even better

Coffee shop got some rugs.

"please god don't let someone come outside right now." "please god let someone!"

Last night as Jess and I were about to get out of the car after dinner, Delilah played The Pretenders' "I'll Stand By You." So we didn't get out of the car. She turned off the engine and the lights and turned up the volume and we sat there in the dark behind our apartment building singing.

It reminded me of a time about twelve or so years ago when I was coming home from somewhere with my Dad. It was nighttime that time, too, and we pulled into the garage just as Elton John's "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" came on the radio. We did then exactly what Jess and I did last night.

Weird parallel memories. Not afraid to admit to liking both of those songs.

(This video is ridiculous, by the way. Ridiculous but awesome.)

Could I BE having a better Sunday morning?

1. Ani DiFranco Pandora station (forgot how much I love her)
2. productivity on grad school application and district funding application
3. fresh pot of coffee since I cleaned the mold out of the machine yesterday afternoon
4. windows open and air cool enough to be able to wear a sweatshirt and pants
5. good lesson plans written for the week
6. grocery shopping done
7. up early enough to do all of this and still be able to get over to church for the first time in a long time
8. little brother coming to visit esta noche
9. Alex and Jessica coming back today, too

The answer is definitively no. This morning could not be any better.
Man, I used to hate Sundays in college.

feminism: sooo annoying!

I'm going with my Mom to see Mary Poppins: The Musical tonight! So lucky!

When I was little, it was my favorite movie. Like, my watch it, rewind it, watch it again, and persistently press "tracking" because the film was wearing thin, favorite movie.

At this part, I used to get so mad at the mom with her sister-suffragette-bullshit. I would just be so frustrated that she wouldn't shut the eff up and listen to the nanny. ha

What a lovely day.

Things I did:

cleaned the apartment with music blasting
left all the windows open
ironed all of my clothes for the week
walked to the grocery store to do my shopping for the week
talked to Melissa on the phone for a while
booked a train ticket to Chicago for spring break
wasted time on my sweet new MacBook
walked over to the high school and got myself set up for tomorrow
finalized the plans for this week's Social Justice Committee meeting
caught up on my email (1 left in my personal and 3 in my work!)
made delicious red beans and rice for dinner
checked this out

Things I'm about to do:
write my reflection notes for last week's lessons
book a flight somewhere for the week after school gets out
walk over to Paradiso to finish Player Piano
be in bed by 10



All jokes aside, my life rules.

"Do we use dial-up?"

That's what a student asked one of the other teachers the other day, sincerely, because our Internet at the school is SO slow.

That's why I got so excited that I just HAD to snap a photo when I saw these workers laying the fiber-optic cable through the neighborhood.

!

back to bed

I love my job.

Walking through Target yesterday, the thought actually popped into my head that I a-little-bit envied that girl stocking the shoe department; because when she leaves work, she leaves work. Yeah, I was bitter all weekend because I had hella essays to grade, but still. What a depressing thought. "You love your job. You love your job. You love your job," I kept reminding myself.

Just now, though, one of my students busted into my classroom on a pass from his study-support time in a classroom down the hall. He's all, "Ms. Dahlke, I finished my project!" (They're writing family narratives, and he was having a really difficult time starting it last week.) He was so excited: "It's longer than two pages; I just wanted to add so much detail!" I got all excited for him, and then he's like, "You can read it right now if you want? I mean, I can wait until class later to show you, but I've got it in Ms. B's room. I can bring it here if you want to read it right now?"

How cute. And rewarding. I needed that.

White people talking about race? Weird.

During the school day today I had to have private conversations with two different white students who were really worked up, borderline angry, at how "the African Americans" were responding to Obama's election.

"How come if a black person is elected, they can make a big deal about it, but if I made a big deal about a white person being elected, that would be racist?" one of them asked me.

"How come right after they announced his victory, the TV stations only interviewed African-American people? Why can't white people have an opinion?" the other student asked.

In each case, I talked to the student about how it was okay for them to feel frustrated at what feels like a pressure for white people to not talk about race as a way of avoiding the "racist" label. I get that. These kids go to a school with a fairly diverse student population, and they don't want to act like everyone's the same. And they shouldn't. That's not the way anti-racism works. Anti-racism isn't colorblind, and it's not non-confrontational. These kids' ideas were racist, but these are not "bad" kids. Racism and big-jerk-ness are not the same. Their awareness of an oppressive forced silence is legitimate, even if their notions of "reverse racism" are not. And yet their lack of knowledge about the ways that racism works, and their lack of satisfactory vocabulary for describing their hurt feelings, led them to say things that made them, for sure, look like big jerks.

I finished the school day with the hopeful thought that Obama's election may really serve as a catalyst for many more honest, personal, and productive discussions of race and racism like the ones I had with these students.

break-through

After a little bit of investigation, I have just successfully tracked down the real, working phone number for the parent of one of my students who's desperately in need of some super-in-his-face parent-teacher teaming. Words cannot express my excitement.

this student's low expectations for himself: OUT
this student's high expectations for himself, or else: IN

O.K., it's just hit me.

The Democrats have nominated Barack Obama for President. The first African-American man to be nominated by a major party for President of the United States. And he'll speak tomorrow on the 45th anniversary of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech. Whoa. I really can't help but smile. (And after spending a lot of time this week looking over and worrying over the statistics that show that in my school, like in schools nationwide, African-American kids are not achieving at the same levels as their White peers, I needed that.)

and yet, I'll still lie awake staring at the ceiling tonight, feeling unprepared

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL TOMORROW! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHH!
...

AAAAAAAAAGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

my list this work-week:

complete inspection of apartment
buy flowers for classroom
get file folders for world studies classes
get hanging folders for make-up work
return Megan’s modem to Comcast
mail voter registration for me
mail voter registration for Jess
update resume on eportfolio
make an LGBTQA safe zone sign for Sydney
submit a change of address form to the district
submit authorization for direct deposit to the district
take photos of classroom
buy Kasey’s birthday card and gift
get Born Into Brothels from classroom
get folders for ALS classes
attend UHS football fundraiser
make detention slips
get referrals
get hall passes
get overhead
set up school voicemail
get Kleenex
double check fire/disaster exit signs
get and hang up bell schedules
get more desks for classroom
get all IEP meetings on calendar
read and repond to Susan’s syllabus
meet with LT re: teams
set up refocus area in classroom
get a set of headphones
email Greg J re: grading committee
email Angi re: social justice committee
email Carol re: literacy committee
email thanks to LT and Chris C
make and hang a sign with deans names on it
make a computer questions sign
write ALS syllabus and copy it
write WS syllabi and copt them
write Thursday and Friday lesson plans for ALS, world studies and AP world studies
get Obama sign for classroom
make copies of ALS log sheets
get YWCA bumper sticker for clipboard
get endnotes to the print shop
find and plan with ALS teammate
ask Mike about independent reading books
stock shelves with inependent reading options
cite anger management source
email Mike for world studies electronic copy of rubric
talk to Carol about iMovie
sign up for Mac lab
ask Matt about DVDs
ask Greg about getting DVDs
get envelopes for ALS classes’ goal-letters
get inspection form to Weiner
tell Justin about projector
plan recognition of MLK’s “I Have a Dream” anniversary
get looseleaf
write introductory notes
collect lesson materials
get extra folders
get extra journals
one district assembly
two faculty meetings
one department meeting
one meeting with the middle school
check on Hepatitis B vaccination history
get migrant school proof of employment form to district office
look into purchasing URL space
make sure classroom Moodle site is in order
check out Dalkey books for potential grant request
get video cameras for poetry project
call Wendy
call Chris
post to Cross-Country Co-Teach
get McCain sign for classroom
make seating charts
meet with B.D.’s mom
get a copy of the teachers’ contact from Greg C

shwag

God I love free stuff. Everyone does, I know. But I, like, reeeeeally like it. When we were little, Dad used to take us to the Auto Show, and even though I've never had any interest whatsoever in cars, I would get seriously invigorated by the process of collecting hundreds of *free* brochures and posters for fancy vehicles. Upon returning home, without fail, I would promptly throw them in the garbage. (Obviously, this was before being green was uber-trendy.) And don't even get me started on the free gifts he would bring home from the Chicago Tax Club. Words cannot express that kind of goodness.

Check out the free crap I got today!


Oh yes, that's an Urbana School District pedometer you're seeing there below the Urbana School District pen and above the Urbana School District hand sanitizer. (O.K., but I'm seriously kind of excited about the tote bag.)


... And all joking aside, my job rules.

jackpot

Although I stand by all of my complaints about moving, I will say that finding a four-inch thick stack of emails I printed off (pre-gmail, obviously) from freshman year was AWESOME. And by awesome, I mean excrutiatingly embarassing.

And since I've also saved every note I ever took in any English or education class, I'm now enjoying a nice little review session of all of my knowledge. Reification.


I've found a few things good enough to be scanned in to the blog, so if I get a chance to get over to the computer lab, I'll share.

good clean fun

emphasis on the fun

R.E.M.:


James Blunt:


Tracy Chapman:


Feist:


Spin Doctors:


Alicia Keys:


Chris Brown:


Norah Jones:


Goo Goo Dolls:


Hootie and the Blowfish:


India Arie:


Cab Calloway:


Smokey Robinson:

getting my Lit on!

The first email I received in my new work email inbox was subjected, "Getting your Lit on!" and as I read it my nerd-heart skipped a bit.

Then I opened it and found a link to the Send Your Name to the Moon project. Act now! Don't wait! This offer ends Friday!

died and gone to young adult novel heaven

Steve's brother, a school librarian, very generously brought me -- count them -- thirty books for my classroom library. And since I am not gainfully-employed, at least not in a financially-gainful way -- I've got plenty of little badass volunteer things going on -- I've been doing a lot of porch-sitting and reading.

I don't think I'm going to read all thirty of them (Well, some of them are repeats, which is sweet since students steal books.), but would appreciate any guidance my blog-reader(s) could give.

Here's what I've got:
Slam by Nick Hornby
Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin
Hurricane Song by Paul Volponi (read this one already)
Bone by Bone by Tony Johnston (this one, too)
Game by Walter Dean Myers
Peak by Roland Smith
Dream Factory by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler
Red Glass by Laura Resau
Before I Die by Jenny Downham
Dreamquake by Elizabeth Knox
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
Coraline by Neil Gaiman (actually, this is the graphic novel of it, done by P. Craig Russell)
The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Blood is Thicker by Paul Langan and D.M. Blackwell (of the Bluford Series)
Search for Safety by John Langan (also Bluford Series)
Someone to Love Me by Anne Schraff (also Bluford Series)
Genius Squad by Catherine Jinks
Noman by William Nicholson
Tough Boy Sonatas by Curtis L. Chrisler (poetry about Gary, Indiana)
Big Fat Manifesto by Susan Vaught
Exodus by Julie Bertagna
Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers
The Viper Within by Sam Mills
The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Completely unrelated, I've noticed that I've stopped, for the most part, actually writing on this blog. I mostly just post stuff. I mean, before, I was actually busy. Now, I'm just busying myself with things like ten mile walks to look for new jeans. Although I now have two new pairs of jeans, purchased for a total cost of twenty-five dollars, I know that jeans-buying is not a productive hobby. Especially when compared to rambling on a blog for ALL THE WORLD (i.e. Mom) to read. So expect a higher level of commitment to this-here blog from now on. It's basically all I've got going.

Chris is visiting!

Yessssss.

yessssss

I stopped by the English Building last night to work on my portfolio in the computer lab. The lab was closed, but as I was exiting the building, I happened upon about 25 high-school-looking kids playing D and D in the lounge. I couldn't have been more happy to see them; because, that is hilarious.

lucky lady

Reasons my weekend was great:

I took Friday off of work, but the students were off, too, so I didn't miss a day of teaching.

I experienced my first earthquake, and to my knowledge, no one was injured.

I stopped by the school I'm teaching at next year, and got to see some of my former students.

I went on a fabulous coffee/walk date.

I picked out a new apartment with my sweet new roommate for next year.

I took the bus to ISU, and caught up with a friend from grammar school who happened to be taking the same bus.

I went to a hilarious birthday party for Moe on Friday night, and got to hang out with the coolest women to ever hit Bloomington-Normal.

I read poetry in Carle Park on Saturday night in 70 degree weather. Yeah. How English major is that. I still got it.

I woke up early and walked to the grocery store to get food for lunch for the week.

I decided to try staying this vegetarian course I've been on for the past few weeks.

I planned my lessons through Thursday.

I graded my students' fabulous human rights PowerPoint projects.

The Student Board at the Y finally finished its recommendations for changes to the by-laws, which has been a year-long project.

The Student Board had another successful service day.
I re-watched one of my favorite documentaries.

I made measurable progress on my electronic portfolio.