Flo'Rida and Kid at Heart

So today, Flo' Rida came to our school. This pic doesn't really do it justice but you get the point. Our school won the Most Spirited School in the bay and we got to have the "apple bottom jeans/boots with the fur" singer go on the stage. It was just a big buzz all day long and us teachers had to lie and try to keep it under raps for security reasons. Too bad the radio announced it on the radio this morning so the surprise was pretty much done. Oh well, it was a fun rally and a good time to see all the students get jazzed up about it. He sang four songs... all of which I know(he sings that 'elevator' song with timberland- who knew?). We even have another rally tomorrow. WTF...

In other news, we had our 1st Lip Sync practice- it's going to be cute and I'm really excited about it. 31 teachers have signed up so it'll involve a lot of folks- so the students will be stoked just like last year. It's always a good time for us teachers as well because its a great bonding experience and just fun to hang out and do something together in the spirit of just having a good time.

Also, I found out that I actually WON "Kid at Heart" of all the teachers. So now, me and my co-worker get to a take a picture for the yearbook and get to dress up like kids. FUN times. I also apparently tied for "Most approachable/easy to talk to" but they wanted to share the love around-- so I felt pretty good about myself that I actually won several 'awards' with my peers and students- yea, me!!! hehe...

Ok, back to my Cosby episodes... hopefully, everyone had a good hump day...

Living a Life of Abnormality...

Apologies for the late post. I feel like this is my life- apologizing to my blog readers. All I gotta say is- my laptop sucks. I'm about ready to chuck it out the door but since I've invested a lot of money in it, I feel like I am invested in saving it. I just got it fixed on Thursday and last night, it crashed on me again. Went to the apple store and yet again, its in the shop. I had to bubble in grades at the apple store- thats how bad this situation has become. All good, I'm now used to taking down and putting up my desktop everyday...it just sucks. Just imagine bringing home a desktop, setting it up, then taking it down and putting it together again at school, then taking it down at work- and repeating- yea...my abnormal life.

Sunday night was a good night for all my Fresno folks. A lot of us showed up to a family party and it was just fun to catch up and get clued in to everyone's lives. Some family friend's I hadn't seen in forever- but my standard group was there, so it was good to see them and just catch up about new and old things. I left at 9:30ishpm and got home to the bay at like 12:30ish- so the next day, I was EXAUSTED and it was just hard to get through the day. All good...all in the name of fun. My apartment now needs a good cleaning since I haven't even unpacked yet... its just a layer of clothes that I need to put away. Boo...

Another abnormal thing in my life is that I decided to buy some bree with crackers. I never splurge on food really but I wanted to go out of my box and bought some. It was soo good. I recommend it to all. I think treating yourself once in a while is a good thing and this is really simple. I'm going to try to do it more often...I know, kinda random but good stuff to talk about.

Ok, back to my Cosby episodes compliments of my brother. He gave me season 2 and season 3 for my bday gift so now I've been watching them non-stop. Good times. If any one loves Cosby show, it's me. I think my brother has found a gold mine of gifts for me for bdays/xmas's to come. Just like I give him Jets gear for life.

Ok, hope everyone had a good weekend and a good Tuesday. Tomorrow, Flo Rida is coming to school- should be interesting(we'll all be singing "apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur"!! haha :) )

Bollywood...

Today was my day off and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I got to just sit in bed and catch up on my TV shows- I literally did NOTHING. Even my mom got me lunch and gave it to me in bed and it really looked like I just had room service delivered(i love my mom!). Anyways, it was just awesome to just chill and get away from it all. It POURED here in Fresno and I thought Gubbar(the dog) needed to come in- but he was aok in the garage and seemed to like his blankey out there. Oh well, I tried. 

A big event is coming up at my school- the annual lip sync. I really didn't say anything for a good week now because I didn't want to blow it, but I figured that none of my kids read this, and since today, this was the only thing that I have to post, I would write about it. Like a previous post, the theme is 'sampled songs'. For example, 'under pressure'-vanilla ice(ice/ice baby)-- men in black(the older version of that)--> sting/puff daddy- you get the picture. A lot of the staff wanted men in black(bleh!) and I was like, whatever. THEN, the dance teacher(who choreographs our stuff) wanted to do an Indian/Bollywood theme- aka the JZ/Punjabi MC song/Knightrider(beware of the boys) and then an Indian song(mundea tu bachai)... so yea, we're doing it!!! Totally NOT my idea, but I was all for it! 

I, of course, offered to outfit the whole production, so today, my mom/I went through ohh, 30 suits and got them all packed up and ready to go for all the teachers. It wasn't too difficult since we have so many- it was just a long process to get them packed up/ready to go. Now, I just have to see how they fit/etc. We have 3 guys doing it- one guy is indian(so he's easy), the other guys I have covered. So, I've now become wardrobe girl...which is my way of contributing. I'm just going to do the dance moves and keep quiet about how its done/etc. I'm just stoked to be doing this theme and showing all the students something different. 

I'm going to work on even getting one of my guy friends to come in and guest star in it too... how cool would it be to have a dhol/drum come in- WTF!?!? I have a party on Sunday so I'm going to ask around...

Ok, I hope everyone had a good Friday...full with Bollywood dreams! :)

Kid At Heart...

I'm finally home in Fresno...good 'ol Fresno. It's just awesome being home in my canopy bed(my dream bed) and just having ALL the creature comforts of home. I was of course greeted by mister Gubbar(my dog) and in the midst of me getting excited about seeing him/him getting excited to see me- I lost my phone. I had it in my hand and then it got taken out of my hand... now, I can't find it. Having it on silent isn't helping me either...hopefully, sunlight will find it. 

Today, my life is restored- my laptop is back in my pretty little hands and life is good again. I've never missed anything so much in awhile- i know- really sad- but for a teacher, not having a computer/own workspace SUCKS. So even though I have to deal with making this computer 'mine' again(hard drive wiped out means basically 'new' computer), it's just nice I don't have to deal with it again anytime soon. Apple even got me a new keyboard and it's just a lot nicer...whoo hoo. 

So one of the cool things that has happened at school is that we teachers got teacher superlatives. What the hell are those you ask... remember when you got your yearbook and they had 'most likely to succeed', 'best smile', 'best athlete', etc?? The yearbook staff thought it would be fun to do one with teachers--> so apparently, after asking my students all the answers(just cause it was fun to see their reaction)... one of the ones that they thought I was a 'winner' for was 'kid at heart'. REALLY?? I guess in some ways- I see it. I'm young- I relate to the students a lot- and I go off on things that are fun. One of my co-workers voted me for 'most spirited'(fun) and then another one for 'most humorous'(wtf). Thank God I didn't get voted for 'most likely to be mistaken for a student'- there are other teachers that look a lot younger than I do so I'm glad that I didn't get voted for that, otherwise I would have to change my wardrobe. 

Another interesting one is 'teacher couple that is secretly dating'. Now, I have a guy friend that is on staff that I hang out with a lot off-campus. On campus, we're in different buildings and hardly see each other. But, because we do a lot of things together on the weekends, we run into students everywhere and just going to school events(basketball/football games, plays, shows, etc)- they assume that we're secretly dating. Yea...no. If anyone knows me, I need a good close guy friend in my life and he's an awesome one that I have to bounce teacher things off of/life.We tease each other a lot about being 'off-campus b/f and g/f' but thats just a joke between us.  Another 'couple' is mostly seen on campus- so I think they'll win(hopefully) even though one of them has a significant other. I just don't want to be put in the yearbook...it's on the unprofessional side and even though it's a joke- yea, not the best one to be voted for. We'll see... 

Ok, I'm going to try to fix my computer a little bit more(putting favorites/curriculum/etc)... hope everyone had a good Thursday! :) 

Winning and Losing...

Everyone loves to win- no one likes to lose. It's about how competitive you are and how much you care to win. I try not to be competitive but when I find that winning is close at hand(aka I'm near 1st place), I want to win and will feign that I do. I'll make it out to seem that I don't want to, but in the heart of hearts, I do.

Like I said yesterday, I felt like a winner...I educated my students and felt really good about it. Today, in 2nd period, covalent bonding stumped me and then I felt like a total loser because I couldn't explain it right. My students were really nice about me not knowing how to explain it- but I felt like an idiot/loser. Of course, I retaught myself how to do by the time I had to teach it again, but for that brief 10-15 minutes, I felt like, whoa, maybe I don't know what I'm doing and I'm a big phat loser teacher. Whenever I feel that way, I always try to remember it because I know that students feel it all the time when they don't understand a concept. It's hard for me to do on various occasions, but I try my best.

In sports, since I played tennis(like every Indian)...I didn't make a big deal out of winning or losing because I knew that there were people wayyy better than me and I was never going to reach their level- so I kinda gave up. Bowling- yes, a real sport- I won a competition when I was in middle school and thought I was hot stuff. I even beat my then rival(now best friend) and was damn proud of myself. Boys get really competitive sometimes. I've seen guys go at it and raz each other just to get a rise out of each other. Bets take place, dares take place, the whole nine yards. Girls, not so much. Some do- but not often. So maybe I fit the girl stereotype- not being too competitive but liking to win when its attainable.

In other 'winner' news, my high school just won a local radio station's contest of having the most spirited school. We all had to log into the site/sign up- and get the most entries in- which we did apparently. So now, Flo Rida(who sings the 'apple bottom jeans song' and 'hands in the air song') is coming to the school- whoo hoo. More exciting for the kids but more an honor all the way along. Here's the link of our congrats...

Anyways, I'm off to Fresburg tomorrow afternoon...whoo hoo. Thanks for still tuning in and reading- the latest blog posts have really been boring. I apologize- hopefully, I'll have a life soon enough! Hope everyone had a good winner Wednesday!

Teacher Moments...

A lot of people often ask me why I teach. There are a lot of reasons- but mostly, and for most teachers, its for the students. We absolutely love being around them and learning from them as much as you teach them. Plus, I think my personality makes it easy for me to do it. I don't really think about it now that much and just enjoy things as they progress.

Today, was one of the many days where I felt like a succesful teacher. My advanced kids were doing a computer lab on the endocrine system- all the hormone issues(insulin-diabetes; somatotropin-dwarfism/gigantism; pancreas-pancreatic cancer, etc) that come about and seeing students actually interested in what can happen. Then, the main part was my Integrated students who I thought wouldn't get an exercise and did awesome. Yes, it's partly due to my teaching--> but its more exciting to see all your students understand something that you thought might be difficult for them. I even had some spanish students that didn't know a lot of English even get it(after some talking in Spanish)... these type of moments make me love my job.

So yea, I don't make a lot- but I still get to travel and do what I want to do for the most part. Yes, I skimp out on things but a lot of people don't LOVE their job. I love my job...and that to me is the most important thing. I'll be going on to more lucrative things in the near future but definitely going to still be in education.

In other news-- my computer still is out and life is abnormal. I'm getting over it slowly because I've adapted...but it still sucks. I'm also contemplating going on Facebook. I know, EVERYONE is on there and it's a great way to keep in contact with everyone. I just don't want students to see it/security/etc--> and multiple people have told me that I can do it and still be aok. We'll see...

Fresno in two days...what the... can't wait to see some family and be back at the compound. Some of my close family friends will be in town with me for a bday party so it should be a good time. Good also to see some 2nd moms and dads. Oh, and of course, my dog, Gubbar Singh.

Ok, me out...hope everyone had a good Tuesday!

Technology Issues

Apologies for not being here this entire weekend and Friday. My laptop died on me on Friday at 10:30am and I thought it was going to be an easy fix and then the Apple Genius basically said I had a corrupt hard drive. I spent much of this weekend taking care of getting my curriculum, pics, etc off my hard drive before the apple guys erase everything and replace my hard drive. Good times. First it was my car, then my phone, then my internet, now this. WTF... It was REALLY frustrating not having it this weekend since I wanted to do work and get caught up on things but I guess someone else had plans and made me relax a little bit more. Even the construction guys in my apartment complex decided to put plaster this weekend, so I couldn't even chill at my apartment for a good 5 hours.

The three things that were fun were: basketball game on Friday night(we won the championship for our league), limo scavenger hunt(limo ride all over town- finding clues- rock and roll theme-we were the Ramones) and the superbowl(an awesome game- comparable to last years game). So, I did have somewhat a decent weekend in all- but my hard drive issue was forefront on my mind.

I also got to watch an awesome movie- Vicky Christina Barcelona. OMG- what a great movie... I wasn't expecting much but a) it was set in Barcelona(which I just visited), b) they spoke a lot of spanish in it(which I love-its subtitled for those few parts), and c) the way it's narrated and the storyline are great. It makes me want to go to Spain again and get lost in the world of whatever is clever. A dream- I know.

Anyways, I have internet access at school- therefore, I'm now a happy camper. After coming in today at 6am to get some work done, I'm just happy to now be aok with things. I'm taking this computer home so I can do more work(and it's a desktop- so that means- hard drive, monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc)...yes, I'm that desperate to have normalcy in my life.

Ok, thats it from me. I might post later if something else comes to mind. Again, apologies for not posting- trust me, I would have if I could(my phone wouldn't let me- link wasn't nice to me)....hope everyone had a good superbowl weekend!