A Change Would Do You Good

So...we are changing our plans. We are moving to San Francisco for the next four years and Jeff will go to UCSF for dental school. Hurray!

Hopefully people will still visit us even if we aren't going to be living in New York. I mean who wants to live in New York anyway right now? I mean look at it...

Miss Honey or Ms. Trunchbull?

So I had parent teacher conference last week and all went well, which is good because I heard some horror stories from my co-workers. I was also told a cute story from a parent. One of my students was watching Matilda, turned to her mom, and said, "Ya know Mom, if my teacher's hair was a little different color, she'd be Miss Honey!" I guess that's always a plus to be thought of as the nice teacher instead of the evil teacher in the movie. It's always hard to know how your students perceive you, especially when they're getting frustrating and you're stressed. But it was good to hear another mom say whenever she gets upset with her boys (I have twin boys in my class) they always tell her, "Mom stop yelling! Our teacher never yells at us when she's upset." Hopefully my students next year will think of me the same way...it will be very different teaching in NYC and I'll have to adjust culturally once again. You forget while you're teaching mostly LDS students how different their lives are compared to kids everywhere else in the country. When I was testing my students during reading benchmarks, I was reminded of this unique situation I've been teaching in. My student had read a book and I asked him the same question I'd asked the other students and said, "What kind of person was his dad?" The right answer and the one most students respond with is that he's a good person and they proceed to explain why. This particular student answered, "I think he's a missionary." I was a little confused and asked why he'd said that and he replied, "Because he helps people." What a good answer! Then I started to laugh because I can only imagine what a non-LDS teacher some where else in the country would have thought about this student's answer. I know that will be me when I enter into another culture in NYC. I felt it once and I know I'm going to feel it again - like an outsider. I'll be the different one. I'll be the one that isn't in the "club." It's been so comfortable understanding what my students are always talking about because it's things I talked about when I was eight as a mormon child. This next year will be good, but it'll be so different. I've enjoyed seeing what education can be like in good communities, with stable families, and lots of supportive people. I've realized the huge difference involved parents can make in children's education, and I've realized what type of parent I want to be. Each morning as I drive among the picturesque mountains, I feel like I'll really miss this beautiful rural community I've grown to love and respect. I know I've learned a lot and I know these experiences have all been for my own good.

Big lights will inspire you, let's hear it for New York, New York, New Yooork!

In case you haven't already decoded Jeff's encrypted messages about being "In the Empire State of Mind," it is official that we are going to NYC next year. Jeff got into Columbia University for dental school, so we will be there for four years. Jeff got an email yesterday and received his packet in the mail today. We still are in disbelief but extremely excited! Jeff didn't even want to tell people until he officially received his packet in the mail because he said it just didn't feel real. He's worked very hard and he deserves it. After talking about it since the acceptance, Jeff is confident this is the school he wants to attend for dental school. President Cecil O. Samuelson talked to Jeff's pre-dental class last winter semester and advised them all to apply to at least one school they didn't feel qualified to attend. Columbia was Jeff's school that fit into that category. I guess President Samuelson was advised to do that from his dad, which resulted in him applying to Johns Hopkins and getting accepted. It was advise he continued to follow as he searched for jobs and applied to teach at Duke Medical Center and was given the job. Jeff decided it sounded like good advice, so he applied and got in! It's not going to be cheap, but it definitely will be an experience we will never have again. Let's just say in our excitement we've heard Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" song over and over and over again. The next step is for me to find a job. I am excited that I get the chance to teach again in an urban environment since that's what I went into teaching to do. I guess it worked out better than we could have ever imagined it would.



So anyone want to come visit us next year?



Can you believe that will be our home?

Do you want to know why my skin is so beautiful...

So I was talking about teaching in Washington, D.C. to my students. I was telling them that the class was a lot different than ours. They noticed that the students all had dark skin and they said well some people in our class have dark skin but not skin that dark (I don't have any African American students in my class, which is pretty typical for our entire state). One boy started pointing out who had dark skin. Some of the people he pointed out were white but had dark complexions, but others had dark skin because of their parents diverse nationalities. I said we are lucky that we have so many different and beautiful students in our class. This girl comes up to me and says "do you want to know why my skin is so dark and beautiful?" I asked her why and she informs me that her grandparents are Italian. I gasped and said, "Oh so that's why. I've been wondering why your skin was so beautiful!" She grinned and said, "Yep that's why it's so beautiful." Super, super cute...

Crying in Class

So yes...I started to cry in my class today. Not sobbing crying, or even tears running down my face crying. But if I hadn't stopped myself, I am sure it could have gone that far.

It's no secret that I have one interesting student in my class. Because of his unique (cough, cough) personality, most other students stay away. However, the girl that I have him sitting next to is an angel. I have always thought she was very nice and pleasant, but the more I see her interacting with him the more I think she's simply magnificent.

Today in class she was his partner for centers. She was so patient and really tried to help him focus. Every time she read a word, he'd do his usual quirky thing and say "What?" She'd repeat it and emphasis her pronunciation. The interaction went a little something like this:

Her: "Clock"
Him: "Huh?"
Her: (slightly louder) "Clock"
Him: "What'd you say?"
Her: "Cl-o-o-ck, k, k" (slowly enunciating each sound)
Him: "What?"

Well you get the point. Sadly that was not the end of their conversation for that particular word. But what really brought me to tears was her intuitiveness.

He didn't want to do his vocabulary, so I tried to convince him it was sooo easy. He doesn't enjoy writing, so he didn't want to write any vocabulary words. I knew that my learning objective wasn't to see how well he spelled the vocabulary words but was to see if he knew how to apply the words, so I told him all he needed to do was draw lines to the words instead of writing them. The girl noticed I said that and she turned to me and said, "Oh, so we don't have to write them?" He turned to her and said matter-of-factly, "Oh, no no no. You don't have to write them. Just draw lines to the words." I leaned behind his back and while see was still looking at me I mouthed "Write it" as I moved my hand in a writing motion. She nodded slightly. I told him, "But you know some people can choose to write it if they want to." She turned to him and said, "Thanks for telling me, but I think I am going to choose to write it." Then she looked at me and smiled. What seven year old actually is discrete enough to do something like that? Any of my other students would have responded with something like,"Teacher I can't hear what you're saying," as I was trying desperately to conspicuously mouth my directions.

It was after that moment that I started to cry. I just walked away, but I truly felt blessed to have her in my class. I think sometimes when people going into teaching they forget that the purpose of teaching isn't always to change students' lives. I have learned a lot from my students and I know I still will. Some have really touched my heart and show me the type of person we all should be a little more like.

This student is truly a kind soul.