Alynda over at Breathe Gently recently shared her lovely, round, girly handwriting (with very pretty capital As, if I do), and somehow that convinced me to share my handwriting. Why? Who knows, as my handwriting is by no means pretty. In its natural state, my handwriting is barely legible, but I took my time here. Needless to say, there is a reason why my few attempts at doing notes on the whiteboard while teaching were dismal failures. Long live PowerPoint!

Instructions:
1. Name/Blog Name
2. Right handed, left handed or both
3. Favorite letters to write
4. Least favorite letters to write
5. Write: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
6. Write in caps:
CRAB
HUMOR
KALEIDOSCOPE
PAJAMAS
GAZILLION
7. Favorite song lyrics
8. Tag 7 people
9. Any special note or drawing

Lyrics from Sunlight in a Jar by The Lucksmiths (Warmer Corners)

4th of July

Well, I know it's been a week since the 4th, but hey! It's only been a week. I feel like I'm practically writing about current events. We had a lovely holiday. We BBQed, had a bonfire (and I, being a large child, toasted many marshmallows), and watched fireworks. We got home later than ideal, as I was teaching the next day (yay!), but I think it was worth it.

When R and I decided to take a friend up on his invitation to celebrate the 4th at his family's beach front house (rather than, say, hanging out at home), I had one though: yakitori! Sure, yakitori probably isn't the most traditional food for the celebration of our nation's founding, but it had been on my mind recently thanks to my favorite food blogger.

This also meant that I got to try out a recipe that I probably wouldn't have otherwise made from one of my new cookbooks. I hadn't marked it when I did my initial pass though the book, due either to my lack of a BBQ or a feeling of "grilled chicken, so what?" and so nearly missed out on something delicious. The yakitori sauce, slowly caramelized on the grill into an umber glaze, really does something magical to the chunks of chicken thigh. It was delicious and everyone was much impressed.

As I wasn't going to make a giant mountain of yakitori, I wound up halving the recipe, which was the perfect amount for the eight chicken skewers (five or six thighs) and five vegetable skewers (plus a smidge left over that was subsequently brushed onto some grilled pineapple). I didn't have any kombu, but while I'm sure the kelp would have added some nice umami notes to the sauce, it's presence wasn't missed in the final product. I also substituted shichimi togarashi (Japanese 7 spice blend, including red pepper) for ichimi togarashi (Japanese red pepper flakes) and lime juice for lemon juice. Bonus: this can be made a day ahead of time.

Chicken Yakitori
Adapted from Takashi's Noodles
 

• 1 c soy sauce
• 1/6 c sake
• 1/6 c water
• 2 t ginger juice (grate ginger into plastic wrap, poke a hole in the bottom and squeeze out the juice)
• 1 T sesame oil
• 1/8 c lime juice
• 1 c sugar
• 1/2 t shichimi togarashi 

• chicken thighs, cut into 1" cubes
• scallions, cut into 1/2" pieces
• veggies, if you would like (I had red bell pepper, eggplant, and summer squash)
• bamboo skewers

Combine sauce ingredients in a saucepan over high heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and bring to a boil. Decrease heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Set aside.

Skewer chicken, threading on a piece of green onion every few pieces. Make sure to leave room at the end for use as a handle. Skewer veggies, if using (you can also mix them on the skewers, but I preferred having them separate).

Heat grill to medium. Place skewers on grill so that uncovered ends are hanging over the edge. Sear on each side (~2 minutes per side), then baste with sauce and flip skewers every minute or so until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is caramelized (8-10 min). Cook the veggies the same way.

Squeak squeak

Wow. I'm not sure how people with new babies and jobs get anything done. I had substitute teacher training for the first three days of the week and we were pretty much in survival mode the whole time. Food was made, the little one was bathed regularly, and not quite enough sleep was had. The baby was so pissed off on Wednesday that she cried herself hoarse. My dad maintains she was a perfect angel Monday and Tuesday, with only a little squeaking, but we think he just has a greater tolerance for crying since he doesn't see his precious granddaughter every day.

As I made the appointment prior to finding this new subbing job, R wound up taking the little one to her 4 month checkup. She's still all well and healthy, but she's slipping down the growth charts. Previously she'd been in the 45th percentile for height, now she's in the 19th. I suppose, being an October baby, she'll probably wind up starting school the year after she's eligible (though that is only because they've pushed eligibility back so far) and so won't be quite so tiny compared to her classmates.

R has been doing that P90X workout, so I decided to pop in the pliometrics (jumping) DVD... and made it through the warm up. Yeah, I know I haven't done anything more strenuous than walking for the past year and the workout is particularly intense. Still, I feel like a total weakling.

Having been steadily moving east for the past several years in pursuit of better housing deals, we have all of the sudden turned our eyes north in our search for a permanent home. We'd been looking further and further away from R's work, only to realize that if he's going to have an hour commute, it might as well be on the train. We'd be closer to the beach, which would make R taking up surfing make a lot more sense. Plus, my family lives in that area, which would make babysitting much easier. As R so succinctly put it, "I've never been so excited about Oceanside."

Recent cooking:
Coconut braised beef - I thought it was nice, R thought it was so-so. R, however, suffers from PTSD (Post-Tequila Stress Disorder), so anything with too much lime gets a thumbs down from him.
Sweet potato ricotta gnocchi - I bought the ingredients for this and then found myself with too many leftovers for lunches (one of those embarrassing mishaps of cooking for two), so I wound up making them and freezing them. I'll report back once I actually eat them.

Finally useful

For the past year, I've been hoarding boxes. Working at a school with no textbooks, we went through reams and reams of paper, so it was hard to resist taking advantage of the box supply. I knew we'd be moving sometime. Then, with the wedding, all the gifts came in the mail, in boxes (and sometimes in boxes in boxes), and I saved those as well. The corners of our house were filled with box towers, and for someone with no moving plans, it was getting a little creepy.

However, all that box hoarding will be paying off, in that I now won't have to be scrounging for boxes. We put in an application for new place and got the word back today that they want us. The place is awesome! The only downside is that there isn't a garden or patio. There is a community garden across the street, but I haven't heard back from the coordinator (and it seems like those places always have a waiting list), so I'm going to have to figure out how to do a lot of gardening indoors. We've got a little loft area with a skylight, so I'm thinking I'll get a tall wire rack, so that I can have several tiers of plants. I'll definitely have to document this project.

Happy New Year!

For my grand return after my blog-cation, I'll be doing a meme. Very classy, I know. Blame Alyndabear for finding one that is well suited to year-end reflection.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? I think getting married probably takes the cake on this one, but I also went to Disneyworld (which was my first time in the eastern half of the U.S.).

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Last year I resolved to try a new recipe a week, eat a greater quantity and variety of vegetables, continue to post (on average) every other day, and eat fast food less often. I kept these resolutions for the first half of the year, but I really fell off the wagon towards the end. I don't think I'll be making any resolutions for this year. Would resolving to get pregnant count?

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My sister in-law gave birth to my second nephew on November 4th.

4. Did anyone close to you die? R's uncle recently passed away. Sadly, I never got to meet him.

5. What countries did you visit? None, though I did get to travel down to the nation's wang for the first time.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? A baby.

What? That so counts.

Okay, I'd also like dog. And a bigger garden. More tomatoes. More time to read. And no major injuries.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? August 9th (got married), November 4th (new nephew)... I think that's it. The last day of teaching was also pretty memorable (such relief!), but I don't remember the exact date.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Master's degree.

9. What was your biggest failure? My inability to keep teaching. Sure, this was a voluntary failure, but it still makes me feel like a quitter.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Why yes, I certainly did. (The scar has flattened enough that I can shave over it, thank goodness.)

11. What was the best thing you bought? We bought a new power source for my computer shortly before my old one died. The timing was excellent, and my computer was only out of commission for a couple of hours.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My sister. She went back to school to finish her degree and, thanks to lots of hard work, got three As and one B this past semester. Good job, Wee-est One!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? My mom, but we really don't need to get into it.

14. Where did most of your money go? The wedding. So expensive! I did also manage to pay back a good chunk of my student loans.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Disneyworld! We were looking forward to the trip all year.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? Probably any song we played at the wedding.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
(a) Happier or Sadder? Happier. Less stressed, for sure.
(b) Thinner or Fatter? About the same.
(c) Richer or Poorer? A little richer, and with fewer crazy expenditures on the horizon.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Gardening. I know I did a lot, but I still wanted more veggies.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Freaking out about things outside my control.

20. How did you spend Christmas in 2008? Hanging out with my family.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008? I was already in love. :)

22. How many one-night stands? Nil.

23. What was your favorite TV program? The Venture Brothers.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? I can't really think of anyone I actually hate.

25. What was the best book you read? Making Money (hilarious and strangely topical), Me & My Brothers (I'm a dork, but it's still funny).

26. What was your greatest musical discovery? Taylor Swift's new album.

27. What did you want and get? I wanted a job, and I got one. Yay for income!

28. What did you want and not get? I really would have liked to get pregnant.

29. What was your favorite film of this year? I think the only film we saw was The Dark Night. We're really looking forward to Watchmen.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 24, but I don't actually remember what we did. Something, but it was apparently overshadowed by the wedding.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Babies. I think I might be a bit redundant here.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Jeans & T-shirts, work clothing (for the first time in my life), not wearing hoodie sweatshirts as much.

33. What kept you sane? The knowledge that the school year would end.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Honestly, I can barely even name a public figure, much the less fancy one.

35. What political issue stirred you the most? Prop. 8.

36. Who did you miss? I miss my intern teacher crew. We all used to sit around a few tables and prep. We had a lot of fun.

37. Who was the best new person you met? R's cousins were pretty nice, the people I work with are interesting, but I haven't really made any new friends this year. Luckily, the ones I have are pretty cool.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. Planning makes life better. Also, no one notices the little things at weddings, so it is best not to freak out.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. “You think you're so smart, but I've seen you naked" Blame It On Me, by Barenaked Ladies. It probably isn't the best representation of the year, but it was the song lyric that R and I kept passing back and forth to each other.

40. What are your resolutions for 2009? Babies! Also, to find a nice new place to live. Keep exercising, cooking, and gardening. Finish the blasted thank you notes from the wedding.

Daytime TV (and other mind rot)

As I currently find the thought of going back into the classroom terrifying and repellent, I have instead applied for several temp jobs at the university. Carpooling with R again would be really nice. The university jobs website even has an online application status indicator, to feed my constant need to know whether or not anyone is actually looking at my job application. (Look at my application, damn you!) However, as the job postings don't close for another week, I am likely to be a homebody for a little while longer. Here is where we segue into daytime TV.

I've always wondered how so many people can spend themselves into massive debt. Watching the commercials on daytime TV, however, I think I've found a contributing factor. There is so much useless shit out there designed to solve nonexistent problems and someone must be buying it. I mean, really, cooking pasta is not so much of a momentous challenge that you need a special container for it. Nor is your dog suffering from you clipping its nails (unless you really suck), so forget about the doggy pedicure device.

The really sad thing, though? I'm pretty sure my dad would buy some of this stuff.

My latest craziness

I've cut myself off of alcohol and painkillers. I didn't use either much, but now I have a persistent headache and keep thinking about having a drink.

Needing to get moving on the whole employment situation, I started looking at substitute teacher applications. However, the thought of returning to the classroom left me anxious, so I applied to some jobs in Washington for Rich (with his approval, of course).

Recipe Review: Thai Sticky Rice Mango

Back in June, while I was up in north county checking out of my school, I stopped by a Thai foods store in order to get a few specialty ingredients. I bought various curry pastes, a giant bottle of fish sauce, tom yum soup paste, and a bag of sweet rice to make this recipe.

Now, I'm a little slow getting around to things (so much other stuff to do) and this recipe requires an overnight soak for the rice, but I got my act together and made it today. The rice was so good that I wound up spoiling my appetite for dinner a spoonful at a time! So, I did what the recipesmith does and just had a delicious bowl of Thai sticky rice nectarine for dinner.

What? You were expecting some other fruit? Mango, perhaps? Well, that had been the plan, only the mango I had sitting above the fridge, though it smelled delicious, was brown and odd inside and clearly not fit for human consumption. I'm not very good at ripening mangoes at home. I always leave them for too long. Luckily the nectarines I picked from R's family's backyard on Sunday were also delicious with the sticky rice.

In other happy news, I had my last day of summer classes today and finished up the paper for my masters project. All I have left is to present it on Friday, and then I'm all done. I can't believe it!

And the final version

Digital story rough draft

I thought I'd share the rough draft of my digital story with you all. Please feel free to leave me suggestions or constructive criticism.

Gazing into my crystal ball

It's time to blog for school again. What fun!

Blog Response #3: What is your 2020 Education Vision?

Looking into the near future, I think the event that will have the most significant event on the whole compulsory education complex will be the retirement of the baby boomer teachers. Looking at the teachers I know from that generation, specifically my mom and step-mom, I can tell they are definitely excited at the prospect, no matter how much they love teaching.

After the baby boomers retire, schools find themselves missing a large chunk of their returning teachers. New teachers will come into the profession, much as they have, but continued high rates of attrition (made worse by the retirement of mentor teachers and school leaders) will lead to teacher shortages. I imagine that 2020 will probably be a turning point for education, though the field will go in one of two opposing directions.

The first direction, the ideal one, would be for schools to reduce teacher hours and institute formal mentoring programs. During an extra free period, novice teachers would meet with more experienced colleagues for advice, planning tips, and even (hopefully) to share materials. By giving teachers a little more time to plan, network, grade, and contact parents, attrition rates will decrease. School curricula will be refined, while at the same time becoming more inventive, thanks again to the increased planning time.

The second direction, the non-ideal but more probable one, is that the prerequisites for going into teaching will be lowered in an attempt to shovel more bodies into classrooms as fast as possible. The constant influx of new inexperienced teachers will hinder any attempt to institute school programs and policies, as participants will change from year to year. Staff development will also suffer, as many new teachers leave prior to or immediately after completing induction. In an attempt to counteract the inexperience of the majority of the teaching staff, more schools will adopt prescribed curricula, decreasing educational flexibility and experimentation.

Wow, that was depressing. Time for a gratuitous cat picture!


moar funny pictures

Full circle

There is something about the Internet that makes people act like kids again -- at least, while they're still Internet neophytes.

How do I know this? Simple. Who is it that I get chain e-mails from? My middle school students and my mom.

A menu to impress one's mother

I'd say it also impressed my future in-laws, but, as they said to my mother, they've always had good food at my house. My mom is the one who, despite all reports to the contrary, refused to believe that my cooking skills had improved since middle school. Of course, this was one I couldn't win either way, as her comments on the improvement of my cooking skills echoed of kindergarten teacherly judgment and really rankled (though, prior to beginning to teach, my mom did apologize for the fact that she would inevitably talk to us in her teacher voice).

In any case, here was the menu last Sunday:

• Caramelized spicy peanuts
  
• Garlic brandy shrimp
• Caramelized onion and leek tart
• Pasta with butter, Parmesan cheese, and pepper
• Salad

R's mom was kind enough to bring dessert, a chocolate cake (with little chocolate chunks) frosted with whipped cream and festooned with raspberries.

The meal was a smashing success. I really can't recommend the shrimp recipe highly enough. Simple, fast, and completely delicious. Everyone loved it. R was quite jealous that I got to eat what little was left over, so you can tell this recipe will be made again in the near future.

The tart (inspired by this recipe) was good, but I think it could have been better. I caramelized the onions and leeks, spread them on a sheet of puff pasty, grated a little cheese on them, then baked (no fennel seeds for us, thank you). The sides of the pasty wound up puffing up, but the onion-covered parts did not. Next time, I think I'll bake the pastry on its own for a bit before adding the onions, just to give it a little more volume. Still, quite a successful evening.

Digital story ideas

My next task for my technology class is to try out podcasting. In class we had the option of using iMovie for this activity, however some of us prefer to talk to ourselves in the privacy of our own homes. For those of you who, like myself, are not Mac people, Audacity also works pretty well for this purpose and is, conveniently, free.

Our assignment is to talk about our digital story ideas, the culmination of which will be appearing on TeacherTube later next month for your viewing pleasure. Here is what I have so far.

In a final aside, I never realized how much cool stuff is available for free on iTunes. The iTunes U section of the store is full of edifying podcasts and I have completely fallen in love with it. I spent my workout today listening to a lecture/interview about Islam and the West from Open University and have downloaded a whole series of podcasts to brush up on my Spanish.

Abusing my blog for fun and academic credit

Summer classes started today, and one part of the technology class I am taking is a requirement to blog. For those of us who already have blogs, we've been given the option of just using our pre-existing blogs. So, for your reading pleasure, here is my first course assignment.

EDS 204 Blog Response #1: Tell us about a classroom event this year that has an impact on your professional growth and/or vision.

Given that I knew since the beginning of the year that I didn't really want to teach as a career (and tend to dwell on the negative stories), I think I'm going to share a couple of positive stories.

The Tuesday of the last week of school, I decided to get a couple of last minute pictures to serve as "artifacts" to show that I was fulfilling the California Teaching Performance Expectations (TPEs). For TPE 2, Monitoring Student Learning During Instruction, I decided to stage a photo of me talking to students. After snapping the photo, the student operating the camera exclaimed, "Damn, Miss A, you've got a big butt!" I gave her an odd look, at which point in time she started backtracking. "No, no. It's a good thing. I've got a big butt too!" As my class had been writing goodbye messages to me on the whiteboard, she followed up that comment by writing "I [heart] Miss A's big butt" on the blackboard.

I suppose this whole incident can simply be explained as a youthful attempt to extract one's foot from one's mouth, and in the process wedging it in deeper, but I've got an alternate (though unlikely) pet theory. My thought is perhaps the embrace of hip hop culture is actually doing some good in the body image circuit.



My other story is more of the heartwarming sort. One of my sixth grade advisory students received a number of awards at our end of the year ceremony. When we had adjourned out back to feast on watermelon, I went over to congratulate her. Our conversation went something like this:

Teacher A: Wow, that's quite a haul you've got there.

Student: Yeah.

Teacher A: How many did you get?

Student: I stopped counting after five, [leans closer] but I think I got eight.

Teacher A: Very nice.

Student: I guess hard work sure does pay off.

Teacher A: That it does.

Don't you just want to adopt her? She's awesome. All the teachers are betting she'll be valedictorian. I suppose there are a few good ones out there, after all.

'Twas the night before the last day of school

This whole moment in time seems very surreal. The Last Day of School.

The first day of school is still fresh in my mind, with the terror and the wondering how I would make it through the year, yet here we are. It seems like so little time has passed, probably because the beginning and ending are so clearly demarcated in time, but I suppose a lot has happened. I've moved from being nervous and sweaty to confident and apathetic. I know I can do this now. I also know I don't want to do this for a living.

I left the school positively giddy. My last day of teaching is over! Tomorrow is just supervising yearbook signing for the sixth graders! I'll likely never see any of the ninth graders ever again! Sure, I still will have to go to work Friday and Monday to close up shop, but no more students!

During my afternoon bike ride, however, I found myself not being able to breathe quite right and being (quite irrationally) annoyed at R because he could ride faster than I could. I wasn't really mad at him, but my throat was feeling all tight and painful, as were my tear ducts...

Yes, apparently I was more affected by the end of school than I had initially realized. A few of my students really were quite interesting people, and when you spend every day with a group of people for nine months it is somewhat natural to get attached. I think a few of them are even going to miss me too. I had several conversations along the lines of:

"Bye! See you next year!"
"Uh, no you won't. I'm moving. It's been fun. Have a nice life."
"Oh no!"

At which point in time I received several hugs. Somehow, though, I don't think they'll miss me quite as much as I'll miss them. I suppose this is what keeps people in teaching.

Still don't want to do it again, though.

Recipe Review: Applesauce

Alternately, this post could be titled "What I do with my evenings now that I don't have class."

Of course, this is just the first week without evening classes and also the last week of school, so I could just be feeling giddy. Anyway, I decided it was time to harvest some of the apples from my lovely apple tree and make applesauce. I love applesauce and I also hate to see things go to waste, even bird-pecked apples. Given that my garden appears to be feeding all of the local wildlife, it is really no surprise that the majority of the apples have a few divots taken out of them, if not large chunks.

The recipe I used was from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving I recently bought, along with some tools to keep me from dropping jars of jam into boiling water and scalding myself. I'll tell you now, the can lifter they have make canning much less frightening than it was when I was using my standard-issue tongs. I'm also glad the whole thing is no longer a two-man operation.

This is the first recipe I have tried out of this book, though I have bookmarked a few others. There are definitely some odd ones (the page opposite applesauce has a recipe for "strawberry smooch," whatever the hell that is), but it seems to have enough good recipes and tips to make it worth the money. Makes a darn tasty applesauce.

Applesauce
Adapted from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
Makes about 4 quarts (I got 6, but I think I like a thinner applesauce)

• 12 lbs. apples, peeled (or not, if you're planning on using a food mill like I did), cored, quartered, treated to prevent browning, and drained
• water
• 3 c. granulated sugar (optional) (I wound up using 1 c. to take the edge off, as a few of the apples I picked were still a little green)
• 4 T lemon juice
• cinnamon (optional)

1. Prepare canner, jars, and lids.

2. In a large saucepan (more like a vat), combine apples with just enough water to keep them from sticking. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, for 5-20 minutes, until the apples are tender (time will depend on the variety of apple and their maturity). Remove from heat and let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.

3. Working in batches, transfer apples to a food mill or food processor fitted with a metal blade and puree until smooth. (After all the apples were out of the water, I reserved ~ 4 c. and poured the rest out.)

4. Return apple puree to saucepan. Add sugar, if using, and lemon juice; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently to prevent sticking (you can also add some of the reserved apple-water to loosen things up). Maintain a gentle boil over low heat while filling jars.

5. Ladle hot applesauce into hot jars, leaving 1/2 in. headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot applesauce. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

6. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 20 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool, and store.

Clueless

Apparently the question "How does it work?" is a bit too much for some of my students. Here is an excerpt from a research poster:

This is a supercharger for the gt500. What the supercharger does is it gives the car power. Also the supercharger is a source for more power for the car. Then the supercharger also gives 130 more horsepower to the car. How the supercharger works is when you press the gas it gives you more power.

This answer was after a lot of coaching. You can tell that I kept asking "but how does it work?" when the student would tell me he was done. He just didn't want to do a search on the Internet, for some reason.

10 years of Girl Scouts and still not prepared

Last night I had to compose a test by candlelight.

I suppose it was just a lesson for why you really shouldn't leave off making your tests for the night before. I started it in the afternoon, but then I wanted dinner, and after that I figured I could finish it after Warcraft. Well, we had just signed on when all of the sudden the house fell black and silent. We went outside, only to find that our half of the circle we live on was also dark and silent. My first thoughts went to my partially completed test. I needed it for first period! My laptop only had a little juice left!

Luckily, we had some candles (and wound up taking a trip to Target to get a lantern), so I composed my test on paper before turning on my laptop. Since I didn't sit there thinking, I wound up having just enough power. Phew.

15 days (and counting)

A few weeks ago, I started getting brief flashes of why I thought I wanted to go into teaching in the first place. Not large interludes, mind you, but pleasant moments of student-teacher and overheard student-student interaction. I got to facilitate a little bit of learning, and started thinking that this job does have its moments.

I'm sure this sounds quite nice to all of you out there. "Aww, she finally reconciled herself with her calling." If you thought that, though, you would be wrong. I had come to terms with hating teaching, so the idea that it might, in time, become a bearable and even rewarding profession stirred up a good deal of conflict. What if I did belong in this horrible, stressful, time-consuming profession?

Luckily for me, the past week has totally killed all the warm fuzzy feelings I was having. There has been a school-wide plague of discipline problems, and my classes certainly haven't been excused from the madness. My 9th graders' hormones are apparently going crazy, leading to a good deal of lip, emotional drama, bullying (of my 6th grade students, no less), and drawing penises on chairs while being sent outside for inappropriate comments. The school was TPd again.

We've been trying to crack down a little bit on the discipline. Three of my students were out on suspension today; two for getting in a bloody fight with each other, the third for pot. One of my 7th graders will be out all week, due to a combination of truancy and theft during Saturday school. I'm running a one-woman campaign to see that detentions are enforced (follow up is rather lax). I'm just hoping we all make it to the end of the year. I think we're all counting the days at this point. 15...