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Jan. 23rd, 2008 12:24 pm
(no subject)
I'm so glad I have a happy baby. Her mom's at work right now, and Tegan and I are enjoying a nice relaxing day watching the BBC's Top Gear while I split my time between entertaining her and correcting papers. I think I'll need to go warm her some milk in a few moments, but she's being a perfect angel.
Hrm. Yes, she's hungry. I'm going to go get her some milk and feed her; I'll finish this then.
I don't know why I bothered to type that; it isn't like this goes out in real time. But, I guess, the title of the post is "State of the Mahdi," and that does tell you what's going on here. So. Let's break it down: Work, Home, Hobbies. That seems best, today.
Work
As a quick glance at earlier entries will tell you, some days are far better than others. My school is tiny--we have only about 120 students right now--and until we get to our intended enrollment of 500, the jerks and the time-wasters stand out more than they do in a large student body.
I know some have urged me to teach in private schools, but the truth is, I know people who teach in those schools, and I know people who went to those schools, and there isn't any guarantee of better behavior. My friends at Distinguished Schools also have student issues. Besides, that mentality of abandoning public schools goes counter to everything that made me decide to become a teacher.
While I'm at it, a request: while I know folks mean well, please don't comment to me that I'm probably one of the only teachers these kids will ever meet who actually cares. I realize it is meant well, and you're being supportive, and thank you for that--but other teachers read this journal, and I feel that such comments are an insult to them. There are far, far more caring and supportive teachers out there than most people want to believe, and it kind of makes me feel icky to be told otherwise. Sometimes, even the best teacher is overwhelmed by the sheer asshattery of our students, but also, sometimes their generosity of spirit and their caring also overwhelms us. Okay, sidebar over.
We move to our permanent site in Rancho Cordova, near Mather Air Field, in about three weeks. It'll be interesting, and we'll get some new students, but probably not more than 50 or so. Next fall we'll expand to about 320, and the year after that we'll be at max enrollment at 500. The site is brand-new, and we get brand-new everything, from desks to laptops for every teacher. That'll be good; I won't need my personal laptop at work anymore, which will be nice, though I may still take it in from time to time.
In preparation for the move, we're packing up a lot of stuff, and we're also taking a hard look at some of our biggest "problem" students, and making it clear to them that their behavior has to improve or they won't be coming with us.
Home
Home is ... well, it's home. I'm stressed a lot, due to work, and then I come home and there seems to be no time for much, but I expected that. The baby is growing, and getting more and more cute and interesting every day. Elli's a little stressed, being home with the baby and ALSO working, but we're finding we're doing better, financially speaking, than we'd thought we would. Things are working out better, though we're still aware they could change.
We had a HUGE gas bill this month, because this place leaks heat like a sieve, so we'll have to block off some vents and get some coverings for some windows. We've also turned the heat down a few degrees, so we're all in sweaters and the baby is in warm clothing and blankets a lot. So if you come over, bring a sweater.
Hobbies
Well, we try to cover things for each other so we both get some time with our hobbies, but it's hard. We've spent more time than we'd like watching TV, so we're starting to turn it off (or turn it over to me for X-Box play) more often.
I'm still reading Sacrifice, and I'm only about halfway through it. I've just been too tired to devote a whole lot of effort to it lately.
Mass Effect, on the other hand, is my new vice. There's a lot of talk online about how playing an Adept--that is, the character class that has powers, but can only use pistols effectively--is gimpy, because you die a lot and pistols suck as firepower. To this, I can only say, "Horseshit." I've been playing an Adept, and yeah, I died a bit in the beginning, but now I've uncovered the secret--cover and teamwork. By using cover and effectively managing my squad, I now rarely die, and I kick amazing amounts of ass whether I'm up against the cybernetic Geth, the once-human Husks they send after me, or any biologicals that are dumb enough to go up against me.
That said, I do look forward to playing as another character class later.
On the story side of things, Mass Effect has all the glamour, danger, and excitement we've come to expect from Bioware. There're multiple possible romantic interests, surprise twists, moral dilemmas--both for the main character, and for you to talk others through--and great dialog for a video game. I'm loving the more cinematic feel of the conversation choices being more of a hint at what you'll say than the text, and the full-on voice acting is excellent.
Anyway, it's taken me days to write this, so I guess it's time to post it.
Hrm. Yes, she's hungry. I'm going to go get her some milk and feed her; I'll finish this then.
I don't know why I bothered to type that; it isn't like this goes out in real time. But, I guess, the title of the post is "State of the Mahdi," and that does tell you what's going on here. So. Let's break it down: Work, Home, Hobbies. That seems best, today.
Work
As a quick glance at earlier entries will tell you, some days are far better than others. My school is tiny--we have only about 120 students right now--and until we get to our intended enrollment of 500, the jerks and the time-wasters stand out more than they do in a large student body.
I know some have urged me to teach in private schools, but the truth is, I know people who teach in those schools, and I know people who went to those schools, and there isn't any guarantee of better behavior. My friends at Distinguished Schools also have student issues. Besides, that mentality of abandoning public schools goes counter to everything that made me decide to become a teacher.
While I'm at it, a request: while I know folks mean well, please don't comment to me that I'm probably one of the only teachers these kids will ever meet who actually cares. I realize it is meant well, and you're being supportive, and thank you for that--but other teachers read this journal, and I feel that such comments are an insult to them. There are far, far more caring and supportive teachers out there than most people want to believe, and it kind of makes me feel icky to be told otherwise. Sometimes, even the best teacher is overwhelmed by the sheer asshattery of our students, but also, sometimes their generosity of spirit and their caring also overwhelms us. Okay, sidebar over.
We move to our permanent site in Rancho Cordova, near Mather Air Field, in about three weeks. It'll be interesting, and we'll get some new students, but probably not more than 50 or so. Next fall we'll expand to about 320, and the year after that we'll be at max enrollment at 500. The site is brand-new, and we get brand-new everything, from desks to laptops for every teacher. That'll be good; I won't need my personal laptop at work anymore, which will be nice, though I may still take it in from time to time.
In preparation for the move, we're packing up a lot of stuff, and we're also taking a hard look at some of our biggest "problem" students, and making it clear to them that their behavior has to improve or they won't be coming with us.
Home
Home is ... well, it's home. I'm stressed a lot, due to work, and then I come home and there seems to be no time for much, but I expected that. The baby is growing, and getting more and more cute and interesting every day. Elli's a little stressed, being home with the baby and ALSO working, but we're finding we're doing better, financially speaking, than we'd thought we would. Things are working out better, though we're still aware they could change.
We had a HUGE gas bill this month, because this place leaks heat like a sieve, so we'll have to block off some vents and get some coverings for some windows. We've also turned the heat down a few degrees, so we're all in sweaters and the baby is in warm clothing and blankets a lot. So if you come over, bring a sweater.
Hobbies
Well, we try to cover things for each other so we both get some time with our hobbies, but it's hard. We've spent more time than we'd like watching TV, so we're starting to turn it off (or turn it over to me for X-Box play) more often.
I'm still reading Sacrifice, and I'm only about halfway through it. I've just been too tired to devote a whole lot of effort to it lately.
Mass Effect, on the other hand, is my new vice. There's a lot of talk online about how playing an Adept--that is, the character class that has powers, but can only use pistols effectively--is gimpy, because you die a lot and pistols suck as firepower. To this, I can only say, "Horseshit." I've been playing an Adept, and yeah, I died a bit in the beginning, but now I've uncovered the secret--cover and teamwork. By using cover and effectively managing my squad, I now rarely die, and I kick amazing amounts of ass whether I'm up against the cybernetic Geth, the once-human Husks they send after me, or any biologicals that are dumb enough to go up against me.
That said, I do look forward to playing as another character class later.
On the story side of things, Mass Effect has all the glamour, danger, and excitement we've come to expect from Bioware. There're multiple possible romantic interests, surprise twists, moral dilemmas--both for the main character, and for you to talk others through--and great dialog for a video game. I'm loving the more cinematic feel of the conversation choices being more of a hint at what you'll say than the text, and the full-on voice acting is excellent.
Anyway, it's taken me days to write this, so I guess it's time to post it.