More Time for Procrastination.

How wonderful is it that we get an extra hour of work time today? I love daylight savings. I am also pleased at the thought that it will be light by the time I get to work tomorrow morning. Something about getting to work when it is still pitch black outside is seriously depressing.

You know what else is seriously depressing? The thought of my students coming in tomorrow sleep deprived and pepped up on sugar. Boo on Halloween.

Speaking of which: the other day I was driving to JHU for class and I was stopped at a stoplight. The house on the corner had a huge picture of Michael Jackson hanging outside the top floor windows. I thought it was nice that Michael J still had fans to support him in this time when he is the butt of so many jokes and so much speculation. Then, as I was making the left hand I actually gasped in fear and surprise because there was a lifesized picture of him standing at the window on the porch. Then I realized: Halloween decorations.

A Complaint.

I need to start updating more frequently. At various points throughout my day, I will think to myself: "That would be something nice to share" or "I bet so-and-so would enjoy reading about that"...and then I run out of time to post. I have decided that I will attempt to post something -- anything -- on my blog each night. Or more realistically, every other night.

At this point I don't think anyone is really reading this -- so it'll be more so that I can look back at it later and smile (or cringe). After all, this is a journal of sorts.

Probably the most eventful thing that happened last week is that my kiddies and I took a field trip to the Baltimore Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. I was so overwhelmed by how well my students behaved (for the most part -- there was one fistfight, but that didn't happen until the end of the trip while we were on the way back to the buses). It was truly wonderful to be able to let down my guard a little on the bus and let the kids see that I am actually a pretty nice person.

It was a wake up call though. Probably my biggest reason for doing Teach For America was to provide a context for my future. I know that I want to work with education policy and whatnot...and teaching was supposed to provide me with some insight into what is actually wrong with the system that we have now. TFA has done what I hoped it would do...it has given me a lot of motivation to change things.

When we went on the field trip I could see how huge the disparity in education for children can be based on where they are born and what they are born into. The Meyerhoff had opened its doors to 900 children from various schools throughout Baltimore. I watched as the white, uniformed children were escorted through the front doors and into the front rows of the auditorium. Each child was accompanied by an adult chaperone -- one per every two children. Meanwhile, I had five students clinging to each arm and about four holding onto other parts of my body (legs and butt included) as we were escorted through the back door to the nosebleed sections.

It was incredible to see -- it was as if I was in a segregated courtroom in the 1930s...all the black children up in the mezzanine and a sea of white faces and blonde hair on the ground level. I started to tear up a little when one of my students reasoned that they had to sit on the hard wood chairs because they were black and had behavior problems. Outside, chaperones warned their children not to stare at my students as they passed us on the sidewalks (sadly, I'm not even exagerrating).

I wonder if the children in their schools have problems like ours...lead-filled water, children throwing bricks at each other and breaking each others arms, biting, screaming, naked men that wander through school halls...

P.S. Happy Halloween.

Starved for Entertainment.

I am close to caving on the cable front. Jamie and I have survived quite blissfully without cable for the past three months. Sure, it kind of sucked to not be able to watch the Olympics. And maybe it wasn't the best thing to have to watch the political debates through a thick cloud of static (through which -- one should note -- George W. still looked like a monkey). But then came America's Next Top Model...and all of the sudden, the extra money may be worth it.

Now, it should be noted, that I have actually only watched two episodes of this show. The last two episodes of last season...but seriously, it was high quality television.

I'm pulling for Tocarra or Norelle. The former actually seems to have a shot, and the latter is just so hilarious to watch (even if only in the clips they put online). Anyone want to pay for my cable?

A Walk in the Woods

Jamie and I took a walk in the neighborhood this morning -- a nice opportunity to take in the beautiful day and enjoy some of the fall foilage. I figured I would share some of it with the few of you who still might check this sorry blog.

I'm thinking about a makeover (for the website). Anything to keep me from having to start actually thinking about lesson plans...

Kick in the Rear.

In order to entice me to finally finish knitting his sweater, Jamie posed with the scraps.


Finish this sweater or else...

Right now I have the back completely done, and most of the front (just doing the shoulder). But the thought of sleeves makes me want to leave it as a vest. Then I think of Jamie in a sweater vest and I vow that this sweater will be done by the boy's birthday on December 19th. Or maybe our anniversary on the 22nd. Or maybe Christmas...whatever, it'll get done. (right??)

UGH. School tomorrow.

Brain Indigestion.

So I have forgotten to bring my wallet with me to work four days in a row. That is a four days worth of driving to and from Baltimore during which I could have needed my driver's license. Four days in which I might have needed some spare change for a meter or a soda. Four days in which I might have wanted to have some form of I.D.

Seriously, I think I'm losing my mind. With all of the knowledge that comes with teaching and going to Johns Hopkins, I am losing basic survival skills...like walking. I damn near sprained my ankle again when I totally bit it while walking my kids out at the end of the day. They were all laughing at me without the tiniest ounce of sympathy...those little conniving...poofaces.

Actually. This week was still good. The kids were good. I'm getting better each day. Yesterday, Alexis was sooooooo good the entire day. It was amazing. I had to keep on praising her...stickers, notes home, lunch with me, hugs...but seriously, it made my day. Yes, I am aware of the fact that it will be back to the same old fighting, punching, name-calling, pouting, screaming, running, back-talking, chin-kicking Alexis when we get back on Monday but still...

Rapture.

I am in love with our postman. Today he let me in when I had my hands too full to open the door. Then, he delivered me the 4th season of Dawson's Creek. I gave him a freshly baked (well...last night) blondie in return. Whenever we bump into each other it's always the day after I bake something so he always gets some. He better love me too.

Those blondies are good.

Today teaching was amazing. My kids learned stuff -- lots of stuff! We talked more about segregation and about discrimination. We mastered place value and the expanded form. They told me about the various stages of the life cycle. It was a dream. Except for the fact that I had to send two students to the office. Oh, and the fight. Oh, and all the yelling I had to do to get them to sit quietly. BUT. THEY. DID.

I'm giddy.

Driving Along in My Automobile...

...when some a-hole decides to rear-end me and then tear off. Bastard got away. But I did get to meet some of the kind staff of the Maryland State Troopers.

Aside from that my days have been pretty good. I'm horrendously overworked and stressed, but other than that? Good. I think I may be breaking out in some serious acne for the first time in ever, and my stomach does drop at the thought of actually doing my Johns Hopkins work. But, working with the kids is fun -- in a often painful sort of way.

It has its highs: the discussion my class had this afternoon about segregation and racial apathy (one of our newest vocab words!)when one of my students likened Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Jesus and started said comparison with, "I would like to make a connection..."
When James (my most challenging student) gave me a drawing of himself so that he could come home with me.

Unfortunately, at this point I think the bad outnumbers the good: so much yelling. I watched another teacher (the computer teacher) actually punch two of my kids for talking out of turn. She prefaced it with: "Ms. U, turn around so you don't have to see this". The fact that my kids get into fistfights every. two. minutes. Or maybe the fact that I have three students (in THIRD GRADE) who cannot read or write above 1st grade level. One of my kids got suspended for 3 days because he brought a cigarette to school and lit it. Or the fact that I still waste so much time having my kids sit in the dark trying to be quiet and still for one minute (it is inevitable that the first five minutes are spent trying to get them to sit still for five seconds).

Bah. Teaching. I want a break.

Dry Spell.

You thought I'd forgotten...I haven't. I have guiltily been allowing the days to pass without posting, for that I am sorry. There are many stories to be shared -- the difficulty lays in how to cut them all down so that they fit in a readable post and a good night's rest for a sleep-deprived 3rd grade teacher. Let me sum up:

1. I just pulled a BUG that had embedded itself into my flesh out of my big toe. I noticed it as an egg about a week ago, but didn't think it was an egg until it hatched today. Gross. Also, no more open-toed shoes at school for me.

2. I just moved into a new classroom because they are knocking my old one down. You don't know SUCKY until you have to see 3 weeks of hard work go down the drain as you have to move as much as you can to a room half the size and down a big flight of stairs in the span of an afternoon while still teaching a class of rowdy 3rd graders.

3. I am a bad teacher.

4. The parents are coming to scope out the pad this week! EEP!

5. My kids are hilarious. I never knew it was possible to simultaneously love and want to scream at 19 children all at once.

6. Jamie made a really good eggplant frittata the other day. He's the greatest. He is also the only thing keeping me sane at this point.

7. I rule at Madden 2004. (Disclaimer: Madden 2004 only happens on Fridays and Saturday mornings in the Long/Umezaki hovel).

8. I don't think an MAT is worth the pain and suffering they are making me go through...

9. I cannot believe that I have to pay that much in taxes when I make that little in salary. Holycrap. And...

10. I am so, incredibly, without-a-doubt, thankful that I decided not to do the CNN thing. I cannot even fathom how awful it would be to have my failed attempts at teaching captured on television for all the Dan Rather fans to see...

More later?

Mmmm...Slanty.

Conversation with a colleague at school. As a sidenote, it took her a while to warm up to me.

Colleague: So, what are you? You're Chinese, right?
Me: Well...no...but -
C: - but you're ORIENTAL.
Me: I guess you could say that. My parents are actually from Peru.
C: Is that in China?
Me: No, it's a country in South America...
C:...but, you're ORIENTAL.
Me: My grandparents migrated from Japan to Peru...
C: ...so that's why your slant-eyed [pulls the edges of her eyes outward to make slanty eyes].
Me: Ya. [eep.]
C: But Chinese and Japanese are the same thing, right? Like, you could say that you're Chinese. You're just from a different part of China.
Me: No, actually, my grandparents came from Japan...but that's a whole other country than China.
C: But you all look the same! Would you be insulted if I called you Chinese?
Me: Personally, no. But it would be like me saying that Jamaicans and Africans are the same.
C: [angry teacher stare]...no they're not!!
Me: ...
C: ...
C: Do you speak perunesey?

It was later decided that I had to bring dumplings to our potluck because obviously I know how to make Chinese dumplings. How I love being the only Asian person anywhere near this school.

Update on the teaching: yesterday was the worst day yet. Today was the best one. Go figure. Have yet to cry...although it did cross my mind twice this week. Can I just say that I love my kids. The other day I just wanted to stop being their mean ol' teacher and HUG THEM ALL.

P.S. The idea that a TEACHER WHO HAS BEEN TEACHING FOR 30 YEARS didn't know that Peru was a country -- much less, knew that China and Japan were different countries -- is frightening.

P.P.S. The fact that I have to go to class for four hours on a Saturday morning after having taught 3rd graders all week makes me want to die. DIE. It has crossed my mind more than once that this whole "getting my Masters while teaching 3rd grade" thing was a very bad idea.

[Don't] Tell Me Box.

Somebody please tell me why my kids cannot spell "school" but have no problem spelling "dick lips". Please.

Today I introduced the "Tell Me" box, so that my lovely little angels would simply exert their tattletale tendencies on paper rather than in the middle of my lessons. This morning, the box was empty, and when I picked it up after school I actually dropped it because of the weight of the little slips of paper stuffed into it (granted, I wasn't expecting it to be heavy at all and therefore did not really try to get a good grip on it).

Among my favorites?

"ronald was cousen. Love, Dorian"

"ronald sed the b word."

And a nice little series from Sae'Quan:

"Alexis be making up stuff about people. From Sa'Quan" (this was the most spelling accurate -- sigh -- note I received. The only word he mispelled was his own name).

"Davan [Davon] hit Jawel [Jewel]. From Sae'Quan."

"Micaiah said I like Jewel. From Sae'Quan".

Oh boy, how happy I am to return to 3rd grade...

For the most part, the kiddies were ANGELS today and I am in love with them. I'm definitely not a good teacher yet. If I had to say what these kids learned today I would be hardpressed to find ONE thing. But, I am surviving and the kids are warming up to the thought of learning. I need to find a way to get through the afternoon unscathed (the mornings are great). I'm thinking of making them run laps after resource...

I called a parent last night, and this morning she sat in my class for the first twenty minutes and proceeded to yell at her son every two minutes. "WHERE IS YOUR NOTEBOOK??" "PAY ATTENTION TO THE TEACHER!!" "WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU??"

It was distracting to say the least and as soon as she left, her son completely shut down and would not respond to a single thing I said for the next hour and a half.

Please make tomorrow a better day for him.

Getting It Together.

If I can pull my life together during the weekdays, I will be able to post more often. Last week...not so much.

I don't think I had ever gone a week with so little consecutive hours of sleep. Not even trying to get the yearbook done (which it is!) made me as sleep-deprived. Getting to bed around 1 only to get up around 5, and then having to chase 3rd graders around all day made me a sleepy girl. Apparently, I was almost sleep-walking on Wednesday night (after going to my 4 and a half hours of Johns Hopkins directly after school and getting home at 10. Jamie found me in the kitchen throwing celery on the ground and wielding a giant knife muttering about making my lunch...at 2am.

Boy howdy did I ever sleep so well this weekend. I also cleaned up the office and am planning to lesson plan all day today and get my homework for JHU done. Mark my words...I will sleep more than four hours a night this week.

Teaching is going pretty well! I still love my kids. I'm definitely coming off firmer than I ever thought I could. I am beginning to worry that I'm just plain mean. However, I did manage to get my class to go to the bathroom, get a drink of water, and reenter the room in a straight line and without making a sound in under 5 minutes. I was timing them with my stopwatch. I am a drill instructor.

I have so many stories to tell. I will get around to tell them...but right now, I must get started on the planning. Updates soon.

You Can Call Me Ms. U.

Lesson plans? Check.
Night of little sleep? Check.
First day of school complete? Check.
The sorest calves on the planet? CHECK.

So, after going over how to pronounce my name (I busted out the phonemes) for at least three minutes, one of my students whined: "Can't we just come up with a nickname?????" which was followed by whiny agreement from the rest of the class. I am now, "Ms. U". Also, "Ms. Umezoo.....Ms. U"

The day is done...and I must say it wasn't so painful. In fact, I would venture to say that it was pretty good. My kids are great -- the total opposite of the kids that I had over the summer...not that they weren't great, but rather that these kids actually like to participate and learn.

Today went relatively smoothly. The only thing is: the impending doom. Even though today went well...I could see the potential for disaster in the upcoming week. These kids are talkers and keeping them in check grew progressively more difficult. Add on to that, the fact that we have class straight through from 7:45am to 12:15 before their first break (!) This is a recipe for disaster.

But I have to say I love my kids so far. I got a bunch of "I Love You" cards (don't you love how little kids are able to decide they love you so quickly?) and hugs...and I was trying to be as mean as possible. I was worried that I was being too nice and friendly, but then I overheard one of my students telling a sibling that I was really strict. That made me smile until I started to think that I might be too hard...I definitely had two different kids on the verge of tears today. 3rd graders are babies.

The best part of my day came at the end when I sent a kid to the time out corner to fill out a reflection sheet. He refused, so I gave him another consequence at which point he got real mad. He spent the rest of the day (all of five minutes) scowling in the corner. I pulled him aside after class and explained why I did what I did (it just doesn't make sense for me to have to repeatedly tell him to be quiet and face forward) and he actually got it! He promised me to make tomorrow a "good choice day" and agreed that I was being fair (his words!!!) and gave me a hug.

Seriously though...I can forsee me wanting to pull my hair out in the near future. With the way the class was going towards the end of the day...I give myself until tomorrow afternoon.

The Schoolhouse Jibblies.

First day of school today. Hold me.

Also, please tell me I won't have to get up at this ungodly hour every day...

A Room: Transformed.

All week we've been having school orientation...meaning that we teacher's have been in meetings in the mornings with a little time in the afternoon to prep our classrooms for the kiddies that arrive on Tuesday. We hadn't had much time to prep, but this was all fine and good since most of Thursday and Friday was left open for classroom prep.

Unless, of course, you're me.

OF COURSE, I am told yesterday that I must go to an all-day workshop on Thursday (today) AND Friday. The administration fought it...but the school system is so messed up that they happened to overlook the fact that they hadn't run this workshop yet and picked random people out of a hat to attend. As I stared at my hardly-started room on Wednesday morning I felt an overwhelming sense of doom. My kids would be miserable and unstimulated and it would be my fault.

But...as we all know...I don't work well unless I am under a deadline...I was determined to get my room finished in the two hours I had after all our meetings. This is how far I got:

The room at the start of the day:







Later:






And of course, the hokey (but hopefully inspiring) expecations:


The only reason I got as far as I did was because my school is wonderful. I had two teachers in my room who had sacrificed their class prep time helping me. I [heart] my school.

I still have a lot of work to do, but I'll try to get it all done at my apartment and get to school really early on Tuesday so that I have time to throw everything on the walls. I did manage to get to school today after my workshop and I met the parent of one of my new students (just transfered into my room).

I felt so young and so Asian.

Another IKEA Showroom.

I had been planning to wait until I actually had time to clean the apartment before taking pictures of it for the blog...then I realized that that day would never come. Therefore, I will give you pictures now...even though the apartment is kind of a mess. Please forgive. But for now...be content with these:


Jamie (playing the part of "Law Student")in our IKEA living room.


View from our couch and our very lovely $30 "we-may-be-too-poor-to-buy-cable-but-that-doesn't-mean-we-can't-find-other-(expensive)-means-of-entertainment" entertainment center. Also, we are not uncultured, but rather, we have three big boxes of books being shipped our way via media mail. I swear.


Jamie gazing fondly at our massive CD collection. After six years, we decided it was time to consolidate. It was like a union of two great countries -- although his was much more substantial than mine. Believe me when I say that there are many more CDs in this apartment.


Our ugly-70s-wood-paneled kitchen. Although I have grown to like it more and more... Also, you may spot "Crush" our pet plant.


Where the magic happens. I tried to get a better picture of our study, but really, the room isn't that interesting yet. Not much studying going on around here.


The $100 bed that I love. IKEA is what dreams are made of.


A better lit picture of our bedroom. Ten points if you can identify yourself in any of those pictures.

And finally...last, but not least:


The shower curtain that I love and that Jamie hates. Now you know who is the boss of this house.

(Me).

Chomping at the Bit.

No, I still haven't started teaching. I start next Tuesday (after Labor Day). But, I am doing my morning commute tomorrow -- setting the alarm for 5:45am and getting to school at 7am. So begins my life as a sleep-deprived teacher...

I have more training this week at my school -- getting to know the people and the neighborhood. I'm really excited about that and I'm even more excited about getting the room ready for my kids. I have the class roster in my hand right now...18 (!) lovely scholars. Of those names, I can actually pronounce 7. I'm thinking of making their locker and desk tags tonight! Wee! Artsy!

Apparently, my school has been burglarized every weekend for the past six weeks. Tomorrow will be the moment of truth to see whether or not it is going to be seven weeks in a row. The officials suspect kids...I do too, if only because they stole all of the candy out of the vending machine in the Teacher's Lounge. It is interesting to note that they left the Almond Joys. Nobody likes those. The police said something about only kids being small enough to fit through the ventilation shafts (which is how they think they got in -- ha!).

My room has been doing okay...I only lost one of my two computers which I think wasn't functioning anyway. A colleague of mine lost her stereo, a BIG television, and two computers. The burglars took the time to search the cabinets in all the classrooms for anything of value.

It's sad when a school that has so little gets robbed of what it has. All the equipment that was stolen had just been donated...

The Great Escape...

...from California. I finally got around to transfering the pictures from my digital camera to the computer. It's still faster than going to the photo store and getting them printed there. Sort of.

Anyway, below you may find pictures of my trip with Jamie across this grand country. You may also notice that the locales are suspiciously all on the West Coast. Two reasons for that: one is that the middle part is really flat and isn't particularly photogenic from a car. Not to say that it isn't lovely in its flatness, but that it would have just looked like highway. Second (and probably 90% of the reason) is that my camera got buried under the mountains of crap that accumulated in the car as the days passed.


The trip began where I had started: New York. Sort of. Our first destination was the New York hotel in Las Vegas which was graciously paid for by my parents. No luck on the slots.

The next day we hit the road and made it to the base of the Rockies...

Jamie was proud of himself because he caught the reflection of the road in my sunglasses. We both know it was an accident.



A good night's rest and a morning later, Jamie and I made a pit stop at Devil's Canyon and took some shots of the view. Here's one of Jamie looking particularly goofy.


Our next stop was the Betty Ford Alpine Garden in Aspen, Colorado. I must add that it is quite the lovely mountain town.





I know this is a picture of a flower. While, I often make fun of people who take pictures of flowers (mostly because they look stupid while taking the picture), I actually liked the way this one came out.


Same goes for the daisies.

Have you ever seen the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland (of course of you have). You know the part where she is all small and is lost in the garden and the flowers talk to her. At first they are all nice and welcoming, but then they a fearful when they find out she is not a flower and that soon turns to hate as they run her out of the garden and into the big, bad forest? Yeah...this picture reminds me of the head snooty flower because she had those big droopy petals that looked like a floppy hat...but maybe it was supposed to be hair?


No more pictures of flowers...but I have to say in my defense that it was a flower garden. I have plenty more pictures of Jamie looking goofy though...


And a hummingbird.

And of course...the alpine meadow.

Check back tomorrow and you may find some pictures of our final destination -- the apartment. It's not really all that exciting yet -- bare walls and floors. But soon friends...

Fuzzy Olympics.

On Saturday Jamie and I invested in rabbit ears for our cable-less television with the faint hope that we may be able to catch some of the Olympics without having to shell out 50+ (!) dollars a month. After having watched the women's beach volleyball semifinal and individual gymnastics everything is fuzzy with purple dots. This can't be good for my new eyes...but the Olympics is good for the soul.

Still haven't started teaching. It's soon though -- next week -- and my room is a total mess. It's HUGE -- seriously, I think it may be larger in square footage than my two bedroom apartment. AND, I only have 18 students! I feel as though everything is working out for me, but that sort of makes anything short of success completely and totally my fault: I have a small class, a supportive principal, so many support systems, a lovely school, and plenty of space. It's all about the teaching now.

Today we started our Baltimore City new teacher orientation. It wasn't anything new, really, but we did get another tote bag and several more packets of reading that I will never get around to reading. I also joined the Baltimore Teacher's Union. Heh...I'm part of AFL-CIO now. First perk? Yet another tote bag, bring today's total up to two bags in two minutes. I will never need another plastic grocery bag again.

Aside from the totes, we did get spoken to by the mayor of Baltimore. There were all these news casters there, like, talking over his speech! I felt as though that should be considered bad form...although maybe it just seemed loud to me since I was sitting right under their cameras. If you catch the story -- which you won't unless you happen to be watching local news in Baltimore during the 10-second segment -- you may just see me since the camera guy was all up in my face. It's strange to pretend like you don't notice the huge 30-pound camera pointing directly at you when it's less than a foot away.

In other news (no pun intended), apartment is now fully settled. Today Jamie bought the final piece to our living room -- the coffee table. Now I am content. Pictures as soon as I clean this place up a little -- I promise.

For the One Person Who Is Still Checking My Blog.

Whew! After a long hiatus -- maybe my longest one yet? -- I'm back. While I have had access to the internet (my nerdy-internet-dependency led me to schedule the installation weeks in advance for the day after Jamie and I were scheduled to arrive in Baltimore), all free time has been sucked into getting the apartment tolerable for inhabiting and getting otherwise situated to my new life.

What this has consisted of has been: IKEA. I had four glorious days of IKEA since it is very nearby to our apartment (a few minutes). In that time I have grown to love the store even more -- even though most things are still out of my budget. Suffice to say, Jamie and I were able to put together a pretty swank apartment. Come by and look! (Or maybe I will post pictures soon...if I'm feeling generous).

Our furniture is minimalistic...but I like it that way. I feel as though our best bargains were our brand new queen-sized bed for $129, our dining set (which included four chairs) for the same price, and our fine entertainment center for a whopping $30. The last one wasn't from IKEA, but rather a friend of mine from TFA. I feel so grown up and our apartment smells like plywood....mmmmmmmm.

After several trips back and forth carrying huge boxes and assembling many pieces of furniture, I think we are moved in for the most part. We just have to unpack said boxes and organize it. Now that I have started TFA post-induction this process will be much slower. But it'll get done.

Too much money has been spent. I'd rather not think about that: moving on.

To update on the NBC thing: I'm not doing it. *HUGE sigh of relief*. I'm a bit surprised, though, at the twinge of regret that I feel for a lost opportunity to possibly affect more change on a grander scale. This will surely pass when I want to jump out a window in October and it crosses my mind how much happier I am that there will not be a camera crew to capture my student-induced hysteria.

For now, I have to get back to doing all of those papers that I was supposed to be doing over the summer for my Johns Hopkins courses. Five 10 page papers...due tomorrow. I have done one -- rather hastily, too. Ahhh....it feels like Williams again.