MTN "He did pick up the kids last night with the Rat's son in the car. He is watching him for the night while she lurks in garbage cans or something..lol"
This made me laugh unitl tears ran down my face. Thank you so much.
Hey Jaybee!
As always, I was so happy to hear from you. I hope u are doing well..I have to stop by for a visit!
Hi Angelica,
So thrilled to make you laugh!!
Not too much to report, which is good I guess.
I was placed for student teaching come January 16th. Provided I passed my certification exam, I am to teach high school English to seniors. Nothing like throwing me into the wolves!!
New Guy and I had a good weekend. Still getting over a cold I just can't seem to shake so we had a mellow time. Met friends last night and had a burger..then out for a beer at a party.
Kids had a good weekend with XH. I picked them up early from a restaurant. XH took them to lunch and kids called me to ask if they can come home early. XH said he didn't know what to do with them. Seems like he is down the depression road again. I knew it was coming since it is the holidays. He is so predictable. Oh, and yes, he and the Rat are going at it again. I could have seen that one coming, too.
Refinancing my mortgage which has taken such a loooong time. Using some of the money to pay legal fees which are way to much to even admit, and some credit card debt. Looking forward to this clean slate feeling. Going to use some of that money to fix up things around the house..like my dishwasher that has been broken for a year!!
I guess no news is good news. The only new thing going on is that XH and I are speaking again. He looked so bad today when I saw him. In the same old sweatshirt he used to wear years ago, hair short again which is unusual, and sad eyes again.
I tried my best to make conversation with him today. He was receptive..I thought it was good for the kids to see us be nice to one another. I have no problem with it but I know he does. He doesn't even need to say it. I know how much he regrets what he did just by looking at him.
My life is better now despite the financial stuff and single parent exhaustion. I don't walk on eggshells anymore and I wouldn't want that lifestyle again. It was horrific.
New Guy had his seven year old daughter here today. First time I spent time alone with her. We had a great time. My kids were with XH so I had fun just hanging talking to her. She has had a rough ride, too. She is with her dad fifty percent of the time and her mom fifty percent. They alternate each day.
He is more like Mr. Mom so I do anticipate him getting full custody eventually. To be honest with you, it's what I love about him the most, his loyalty to his daughter and family.
Well, gotta run. I have a date with some chocolate graham crackers and a glass of ice cold milk!!
Quote: Provided I passed my certification exam, I am to teach high school English to seniors. Nothing like throwing me into the wolves!!
Mtn - do you have an idea what KIND of classes of seniors you will be teaching? Levels, student backgrounds, etc.?
I would say, looking at my own kids' experiences in high school, that a few things stand out as important:
- you may not have a choice as to reading material, but if you do - relevance is so important to kids. Although a great classical education is a wonderful thing, and my oldest enjoyed it, most kids cannot understand why they are being forced to read all these irrelevant (in their eyes) difficult to understand dead white guys. So anything you can do to make the reading relevant to their lives is important.
- creative writing gets short shrift in high school English. Seniors are done with their SATs, so maybe you could lay off the essay writing and let them write some fun stuff?
- you've learned to deal with some VERY difficult people (ex, Rat) through DBing, so just DB those kids!!!! Positive reinforcement works better then negative, although negative seems to be popular with high school teachers! Try complimenting the kids and see how they start to work for you!
The woman that I will be teaching with has been at that specific school for 17 years. She sounds like a great teacher according to her bio online. The school has a terrific website which impressed me.
Most of the classes are geared towards the classics, I noticed. I could not BELIEVE that they are still reading them to the extent they are. I thought it would be great to throw in some modern day novels, as well, but that isn't up to me as I will be following the head teachers lesson plans.
I substitute taught for a few years and coached, etc. I have a good feel for high school students and enjoy them very much. I have a niece and a nephew in their late teens and we have a lot of fun together.
Thanks so much for your input. I will keep those pointers in mind when I start in January!
Quote: Most of the classes are geared towards the classics, I noticed. I could not BELIEVE that they are still reading them to the extent they are.
I think my oldest son read The Odyssey 3 times before he graduated high school!
Frankly, my oldest graduated high school with a more complete background in the classic than I had when I graduated college. Most of the things he read in high school I didn't get to until college - and some of it not then!
Now, I personally LOVE classic literature - but both my youngest kids were totally creeped out by Of Mice and Men, and frankly, in 9th grade I don't believe they had the emotional maturity necessary to appreciate it fully. Just because it's a short book doesn't mean it's age-appropriate!!!
And I must say, I don't really get why they never read Jane Austen in school - I mean, if you're going to read classic English lit, why not read someone who's so funny and relevant her books can still be made into teen movies today????
Just remember, when you're in that classroom, sometimes it only takes one teacher who sees the positive in a kid to turn them around. I know you can be that one.
That is exactly why I want to teach. I hope that I can make a difference in the lives of these kids. Plain and simple.
I love the classics too, although Milton and Voltaire far surpass my intellect.
I like more modern litereature. I guess modern compared to those literary works. I love Hemingway, Wordsworth, Thoreau, basically, the stuff that I can actually READ without a thesaurus or old English Dictionary..lol
Thanks for the kudos.
I will let you know what happens next with all this preparation. Hopefully, we can do some creative writing, too. I think I have a little experience in the writing department over the past year or two.
I think I am living a bad Jerry Springer episode..
OW (aka Snaggletoothed Rat) suggested to my kids at dinner that she, my XH, my guy, the kids and I all go to the Caribbean together this winter.
She actually told my kids she thinks it would be great if she and I could hang out at bars together while the guys babysat.
R U KIDDING ME????????????????
Then, to make matters even more bizarre. My XH left me like a ten minute long message today borderline flirting with me and using some lamo excuse to talk on the machine. And he interjects the idea of us all going away. He said he and the Rat could babysit the kdis one night on the vacation and New Guy and I can go out and visa versa.
They are out of their minds!
I didn't even think those two were still together.
Oh, yeah, they got in a wicked fight in front of the kids after the great suggestion from the Rat at dinner. Guess she had one too many.
Geez..
No, I am not pissed. New Guy is heads and tails over XH in every way shape and form and the X knows it.
I thiink it was XH's sick fantasy. I really do. Trying to play the Rat and I off each other on vacation.
Then, I was toying with the idea of actually accepting the opportunity provided X pays for us. New Guy and I can just sit on the beach with our umbrella drinks watching the Rat sniff around for scraps on the beach while XH tries to suck in newly found MLC gut he got drinking with the Rat.
