New Stories and Fond Memories

I'm all wrapped up under my covers right now, trying to get some sleep, but my eyes just won't shut. I've been working pretty hard lately. It's been good, though. Finally I feel like a good teacher. I know more about what I'm doing, I don't have to make many lessons from scratch anymore, and I'm caught up with the little things. It's amazing how being on top of the little things can make me feel so much more prepared. For instance, I no longer have stacks of unfiled lessons and worksheets piled high on my desk (because I have time to put them away!), I am relatively on top of my grading, and (this is incredible actually) I have been able to email students or assign tutorials for students who are having problems with assignments. I know...I should have been doing that for the last two years, but I didn't have time! Anyway, school is going incredibly well.

My students are wonderful. It's only been 3 weeks and I already feel like my classes have bonded. They come in chattering, wanting to talk to each other and to me, and sometimes it takes my classes months to get to that spot. They're interested, they do their homework (actually, this shouldn't be out of the ordinary, but it is...), and they're hilarious!

I already have some fun stories.
--I have rearranged the kids by ideology. It's so fun because the kids really like being able to bond with the people they're near. There are three boys in my 6th period class that just crack me up. They are my three conservatives in that class, and they're very strong conservatives, so they ended up in the back row. Every day, at the beginning of class, they shout out a Conservative chant they made up. I don't remember the words, but basically, the first one will punch his right fist in the air and say something like, "Moral Strength." The second one will punch his fist in the air and yell, "......(I can't remember)" and the third will do the same and shout, "Fiscal Responsibility." Then they all shout, "Conservative Power!" and grunt really loud. It's absolutely hilarious. It's especially hilarious when the liberals scowl at them and start poking fun at them. Ok...so it's sortof encouraging negative communication between the groups, but they all like each other so they all end up just laughing a lot. I think it shows that my class is bonding.

--I now have 3 groupies. I have a tutorial-bug, a student who is perpetually in my tutorial. She asks questions, does homework, borrows books, etc. She's very self-motivated. But one day another of my students came in to tell her something about a club they were starting. I took this as an opportunity to get to know them and asked them about this club they were starting....oh boy...I opened up a can of worms. Over the next hour I was introduced to "Fan Fiction," the topic of the club they are creating. It sounded interesting to me and we ended up talking fiction and characters for quite a long time and they suggested some fan fiction I might be interested in. The next day, another one of my students, the leader of this new club, came in because she had heard the other two had talked to me about it (and because she's obsessed). We talked a long time and they are now making me a list of Harry Potter based fan fiction for me to read and the only way I could actually get out of my room to go get lunch was by walking down to lunch and having Amy come with me until she could go no farther. I felt kinda bad...but I wanted food. Anyway, I think it's funny. I am actually interested in some of the stories, have managed to get 3 groupies who are determined to throw me head-first into fan fiction as soon as they can get their hands on me, and have bonded with a few more kids.

--the last funny story has to do with learning about Egyptian values, which we do through the lens of "The Negative Confession," which the Egyptians would recite as their heart was being weighed in the afterlife. My freshmen are so cute. I mean, seriously, this year they are sickeningly cute. So...oh man, I'm laughing just thinking about this...so, the kids were supposed to read the negative confession out loud to each other. One of my freshman boys raises his hand and asks, "Ms. Burdick, what does 'copulated' mean?" Now, if this was my seniors, I would know they were just asking to be a nuisance. However, this poor kid was looking up at me with these big, innocent eyes. I just told him to look at the context, and he figured it out, and then blushed pretty red. I just about burst out laughing right there...not because he was embarrassed, but because...well, it was just funny. Good ol' Bellevue curriculum web...when I got into our department prep room after that class I burst out laughing...and then I felt bad for the kid so I stopped...

Anyway, school is going well. Now I have been working all day and just want to rest some before I watch a TV show. But I find myself really wishing I was back at college in the fall. I was trying to sleep, but the chill and the smell of leaves and the lovely colors just remind me of wonderful times back at Fox that I miss. I got a little homesick, which was probably why I couldn't sleep. I had this vision of our cozy little home in Weezner, with Nora Jones singing softly in the background; Kathy making coffee in the kitchen; Cassie clacking away at her laptop in the study room, headphones on, chair tipped back and head a-bobbin' to her music. Liz and I are sitting in the living room reading. I'm on the couch and Liz is wrapped up in a blanket in the chair, and the tall windows are reflecting the glow of my red and white lanterns hanging above us and the peaceful scene within our apartment. I can feel the relaxation of just getting to read, even if it is homework, and the comfort of special friends surrounding me in the home we've made for ourselves and our friends. I really miss those days, especially on a day like today, where I can escape out of the cold into a warm, cozy home...but it's just not the same without those people around and with the cares of knowing that I can't just receive knowledge anymore, but have to deliver it. There's so much less responsibility with receiving.

I'm glad Cassie is coming up next weekend. This always happens to me in the fall and then I make a trip down to Fox, but so many have moved away now and others have spread. Amy and Mark, Pat and Kathy, Walker, Cassie and Liz are still in the area; it's just a matter of getting them all in one spot or seeing them one in smaller groups. But everyone is busy now. We all have our own lives and we have good lives. I guess in the fall I'm just a little sad that those days where we all lived together, ate meals together, and practically lived in each others floors and lobbies are gone and I think back with fondness of those good times.

Reflection: There are so many things in my life that I am so thankful for. I've not been the happiest person in the world...but I am so thankful. God has brought me through the first two years of teaching and made me a good teacher. He gives me the strength to work at being a better teacher and blesses me with wonderful students who I already love so much. And I don't think I could ever thank Him enough for the time and the friends he gave me at Fox. There's just something special about being a part of the family of God and I truly feel like I was a part of a family back at Fox. The family changed and merged and got larger, but I love those people, and I miss them.

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