act like you don't see me

I was talking with one of my coworkers today, sort of connecting the dots to how we'd both ended up working at a college in a testing center.  

I knew she'd been a school teacher for several years, elementary through high school.  But then she told me she originally wanted to be a nurse.

"I liked science, and took the test, and was accepted into a good school, but I just wasn't sure that I could really do it", she explained.

So she tried the waters and earned her CNA certification.

"The first job they assigned me was in a dementia ward of a nursing home, and in a short period of time, it became a job I just DREADED going to".

It was enough to turn her off nursing school, and she ended up enrolling in an education program instead.

I had a similar try-it-and-see experience when I thought I might want to be a high school teacher.  I took a job as a non-licensed para at a high school back in 2017, remember?  Do ya?

I figured it was a good way to literally get my foot in the door toward being a licensed teacher and also a way to see if I'd like working in a public high school.

The short answer is, "NOPE".

I won't go into a detailed bitchfest of what I think is wrong with public high school.  And really, it's not all bad, it just was not my cup of tea.

I'm grateful for that job since it saved me from putting any more time and energy (and money) into pursuing a teaching license.

I remember one kid, Chris.  He was a senior who'd transferred in after moving from another state.  He was a bit of a "thug".  Didn't work very hard at at school, got into trouble for truancies and such, didn't care much for authority. But he had pretty solid attendance, probably to the disappointment of some of his teachers.

I worked in the study hall, and he would goof around in there while other students were trying to work.  He once told me that he didn't have anything to work on, so I told him I'd give him some math problems, which I did.

He worked on them for the remainder of the time and handed the worksheet back to me before leaving.  I looked it over, and he'd done it all correctly.  That was honestly a surprise.

Another time, he was again acting up, out of boredom I suppose - again having nothing to work on because his class schedule was ridiculously light.  I asked if there was something he liked to do that was school related and could be done quietly.  He told me he liked to write.  Specifically, he liked to write Rap lyrics.

"Great, write some Rap", I enthused.

"You wouldn't like what I write", he responded.

"No, go ahead, write whatever you want", I said.  But he still declined, saying it could get him in (more) trouble,

"Okay, write a Rap song about yourself, then", I tried.

To my surprise, he did.  To my bigger surprise, he showed it to me and asked what I thought

It wasn't nasty or filled with cusswords - not too many anyway.  He wrote about liking basketball - he'd tried out for the school team, but didn't have the grades to stay on the roster - and hanging out and coming up with Rap lyrics.  He wrote about missing his friends back in the town he'd moved from.  He wrote about his eye for fashion - he was a bit of a sneakerhead and liked hip hop style clothing.  The school didn't allow any bling, though.

I found it surprisingly good and thoughtful.  And maybe more surprising, he seemed to really want to know what I thought.

There was a pep rally in the gym one day.  I was already terribly bored with the job and just there out of obligation.  I noticed Chris in the stands among the other seniors.  He was trying to get into the cheers - how the different classes try to out scream each other at those things.  But he was off to the side by himself and didn't really know the different cheers.  

Another day in the study hall, another time I'd pulled him aside for being too rowdy, we were back near my desk, thinking of something he could do quietly for the next hour.  He leaned in and whispered,

"I don't really fit in at this school".

I whispered back,

"Me neither".

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Linking up this week with Mama Kat for the prompt:
5. Write about a time someone surprised you

I miss lunch, not much else

Frank:  So how many days a week do you work as a sub?

Alice:  Oh, I dunno.  I could probably work every day if I wanted to

Frank:  I'm thinking I might be a sub as my "retirement job"

Alice:  Well... some would call teaching a "retirement job"

I don't think Frank was amused.  This was a conversation I witnessed in the teacher's lounge last year when I had that ultra boring job at the nice high school.  Lunch was the best part of the day, always a good conversation in the teacher's lounge. 

Frank was one of the regulars in the teacher's lounge.  He taught English.  Alice was a sub who was also often in the teacher's lounge.  In fact, it was usually English teachers, the piano accompanist, the substitutes, and us study hallers.  I heard the math department had really nice digs, so they never hung out in the teacher's lounge.

I've hashed my tale of woe of how I took a job at the high school last year as a gateway into being a licensed teacher.  It was actually  a good thing because I learned quite quickly that I had no desire to work in a public high school - even a nice one- without spending a bunch of money on getting a license the old fashioned way:  college.

Teaching would not be my retirement job.

Thing is, I liked the kids.  Maybe that's one of the main reasons I realized I didn't want to teach there.  I don't know if the kids had no freedoms because they abused the privileges they did have, or if they abused the privileges they did have because they had no freedoms. 

Anyway, I won't whine, and I really am grateful I came to the I-don't-wanna-be-a-schoolteacher epiphany in a relatively painless way. 

But it makes me think about those who do teach.  Year in and year out.  I guess we're just cut from different cloth, march to different drummers, etc.  There are the good ones, who make lasting impressions.

I also know some teachers who, I honestly think, became teachers because they don't like kids.  They like the dominance of it.   They relish in being the oppressors.  They just made me want to abet in the kids getting away with stuff, which was not actually in my job description.

So if I had to be a schoolteacher, what subject would I teach and why?  Ugh.

Maybe community college math?  Less oppressive the K-12, plus the students are paying to be there rather than forced?  But with less pressure (and requirements) than a university?  This is my retirement job, after all.

But really because I wonder if math teachers really have a better lounge. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Linking up with Mama Kat for the prompt:

5. If you had to be a school teacher, what age and/or subject would you choose to teach and why?

sun's out, dust bunnies out

The excitement of the day is that I rearranged my desk.  Woooo...
Well, I like it anyway.  It's good to change things up every now and then.

Since school got out for summer, I've been tidying and spring cleaning and clearing the mothballs from my brain since I've reopened the tutor biz.  Summer is typically a slow time for tuting since most students are on break and have little sense of urgency to learn anything.

But I'm thankful to currently have one student - a high school senior wanting to get a jump on her college prospects.  And I don't want to get too booked because I do need to work some of the kinks out since clearly, I didn't do any calculus during my recent lunch lady stint.  And while the lunch lady higher ups are floating managerial positions my way, I'm not sure that I will go that route, because now I'm high on speed!

Or... rather... I'm on higher speed?

Within the last month, our internet provider quadrupled our available internet speed!  Our neighborhood didn't rank very high, apparently, but they finally got around to boosting us into the 21st century.

Really, it was fine before for the day-to-day stuff, but I had to put up with gripes from Meego, the gamer.  And when Wolfgang, the gamer, was living here too - I had to hear it in both ears.

"This is the fastest we can get in our neighborhood", I assured them.  Maybe I should've just put a sign on my forehead that said that.

But now, we are flying down the internet speedway!  And now, it can be all about ME.

See, I contract my tuting out to companies who match students with tutors.  They all offer online tuting as well as face-to-face, but my internet was so slow, I stopped taking the online jobs as more bells and whistles were added to those platforms, making the lag so horrible.

So while I'm refreshing my subject skills and tidying my workspace, I'm also cleaning and setting up my virtual classrooms, now that I've got the speed for them.

It's a bit lonely in there at present.   But at least the parking's free.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Linking up with Mama Kat for the prompt:

4. Write a blog post the ends with the word: free

Or maybe it's:

1. Share a photo that best represents your June

graceful, deep, and furious

This week has been a real whiz-bang of activity!  Mainly featuring parent-teacher conferencing, P.E.O.-ing, marching band regionaling, and the continuing saga of Inktobering.  Whew.

It's all good, but it's meant little to no blogging.  I'm happy to be here now.

Parent-teacher conferences went as expected - meaning that really NO one came to talk to me.  I'm high school study hall, for chrissake.  Luckily, I was assigned to the library with a few others that no one typically visits - a couple of P.E. teachers and a part-time math tutor.

We had a rip roaring good time in the library. Sadly, the one woman who stopped by my station just came by to sign something for the other study haller (who had smartly taken the night off).  I was glad for the visit until I realized she'd walked off with my pen.  *sigh*.  I liked that pen.

Meego had marching band regionals on Wednesday and will by vying for state competition later this week. Their show theme features a ship lured by mythical sirens, so yeah,  the ship crashes, etc.

They've got these props that are meant to be the rocks that the ship crashes upon, and various members of the band go up and down these rock props during the show

On Wednesday night, one of the bass drummers bit it on the way up the prop, fell off the ramp.  An audible "Oh shit!" was  emitted.  But I'm pretty sure that only the other parents in our close vicinity heard me 😳.

She wasn't badly hurt, composed herself, and recovered nicely for the remainder of the show.  Later I learned that this is not the first time someone has fallen on that stupid ramp - friction problems.  I say it needs a better solution than what they're doing now, but then again, it IS a shipwreck.  Say it's part of the show?

Speaking of recovering, I've got my head slightly above water on Inktober after falling a bit behind this week.  I managed three drawings yesterday to make up for a couple I'd missed

17.  graceful

20.  deep

21.  furious

Today, I plan to be all caught up!  Just need to finish Fat, get Filthy, and hit the Trail!

and so it begins

I vaguely remember freshman year of high school.  One notable characteristic was the vast difference between freshmen and seniors.

The seniors seemed SO grownup.  They drove cars, had serious relationships, and muscles (guys), and facial hair (guys)... okay maybe I mostly noticed the guys.  But in general, they all just seemed so old.

So this morning was the first day of school in our district and my new job.  Freshmen-only day at the high schools.  We made a big welcoming "gauntlet", then opened the front doors as these seemingly tiny teenagers came streaming in, looking rather like deer in the headlights.  Some seemed so young and small.  *sniff* you forget how small they are *sniff*

It was nice for us newbies too, to just have a few innocuous students in da house.  After the big gauntlet rah rah, and everyone was settled in the gym, my newbie coworker says, "That was exhausting!"

I looked at my watch.  About 5 minutes had gone by.  Just 7 hours and 55 minutes to go!

Later, after things calmed down a bit and the Freshmen went through their paces without any upperclassmen to harass them, they generally seemed pretty happy to be high schoolers.  I got situated in my room, which was assigned only this morning because of a bunch of last-minute flux.  I went to check wi-fi networks for my phone.

It's interesting to note that the high school is a good-sized complex, but plopped smack dab in the middle of a residential area, so a number of wi-fi networks showed up within range.

I had to laugh at the name of that last one

I guess if you live that close to a high school with 1700 students, it's good to have a sense of humor.

smart by stupidity

A few years ago, I worked for a test prep company, and one of the classes I taught was prep for the LSAT - the Law School Admission Test.  I enjoyed teaching LSAT prep.  Lawyers often get a bad rap, but some of the most personable people I've met through teaching were people preparing for law school.

*for extra credit, anyone know what score Elle Woods got on her LSAT to get into Harvard Law in Legally Blonde?  Anyone??*







Anyway, one student was a young woman who REALLY wanted to become a lawyer, and REALLY wanted to get into a decent law school.  She actually took the class twice.  And not only did she take the class, she made other changes she believed would help her chances.  She stopped smoking, started eating healthy, and exercising.

One session, during breaktime, she mentioned she'd started eating flax with her cereal, because she'd heard that flaxseed was good brainfood.  Figured eating flax while taking a prep class would really make her shine on test day.  She asked if I knew anything about it, which I did not.  But, what the heck, I'd give it a try.

Shortly after that conversation, I got some flaxseed at the healthy store and tried some on my morning bowl of cereal. Magnum did too.

GAG CITY!!

It was SO gross!  I couldn't finish my bowl of cereal.  Magnum agreed.  It didn't really taste like anything, it was just the texture.  Even just thinking of that memory now has me grossed out!  It was like eating cereal with little dried boogers mixed in!  Seriously!

To top that off, not only had I ruined a bowl of cereal, I'd ruined the entire box.  I thought it would be a time-saver to just mix a bunch of dried boogers flaxseed into the whole spanking box of cereal!  Big mistake!

I threw the whole box out.  I should've burned it, that would have been cathartic.

Anyway, I reported my results to... let's call her "Trish"... at the next class session.

"Trish", I said, "I couldn't do it!  It was like dried boogers in my cereal!  How do you eat it?!"

"Boogers, what?", she replied.

I explained.  Even the part about mixing it into the whole box, and throwing the whole box out.  

"Don't get the seeds!", she explained.  "Get the ground up stuff!  It's like, powdery.  Just sprinkle it on.  It's not boogery at all!"

Oh.

Trish is now a practicing attorney.  We're buds on Linkedin where she seems happy and smart.

And I know to use ground flax.

Never whole flaxseed.  Never ever.  That would be stupid.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Linking up with Mama Kat this week, for the prompt
5. Share one piece of great advice you’ve received.

done! (almost)

We're already in our last days of the semester.  Geesh, it seems like the semester was just starting, and I was getting used to the whole idea of being a college kid.  I still remember fighting the urge to take my shoes off in that hot classroom.

I'll admit, it took me a while to get used to being a student again.  Luckily, the program I'm in has a lot of old people people from prior careers returning to get their post-bachellorate teaching licenses, so we're in similar boats.

Somewhere along the way, I realized I was enjoying the process.  My partner for elementary student teaching is a kid - literally, fresh out of high school.  Nice guy, a little quiet and tentative, but he puts forth a good effort.  Strange having someone young enough to be my own child as a partner, and I'm sure it was weird for him too at first, but in the end, we had a good time and worked well together.

For middle school teaching, I was partnered with another mom-returns-to-school.  She's working on her math degree at the same time, and her content knowledge is a little behind mine, but she's a whiz bang at power points and other classroom technologies where I'm lacking.  Perfect match up.

So this week we had final presentations for each of those classes.  They were fun and went well, and now... they're over.  I'm signed up for the next round of classes.  Next week, I have a final exam in my math class, and then it's time for a long break before the spring term.

As we wrapped up the teaching classes this week, I was almost sad they were ending.  But when we all compared notes to see what we were taking next semester, most of us will be continuing on together, so that was comforting.

Now, one more week - all these deadlines are being checked off and I find myself with some room to breathe for a while.  It's like that last part of a race where you can see the finish line and get this sudden surge of energy...

Except, it's not... not really.

It's more like when you're cleaning the bathroom and you're putting all the cleaning supplies away and then you notice the grime in the shower tiles that just need a bit of scrubbing, but you just say, "Ah, screw it".

But I'll get there.  THEN, I will kick my shoes off.

For Mama Kat's prompt:

5.) Talk about a problem you tackled this week.

Though not really a "problem" - still a tackling.
.

be healed!

Well, first of all...

Actual customer - not a dramatization

This stuff is THE  BALM!  Shout out to Burt's Bees!  I'd seen the products at the healthy store, among all the other similiar items, and it seemed to have quite a following, but I never had a real reason to try any of them out.  Until now.  Until it was concluded that my face issues - well, the ones having to do with irritated skin anyway - were the result of bicycling in abrasive weather conditions (thank you Terri).

The label touts, "No more weather-weary hair and skin during your outdoor adventures!..."

Plus, there was that cute canister.

I just wanted something I could easily keep in my backpack, so I got me some Burt's Bees Miracle Salve, and it's awesome!  The English Patient ointment made a marked improvement, but this stuff is even a step above.  No more itchy or puffy, plus I look like a 20-year-old!  Okay, two out of three isn't bad...

Speaking of bicycling, sort of, Tessa came along yesterday as my middle school partner and I did a lesson with an unruly group of 8th graders.  We talked circumferences, gear ratios, speed control, etc. while Tessa strutted her stuff.  I think she rather enjoyed the limelight.

Afterwards, our instructor (who observes these rookie attempts) told us he really liked our lesson design and that we should publish it for the archives.  He told me, "You obviously have a passion for this stuff and that's engaging for the students".

Geez, it's math, engineering, and bicycling.  I told him if Johnny Depp were somehow thrown in there, we'd be off the chain.
.

Silver Liningness Sunday

Happy final week of August.  I don't know about other places, but it's been HOT around here lately.  I'm ready to put August behind us!

After getting all the kids established back to school, this week was my turn.  One week in, and I'm happy with my decision to go back to the halls of edumcation.

I was being a bit of an ingrate, grousing about Cookie Lady asking me to tutor her son.  But really, I do love teaching.  That's the main reason I find it so hard to say "no" when someone asks.  And that is the reason I'm jumping through the various hoops to get my license so that I can teach even more.

Also, I mustn't forget the days when I first started taking private tutoring jobs, how I was willing to tutor anyone for anything just to have students.  Now, I'm able to teach my favorite subjects and to have to turn business away.

Life is good.

Speaking of life, recall that we just moved King Reese the snake to a much bigger tank after he'd outgrown his 20-gallon long tank.  That left us with a lonely 20-gallon long tank.  Meego has been project manager on renovations to transform it into a lush vivarium.

It's nearly ready for plants and critters now.  Plus, it's a nice project for him, with some help from Magnum and me, as the three of us adjust to being just the three of us.

Also, after a week of true bicycle commuting to school, I can give a highly favorable review of the new bicycle tires.

When I went to the bike shop to replace the old tires, I had no idea there were so MANY varieties.  A technician brought out a fat fat catalogue, and we stuck our noses in it to find just the right thing for Tessa and me and our commute.

Their greenness aside, after a week of putting them to work, these tires are noticeably a perfect choice.

They grab the curves, are smooth and fast on the straights, and can deal with a fair amount of road debris.  They were actually designed with bicycle messengers in mind.  Cool!

So, a shout out to the Kenda  tire company, and also to Bike Tech Byron, who I don't think got any commission for helping me pick them out.  The green was (mainly) his idea.

As always, I'm grateful for blog friends and readers who continue to keep me entertained, inspired, and connected.  I hope everyone has a fun Labor Day Weekend!  Holiday for the working man! (and woman).  Plumber Butts all around!

.

Silver Liningness Sunday

Happy St. Patrick's Day,  I've just done a quick inspection and realized I have absolutely nothing green on!

Many nice things this week.  For one, I actually got to break out shorts and short sleeves and leave the long underwear behind on a couple of days.  Aah, so freeing...

ACT camp was fun.   Well, for me anyways.  Four fun-filled mornings of EnglishMathReadingScience.  I met some nice kids and teachers, and I think we're all happy with how things went for the most part.  They better go kill that test now.

On that same note, ACT camp meant that I was away from the crosswalk on those mornings, but I was there for the afternoons.  Some of my little charges and their parents actually told me they missed me in the mornings.  I'll chalk that mostly up to a cross guard reservist who really didn't want to be there...

On Friday, Chaco and I finally went vacuum cleaner shopping.  I think I have now seen every vacuum cleaner on the north side of Colorado Springs.  We settled on a cute little portable that totally sucks.  Plus, it was nice to spend an afternoon with him as he realized he was short on some other things,  including but not limited to a few toiletries, lunch, general fun money...

drama, inverted

We returned to the dorm and not a moment too late.  I was rendered queasy by treated to the effects of four guys who know that a vacuum cleaner is on the way so they can slack on cleaning the floors.  Let's just say I'm glad I thought to buy a 12-pack of extra bags.

Luck of the Irish to all of you!  Well, except the bad luck stuff like great famine and peasant violence and political unrest...

Silver Liningness Sunday

Another good week is in the books.  It started out with arctic temperatures, but ended up in the 50's with us wanting more snow.

Yesterday, I was sitting here drawing and Magnum kept rounding people up to go see a baby golden eagle out behind our house.  I was all, "pffffftttt... baby eagle.  Probably just a hawk".  Finally, I had to go check and By Gum!  I think he was right.



Not quite a baby, but not full grown either.  Probably an adolescent recently booted from the nest.  We could see it really well with the pornographic binoculars, but my camera is crap.  A non-crap camera is tops on my "want" list.




And speaking of kids booted from the nest, Chaco FINALLY goes back to the dorm this weekend.  Was that a long break or what?!  He's been out since mid-December, and has been climbing the walls the last couple of weeks.  We had to knock him out and remove four big teeth just to liven things up for him.  So, once again, I'm glad his university is right here in town and that getting him back there is relatively easy.  I'm also glad he badly wants to go back.  So far, so good grade-wise.

Also this week, one of the local high schools contacted me about doing some training for their Juniors.  This school is in an "underprivileged" district, and it was so refreshing to meet with educators and administrators that really have a passion for their work. On top of that, one of the teachers I met ended up hiring me to tutor her daughter over the next few weeks.  Cool!

Over the last few weeks, I'd been buried in paperwork dealing with rewards programs, changing insurance agents, rebates, and the like.  This week, all of our refunds, rewards, and rebates came flooding in.  Yay for fat checks!  Sometimes, I think these companies bank on people just not wanting to do the paperwork.  Sorry to disappoint them.  Not.
.

the pursuit

"If it wasn't for Art, I wouldn't go to school."

A high school student submitted that as his essay on his standardized college entrance test.  The writing prompt asked him to argue either for sports or arts funding for schools.  That's his essay in its entirety.  All one sentence of it.

I like it. 

He actually received a score of 2 out of 6.  He addressed the topic (more or less), took a position (more or less), and it was legible. 

Some tutor cohorts and I were discussing essays on standardized tests and how to discern between those who just don't have the smarts and those who are "bright non-conformists".

I say I like the essay because, as  a test prep teacher and tutor I've read many essays that have droned on and on in shameful attempts to kiss essay grader butt.  This one-sentence wonder actually showed more passion than many of those. 

I say I like it, but if he were a student of mine, I would have to try to coach him to write what the test makers want him to write.  That's just the way it is if the aim is to get a good score on the test.

I probably wouldn't have him as a student though, because I suspect that he may in fact be a "bright non-conformist".  I've had bright students and I've had non-conformist students, but never bright non-conformist students.  I think that's because bright non-conformists know that they don't need tutors.


Admittedly, much of my waking life is spent conforming or trying to get others to conform.   I didn't really even realize this until I did the life coach thing.   Much of my tutoring is to help people do well on standardized tests. In addition, I'm a freaking crossing guard! 

One of the things my coach and I discussed was "Where is all this artwork coming from?!"  I honestly did not know during my pre-coach ennui.  I guess it was just an outlet for the non-conformist side of my brain - my way of, literally, coloring outside the lines.  I still need the other side though.  I wouldn't be satisfied in submitting a one-sentence essay. 

Sometimes I wonder about Mr. One-Sentence.  Where is he today?

Starving or the next Steve Jobs?
.

Silver Liningness

I haven't done a silver-lining post in a while.  I could go back and check to see how long it's been, but I'll just say it's been a while.  That I know.  I should get back into the habit of doing those weekly.  We'll see, anyway...

I'm happy that it's finally feeling like fall.  The oppressive heat makes me just want to lay around and do nothing.  With the coolness comes a bit of burst of energy.  And I'm actually cooking stuff and remembering what the oven is for.

It's also beautiful weather for running.  Pretty soon, it will be face-freezing time, but right now is PERfect.

I like the new place I'm tutoring from.  It's very flexible and I have more control over what I teach and who I teach and when I teach. 

Meego started middle school this year, and it feels like just in time.  He's too "mature" for elementary school, and I am glad to be a PAST PTO member.  Other interesting volunteer assignments are on the horizon, but that's another post.

Wolfgang made the varsity cross country team despite his relative laziness over the summer.

And oh, I am still a crossing guard which I strangely enjoy.  Last week we had two days of being socked in with record setting rainfall.  On Friday morning, the fog rolled out and revealed this at my crossing guard post:

First snow on the peak!

I waited until there was no traffic to snap the pic.  I didn't want anyone to report a strange crossing guard taking pictures of motorists.

I haven't seen any movies lately that I particularly enjoy.  I let Magnum pick the last couple to get his man movies in (one was  a Jet Li, the other an Adam Sandler - OH the things I tolerate!)   Any recommendations??  Anyone???

.

nice to feel wanted

Yeeks, Friday! Once again, the week has sort of sped on by. Aren't I supposed to be winding down after the holidays? Still waiting for the wind down...

The week started with a big honkin' snowstorm that provided a snow day for the school kids. With that, I feel like I've been a day behind all week. Tuesday, they all went back, including me at my crossing guard gig in 6 degrees F. Good test of the outerwear!

And speaking of the crossing guard job, no sooner had I acquired my lovely bright vest that the vice principal at the school was inquiring my interest about another open position they had at the school. Would I apply? That day??

Anyway, long story short, I went ahead and submitted the necessary paperwork. Cleaned up out of the orange vest for an interview, and now I have that job too. I think I'll like it - working with the title 1 students.

So, for now anyway, my desire to transfer my working hours from evenings and weekends to school time hours has been satisfied. I start next week. This is good timing as I'm between classes with my other job. I'm not sure if I'll stay on for that with a teeny amount of assignments, or do an inactive period, or just say good-bye.

I definitely like the idea of leaving the evening and weekend classes behind, but to be honest, I'm feeling a little wary of going from teaching adult students to teaching the 1st through 5th grade crowd. At least I know the school and staff pretty well, and they're a good bunch.

Either way, this is my last weekday "off" for a while...

... unless I get fired.
.

virtually real

Hey, remember me?

Ack, it's been a week. We're having troubles with our internet service. Really, the troubles aren't THAT bad, if we were just regular subscribers, but they're wreaking havoc on my online classrooming.

So, I've been on the phone lots with tech support. They probably see the caller ID, and think "oh crap, it's her again...", but geesh, who do I gotta sleep with to get a reliable connection around here?!?

Anyway, we're switching providers. I think I've given the current crew - won't mention any names, but rhymes with "BOMB BLAST" - more than three strikes. They're out. New guys' time to shine. The switch happens on Monday. All this in the middle of a 4-week long online class. I've got a 2-hour online tutor session later this afternoon. I'm just hoping the ship holds together for that.

BUT OTHER THAN THAT.... it's been good times as usual around here.
.

Silver Liningness Sunday

... this time, on a Tuesday!

Well, it's busy. Weekends are busy. October is a rip-roaring month in the land of standardized admissions testing, thus making September and October rip-roaring months in the land of stanrdized admissions testing preparations. Aren't you glad to know that now?

So on that front, I'm enjoying the busyness. One grad class and one high school class plus a handful of tutees is enough for my schedule. And they're all attentive and friendly students. After all, there are annoying ones out there.

Speaking of which, one of my high schooler tutees informed me yesterday that she got 32 big ones on her recent ACT. Couldn't have happened to a nicer girl. Now, onto pwning the SAT!

Okay, enough shop talk! I'm thankful that Wolfgang got a haircut. Really. We pretty much let the kids do what they want with their hair and clothes. I mean, they're boys - not too many battles there. But Wolfgang had been letting his hair grow for a while. His hair is very thick and wavy, so when he grows it out it gets, in a word, BIG. Combine that with his thin build, and he was looking a bit disproportioned in my humble opinion. He thankfully asked for a haircut - figured it would cut down on the drag for cross country. Whatever works!

Remember that elementary school car show I mentioned at some time or another? Of course you do! Well, it was this past Saturday. Weather was perfect, pizza was free, cars were sure purdy. I don't know how much money we raised, but I'd say it was a success, which is nice because the guy who organizes it is an all-around nice guy.

In movie news, we watched "The Losers". It's no chick flick, it's a comic book movie. But for the ladies, I'll say just one word: Jensen.
A singer in a smokey room... the smell of wine and cheap perfume...
Everybody sing!

.

look into my eyes

Allrighty, so at work we do these live online classes, right? One thing that's more difficult than it sounds is to maintain "eye contact" with the classroom or tutor student. It's tempting to just look at what's on the computer screen, when really, we're supposed to look into the "eye" of our webcams.

Here's my webcam sitting on its usual perch atop my monitor. See it? Very small and non-humanlike. Not very engaging to look at.


So one of the trainers gave us a tip to stick a picture of a friendly face onto our webcams - you know like in Lamaze class where they tell you to bring a photo of someone you like to ride the waves of the contractions with you?(I never brought photos for those occassions myself. Would've probably ended up ripped to shreds). But for live online, I thought, "Oooh, good idea!", then wondered whose photo I should stick.

I didn't necessarily want a family member (really, I see enough of them), and for inspiration, I just did a google search on "face", to see what that would bring up.

Got a lot of faces I didn't care for....

Eventually I settled. Allow me to hereby confess that I have a bit of a secret cougar crush on Shia Labeouf. YEAH, go ahead and laugh... fine... shut up... whatever! He's got a friendly face, OKAY?!

Anyway, here's my new webcam:

Looks so much better!

.

Expired

Hey, kids! What time is it? Yes, it's Illustration Friday time! This week's topic is the evil sounding "Expired".

The word brings up connotations of death, finiteness, mortality, and curdled milk...

So naturally, I submit a rather cartoony sketch of my digital timer.

This is one of several digital timers I have in my possession - standard issue for the Standardized Test preparation teacher, and often the bane of my students' existence.

During my training for this job, I was told that we were to operate more like coaches or trainers rather than like typical teachers. We train our students to peak, on one crucial day, in skills that they may never use again in their entire lives.

And they must do these things in a timely fashion.

Many of them already hate the test, and they hate the timer even more.

I will confess to taking a bit of delight in putting them through their time trials: "You have 35 minutes *GO!*"

Evil Zeroes.

.

Silver Liningness Sunday

Greetings on this cloudy sunday! Well, it's cloudy here anyways. The clouds look like they want to snow. They are probably waiting for me to go outside to run, so I'd better get out there so as to not disappoint.

But first, let's count the ways, shall we!?

That LSAT class finished up. They were a fun bunch. Lots of good chemistry between the whole group - not just Rich Girl and Bartender. It's always a nice feeling to finish a class and have the students feeling confident, but when we all make new friends, that's even nicer. And now I have a place to get a free beer whenever! Well, as long as Bartender is working at the time...

On a related note, I also got a new tutor student. Here I thought I was going to taper off the tutoring and just do classes, but these tutor students come up that I just don't want to say, "no" to. This boy is a high schooler with mild cerebral palsy and just needs a little bit of one-on-one time. He's an absolute delight, and it's for kids like him that I would (almost) work for free.

Magnum and I watched a good movie yesterday. "Fracture" was one I'd had in the Netflix queue for one of those when-nothing-else-looks-good times. But as it turned out, we thought it was really good! First of all, I could probably be content to watch Ryan Gosling just walk around for a couple of hours, I mean really. But this was a clever crime/courtroom drama thing, and one usually can't go wrong with Anthony Hopkins playing the psycho genius type. And then there's that Ryan Gosling factor again...

And Magnum, Mr. Practicality, is investing in precious metals in response to the current economic situation. I've agreed that this is a good idea, and convinced him that we should purchase in the form of jewelry. Strike while the iron's hot, Ladies!!

Silver Liningness Honorable Mentions go to: comfy shoes, warm blankets, fast bicycles, great friends, paychecks, and cute kids (not necessarily my own).



Still playing with my art toys.

<-- cartoon me?

Silver Liningness Sunday

Happy Sunday everyone! Whoo, the week flew by, did it not?

For one, I am thankful just for it being Sunday. A Sunday of nothing on the calendar. This is our first weekend in quite a while that is pretty open, so it's nice to just be a slug and get caught up on things for a bit.

We enjoyed another mild week weather-wise, so my bicycle bliss continued - YES, even the capris came out of hiding!

Summer before last, one of the things on our things-to-do-over-summer-break list was to paint a mural on a portion of a wall in the basement. Well, never happened. I got all the paints and brushes, but we couldn't decide what to paint, and we got busy with other stuff, blah, blah, blah. Before we knew it, school started again and the wall was as naked as ever.

This week, I remembered that those paints were still waiting, so I just started splatting them onto the chosen wall - Bob Ross style - watching to see what "happy accidents" appeared. So here's a portion of what's on the wall now. Plus, the kids are back to Let's-Paint-A-Mural! mode after the reminder. If we're not careful, the mancave may just look like a jungle by the end of the weekend.

And, in a total mom-of-suburbia moment, have you been to the mall lately? Some great deals to be had! Picked up some hoodies and cargo pants for the kids on the CHEAP this week. Very timely, since they've grown out of just about everything I bought them in the fall (mom-of-suburbia moment now over).

On the work side of things, my class is going well and I also have a high school tutor student who will most likely get an athletic scholarship, so wants to make sure his academics are up to snuff. I find that this type of student - one with specific motivation - is the most pleasant to tutor.

And speaking of academics, Meego has been working on his Science Fair "project of death" for a while, and I think/hope that the death is finally near for the tougher specimens! Not to worry - he's killing batteries, not innocent life forms. Deadline is this week, so our dance-of-death has been employed and is hopefully effective.
.