Spring Break: defined by most college students as the time of year to escape the dismal weather of Ohio to frolic among the STD infested beaches of Mexico/Florida/some place warm with a beach and alcohol. For those that partake in this binge drinking fiesta many good times and many bad times can occur or at least come up a month later when a random person texts you with an embarrassing video (not talking from experience there, but some buddies of mine will never visit some parts of Florida again)
Yes, I have been out of college for two or so years now, but as an educator I do still get the lovely vacation time known as Spring Break. Spring Break '09!!!!!!! Now I do not pack up a car of frat guys and speed down to the beaches at the age of 25. For one, married and the Wife might get a little angry. Two, newborn sitting at home dependent upon on said Wife and I am the helping hand around the house to keep the chaos down to a minimum. Third, my body is probably not capable of handling the large amounts of all day drinking. Now I am not saying, that SB activities are wrong or people should not enjoy themselves. It is just too much for my current lifestyle. For others this is no problem. "Exhibit A" - I work with one gentleman at my serving job that is bent on going on SB every year. Even after seven years after he dropped out of college and about to turn 31, he and his buddies grease each other up in tanning oil and pack up a car to hit up some crazy beach in search of girls about ten years younger than themselves. Every year he returns with stories of the "almost" arrests and how much he drank himself stupid. One year they accidentally left someone behind that was in jail over night (Both parties upset, the vacationers had to return to get him a week later when he was released... of course partying some more when they got back down there) Once again, my body would shut down at some point with the amount of mind altering substances this person consumes on his Spring Breaks.
Spring Break as a teacher. SB has become a time to spend time to do as little teacher stuff as possible and to dodge as many students in public as you can. I have little trouble doing that now with the inner city job, but for the grad student days and substituting, I could not walk in a mall or grocery store near my house without hearing, "MR. M, MR. M, MR. M" It almost became a running joke with the Wife whether or not a student would recognize me.
This is my point. Life as a teacher = Life in the community. You are always going to run into someone you have either had in class or taught at some point in your career. Spring Break is that time away from school to make sure teachers like myself do not go insane teaching day in and day out. Yes, I have accepted the fact if I end up taking a vacation to some beach in the near future I may run into a student, and if possible I hope to not be intoxicated from the many margaritas I may consume with my Wife at said beach. Plain and simple you have to watch yourself. My actions could hurt my career and/or embarrass my family. Or, in the case of one teacher I met today that was on SB like myself, you could embarrass the students. (He was at a local strip club last night for his younger brother's b-day and just happen to run into a student... as she was taking the stage)
Words of Wisdom: Ladies and Gentleman... if you become an educator, avoid the strip clubs. Not only could you run into parents, you could run in to students and get to know them on a level you do not.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
This is for my wife... Tabulous
Yes, Wife, I am writing an entry into my blog. You ask me every once and a while, "Why do you have a blog if you never post anything? It doesn't make sense. Are you using it to e-stalk me?" Well now it make sense for me to have a blog because I have posted something. So I fart in your general direction. By the way I am the "Chuck Norris" of burping and I like to play Jenga with our dishes on the drying rack (It adds danger to my life b/c you know you would kill me if I broke a dish that would make our dinnerware incomplete sets).
For those that will probably never read this other than my Wife. I am a teacher at an urban charter school that specializes in kids with behavior issues (they like to break stuff) and ADHD. Makes my every work day an interesting one. Each day is defferent depending on whether the kids take their meds. Tell you what I love being told by a 5th grader to "suck it" on a daily basis. I sometimes feel like Alex Trebek on Celebrity Jeopardy talking to Sean Connery except Sean Connery is a inner-city under privileged kid that has no social skills.
Well, I have posted a blog. My first one is complete and I am sure I will start posting more in the near future. That is something I miss about college, writing down thoughts on to paper. I may not be the best at composing syntax or speaking out loud (Read Tabulous posts about my brain's inability to link up correctly with my mouth), but like my Wife has expressed before, I miss the challenge of learning new things and just being in a classroom. It seems now that I am in such a routine teaching these kids stuff I already know. Yes, sometimes I need a refresher on subjects from time to time. When was the last time you had to teach a class of sixth graders about the development of Japan's culture during the Middle Ages. The problem is I got in to education to teach in a high school setting, but I am stuck in an elementary/middle school position because of the limited opportunities here in Dayton. Teaching high school brought different challenges to my job and more interaction with a little more developed youth. Some of it has to do with where I am teaching. When most of the kids can not read at their grade level or tell you what 2+2 is there is a intellectual void. Don't take it the wrong way, these kids need all the help they can get and I try on a day to day basis bridge that educational divide. One problem I find myself having is to see students that have no interest in their education. They have no clue what they are doing to their futures no matter how much everybody tells them how important their education is. I had a 7th grader ask me if getting a GED was even worth it. Comments like that make it difficult to come into a classroom with the idea that you are helping the kids make a better life for themselves. I keep telling myself if I work hard, the kids will come around at some point and realize how important it is to actually care about what they are doing in life.
Well until next time blogger...
For those that will probably never read this other than my Wife. I am a teacher at an urban charter school that specializes in kids with behavior issues (they like to break stuff) and ADHD. Makes my every work day an interesting one. Each day is defferent depending on whether the kids take their meds. Tell you what I love being told by a 5th grader to "suck it" on a daily basis. I sometimes feel like Alex Trebek on Celebrity Jeopardy talking to Sean Connery except Sean Connery is a inner-city under privileged kid that has no social skills.
Well, I have posted a blog. My first one is complete and I am sure I will start posting more in the near future. That is something I miss about college, writing down thoughts on to paper. I may not be the best at composing syntax or speaking out loud (Read Tabulous posts about my brain's inability to link up correctly with my mouth), but like my Wife has expressed before, I miss the challenge of learning new things and just being in a classroom. It seems now that I am in such a routine teaching these kids stuff I already know. Yes, sometimes I need a refresher on subjects from time to time. When was the last time you had to teach a class of sixth graders about the development of Japan's culture during the Middle Ages. The problem is I got in to education to teach in a high school setting, but I am stuck in an elementary/middle school position because of the limited opportunities here in Dayton. Teaching high school brought different challenges to my job and more interaction with a little more developed youth. Some of it has to do with where I am teaching. When most of the kids can not read at their grade level or tell you what 2+2 is there is a intellectual void. Don't take it the wrong way, these kids need all the help they can get and I try on a day to day basis bridge that educational divide. One problem I find myself having is to see students that have no interest in their education. They have no clue what they are doing to their futures no matter how much everybody tells them how important their education is. I had a 7th grader ask me if getting a GED was even worth it. Comments like that make it difficult to come into a classroom with the idea that you are helping the kids make a better life for themselves. I keep telling myself if I work hard, the kids will come around at some point and realize how important it is to actually care about what they are doing in life.
Well until next time blogger...
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