Sunday, January 14, 2007
a guy asked me for money... on the elevator... in my building... on my way to work.
there is a time and a place people! this was neither.
i really cannot stand how the women in the chinese take-out place near my apartment are treated. i have never once had a problem with them understanding a word I've said. yet, i have seen to many people place an order and then indicate that they do not believe one of them understood. they do this by repeating their order... louder and sower of course... looking a menu and saying "i gotta get a paper [menu] sose i can point to what i wants cuz i dont think shes understanding a word i said; asking for the woman to repeat the order and then interrupting because hey are not patient enough to wait for the whole thing to be read " don't forget the scallions, i don't want it if it don't have scallions." this is really frustrating. this obviously cannot be extended to a whole group of people, but the people in my neighborhood are a very intolerant bunch. with martin luther king jr. day (go Milk Jug) tomorrow/today it really frustrates me.
school is going well. exhausting. frustrating. i realized i had left miserable for a month straight because my 6th period was tearing me up like a barbie doll in a kennel. i am now much more, how do you say, strict in that class. while i do not like being strict, i have left school in a good mood the last couple of days. this is definitely superior to going home and wanting to do nothing but sleep because your life force has been drained by 25 children. and no, twelve year olds, these twelve year olds, in my 6th period, are not young adults, nor young ladies and gentlemen, as i am oft to call my other students, these are little children, that think everything is a game, and nothing is important, except of course laughing when you or anyone else says anyhting. This is the hardest part of teaching this age. or perhaps any age, i wouldn't really know. this is a thankless job. think back to when you were 12. i can barely do it. nonetheless, i'm pretty sure i did not care how much my teachers had to do to teach me; i did not understand how my current actions could possibly affect my future; i certainly never even thought to thank my teachers; i took it all for granted. living in the bronx does not help bring these factors into focus either. this is hte hardest part. not being upset about the 1/3 of your students who are failing, mostly because they do not do any work. they can do it. i know they can, but they choose not to. or maybe they don't, depending on your view of fate and so forth. i have come to learn, or perhaps more accurately to convince myself, that this is okay. i teach where i teach to provide an opportunity to learn. i was lucky in my education because i was given opportunities to succeed. i took those opportunities and did pretty well. there are places, like the bronx, ny, where most students cannot even conceive of the opportunities i had because what they have is so little it is outside of their imagination. my job is to provide those opportunities. some take it. some don't. the point is not to get everyone to take the opportunity. i know plenty of people who were presented with similar opportunties as myself and did not use them. that is ok. i cannot force anyone to learn. but if i can give my students an opportunity that they probably would have missed altogether otherwise, then i have a done a good job. the next step is to make those opportunities appealing to more of my students. this is hard as i cannot afford a psp for everyone, nor can i afford to bring in a Yankee or a professional wrestler, but i'm trying.
in closing, please drink a gallon of chocolate (or whole, or strawberry, or banana) milk tomorrow in honor of the work of Dr. Milk Jug himself, Martin Luther. DAAAAAAMN GINA!
there is a time and a place people! this was neither.
i really cannot stand how the women in the chinese take-out place near my apartment are treated. i have never once had a problem with them understanding a word I've said. yet, i have seen to many people place an order and then indicate that they do not believe one of them understood. they do this by repeating their order... louder and sower of course... looking a menu and saying "i gotta get a paper [menu] sose i can point to what i wants cuz i dont think shes understanding a word i said; asking for the woman to repeat the order and then interrupting because hey are not patient enough to wait for the whole thing to be read " don't forget the scallions, i don't want it if it don't have scallions." this is really frustrating. this obviously cannot be extended to a whole group of people, but the people in my neighborhood are a very intolerant bunch. with martin luther king jr. day (go Milk Jug) tomorrow/today it really frustrates me.
school is going well. exhausting. frustrating. i realized i had left miserable for a month straight because my 6th period was tearing me up like a barbie doll in a kennel. i am now much more, how do you say, strict in that class. while i do not like being strict, i have left school in a good mood the last couple of days. this is definitely superior to going home and wanting to do nothing but sleep because your life force has been drained by 25 children. and no, twelve year olds, these twelve year olds, in my 6th period, are not young adults, nor young ladies and gentlemen, as i am oft to call my other students, these are little children, that think everything is a game, and nothing is important, except of course laughing when you or anyone else says anyhting. This is the hardest part of teaching this age. or perhaps any age, i wouldn't really know. this is a thankless job. think back to when you were 12. i can barely do it. nonetheless, i'm pretty sure i did not care how much my teachers had to do to teach me; i did not understand how my current actions could possibly affect my future; i certainly never even thought to thank my teachers; i took it all for granted. living in the bronx does not help bring these factors into focus either. this is hte hardest part. not being upset about the 1/3 of your students who are failing, mostly because they do not do any work. they can do it. i know they can, but they choose not to. or maybe they don't, depending on your view of fate and so forth. i have come to learn, or perhaps more accurately to convince myself, that this is okay. i teach where i teach to provide an opportunity to learn. i was lucky in my education because i was given opportunities to succeed. i took those opportunities and did pretty well. there are places, like the bronx, ny, where most students cannot even conceive of the opportunities i had because what they have is so little it is outside of their imagination. my job is to provide those opportunities. some take it. some don't. the point is not to get everyone to take the opportunity. i know plenty of people who were presented with similar opportunties as myself and did not use them. that is ok. i cannot force anyone to learn. but if i can give my students an opportunity that they probably would have missed altogether otherwise, then i have a done a good job. the next step is to make those opportunities appealing to more of my students. this is hard as i cannot afford a psp for everyone, nor can i afford to bring in a Yankee or a professional wrestler, but i'm trying.
in closing, please drink a gallon of chocolate (or whole, or strawberry, or banana) milk tomorrow in honor of the work of Dr. Milk Jug himself, Martin Luther. DAAAAAAMN GINA!
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