Weekend

On account of having made it through this tiring week, I would like to celebrate Three Kings Day with this song about mitosis. Yeah, I'm starting to plan for Post-SF. It's getting fun again.

Unfortunately, the post-vacation blues have made me kind of blah and unmotivated. It's fun seeing kids get excited about making their presentation boards, but I've hit a slump. I love the kids and I love the work, but the days feel too long. I'm hoping it'll pick up after Science Fair, when we can continue with the routine that works so well (er, slightly better) and I can teach the things I love. At least this week was short, and next week I have new teacher PD on Tuesday and a half day on Wednesday.

I had a good teacher moment, though. I recently got access to some textbook-aligned adapted reading worksheets. Basically, they summarize sections in the textbook in lower-level English and ask straightforward questions about the summary. One of my students didn't have her SF packet, so I gave her this to work on. She often asks questions for 10 minutes straight, clings to the class aide, and then slumps in a huff of frustration and doesn't finish her work. I gave her this assignment. I wasn't surprised when she raised her hand 10 minutes later. I was surprised when she handed me back the entire assignment completed. Correctly.

Yesterday I had a sad and frustrating look at Bridgeport. I was waiting on line at the Food Bazaar, an inexpensive ethnic supermarket. I like to go there to get the important staples in my diet: sushi rice, udon, and other international simple carbohydrates. In fact, I think my favorite food might be any combination of international simple carbs and salt.

The middle-aged couple in front of me in line looked like they had a month's worth of groceries for a family. When it came time to pay, their food stamps card was $3 short. So, they decided to put back the package of frozen hot dogs. I waited for 10 minutes while they sorted out the cash register in two different languages (English and Spanish). Meanwhile, I took stock of the items in their cart that may not have been the best deal. There were two cases of diet Snapple Iced Tea. Really? I can understand one bottle as a treat, but two cases of an overpriced bottle of water and chemicals? At least buy the ones with calories in it (although the couple didn't look like they were too short on calories, but you never know. I read somewhere on the internet that the US has an interesting epidemic of coinciding obesity and malnutrition. In the same people. I guess McDonald's doesn't do it for you after all.)

If the Snapple wasn't bad enough, they also had a case of Hi-C foil pouches. Not only can we teach our children to enjoy high-calorie, low-nutrient drinks, we can also teach them to make poor financial decisions by spending exceedingly more on single-serve pouches rather than buying the same drink powder in bulk and mixing it ourselves.

Gah. Not only did I have to wait in line, I also had to witness first-hand the downfall of our country. Not only our country, but my city. These are the parents of my students. I've gotta go grassroots to the max. Let's improve this city.

After the weekend.