should help poor countries "even if they can never help us back." they just think other people should not be allowed to suffer. period. my students would make good world leaders.

in my other job, really interesting projects are emerging. like a "chapter" ill be co-authoring with my boss (due at the end of december!) and our design competition. im trying to figure out a way to keep working AND finish up my content-area requirements for my teacher certification.

meanwhile, im slowly recovering from the red sox's defeat of the rockies sunday night. its hard to hate the red sox too much since they have such charasmatic players. like kevin youklis (the girly hitter straight out of "deliverance"), man ram ("i think ill just live here at the ritz"), coco crisp ("i think ill jump backwards 12 feet in the air to catch this"), dustin pedroia ("i am short but awesome") and curt schilling ("i am god.") my obsession with the playoffs and world series was a major time commitment. something like 5 hours a day...watching BASEBALL.

jesus walks.

this music video is so powerful, especially the opening segment... love kanye west.

hello mother.

"Most women would be threatened by Betsy (the guitar), but not me. I don't care. I'd like to see that guitar come home and chicken fry a steak after substitute teaching all day." - Peggy Hill

for my one devoted reader (my mother) i think it is high time i post an entry to my blog.

its been about a month now. in that time i have: been to washington d.c., where i walked appx. 20 miles from house to senate offices in shoes that were entirely too big. i have been to maryland where i drank scotch like it was water and watched civil war reenactments. i began my classroom observation at The Perfect Middle School. there, i have learned a few tips from middle schoolers that adults might find useful:

- every 45 minutes run outside in circles and scream. then quietly and sanely return to desk.
- relocate waist line of jeans to the knees and secure with belt. long, long shirt strongly advised.
- wear one golf glove at all times, even when not golfing.
- run with eyes focused on feet. beware of doors.
- carry lolly pops in pocket (in bulk).
- spend weekends watching leprechaun 1 and leprechaun 2. then eat a lolly pop and watch leprechaun 3 and leprechaun 4.
- call anybody over the age of 20 "mister" (regardless of gender)

my class is great, really. i love the kids, and the teacher has this eerie power to prevent virtually all discipline problems. im taking many notes.

in addition, Super Dork and i have been drinking limoncello and pondering life... as in where we will be living a year or so from now, whether our respective gene pools will one day agree to a merger, and where our next vacation will be. i vote japan. he votes ireland. if all else fails, we will flee to destinations from our childhood: the beaches of new jersey , or road trip to washington dc in a minivan.

thats all for now. fall in austin is becoming quite nice.

p.s. go rockies !