Many of you have probably seen this link, but for those of you who haven't, I wanted to pass it along. Travis was published in the Houston Chronicle, and it is a story worth reading.
A tribute to my father, a deceptively inept dad who raised three sons on his own
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
On the horizon
Hers:
It has been a solid 2 and a half months since we've written anything, so here's the scoop:
On May 30 the seniors of College Park High School graduated. At the beginning of the ceremony all of teachers walked in wearing black gowns. I tried mine on before heading to the event only to have my husband say, "You look like a child." It was true, the gown was quite large, and I looked even more high schoolish than usual. Thank God the staff gowns were a different color than the students'.
All that to say, I finished out the semester alive and excited to teach at College Park again next year. Although, it is kind of crazy to think that my students were born in 1995, and when they reference Vanilla Ice they say things like, "Oh, Miss G, that was back in your time." I didn't realize that my time was over, but apparently it is. Thankfully I am still somewhat in touch with what my students are listening to, so when they start rapping things like, "99 Problems," I can put the kibosh on it.
His:
Here's the surprise, M. Night Shamalayan end twist to my last couple of months: I am going to be a 4th grade language arts teacher.
Now, this was not something that I decided out-of-the-blue, by my own volition. It began with a friend connecting me with an elementary school in Cut and Shoot, Texas (that's not a joke, it's really the name of the town). The school needed help with tutoring for the approaching standardized test, and I arrived expecting to tutor in language arts. Instead, I tutored first, second, third, and fourth graders in Math. To my surprise, I loved helping with math. To my bigger surprise, I loved working with elementary school kids.
In the endlessly creative minds of the little kids, I became "that vampire guy" (because of my spiked hair I think?), Math Yoda, "that most famous guy", and in one of the more interesting sentence constructions of a third grader I was helping with English: "Mr. G who lays frog eggs in the afternoon." I was hooked.
A language arts position opened up at the school and I received the position. So now I am elbows deep in learning how to teach 4th graders reading and writing. I also have to think of some decorations for my new room. I'm thinking Finn and Jake will need to make an appearance.
It has been a solid 2 and a half months since we've written anything, so here's the scoop:
On May 30 the seniors of College Park High School graduated. At the beginning of the ceremony all of teachers walked in wearing black gowns. I tried mine on before heading to the event only to have my husband say, "You look like a child." It was true, the gown was quite large, and I looked even more high schoolish than usual. Thank God the staff gowns were a different color than the students'.
All that to say, I finished out the semester alive and excited to teach at College Park again next year. Although, it is kind of crazy to think that my students were born in 1995, and when they reference Vanilla Ice they say things like, "Oh, Miss G, that was back in your time." I didn't realize that my time was over, but apparently it is. Thankfully I am still somewhat in touch with what my students are listening to, so when they start rapping things like, "99 Problems," I can put the kibosh on it.
His:
Here's the surprise, M. Night Shamalayan end twist to my last couple of months: I am going to be a 4th grade language arts teacher.
Now, this was not something that I decided out-of-the-blue, by my own volition. It began with a friend connecting me with an elementary school in Cut and Shoot, Texas (that's not a joke, it's really the name of the town). The school needed help with tutoring for the approaching standardized test, and I arrived expecting to tutor in language arts. Instead, I tutored first, second, third, and fourth graders in Math. To my surprise, I loved helping with math. To my bigger surprise, I loved working with elementary school kids.
In the endlessly creative minds of the little kids, I became "that vampire guy" (because of my spiked hair I think?), Math Yoda, "that most famous guy", and in one of the more interesting sentence constructions of a third grader I was helping with English: "Mr. G who lays frog eggs in the afternoon." I was hooked.
A language arts position opened up at the school and I received the position. So now I am elbows deep in learning how to teach 4th graders reading and writing. I also have to think of some decorations for my new room. I'm thinking Finn and Jake will need to make an appearance.
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