Today was a long one. Got home from school around 9:00 pm. Started the day with a short planning meeting with Anne, taught a class, had an hour at Skyelar’s work share, grabbed a salad on the go for lunch as we had a Daraja meeting at lunch time, taught two classes, chilled out a bit after school, ran Skye over to grab a quick bite to eat and then Kaia Art’s Festival at six and home around nine.
There is some student work that needs reading and comments and feedback, but there is little that can be done when your brain is fried. My brain is fired.
We stopped at the gas station to grab some chips, a chocolate bar and a coke, hoping it might be some kind of salve.
Tomorrow is Friday and Mairin is off to Bangkok. I have a chilled out weekend planned with the girls, one that I am very much looking forward to.
There is some student work that needs reading and comments and feedback, but there is little that can be done when your brain is fried. My brain is fired.
We stopped at the gas station to grab some chips, a chocolate bar and a coke, hoping it might be some kind of salve.
Tomorrow is Friday and Mairin is off to Bangkok. I have a chilled out weekend planned with the girls, one that I am very much looking forward to.
…
I need a plan on how I will survive and stay sane throughout this election cycle. We are not even at the conventions yet and the latent feeling of anger and crippling dread is really cramping my style. I keep asking myself why I even care so much, and I have no clear answers. I ranted too much last night, and while it felt good at the time, I was plagued by a feeling of guilt all day.
I don’t mean those things about Americans. Hell, what do I even know about people like that? I know that most people wherever they live just want good simple happy lives. I mean even the ISIS guys like to sit on the couch and have some tea sometimes right?
We can’t all be deranged lunatics.
We are beyond the 24 hour news cycle. We are in the social media stage, where every time I open FB or Twitter, someone is posting something about the elections. Some of it funny, some it terrifying and some if it down right bizarre. I saw a photo of Ted Cruz and the Duck Dynasty dude that will give me nightmares tonight for sure.
My advice to myself is to take long deep breaths. Hang out with friends and tell jokes. Read books. Run. Spend quality time with my kids. Maybe write about something other than this stuff every night. Take it all with a grain of salt.
Because the 2016 US Elections might be too much for this political junkie to handle.
…
I had three light bulb moments in class today:
Talking to a kid about symbolism and Animal Farm. She said that she knew the windmill was a symbol for something, but couldn't name what it was. We went into the book and found some critical scenes, within seconds of reading the text, “It is a symbol of the revolution. The fact that they are forced to rebuild it means that it never worked in the first time and this time it will be even worse.” Boom……off you go.
Talking to a kid about symbolism and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. Back in the text. The first page, “I think the dog must be something right. Maybe the dog symbolises Christopher’s relationship with his dad and the pitchfork is how the relationship was severed so violently. Maybe the pitchfork could be the betrayal of the dad’s lies, or even the mom.” Boom…off you go.
There is something so satisfying about guiding a kid to the edge and watching them jump off and fly to the other side. Those moments are priceless and they are what keep me going. It’s like you can see the learning seep into the kid right in front of your eyes. They get excited and look you in the eyes. Your eyes say, “See? It’s worth it after the hard work isn’t it?” They smile and begin to write furiously.
On that note, I leave you with Juicy America. Laugh, Cry, Do what you need to do- I’m gonna chase some chocolate down with a coke.
I need a plan on how I will survive and stay sane throughout this election cycle. We are not even at the conventions yet and the latent feeling of anger and crippling dread is really cramping my style. I keep asking myself why I even care so much, and I have no clear answers. I ranted too much last night, and while it felt good at the time, I was plagued by a feeling of guilt all day.
I don’t mean those things about Americans. Hell, what do I even know about people like that? I know that most people wherever they live just want good simple happy lives. I mean even the ISIS guys like to sit on the couch and have some tea sometimes right?
We can’t all be deranged lunatics.
We are beyond the 24 hour news cycle. We are in the social media stage, where every time I open FB or Twitter, someone is posting something about the elections. Some of it funny, some it terrifying and some if it down right bizarre. I saw a photo of Ted Cruz and the Duck Dynasty dude that will give me nightmares tonight for sure.
My advice to myself is to take long deep breaths. Hang out with friends and tell jokes. Read books. Run. Spend quality time with my kids. Maybe write about something other than this stuff every night. Take it all with a grain of salt.
Because the 2016 US Elections might be too much for this political junkie to handle.
…
I had three light bulb moments in class today:
Talking to a kid about symbolism and Animal Farm. She said that she knew the windmill was a symbol for something, but couldn't name what it was. We went into the book and found some critical scenes, within seconds of reading the text, “It is a symbol of the revolution. The fact that they are forced to rebuild it means that it never worked in the first time and this time it will be even worse.” Boom……off you go.
Talking to a kid about symbolism and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. Back in the text. The first page, “I think the dog must be something right. Maybe the dog symbolises Christopher’s relationship with his dad and the pitchfork is how the relationship was severed so violently. Maybe the pitchfork could be the betrayal of the dad’s lies, or even the mom.” Boom…off you go.
There is something so satisfying about guiding a kid to the edge and watching them jump off and fly to the other side. Those moments are priceless and they are what keep me going. It’s like you can see the learning seep into the kid right in front of your eyes. They get excited and look you in the eyes. Your eyes say, “See? It’s worth it after the hard work isn’t it?” They smile and begin to write furiously.
On that note, I leave you with Juicy America. Laugh, Cry, Do what you need to do- I’m gonna chase some chocolate down with a coke.
Perhaps we are all lunatics, just not all deranged.
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