Are we doing anything today?

I am amazed at the frequency with which I am asked this question: "Are we doing anything today?" My reply to my students is usually "Nope. Not today. Today we are just going to sit here." At this point in the year, most of my students have figured out that I tend to be rather sarcastice, although there is the occasional kid that in delighted anticipation of doing nothing grins and asks "really." At which point I shoot them down and say, "Of course not. How could we possibly just sit here, when we need to learn the Law of Sines today?" Why do my students ask me silly questions? And more importantly, why do they hope they will come to school and just sit here and stare off into space? I just don't get it...but I will share with you some of my most commonly asked questions, and some of my choice responses.

10. I was absent last time, did we do anything? Response: No, since you weren't here, we just sat here and did nothing. I know, I shouldn't be so sarcastic.

9. Are you going to grade this? Response: Yes. Ummmm...is that really a question?

8. Is this going to be on the test? (Now this is a very loaded question...because if you say no, everyone will stop paying attention and will not bother even trying to learn the information...) The answer to this question is always "Probably."

7. Can we just do the odd problems? Seriously, today I gave my students a handout with 10 little practice problems on it. After doing two problems, they all started complaining and asking if they could just do the odd problems because there were just too many. Sheesh. Response: Please tell me that you are really not that lazy?

6. When are we ever going to use this? Response: Next week on your test.

5. When are we ever going to use this besides next week on our test? Response: You're not going to use this...why do you have to be able to use it in order for it to be valuable?

4. Can we go outside today? Response: No. (Actually, I usually let each class go outside once...on a nice hot and humid day so that it is miserable and they never ask me again.)

3. I didn't have time to study last night, so can I take that after school today? Response: No. Did people ask this kind of ridiculous question when I was in high school? I certainly don't remember having the gumption to admit to not preparing for a quiz and thinking my teacher would let me come take it after school that day.

2. Is there any extra credit? Response: No, but if you started working on what we're doing right now you could get credit. If you got a little more credit, you wouldn't need so much extra credit.

1. Do we have to learn today? Response: Yes. (But in my head I'm often thinking, "you don't bother learning anyway regardless of what I'm doing...so why are you asking?")


Oh the joys of teaching...

New Life Plan #274

I am amazed that some people stay in the same profession--sometimes even the same job--for decades on end. My Dad has been at BYU for 31 years now. THIRTY-ONE YEARS! That is a wicked long time. My Mom has been teaching at Timpview for 16 years. So far, I've been able to stick with a job for two years before I start getting ancy. And during those two years at any given job, it seems as though I spend a significant amount of time thinking about what else I could possibly be doing. Over the past two years alone I feel like I've had a new life plan every few months...Here's a few:

11. Be a full-time PhD student in History (career goal: University Professor)
10. Get a random job on capital hill (career goal: Try something that isn't teaching)
9. Be a High School Teacher (career goal: pay the bills and have the summers off)
8. Be a part-time MA student in History while teaching Math (career goal: just get a Master's so I can earn more as a teacher)
7. Be a High School Teacher (career goal: throw my heart and soul into teaching and inspire the youth of today to become the leaders of tomorrow)
6. Be a full-time MA student in Educational Policy (career goal: tell the people in Washington how silly all their Educational Policy is and improve our nation's schools...and go to Harvard)
5. Be a full-time MA student in Marriage Family Therapy (career goal: help others improve their emotional well-being and share some of my wisdom with them)
4. Teach myself Spanish and move to Spain for the summer (career goal: ummmm...Spain is just cool, and I need to go there and see for myself)
3. Be a full-time MA student in Instructional Design (career goal: improve teaching while giving myself options for something other than classroom teaching)
2. Be a part-time MA student in Instructional Design while teaching math (career goal: same as above, without intense amounts of debt)

And my most recent and most exciting new life plan (one that I'm actually pursuing):

1. Be an instructional design consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton. (career goal: earn lots more money and have them pay for my Master's degree in Instructional Design)

Yes, I am just beginning the interview process with Booz Allen, and if all goes well, I will have a new career in a few months! It will be hard for me to give up summer vacation, but I'm ready to try something that isn't teaching. Maybe then, I will stop thinking up new life plans all the time (and I haven't exaggerated a single one of these. I have honestly had each one of those plans at some point over the last 2 years). And if I hate it, there are always new new life plans to think up.

Am I the only person constantly re-thinking the direction of their life? What interesting possibilities have you come up with?

I'm a sponge...

I spent last Saturday rock climbing. Yes. Rock climbing. The kind of rock climbing where you put on a harness and then find a way to scale the face of a cliff. Those who know me well are probably wondering why on earth I would be involved in such an adventurous activity. Well, the truth is, left to my own devices, I probably wouldn't be that adventurous--most likely, I'd be a lump on my couch. Not that I aspire to being a lump, but without some impetus it just usually turns out that way. Fortunately for me, throughout my life I have had friends who are autonomously active, and they usually need someone like me who is looking for a motivation to get off the couch.

My current motivating force: Justin. Justin is to a rock face as I am is to my couch. I'm pretty sure that if he didn't feel some obligation to work and save for the future, he would quit his job, live in a tent and spend his life climbing large rocks. But this blog isn't about Justin. It's about me. It's about the fact that I am a sponge. I think that I have no natural hobbies, but I'm really good at absorbing the hobbies of those I spend a lot of time with. Before I go on, I want to specify that I don't absorb these hobbies with the purpose of impressing anyone. I just wouldn't get involved in certain things if I hadn't happened to meet someone who did them first.

So here are my top ten activities that I have "absorbed" from someone else:

10. Jumping in Rivers. I guess I was wrong in saying that I never absorbed these things to impress someone. I hated jumping in rivers, but I dated a guy that thought it was the cat's meow to jump in a river with your clothes on, so I felt really pressured to do it with him. Don't get me wrong, once per summer if you are in the right mood and happen to fall in, sure. Doing it on a regular basis? I don't think so. My only excuse on this one is that I was brainwashed and crazy at the time.

9. Guitar. Actually, I always wanted to play the guitar. Hmmm...now that I think of it, this one really was other-induced (probably because I can do it on my couch).

8. Fly Fishing. I thank Billy for this one. Actually, in a year of dating, he only took me fishing twice, but I really enjoyed it both times.

7. Tennis. I started playing tennis two summers ago mostly because there were so many people in my ward who would go play. I love it! I even bought myself a sweet tennis outfit. I'm not going to lie, I look pretty cute in it. And I actually find that I play way better when I'm wearing it.

6. Rock Climbing. This seemed like an intimidating sport until I went with someone who knew what he was doing. It's actually really fun--and it's way better than weight lifting.

5. Golf. Technically I'm still waiting for someone to get me into this one. Once I was practicing chipping golf balls into an umbrella, and I got way more in than anyone else--including the guy who owned the golf clubs--so I've always thought I am probably a prodigy waiting to happen.

4. The Hills. I never knew there was such a fantastic show until Roz moved in. I think it began one Saturday night when we sat there and watched a Laguna Beach marathon. We may or may not have watched 6 episodes in a row.

3. Dance Shows. I don't like dancing. I'm not good at dancing. But for some reason last summer, I watched every single episode of So You Think You Can Dance. I voted for Benji 50 times. I blame this entirely on Mike Fronce. And it didn't stop there. We started watching all kinds of random dance movies. My favorites: Step Up, You Got Served, Honey.

2. Hackey Sac. Okay, so in this case, I did actually pick this up entirely to try to impress someone. Jeff. I literally bought a hackey sac and practiced it in my apartment until I was at least good enough to join in with Jeff and his friends in the Elms parking lot. And even though I started hacking for Jeff, I continue hacking for myself. (Sidenote: Last summer I mentioned to a guy that I enjoyed hacky sac, and he left me one on the windshield of my car. I call it "the love sac".)

1. Hackey Sac. This one is my favorite random thing I picked up from someone else, so it counts for two.

Alrighty, have you ever learned some random skill or gotten involved in some activity because of someone else? I'm sure I'm not the only sponge out there...so please share!

I'm so back!!!

Well, folks, it's been a long time, but I've finally found a way to get around the sill blocks at school--which means that my blogging days are not over after all. You should expect something new and exciting in the near future!!!

Pain in the b*tt...

So...I have once again taken up exercise. I gave it up in 1996. It was a conscious choice. I quit the soccer team and decided that I didn't need to exercise ever again. It just seemed like a silly waste of time to me. Not only did I give up exercise, I think I may be one of the only people to ever actually actively campaign against it.

Let me explain my reasoning for such seemingly illogical campaigning (there happens to be a lot of scientific research to support exercise). When I spoke out against exercising, I wasn't saying we should all be lumps on the couch. Physical activity, in my young mind, was perfectly acceptable. Things like frisbee or football or soccer are virtuous and lovely and should be sought after. What I personally found to be completely silly was exercise isolated from any type of sporting event or game. Running isn't fun. If you think it is, you are lying to yourself. It hurts. It makes your lungs burn and your legs tired. You get sweaty and smelly, and if you're not careful your toe nails will turn black and fall off. Soccer, on the other hand, is fun...and if you have to do some running as part of the victory process, so be it. But just running? Such a thought makes reason stare.

So, flash forward from 1996 about 5 years. At the end of my mission, I started setting goals. Missionaries do crazy things like. I decided that maybe it was time for me to be "fit" again. Something about serving the Lord heart might mind and strength. When I got home I joined a gym, and I have actually been a member pretty much ever since that time. It turns out that all those scientists are right. Exercise does make you feel better. As my HEPE teacher at BYU always hoped for me, I have learned to "reap the benefits" of exercise.

Why on earth am I pontificating on such a random topic? You all know me and probably realize that when I say that I have taken up exercise, I mean that I work out once a week--twice a week if I'm lucky. I am certainly no rambo barbie. After a 2 month spell with no gym membership (I thought that I could save money and do step aerobics alone in my bedroom. That was a joke...), I went back to Gold's yesterday and gave them a ridiculous sum of money so that I can run and not go anywhere, and then lift some heavy things, all while enjoying the latest music videos. As part of getting the membership, I also had a workout with a personal trainer. I don't know what this says about me, but she had me do a lot of exercises that worked me glutes...and today my bum is very sore. That is all.

Thoughts on exercise? Please share!!

Reasons why my blog has been so ignored...

I started this blog with such good intentions. I intended to update it every week. I intended to never run out of witty topics about which to write. I intended to build up my fan base with my consistency. Obviously, that didn't happen. I'm not saying it's never going to happen. It just hasn't exactly worked out the way I first intended. As I have learned from my students, there really is an excuse for everything. So I would like to share with you, my excuses for why there have been so few updates in the past few months.

10. Summer Vacation
I believe I have mentioned before that the best part of my job is that I get the summer off. That means I am allowed to pretty much take the month off of all my responsibilities. I don't have to work, write blogs, shower...okay, I still shower during the summer (especially after a few good hours baking in the sun).

9. Multivariable Calculus
My summer vacation was already disrupted by the fact that I had to take 8 credits of math. Who does that? And who can write witty blog entries when one's mind is full of vectors and permutations? Those words by themselves just sucked at least 3 creative sentences out of my head.

8. Sleep
When given the choice of writing my blog or going to bed, my bed always wins. In fact, there are very few things that I would actually choose above sleep. Hmmm...maybe that's why I'm still not married...and it gives me serious concerns about motherhood.

7. Exercise
Yes, I did give up exercise in 1996. I thought that I would never do it again. I was an outspoken crusader against the ever-popular trend. However, it turns out that you really do have more energy if you work out consistently (and by consistently I mean once every 10 days). The problem is that if I squeeze in a workout, that squeezes out something else...and I've already mentioned that something else is not sleep.

6. Book Clubs
I currently belong to several book clubs. They are aLL wonderfuL, aLthough I cLearLy have a favorite. Some of my other book clubs actually expect me to read the book. I know. High maintenance. Actually, I quite enjoy it, but it does take away time from other things I could be pursuing.

5. Dating
Actually, this is taking up no time at all, but I'm sure if I didn't have to even think about it, I'd have more time for my blog.

4. TV
Did you know that the average American watches an average of 4.5 hours of TV everyday. I kind of hate to admit this, but I've recently been getting frighteningly close to that average. You never plan to sit down and watch hours of TV. You turn the TV on while eating dinner, and then you are so exhausted, you decide just to veg for a while...and all of a sudden it's bed time (see #8)...One more day without updating the blog.

3. Pure exhaustion
I've decided that for teachers, September is basically like living through a month-long Monday morning. I've been so overwhelmed by getting into the groove of a new school year, that I come home and crash on the couch and don't have the energy to move again for hours. (See #4). It doesn't help that I'm teaching 3 different subjects, am in charge of the Geometry curriculum team and am helping with NHS. I know. We're all busy, but if you can't gripe on your own blog...

2. Internet Filters
Fairfax County Public Schools decided that blogspot was inappropriate material for young minds, and I think it's great to protect our students. However, it has made it much more difficult for me to keep up my fantastic blog.

1. Everything Else
Besides the above-mentioned, in the last month I've also been to North Carolina and Boston (entries to follow). I was in a car accident on the way to Boston, and my car is still in NJ. My cousins came to town. I helped with my nephews when my sister-in-law went to the hospital and helped again when the new baby went back to the hospital. I've also done various home decor projects including finally hanging my curtains...so you can see there's clearly not been time for blogging. But I have reset my goals, and will hopefully be more consistent in the future.

Now you know what deep and weighty matters are occupying my time. What keeps you from getting to the stuff you plan on getting to? I love comments!!!

Coming soon...

To my adoring fans: I must apologize emphatically for so long ignoring my blog. I promise an update is coming very soon. Just to whet your appetites, I wanted to let you all know that I am currently formulating a three-part entry in my mind. I should probably use my brain-power to write the actual entries rather than this teaser...but it's good to make people wait sometimes. I guess you could say that I'm playing hard to get, but don't worry, not too hard to get...