| Blog Entry - Saturday, October 14th, 2006 | Add / Read (0) |
My apologies for the long delay. I've been dealing with not only the new career, but also having to buy and put together a new computer. It's amazing how little time you have when you're doing all new things.
So, thanks for your patience and thanks for all the kind words you had for me when I announced my new career and job. I'll tell you this for nothing - it's not easy. My kids are - mostly - wonderful. Some days, as you might imagine, they try my patience. I'm always amazed when they can't do something simple, like read directions. On the other hand, they are mostly incredibly nice people who are just going through a tremdendous amount of growth and change. Not easy for anyone, as I know. ;-) I just wish I could reach some of them - those who refuse to do any homework or can't seem to get their lives in any kind of order.
So, let's see. I'm in the process of recovering from a serious bout of bronchitis - I was out sick a few days this week and even on Sudafed (which ought to hype you up), I've been sleeping a ton. I'm finally starting to get a little better, although I must admit to spending all morning curled up, reading, drinking tea, and resting. Being a first-year teacher, especially when you work at a school with incredibly high expectations, is exhausting. To be fair, it probably doesn't help that I'm also still in grad school. I had to drop back to taking only one class this semester, just to make time for everything (not that I've actually managed to make time for everything, but it's a valiant effort nonetheless). The class is called Against the Grain: Dissenters and American Society and it's interesting to talk about American history from the angle of the people who worked most to change the way the country worked.
First quarter I taught Persepolis and Persepolis 2 (among other things, like narrative writing, the basics of essay writing, lots of vocabulary, fact and opinion, some Langston Hughes poems, and excerpts from Journey from the Land of No) -- and even though we had some doubts about whether the books were the right ones, I think my students enjoyed them. Of course, who can resist graphic memoir (graphic novel style, but true memoir stories)? And it's always interesting to read stories that deal with a similar time of life -- Marjane Satrapi writes about her life from age 7 to her early 20s dealing with the 1978-79 Iranian Revolution, the Iran-Iraq war, and growing up in Iran and in in boarding school in Austria. Satrapi's life includes so many experiences that are part of growing up - I think my students and I could identify, which makes it easier to recognize that Iranians are people just like us in so many ways. I studied the books as part of a paper I wrote during a class on Islam in my grad school program, and it was exciting to share those books with my kids. Of course, I have about 20 minutes to rest on those laurels - I now have to figure out what I'm going to do with my second quarter! Not to mention the huge pile of midterms I have to grade. And the yearbooks I have to help my kids put together. Wow. I'm making myself tired already.
Now that I've got my new laptop configured, I'll try to update more often. I can't connect at school, though, so it might not be as often as I'd like. In any case, I hope things are going well for all of you. I'll try to keep posting on my life as a teacher, my grad school classes, my yoga practice, and anything else interesting that comes up. Don't expect too much about Notes and Domino right now, although during the summer or other breaks, I may try to find a few things to write about that are part of the community that I miss so much.
Author: Libby
Posted at: 02:19:02 PM
