Spring in Suisun...

I had the best time this weekend. I went to visit a friend in Northern California ,where they actually have 3 seasons: hot, not hot and rainy. Much better than LA's 2, unbearably hot and cool. We had a relaxing weekend of vegging out, going to the movies, eating delicious food, and watching British comedy. And contrary to popular opinion on the subject we did leave the house. I also got to try out a bit of interior decorating. And guess what, I'm a dab hand at it! I might go into business for myself if this math thing doesn't work out(clearly I'm joking).

After the past few months of craziness it was nice to just get a little peace and quiet and just stop for a bit. Sometimes we get so busy that when forget how to stop, how to relax, to just take it easy.

I miss it already. Now that I'm back I feel the pace beginning to quicken, pressures starting to move in, and then tension beginning to mount, but then I take a deep breath, close my eyes and think about the weekend and everything slows right back down.

Well that's it for now. As always have a good day and enjoy.

I got an A !!!

This week beat last week into a cocked hat for craziness. Just when I thought things should be setting down they rev back up :) About half-way through week I definitely thought I was close to losing my sanity. I had actually stared at a computer screen so long that I saw double. Never happened before. I mean I've exaggerated that it's happened before, but it never actually did.

I had another frustrating afternoon of dealing with people who can't respect other people's property to push me over the edge and then the most amazing thing happened. I was at work in the evening and one of my students who I've been working with for the past 2 1/2 years as part of the NCLB program came in with his homework (the second time in the past 2 1/2 years I've worked with him) and showed me a test he received in his Algebra class.

It was an A. I know you're probably thinking, no big deal so he got an A, but it was the first A he's received in Math probably since kindergarten. He said he doesn't even know if he got one then. You could tell he was "busting" with pride in himself that he had accomplished this. I was suffused with pride myself that I was there to witness it and he shared it with me. It was like I made an A for the first time. It was also encouraging to see his father, a single parent, so excited about his son's first A. He was so encouraging towards him that I was definitely getting weepy.

When I first met this kid he was working at about 3 1/2 years behind grade level and to have made an A in a subject that most kids in LA county are failing in is a huge deal. When I saw that look in his eyes, that sense of accomplishment and belief in his potential and abilities all the stress and trauma of the bureaucratic nonsense of the past few months paled into insignificance.

All the hoops didn't seem so bad if just one child's sense of failure was replaced with a since of confidence and belief in his/her own potential. It was very important to be reminded of that.

As always have a great day and enjoy.

Inspiration

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!

The sentiments of my week. I've been inspired by a good friend to start posting again. Last week a coworker who used to read my blog asked why I stopped writing. The truth is I've been busy, but I miss being able to express my quippy, quirkly and infrequently witty remarks without interruption. That's certainly why I started.

Sometimes it was just good to have a rant about the week, like in the first line. Or to shed some light on an observation I had made about human nature. Or maybe just frustration at an annoying math publication :)

It was like a trip to the therapist with myself. Unless I'm using someone as a sounding board it rarely helps to talk about things until I've started to untangle them in my mind first, but enough of that.

This week has been crazy to say the least. You know it's bad when you can't wait until Friday to come even though you work on the weekends. It's not the kids of course or the math. I love that always have always will. It's the hoops you have to jump through just to do that. The pursuit of knowledge apparently isn't enough anymore, but alas I am but a small gear in this huge machine of education, turning slowly with the inertia of the system hoping my crooked spoke throws things off track so they can change, hopefully for the better.

As always have a good day and enjoy.