siempre a las carreras

awwww....sweet summer vacation

2006-06-05T22:50:00.000-07:00

I'm so freaking chill right now. It's perfect. I'm not teaching summer school (although I could seriously use the money) because I just needed the break :) I'm relieved b/c right before the year ended I got out of doing the ELL committee chair thing. At first I said I would b/c I'm a rookie and I'm not good at saying no yet, BUT at our last happy hour of the year, my coworkers gave me ammunition to march in there and explain that I just was not going to do it. why is it so hard to say no? and why do they want to stick the rookie teachers with every committee chair position possible? ok, back to useless crap on the internet :) Peace out.

Hay que hacer changuitos

2006-02-18T18:14:00.000-08:00

I was reading my friend's blog and she's worried about having a job next year and/or staying on the same grade. They say that as a teacher you'll never be out of a job b/c we always need teachers, but I guess it's not always true. I know that you can always find a job somewhere, but it's not that easy to just move to another grade/school/district.

My district is undergoing some major changes. Sixth grade used to be the last grade in elementary and next year it's goig to be middle school. They're opening 20 new elementary schools to aliviate the overcrowding and reduce bussing students to schools. They're trying to have a "neighborhood school" type of district. My school sits in a very affluent neighborhood and all of our bilingual students are bussed in from apartment complexes. The new boundaries will take a lot of our bilingual students to a new school in their neighborhood. There will still be bilingual students at our school, but not as many. So....can't say where that leaves me. I'm optimistic b/c there are only two bilingual sections in first grade right now, so we'll still need at least one. The other first grade bilingual teacher has been there longer, but has mentioned leaving after this year to be with her kids b/c she lives really far away.

One of the really bright spots this year was when the M-LEP department visited our school to drop into the bilingual classes (LEP is a little behind the times b/c we're trying to use ELL instead). It was five ppl who came into the class to scope out the room. They didn't stay long enough to observe a lesson and I was going over homework anyway. BUT here's the bright spot. They told my principal and VP that my room was an example of what a bilingual classroom should look like :) Whew! I've got to say that it felt really good. I hope that counts for something and they think of me when it comes to next year :)

It's been a long,long, long time!

2006-01-18T13:31:00.000-08:00

I don't have time to do this any more :( I used to spend hours reading so much stuff about what's going on with everybody else and getting ideas. Recently, I'm just trying to keep up with everything I'm supposed to do. I'm getting used to feeling like I'm never finished. I have to keep telling myself that it's always going to be like that b/c there is ALWAYS something else to do, clean, organize, re-arrange, grade, plan, follow-up, file, etc.

I've realized this week that my kids are making some progress. It doesn't always feel like it but I noticed this week on the the Tejas LEE that a lot of my kids did well enough to start reading at the hardest story (the Tejas LEE is the inventory equivalent of the TPRI in Texas and it has diff. sections on phonics and sight word recognition and reading). At least now I'll have that to say when the principal asks about the kids' progress tomorrow.

The winter break was nice (I know that by now it feels like it was so long ago and we're already counting down to spring break - 7 weeks, by the way). I didn't do anything and it was awesome.

Oh yeah, one thing I'm thankful for: palms to administer the Tejas LEE/TPRI! They make it soooooo much easier, b/c the instructions are there and it automatically jumps you from one section to another instead of having to keep up with the answer sheet for each kid and counting up totals and skipping sections, calculating reading speeds, etc. I can finish in about three days. I think all districts should have this for their teachers (if they stop paying a quarter mil to the superintendents, giving them cars and extra travel-miles stipends to main office personnel who DON'T travel, maybe we'd have more funds). Maybe that's just my school district :p Peace out!

¿A dónde se van las semanas?

2005-09-17T14:30:00.000-07:00

Another week down and one more to go until the end of the six-weeks period.That means it's report card time! Woo-hooo!!! One thing that I underestimated about my old district was the fact that we did report cards on a computer program. So all the basic fields - name, ID, school, teacher, etc. were already filled in. We just filled in grades from a drop-down menu. Here, we get these long BLANK report cards that we have to fill in by hand. I think I'm getting lazier. Well, I think it's just that when you realize that there is an easier way and you've done it that way before, it's more daunting to have to switch now and do it a longer way. I'll just do it this weekend and get it over with so it's not hanging over my head the rest of the week.

¡Felicidades Mexicanos y Centro Americanos por el día de la independencia! Some teachers had papel picado decorations in the hall way and my kids were all ooooing and aaaawing, so I told them we'd be making our own. I didn't buy tissue paper (I was planning on it but I didn't go to the store, so I improvised, but I think it turned out more original this way) I asked them to color pieces of newsprint paper and I showed them how to fold it and cut it and we put it out in the hallway. I have a girl from Honduras and a boy from El Salvador, so we looked at a map to find these countries b/c they're celebrating independence as well. We looked up their flags and read a book about the celebrations and traditions, etc. Anyways, it was fun.

I woke up so late today (I'm sure if you knew me, you'd be shocked :p). We went out last night (like on a real date, not just to the movies.) There was mariachis, folklórico and Latin jazz at the Latino cultural center. Después no fuimos a echar unos tacos and they had folklórico there too. For only $20 (for the food) we had a really good night.

Happy Friday...bueno en lo que cabe con el desastre y lo demás

2005-09-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

First graders are not too young to look at the newspapers, right? We're going to talk about Katrina today and how we can help (our unit for social studies is citizenship, so I figured this ties in). Of course I'm going to pick what we look at and not just give them the entire newspaper.

Where do the weeks go? No sé, pero ya se me fue otra :) We got into a pretty good groove this week. I think for the most part, the kids have the center rotation down. It's been trial and error trying to group the kids. I've tried putting the more "challenging" kids with some who are pretty dependable. We've been doing science every day (go 1B!). I like the experiments and observations and we do plenty of reading, writing, measuring, etc. while we're at it.

Now I'm going to put together my reading groups and hope that we can get that going next week. I desperately need small groups b/c my kids are at all sorts of levels and I'm noticing where certain ones need more attention. I've realized I'm not the direct teach teacher. It's cool if you are and it works for you and your kids, but in first grade the kids are all over the place. Small groups is definitely the way to go for me.

I hate doing inventory!!! I have to look through all the stuff and check to see if I got the things passed down from the last teacher, what's missing, what's damaged...blah, blah, blah.

Have a good LONG weekend.

Let me put on my starched vest...

2005-08-25T09:22:00.000-07:00

as George Lopez would say since I'm the team leader :)

Why am I the team leader? I don't know. I just found out yesterday. I'm new to the school and the other first grade teacher was the team lead last year, so why me? I wanted to say no. Since I'm new I would feel more comfortable if the other teacher was it, BUT I fought the urge. I didn't want to seem like a punk to the principal when he asked. I want him to know I'm motivated and accept challenges like I lied...I mean...stated in my interview ;p This is the only extra thing I'm signed up for right now, so I'll make sure and not get suckered into 20 extra committees and stuff.

Ready or not here they came!

2005-08-19T16:16:00.000-07:00

To say this past week was hectic would be an understatement! The first week came and went and I still feel like I haven't even started. I had 25 kids this week! That is a lot of 6 year olds! 16 of the 18 on my roster showed up BUT 8 EXTRA kids showed up the first day! It started to balance out today. It turns out 2 of them were misplaced in my class and they were supposed to be in 2nd and 4th grade. And, no, I had no idea I had a nine year old in my class. He was not much taller than the other ones and the same academically. They just came from another country and their mom misunderstood something on the enrollment card. On Monday I'm tranferring two more to the other bilingual class and I'll have 21.

What's up with the paperwork!!! Parent info, updated enrollment cards, code of conduct, lunch forms,etc. Plus all the new teacher info crap and signing up for email and to access the online curriculum. Plus, my district is one of those who still does paper attendance! I'm surprised for it being such a huge, urban district that they still handle that on paper. In my limited experience (all of 2 other districts) you submitted attendance through a comp. system. Ok, enough with the complaints because everyone goes through that so y'all know what I'm talking about...Ok, one more...the copier is always broken. :) Ok, now I'm done.

My class is a pretty good mix - academically, culturally and personality-wise. I have some TAG (talented and gifted) kids who are writing full paragraphs and some who are still working on putting syllables together. They're from Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico, here, etc. I have some sweethearts who are no trouble at all, the shy ones, the clowns and of course "THE bad one." And by that I mean THE ONE that everyone knows from last year and got in trouble everywhere. Why do I always get the "oh, you have him?" kid? I smell conspiracy :) Anyways. I like the fact that there's tons of manipulatives and dry-erase boards, paper, pencils, crayons, etc. At least I don't have to spend my own money on that. Plus all the kids brought their materials. Of course I had to clean up the mess to find it all, but it's not so bad.

Something cute that happened: I had my TAG kids on the carpet b/c they had missed something while they were gone, and suddenly one of them starts fanning his butt and slowly scooted away from the others. Then I caught the "scent." I didn't say anything, but I just wanted to laugh b/c HE moved away from the smell and left us there :) He's going to be a handful, but he's very bright.

Something scary that happened: My kindergarten cousin (diff. school district) left his school and walked home on the first day. He's 5 and walked down a major street to get to his huge apartment complex. He left when they were on the playground at 10 am and showed up at his doorstep at noon. He didn't go to pre-k so this is his first time in a school and his parents told him that they would pick him up. He told him he left b/c they hadn't shown up yet. His teacher had already called to police to find him. His mom went to raise hell at the school. I feel bad for both sides. I can't imagine as a parent thinking of what could've happened. And I feel for the teacher b/c I know how easy it is to NOT miss a kid when you have 20+ and they wear uniforms. They all blend in.

Anyways...gotta go.

I hope I don't get a "teacher voice"

2005-08-08T22:27:00.000-07:00

We had staff development today.....boring, boring, boring!!! We just spent two weeks in new teacher academy going over the same stuff :( It's OK...just one more day and I can hit my room full-speed.

¡Qué desconsuelo! :( My room is sooooo dirty. There is tons of crap in there that the previous teacher didn't clean out. Bulletin boards were still up and things just stacked on top of other things all summer long so it's super dusty. So the only thing I did today was pull things down and move furniture around and check to see that the computers worked. Mi amiga, la maestra, ya me inspiró! Tomorrow will be cleaning day so that I can get started :)

Does anyone else have crushes on their coworkers?

2005-08-05T11:51:00.000-07:00

No? Just me, the weird girl? Ok, then :)

It's not really I-want-to-hook-up-type crushes. It's admiration more than anything. I guess it's natural to feel drawn to ppl who share the same interests. I've been working with the same group of ppl all week long during the new teacher academy and I got to see the enthusiasm and experience they bring. I guess it's because I haven't really worked with young, male teachers who come from the same philosophy of teaching I do. It sucks that they'll be at different schools. I hope there are young teachers at my school, so that I don't feel so much like the new kid.

The best advice I got all week long: DON'T give your profession 100%. Do the best you can, but remember to take care of yourself.

It's so true b/c I gave 100% to my job last semester and it was taking a toll on me physically (headaches all the time) and was affecting my relationships b/c I was at school every NIGHT. It doesn't mean "don't be dedicated" but just remember to be a little bit selfish :)

I got my key! I got my key! I got my key, hey, hey, hey, hey!

2005-08-04T14:27:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about the song the Little Rascals sing in the movie :)

I got my key to my room! I saw it, BUT there is some crap in there. There's stuff still up on the walls. I had to leave my room totally clear at my last district. I hope some of that stuff gets cleared out before I get there next Monday. Many teachers are already working on their rooms this week, BUT b/c I'm new to this district, I have to go through the new teacher academy. Today was a good day at training b/c the presenters actually had us practicing strategies and stuff, rather than just sitting there freezing our asses off.

I'll finally get to put my room together next week.

I feel better now :)

2005-08-02T19:56:00.000-07:00

I know I was pretty negative in my last posts...I'm feeling better now :) I've met many people the last couple of days who are very enthusiastic about being in the classroom. It's awesome to hear people talk about how they want to expose the kids to new experiences inside and outside the classroom. I think it's so important to let our kids know that there is a huge, exciting world outside of their neighborhoods and ANY of them have the chance to explore it. It's easy to be bogged down after meeting a couple of people with some questionable motives, BUT I need to open up my eyes to all the awesome teachers who are doing and are going to do a kick ass job :) Hats off to you!

Don't get me started...

2005-07-31T02:20:00.000-07:00

During the training, I've met a lot of teachers who are in the alternative certification program. Basically they've gone through the courses of the teacher prep program in six months, then they get a classroom and keep going to seminars during the school year. They were from all over the U.S., Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, etc. and many of them were teachers there. Some of them were in other professions and now want to teach. I don't care if you go through a university program or alternative certification, as long as you WANT to teach and KNOW what you're doing.
I asked a guy in my group what he did before and he said he was a nurse. I asked why he changed professions and he said that he's from the Caribbean and doesn't "have papers." Since everyone in the program hired from another country gets a work visa, that'll make it faster for him to establish residency. After he said this, THEN he says, "Oh, and I like teaching little ones." I'm sorry, but that totally got under my skin. It got me wondering how many people are there for other reasons - getting your "papers," having summers off (mostly), b/c it was an "easy" major in college or whatever. I really don't think those should be the reasons you go into teaching b/c you're not only affecting yourself, but also a bunch of little ones. Maybe you can have those be your reasons and still be a good teacher.Hmmm... I sure hope so.
After the session started, our instructor asked if someone could give an example of a learning disability. So, a future BILINGUAL teacher says,"like when they don't speak English?" WTF?!? I'm all for participation and taking a guess, but she's a bilingual teacher! That should've NEVER have been her guess. Yes, I said NEVER. Her mouth is a disability.

A couple of tips y si tienen más, pues share :)

2005-07-31T00:11:00.000-07:00

At least I got a couple of things from the training sessions...I think that's the idea..

Instead of raising hands during independent work:
1) Set an open book upright on the cornder of the desk.
2) Make a flap or triangular prism to tape on the edge of the desk that the kids can flip over on top of the desk when they need help.
I liked this b/c the kids can keep woking while they wait for you come over and you don't have a bunch of waving hands and "miss, miss, miss." The instructor had us hold our hands up for 30 secs and it starts hurting after about 15, so imagine our little ones :)

Also, you should have an TA available. Not all day like they do in pre-k and some k, but usually at least one per grade level that you sort of share. They can provide some extra help with a student or group of SS or if you have to do some testing. It never hurts to ask.

PDAS sux!!!

2005-07-27T21:49:00.000-07:00

I had to sit through the Professional Development Appraisal System training ALL DAY!
It's a state mandated eval system and we HAVE to sit through it. I'm at a new district so I have to go through the new teacher academy and this is part of it. I do want to do the new teacher academy b/c I didn't get a chance to with my old district. HOWEVER, one of the trainings I DID get at my old district was PDAS! I just went over all this crap in MARCH! It was just as boring then. So this is what I realized after this very wasted day while I was falling asleep and daydreaming (nothing to do with school):

1. My feet look horrible! Chancla season has taken a toll on them and I need a pedi.
2. My press-on nails (thanks C) look pretty good. They've improved since I was little when they would fall off as soon as you touched anything. (and a bargain at $5)
3. Seeing the lights on the ceiling dance and blur is a sign that you are falling asleep.
4. Always take a sweater to school in July in Texas b/c school districts like to keep you awake by freezing you to death inside when it's 110 degrees outside.
5. My worst realization today: I will have to wear panty hose if I wear a skirt to school b/c they are implementing a new dress code. NOOOOOOOO!!!!! (guys must wear ties :p).

Oh yeah, we have to dress business casual starting tomorrow as if we were teaching, even if it's just us and we're just sitting there for training.

I hope it's better tomorrow. Probably not, but I can hope.

Am I the only one NOT reading Harry Potter?

2005-07-19T23:12:00.000-07:00

Apparently so :p But there is so much mindless TV to watch before I go back to school and can't do that anymore:) I never get tired of the home shopping network. They have some of the most hideous clother EVER. They still sell tapered pants and a bunch of clothes with fruit appliqués. WTF! Suzanne Somers sells un poquito de todo...from food to clothes to appliances. What about all the cooking, decorating, makeover and who's-my-baby's-daddy? shows? There's just too much to watch. Then there's the good ol' Law and Order and telenovelas. It's baseball season, too...hmmmm...baseball players with nice butts. Of course I admire their skills, too (My poor Pudge hasn't had the best season, but oh well) :p Then there's the internet. It supplements my information from People and US.

Don't I sound like a fine example for my students? I actually do other stuff besides reading gossip mags. I've read only one book this summer, but I like reading newspapers a lot. El Universal, Reforma, a.m. León and La Crónica de hoy have good online versions. I'm trying to keep up the Spanish and keep informed at the same time :) I don't know how to link stuff, sorry (I tried linking stuff/people before but it didn't work, so I'll try again sometime). I get to see the familia and have dinner with them often :) I get to help my abuelita with trips to the doctor so my mom doesn't have to take the day off. So who cares that I haven't read tons of books or worked this summer (aside from sporadic tutoring and babysitting). I'm savoring these last few days before the chaos starts :)

Come to think of it...I have been doing plenty.

Es casi igual

2005-07-18T02:54:00.000-07:00

I looked up info about certification to teach in Mex. It looks similar to what we have here...courses, recommendations and tests to take. I guess my cousin has some sort of different teaching permit or maybe it's an interim one like you would get here if you had a degree in something else and were completing a cert. program at the same time. If she does have full teacher certification, then it makes no sense for her to be making so little money.

A sub that I had in my class this past semester told me that she used to live in Australia and she was a sub down there. She said they get paid really well. She had a nice apt. near the beach and everything. Then, she moved back here and was shocked at how little subs make and could barely make ends meet.

I need to go to bed or I'll keep looking up all this stuff.

Ya casi se llega la hora

2005-07-17T23:09:00.000-07:00

It's almost time to go back to school! YIKES! I have to report for the new teacher academy at the end of this month. It's kinda scary but very exciting. I hope it's not as boring as my friend's staff dev. crap. I'm scared it might be even worse since many of the teachers will have no classroom experience besides student teaching...OR... I can be hopeful that stuff will still be fresh in their minds since they were going over all this a few months ago. We'll see. I still have to read through the insurance stuff and sign up for that. I can't say I know much about that stuff considering I haven't had health insurance since I was like 11...and that was under my parents. This is scary grown up stuff :)

My parents got back from México a week ago. They went to check on my paternal abuelito y a jalarle las orejas. He gets sad and drinks. It's a long, depressing story, but mainly he's been very lonely since my tío, who lived with him, passed away in December. The good thing is that my tía had already petitioned to bring him over here and they're just waiting for the appointment in Juárez. In the meantime, we just call him often to check on him.

Wanna hear something really sad? Teachers in México make crap money. Shocking, I know. My mom said that a cousin (actually I don't know how related we are, but we're some sort of distant cousins)...anyways...she is a teacher and she makes like 1800 pesos a month. That's only about $180 dollars. And she works on Saturdays, too. Earning 1800 pesos there is not like making $1800 dollars here. A soda is about 4 pesos...a soda here is NOT $4 dollars! The thing that I don't understand is how you become a teacher in México. Supposedly she's had a certificate to teach for about a year, but she's only 21 b/c you start in preparatoria or something. I don't believe she went to a college or university. It's not that easy to go to a college or university either b/c Fox y los bancos aren't exactly lining up to give you a loan like they are here. Claro, que si tienes dinero, en dondequiera entras. Anyways. I guess if she had gone to a uni. maybe she'd be making more money. I'm actually curious now. I'm going to go look that up right now.

Oh yeah, I will not complain about how little money we make anymore :)

Awww...I'm a pretty teacher :)

2005-07-07T18:21:00.000-07:00

My cousins saw my class picture and one of them says, "You're a pretty teacher." How cool! That just made my day. My tía still says she feels weird thinking of me as a teacher with a class and parents calling me "maestra" b/c I'm still Lupita to them (nickname comes from my middle name). A while back, my cousin says, "Man, it's so dumb. My bf has this aunt who's like 50 and they call her Tía Lupita." Then as soon as she says that, we both look at each other and laughed. She tried to fix it and said that with me it was different with me b/c the name suits me. LOL Of course it suits me better...we're related.

It wasn't so bad :)

2005-07-04T01:00:00.000-07:00

I was so yucked out about sleeping with the dog yesterday, but wasn't so bad, since when I sleep, I'm dead to the world. I only woke up a couple of times to the jingling of his collar and when I could feel him getting closer to my face, so I would just turn around or nudge him to move and he did. He's a pretty cool dog and obedient if you ask me :) You know how you have certain things that you just think are going to freak you out? Well, sharing the bed with pets was one of them for me. Now, at least I'm over that. It doesn't mean I'm just going to run out and get a pet, but at least now I know that it's not as bad as I thought and I get to share the bed again tonight :p Laterz.

Yuck... I'm about to sleep with a dog!

2005-07-03T13:30:00.000-07:00

We're visiting my bf's family and a friend of ours came as well. My bf, being the gentleman that he is, gave me and our friend (she's a girl) the spare bed and he's going to the couch. Here's the problem...my friend brought her dog as well and he's on the bed :( I like animals, but I don't like having pets b/c I don't like cleaning up after them or smelling like dog breath when they lick you. My friend already fell asleep and the dog is next to her. I can't put the dog in the other room b/c he'll cry and wake up the family dog and it'll be barking all night! I know this would happen b/c we've had to separate them all day. Maybe I'll go join my bf on the couch...hmmmm.

Disclaimer: I LIKE animals, and I know that pets become family and all that. I'll be around them and pet them, but I don't like them all over me.

I saw War of the Worlds...but Tom still gets on my nerves!

2005-06-30T22:56:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist. I saw Tom's movie today. I also saw crooked-mouth Katie's Batman Begins when it came out (of course it's Bale's movie, not hers). I thought both movies were pretty good. I like the darker tone of Batman b/c it wasn't so cartoonish as the previous ones. The last Batman and Robin was just HORRIBLE...and I tend to like pretty much everything.

War of the Worlds is action packed from the beginning. I jumped a lot and teared up a couple of times... I'm such a rajona. The ending is kinda weak. More than anything, I liked Dakota Fanning. She's a great actress. She's so realistic and can scream and cry like no one else. I saw the behind the scenes stuff for Uptown Girls (I told you I like pretty much everything) and everybody commented on how professional she is. Lucky girl! She got to act with the Denzel. ¡Qué envidia!

¿Que onda con Cruise?

2005-06-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

What is going on with Tom Cruise? He's kinda weird now. He has this nervous, fake, loud laughter on every interview. And he always has the chicle next to him. It's all good to be devoted and into your thing, but I don't like the way he asserts everything like he's THE expert. He may be very well informed, but it's obvious he has really bought into the "psychiatrists are evil and out to control the minds" philosophy of scientology (I don't KNOW about it, but I'm going by what I've read on the internet, which may or may not be true as we all know). Anyone who suggests studies showing that drugs can help gets the "look at who's done the studies" response...oh, yeah, those evil psychiatrists and drug companies! I agree that some ppl overmedicate and diagnose everything as some sort of illness curable with drugs. Painkillers are illegally sold on the street, too. Should they not be prescribed either? Let ppl meditate to make the pain go away, right? I've seen the good and bad effects of ADHD drugs in the classroom. It doesn't mean that they should be totally dismissed, just maybe more controlled. I don't know how to do this, so I guess my opinion is just as worthless as his b/c we're not really doing anything about it besides talking.

Some people just don't understand...

2005-06-21T23:53:00.000-07:00

I don't like talking about political issues just like I don't like talking about religion. They're private and totally subjective because it's not something that is as simple as black and white. Everyone brings in a certain perspective based on your experiences and it gets too touchy. I was just talking to an old high school friend. She's a special ed teacher on the east coast (I'm in the southwest). We got to talking about student loans and it somehow got on to immigrants' rights (I don't know how). She started saying that she wasn't republican, but she understood some of the issues they have with immigrants coming here illegally and having kids and having to give them the same benefits and all that. Being the kid of immigrant parents, it was tough to swallow. I told her that you get the same benefits because you are American regardless of the situation. So she tells me that it's true BUT that you had the privilege of being American b/c your parents broke the law. I just don't like the "BUT" in there. I'm American b/c I was born here, PERIOD. Yes, what my parents did when they were 18 was illegal, but the reason I don't like discussing this stuff is because you can't make someone understand the "circumstances" behind that. I don't think I can even explain it b/c I didn't have to go through that, so I don't know that feeling of desperation that could drive you to risk your life and leave everything behind hoping that there's something better out there.

We're still as cool as ever (hey, real friends don't just nod and agree with everything you say). It's good to hear other opinions, but we ended up with more questions than answers and you can only answer based on what you know. There is no easy way to "fix" any situation. We just have to deal with what is there and work on whatever we want to see change (and, no, it's can't happen in one year). This is one of the reasons I became a bilingual teacher. I'm hoping that I can help my kids understand que sí se puede and that they learn to feel proud and excel in what they do so they can become nurses, doctors, mechanics, teachers, paleteros (according to my little cousin:) )or anything else they wish to become.

If I could just figure out how to fix that little problem of corruption, poverty and discrimination in the world...

¡¿¡Por que hay gente tan maldita!?!

2005-06-15T00:28:00.000-07:00

¡Un pinche carro le dió un golpe a mi carro hoy por la mañana! No me gusta decir palabrotas en español pero este güey se pasó. Venia bien happy porque acababa de firmar mi contrato con el distrito nuevo en el que voy a trabajar. Recogí a mi mamá de la tienda y iba al lado. El babas que iba en el carril de a lado de repente se quiere meter a mi carril y me talló todo el lado (¡las dos puertas y la salpicadera!) Y el colmo es que ni se paró. Quemó llanta y se metió en la primer calle. Yo me di vuelta en la siguiente calle y lo busqué pero ni sus rastros. Me dió rabia no por el daño a mi carro pero porque ¿qué tal si me hubiera sumido la puerta y prensado a mi mamá que iba de ese lado? Llevé el carro a la agencia y la aseguranza va a pagar pero tengo que dar el deducible que es $500. Ese idiota me va a costar $500 de mi bolsa. Y ni placas tuve tiempo de apuntar.
I don't want to wish ill on someone else, but karma is a bitch and I hope the thought just tortures this asshole who hit me.

Apparently, I'm not much of a blogger...

2005-06-09T02:33:00.000-07:00

I haven't gotten on here in a while. I forget to do this. Maybe b/c there's not much going on this summer. I'm just tutoring a couple of kids. It gets me gas and movie money and gets me out of bed before noon, b/c if I didn't have this, then I'd be sleeping 'til 2 pm. Mi amigocha y yo were talking about how it's getting boring already, BUT I'm NOT saying I would rather be working :) I'm cool just hanging out watching baseball, Law and Order and novelas. We need to schedule some trips to just chill like in the old days.

My mission is to do some productive, not-school-related (unless I have to) adult stuff. I've been researching what there is to do here and I've found some cool stuff and a lot of it it's free. There are art exhibits, demonstrations, outdoor movies, concerts, festivals, etc. I'm trying to read books NOT written by Robert Munsch or Eric Carle or dealing with whales or the rainforest :) I need a break from that. My friend posted about a summer reading list, and she put Isabel Allende on there. I started reading Hija de la fortuna by Allende before school ended pero no voy ni a la mitad (I need to get on that). It's pretty good. My tío also gave me Doce cuentos peregrinos by Gabriel García Márquez. Creo que los cuentos son más para mí. Por eso me gustan las telenovelas mexicanas...terminan rápido.

My apt. needs some major help and organization also. I have all the tools b/c every time I go to the Container Store I buy things that I think will help me get organized, but I haven't actually used them :(

I've been spending more time with the fam, which is important b/c during the school year I was so stressed out with the job that I really didn't get to see them much (and I'm in the same city now!). Abue is getting older, so I try to go see her during the day when she's alone while my parents and bro are working. I like hearing stories about her childhood or when my mom was little. I admire her so much for surviving. It's so easy to judge and ask why she put up with so much shit, but I've realized that I haven't given her the credit she deserves for surviving and raising some decent human beings.