High School Again

Today I was a sub at Chowchilla again. It was MUCH better. I was in a junior English class and the teacher was having them watch The Great Gatsby. They had to take notes on Jay Gatsby so that they could write a paper describing why he was the anti-hero. That means they had to be quiet! Great! The classes were pretty good, a little noisy during some parts of the movie, but overall they were well behaved. Some of them were having trouble keeping all the characters straight, so we had to stop the movie the last 10 minutes of class to discuss what was going on. I felt like a real teacher. I was having a good time. Then the last period of the day was the yearbook class. So they just got to work on the proofs and I got to sit there for the last hour. What made it even better was that it was an early release day so I got to come home at 2. Overall it was a great day.

First day of High School...

So today was my first day as a sub. I was up at Chowchilla High School and I was put in a remedial freshman English class. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! My first two classes were in two hour blocks. So, my first class was absolutely crazy because they love to pick on one of the kids who has a disability, which caused him to yell and threaten to hit them and blah, blah, blah. So, every 5 minutes I had to say, "Stop looking at him!" "You, don't talk to them and they will leave you alone." "Sit down and do your work!" It was like watching preschoolers! Wait, I take that back, I think the preschoolers are better behaved. So after two hours of that, it was break time. Then my next class came in and they were worse than the last! For two hours of this class I had to say, "Sit down!" "Stop throwing things." "That is not appropriate conversation." and on and on it goes. I even had to give out a detention! Finally after that class it was lunch time. I ate lunch and then my last class of the day was Junior/Senior remedial English. They were pretty good. Most of them just bought their prom tickets and the caps and gowns for the seniors had come in. They were really excited, so I gave them their assignment, but I pretty much just let them talk because they weren't being bad, and, I know how excited they are. This class only lasted for an hour and the last period of the day was a prep period for the teacher I was subbing for, so I got to leave early.

Overall, I learned a lot about classroom management and I remembered why I don't want to teach high school! But, the staff was very supportive and helpful so I am excited to go back. I will be there again next Monday and Wednesday, I guess we'll see what happens then!

Happy Easter?

I realize I'm about to sound like I'm five years old, but I don't care. My family, especially my mom has always been about tradition. Birthdays, Christmas and Easter have always been the same. Birthdays always have the same streamers and birthday sign hung up, Christmas has always started with a note outside mine and Cameron's doors saying something about not going out to the family room until mom and dad said so. Easter was actually much of the same, we had to wait to see what the Easter Bunny brought us. Naturally, as we got older, the presents changed and we don't wake up as early now, but the point is, holidays are still fun even though I'm 22 and Cam's 18. That is until this weekend. Ok, I know that eventually we all grow up and this stuff wasn't going to go on forever, but, I needed it this year. I needed things to be normal. It would be ok if it changed next year, Cam will be in college, living in the dorms and I'll probably be living in an apartment somewhere, depending on where I get a job. Things have to change, but I don't understand why I couldn't have that for one more year. It's not just the fact that there was no note on the door this morning, I had to dye the eggs by myself last night, by 9:00 my dad was asleep on the couch, Cam was asleep because he didn't feel well and my mom was asleep, even my dog was sleeping. So, I dyed the eggs and then watched tv. This morning I woke up, our Easter baskets were out with the candy and a couple dvds, but there was no note telling us to stay out of the family room. So I walked out and my dad was on the computer playing online poker, his new hobby. Mom was in the kitchen reading the paper. I walked in, and she said, "good morning." Not, "Happy Easter" or "Why are you out here?" nada. Ok, I know this sounds stupid and not worth getting upset over, but I am. I just needed things to be normal for one more year. In my family, holidays are always important, it's not necessarily the presents anymore, but the tradition and the game of it all. Ok, I sound so selfish and stupid.

It's not just Easter being different, something isn't right here and no one will tell me what it is. Mom has just been pouting and apparently she has some sort of health problem, but she won't tell anyone what it is. She took me shopping yesterday afternoon and said she was in a bad mood, but wouldn't elaborate on it. When I tried to ask dad later, he just said he didn't know, but she'd been in a bad mood for a while and whenever he brings it up she just gets mad. I don't really know what to do. I'm just really sad that things have changed this much when I just needed something to be normal.

The Pictures!

This is the house where we stayed.

These girls are the best! (L to R Erin, Me, Naomi)

Happy St. Patty's Day!

View of Morro Rock from the balcony.

Erin and I on the balcony

On the beach

We also put together a lot of puzzles. The last one had one piece missing! So frustrating! But overall we had a great time. We watched the first two seasons of the tv show Supernatural. It was not the best show, but the guys are pretty nice to look at. Hahaha. Anyway, it was too cold most days to spend a lot of time on the beach, but we got plenty of sun and we had a great time!

Insert Title Here....

I just got back from a great vacation! I just spent 4 days in Cayucos at one of my sorority sister's beach house. We had a total blast! We ate so much food, I don't think I'm going to eat for a month! Ok, maybe sooner. But, this was a vacation I desperately needed, this semester is so stressful. I just bought my cap and gown for graduation and I received my letter stating that if I pass all my classes this semester I can graduate in May. Yeah, that's a big IF. I have a "diversity" class that is threatening my graduation. Mainly because I want to tell my teacher to shove it up her....well you can fill in the blank. First of all, she is a feminist Mormon, just let that marinate for a couple seconds. Next, she is blond hair, blue eyed, WHITE, however she says that white people are bad. The woman is giving me a nervous break down, because anytime I ask her to explain a statement she has made, she says that I am only asking because I can't get beyond my "white privilege." What is that?! Because I'm white, I must be privileged. News to me! I went to her office hours to ask about a grade I got on my journal that I had to write when I read the required articles. I asked her why I got such a poor grade on it. She said that it was because I acted as "judge" of the articles. Well, she didn't want a summary of the article, so she must have wanted a commentary. No, she wants me to validate the author, in other words, write why the author is right whether I agree or not. Whatever. I just need a C. Deep breaths....

Moving on, I'm not exactly excited about graduating. It's not that I don't want to, I've waited a very long time for this, but I'm just not excited. When I bought my cap and gown everyone around me said, "That's so cool! Are you excited?" I just smiled and nodded, but the truth is, I'm not excited at all, not even a little bit. Maybe it will hit me later.

On the up side of things, I am officially starting to sub next week. I have three days lined up already at Chowchilla High School. I know, pretty far, but the pay is really good and I have a relatively fuel efficient car. The scary part is that it is at a high school. Those kids, (wow, can I call them kids?! I'm not that much older than them) are going to eat me alive. Hopefully it works out. I'm sure it will, I'm just excited to have a job!

Well, I don't want to depress my readers too much so I won't write my entire rant on here, but let's just say, thank goodness I have Darren and my close friends, especially friends with beach houses. Hehehe....

(Pictures of beach adventure to come)