Adulthood

Though my life may have gone a little different than I expected, overall it has been a good one. Though being single, I am often treated like a perpetual teenager, but truth is I am an Adult and will make a new first tomorrow night. I will be staying in a hotel room by myself. No friends, no family, just me! This may not be something that proves I am an adult, because I have already crossed many of those milestones like graduating from college, starting a career buying a home etc. This is something I have never done. I doubt many married people have done this, not that they would want to. Life is crazy!

Trials

I am aware that we all have trials in our lives. They are all hard for the person who is in the middle of them. I am some ones that are pretty observable. Many peoples are less observable, but are still challenging none the less. I have seen so many people this week who have had some struggles that have broken my heart for them. I have also struggled with my own trials. I have cried for my own trials and theirs this week and I hope for the best for all of us involved.

I also think some of my trials were chosen by me before this life or were chosen by my choices in this life. For example due to my choices in this life of becoming a teacher and then working toward a masters degree has led to some frustrations and trials. This is not completely unheard of in the world of teaching. Look at the Chicago teachers. They stood up for a better work environment and situation for them and for the students even if they didn't teach for over a week. Schools cannot be run like a business because kids are not products. They have their own will power and choices and back stories. I feel underappreciated. So my specific frustrations are with a few choices by my district and their deadline for turning in paper work for the master's degree to be compensated. Yes I am happy they are funding steps and lanes this year. But no local universities are done before April 15. Could we maybe change the date? THANKS!

So here is my other trial that I think I chose. I really think I have chosen to be single. I think I chose it before coming to this earth. I am sure this was a trial that I knew could handle. I know I don't always like it in this life but I know it could be worse. I could be in a bad marriage or have a child out of wed lock etc...

Now my friends this week have had hard situations this week. And yes I really did cry a few times for them. I hope for the best for them, but will leave their specific situations out of this post for their privacy. And for them--you are strong, you have support around you through family and friends. You got this! Believe in yourself. We love you!

TV shows

You know what really bothers me: When they mess with the shows you like...
Sometimes they mess with the shows you like when you are watching them as everyone else is watching them. For example watching Lost toward the end. I did not love the episodes but I was invested in the show so I had to play it out until the end.

I have recently watched some series on netflix. They are a little older but the shows have been messed with. One was cancelled with out making a clean cut in the last episode which means it was cut over the summer. Ok I knew this one was just a filler with some of my summer. I knew it was not the most critically acclaimed show, but I sometimes like shows like that.

One I just started a few weeks ago killed of a rather important character. This show was based on a pretty famous legend. How can you kill off one of the most important people in that legend? I don't know.

This has happened before and will happen again. I have remained pretty anonymous on those shows because I don't want to ruin anything for anyone. So I am not going to say which shows they are.

Politics

So why is it that people in general try to make you feel bad about your political beliefs if you don't believe the same way they do.

Just because I am not a republican Mormon I am not immoral or on the dark side. I am a moderate and an independent. I choose not to be part of a political party because I do not like either of them fully. I care about issues like welfare, education, healthcare, immigration etc. Democrats are not all bad and Republicans are not all good. It is the truth. I have voted for democrats and republicans. I do not try to push my ideas on you so don't try to push yours on me--or maybe you just think I agree with you because I often remain silent. I often sit and listen to how awful you think people I voted for are. Crazy how you probably don't even know I voted for them. Or if you did---are you trying to make me feel bad? I remain silent on many issues because I know I won't change your mind and you do not respect my point of view. I do talk to some friends about issues and they have different opinions, but they will listen and be respectful even when we disagree. I do the same for them. The beauty about being part of this nation is that we do have the right to freedom of speech where we have a right to have our own opinions about politics.

I talked with my students a few days ago about this since it talked about Romney and Obama in Scholastic News. I told them this applies in this class as well as throughout their lives. You should be respectful of the candidates even if you do not agree with them. You should know what they stand for and build your reasons to vote for them or to vote against them on that. You should be respectful of others beliefs and listen politely to what they have to say and also respond politely. You can believe the same or different as people around you including friends, neighbors or parents. You should study the issues and not rely on others to make the decision for you. Just because someone is of the same religion, state, ethnicity, gender etc. as you are is not the only reason to vote for them. Mostly we need to be respectful of people in this process. I believe this is true for me, my students and everyone else.

Another reason not to vote for Romney

I tell you what, Romney keeps giving me reasons not to vote for him. Here is one more reason not to vote for him in my book.

"I am disappointed by the decision of the Chicago Teachers Union to turn its back on not only a city negotiating in good faith but also the hundreds of thousands of children relying on the city's public schools to provide them a safe place to receive a strong education," Romney said in a statement Monday morning.
Romney
I am pretty sure that if you can't give teachers a good contract you wont keep good teachers. If you don't have good teachers your students will not learn. Isn't having good quality teachers that are appreciated important in education? I think so. Therefore even though there was a walk out from Chicago teachers, it wasn't because they were trying to not teach students, or have a poor work ethic, or turn their backs on them, but ultimately it is to have it be a good experience for them as teachers, and also for their students. If teachers are not loving their jobs, then students will not learn-period!

Romney keeps giving me reasons not to vote for him, but to vote against him.

The Thinker or Akhenaten sitting down??

Today in class we made a sculpture out of packing tape. It was awesome. The kids did a great job and we had fun even if it did take a while. He ended up being a little hippy but no big deal--I tried to hide it when we taped his parts together. He is loosely based on The Thinker but I think he is a little more like Akhenaten because of his hips.