—

The 10th grade is doing a pregnancy/parenting project and our students got their “babies” this week. Instead of eggs, I passed out ornaments to my curriculum skills. Today I was met by 10th graders carrying their offspring around. Some children have… full heads of hair.

I’m trying to be a good girl and learn about finances. I’m thankful that my parents taught me a good “baselayer” of financial literacy growing up, but man… Mutual funds are kicking my butt to process! I seriously had to go back and map it out! Luckily 1)I am taking the time to learn about this with 4 other friends now, because 2) this type of investment is still at least ~2-3 years away. I recommend Beth Kobliner’s Get a Financial Life if you’re kind of clueless like me!

Ps. I wish I knew about graphic organizers in undergrad. They really do help with processing info.

Gah I’m a nerd.

“Ya estoy curado
Anestesiado
Ya me he olvidado de tí…
Hoy me despido
De tu ausencia
Ya estoy en paz…
Ya no te espero
Ya no te llamo
ya no me engaño
Hoy te he borrado
De mi paciencia
Hoy fui capaz…”
~”La Despedida” – Manu Chao

It was a good weekend.

While on our walk tonight, Jay-Jay and I encountered a tiny, unaccompanied pomeranian. If you haven’t known me long, my first dog was pomeranian (pomeranian-ish mutt, to be specific) that I got when I was 12. Seeing this little guy follow us for a minute or two pulled on my heart strings and I tried to get close to find a name or phone number on his collar… maybe snap a photo or two. All attempts were unsuccessful, however, as Jay-Jay and the pomeranian terrorized each other! They’re both so small and both wound up walking away, whining and crying, if you can believe it.

Naturally, I worried a bit when we walked up to our neighbor’s house and a pit bull was chilling in their front yard. Our second encounter with an unleashed dog of the evening! Jay-Jay’s been known to be scared of small birds, succulent plants, and videos of dogs on YouTube, so I worried about his emotional state when this big dog (okay, it’s a puppy, but still. A BIG PUPPY) ran up to him all “Hey! Whaddup, Foo!” The PIT BULL and Jay-Jay, however… they got along famously.

“It’s cool, they’re friends,” my neighbor said cooly. I had no idea.

–

While on the topic of friends… I’ve been thinking a lot recently about friendships and relationships… general thoughts, but also the current state of mine, as well as my role in them. I wouldn’t say they’re thoughts that I can classify as good or bad; I’m just pensive.

Nights like this (weeks or months, possibly), I wish I still had a ‘secret’ blog that I kept up. Not so much for my puppy encounters but more so for my thoughts on life that still need a bit of processing, cleaning up, and packaging neatly before being presented to the general public.

“Dear Ms. Hamm,

First and foremost, I miss your class. It was really cool to be able to write our own stories and blaze our own paths. You were, and still are, an awesome teacher. Although the class isn’t about that anymore (Creative Writing), I bet you still keep English creative. Thank you for all your support.”

“Dear Ms. Hamm,

Ms. Hamm I’ve missed your class so much. I like our conversations and even though I don’t have you anymore I still feel like you’re my teacher. You’re an awesome teacher and person.”

“Dear Ms. Hamm,

I miss you! My freshman year was the best and your class was fun. You’re a sweet teacher and energetic. You’re always smiling and have a good attitude with everyone. I hope you’re back next year so new freshman can enjoy your way of teaching.”

 

Heartwarming Teacher’s Appreciation Week messages from my first freshmen. They’ve done grown into seniors! What the heck?!?

And here’s yet another from my current freshman with the horse jokes…

“Ms. Hamm! I got kicked out! Because I said boo-boo! It’s okay though. I found Jesus while I was out here so I guess it’s a good thing.”

For me, it’s been a year of:

-Meetings & Conferences

-Swag bags & water bottles

-Dinners & Receptions

-Focus groups & Town Halls

-Multiple preps & Collaboration

-Assessments & Data

-Media & Social Media

-& the best kids of my life!

Life made a whole lot more sense in year 3.

Now what will year 4 be like? Amazing, I hope! Looking forward to solidifying my instructional practices, growing in my leadership, and expanding my network. Fellowships, coursework, beginning National Board Certification, and additional job duties are all possibilities, so it’ll be cool to see what actually ends up happening.

“Sea Biscuit?!? Isn’t that the book about the horse? WHY WOULD YOU NAME A LAND ANIMAL ANYTHING WITH THE WORD SEA?!?

It’s like.., Ms. Hamm, I bought a SHARK. I think I’m going to name him LAND CROISSANT.”

03/16/10

I’ve been teased by a handful of people for that doodle above; it was scratched out during a conversation with a few of my favorite ladies who were a few months into 25 (and a few days away from it). I loved hearing their confidence and I really wondered what it would be like for me. I guess I had this fascination with the age of 25. It seemed so old, so seasoned, so experienced, so knowledgeable, even though I was only a few years removed from that milestone. I guess it also helped that we really celebrated birthdays right that year. Surprise trip to New York, shooting up to the Bay, and taking in the Seattle fall… it was all so wonderful.

Anyway.

Looking back through the pages surrounding that quick thought and drawing makes me smile. So many dreams, hopes, and wishes in the pages surrounding that quick sketch have come to fruition since then, while worries and insecurities are thankfully fading at 25. From goals of getting fit and training for a marathon, to that motif of hearts and swirls that is now etched permanently into my skin. From notes taken at a professional development meeting that was going completely over my head (WHAT ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT?!?), to an angry (nearly illegible) scribble crying out “I hate feeling like all I’m doing is worthless…and then… just being ineffective! I want to be good at the things I do!”

[Sidenote: HA! If only I knew how much "EFFECTIVE" would become a part of my vocabulary this year, haha.]

Anyway, the reason I busted out that journal is this: At a meeting tonight (yes, a meeting on teacher effectiveness), one of the attendees mentioned that it’s his 30th birthday. He kind of hung his head in sadness at leaving the 20′s, and I won’t lie, my first thought was: Man. Sucks. I was surprised though, everybody in the room started talking about how awesome their 30′s have been so far. Apparently they’re even better.

It seems I’ve got a new obsession.

If you don’t know, I’m scared of the sun and refuse to do most of my running while the sun is out and about, doing it’s thing. I’ve been back from Spain for two weeks now and I think I’ve gone running as many times. I need to get back into this, or else my half-marathon goals are just… not going to happen. There’s one next month, but today’s the 21st; sounds like a bad idea. Maybe I’ll do the June one with my co-worker.

My bar method is going to expire soon Must figure that whole situation out, because Bar Method without the discount is super expensive–I don’t quite have room in my budget to spend $180 a month staying toned! Cross-fit is cheaper, but might be too intense for my weak self. I had a dream that I tried it out and they made me play basketball. While I know this wouldn’t actually happen… it TERRIFIED ME.

Another one of those weeks full of conversations about Education. Some expected, some not, all welcome.

In ever-so-slightly related news, we wore prom dresses to work today. That was fun/ny.