Chuck Norris

Today I finished reading a book with the kids and I realized that #1 I should never have them read a book I haven't read myself and #2 I am way to emotionally invested in the life's of fictional characters. We have been reading Scorpions, a book about a 7th grade boy whose brother goes to jail and is being made to take his spot as leader if the gang. The end is what Sarah would call "a good ending" but to me it was just sad and I wanted to hug the little boy and take him away so no one could hurt him anymore. So there are some more lessons learned and hopefully the kids will have forgotten all about it and not tell everyone that I teared up:-)

You're probably wondering why I titled this Chuck Norris. Well, it all begins several weeks ago when some of my more bright and well behaved students were giggling (yes giggling) and talking during class. I went over and confiscated some papers they were reading and moved on. Upon reading the papers I realized what was so funny. They were reading pages and pages of Chuck Norris jokes. Now, many of you know about my slight obsession with his television she Walker, Texas Ranger and the round house kicks that I perfected in the late 90's. So I found these jokes hysterical but I couldn't figure out why they thought they were so funny. These kids have no connection to Chuck Norris, no t.v shows, no recent movies, nothing. So I have decided that is must be the sheer magnetism of Chuck himself that attracts the kids. I will share some of the joke now and keep reading I will continue to sprinkle them in now and then to spice up the blog.

Chuck Norris is the only man to ever defeat a brick wall in a game of tennis.
Chuck Norris can divide by zero.
Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer, too bad he has never cried.
Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.
There are no disabled people. Only people who have met Chuck Norris.
Chuck Norris does not use spell check. If he happens to misspell a word, Oxford will simply change the actual spelling of it.
Some people wear Superman pajamas, Superman wears Chuck Norris pajamas.
Chuck Norris can set ants on fire with a magnifying glass. At night.
When Chuck Norris runs with scissors, other people get hurt. Chuck Norris is the reason Waldo is hiding.

Seriously, I can't write anymore right now, seriously.

Earthquake!!!!

So I know I can be kind of melodramatic sometimes so when I was laying on the couch earlier I convinced myself that I was imagining the couch moving and the lamp almost falling over for several prolonged seconds. Until my phone rang and my friend Donna said - did you feel that?

Yes, we had an earthquake, but not a bad one, the news said 3.1 on the scale which is a level that rarely causes damage. The epicenter was 25 miles south of Calexico (in Mexico) so it was about an hour or so from here.

Anyway, I just wanted to share and that is the vad thing about the three hour time difference, I couldn't call and tell anyone. Night

Visitor

That is a picture of the gecko that was on my window last night, and then today a road runner ran in front of my car! Life sure is exciting around here!

Window Peeper! 

Defect

Well, after two cancelled appointments, many phone calls, a trip to the emergency room and a big headache I saw an orthopedic surgeon about my wrist this morning. The good news is there is no fracture (duh!) and the bad news is that apparently the two bones that make up your arm: the ulna and the radius, are supposed to be the same length. I have an abnormally long ulna. While that makes no difference at this point he felt the need to keep telling me it was a defect. I wanted to ask for a refund but he didn't seem like the type to appreciate dry humor. So that's over, the cast is gone and I am back to a normal life unless it keeps hurting and then I will have to have an MRI and such. I am very optimistic that things will be fine.

On another front I got my hair cut yesterday and of course the kids all had an opinion about it, thankfully I have learned to let it go and not take it personally. Also, one of the girls wanted to know why I wasn't wearing heals today and I told her that I don't have to wear them everyday - she though they would match my outfit better :-)

It rained today and it is cold, two very monumental things in Yuma! Talent show tryouts after school should be interesting, I will keep you updated!

So I just finished watching the season finale of Grey's Anatomy and I will not be able to sleep for a while so I thought I would share some stuff. Three things in particular.
One, this is a quote I came across recently and I think it has a lot of meaning for all of us -
Life's not about expecting, hoping, and wishing, it's about doing, being and becoming.
It's about the choices you've just made, and the ones you're about to make, it's about the things you choose to say - today.
It's about what you're going to do after you finish reading this.

~ Mike Dooley

Two - I am trying to teach my kids about continuity and change. This is a new unit we have started and I am supposed to teach them about types of change and the ways things stay the same. This is difficult because it is personal. I can't seem to teach it without it being personal. Change is hard and as hard as I think my life is, their life is harder, ten times harder. They are in gangs, drinking, doing drugs, having sex. Not all of them but enough that it effects the climate of our school everyday. These kids move every six months and transfer schools more than that. These kids don't know the meaning of a stable home life let alone one that speaks all one language. These kids have it harder than I ever did and once again I am learning that they have more to teach me than I have to teach them.

Three - this one is funny. Awhile back the kids were really stuck on me not having a boyfriend and eating meals alone and grocery shopping alone. I know it seems harmless but they are relentless. So one day I kind of snapped and made up a boyfriend. His name is Caleb and he lives in Michigan so it works out that he doesn't actually exist. For the most part it is a nonevent in my life but some days all they want to talk about is Caleb. So I learned a very valuable lesson: Do not lie to 7th graders unless you are prepared to send yourself flowers and pose for photos with some random guy that they will never, ever, meet. Good night all and please don't ask me where I got the name Caleb, I really don't know. But in the words of one of my students, "What a cute little white name"

Fall from Grace

Thanks to Sarah for posting the other day - I have the removable cast off right now so I can type again for a few minutes. I have been wearing the cast for 7 days and it is a major pain!! But on the upside the wrist is feeling better and less swelled up. I go get the special opinion tomorrow just to be safe but I am really thinking it was just a bad sprain.

I have been getting some what happened questions, so here it is: If you refer back a few postings I was biking with a gal from work as she was training for her marathon. Well, I got run off the bike path by a very mean spirited car and lost my balance. I fell over and it could have been ok except the bike I am using has these foot things that holds you in like prison. So I couldn't get my feet out to catch me. My wrist hurt for a week before I went to the emergency room and then they wouldn't let me drive home and I was like, but I drove here and alas I left my car there for the night. So that is the tragic story of my dismal future as Lance Armstrong's replacement for next year's Tour de France.

I get to go home in exactly 1 month - I am so excited!!! My parents are planning a big shindig so I will let you know as I know more.

On the upside - no more fist fights as of yet. That's two in my room this year, I am rethinking a self defense course. One of the kids came back today and he kept glaring at me and I was like - hey - is it my fault you suck! Well, I wanted to say that anyway. It is too hot to fight let alone learn or teach, our air is out in my hallway and it was 103 degrees outside today - not fun especially after the boys have been out plaing football at lunch. They come in and spray down with cologne (or something they have mistaken for cologne) and then come in my room smelling of really bad, cheap cologne and sweat. Does life get any better?

My wrist is pretty done in at this point so I am going back to the cast.

From the mouth of Angela but from the fingers of Sarah

So the excitement this whole week has been that I broke my wrist. Well that's the assumption we're going on as of today. I went to the ER and there were xrays and there's a fiberglass cast and I'm not happy but I see an orthopod tomorrow morning to get the full results. If it's broken I will leave there with a real cast. A fate I'd rather not think about.
At the moment I can drive (barely), write (it's my right wrist, the one time in my life I am glad to be left-handed), and shower but if I get a nonremovable cast - ugh. I don't want to think about it.
School's been school. I didn't break up a fight Tuesday because the kids were as big as me and looked mean and I was afraid they'd throw a punch my way. But the upside is since the kid in the fight from my room was suspended the rest of my class managed to work quietly on their research papers yesterday for 2 whole hours! Woohoo! It's the small victories that I relish.
I'm tired today but I have great curtains in my room. I'll blog that story later (via Sarah of course) - it's a good one, the tale of the middle school curtains;-) That's a teaser for you all.

The Other Half

There are a lot of things teachers do well and there are two things we don't do well. Ok, more than two but I want to focus on two.
1. We don't sit well. We spend our whole careers standing up, being told to stand up more and wishing to sit down and then BAM! They make us sit for 8 hours and it's all I can do to stay in that chair. In case your wondering I had training today yuck :-(
2. We also don't listen well for long periods of time. We can actually be pretty rude (and we wonder where our students get it!) I tried to focus today because I was actually interested in the topic as I might be teaching this class next year but I kept getting sleepy.
So now you know two flaws of teachers, as I think of more I will let you know.

After the boring training, Kim (marathon trainee) and I laid out by the pool for a while. It was great. I don't know how to describe this to you but it is like I am on vacation all the time. Everytime I leave my house I do a double take. Palm trees, gorgeous flowers, sun all the time. It's truly amazing until I realize I am going to work.

But as we were sitting there Kim said that this is how the better half lives, laying by the pool, lunching, etc... I really want to meet this other half and find out how to join there club. I never used to be content with laying out, I thought it was boring. But now I could go out there for hours. I don't because I don't want cancer but I could. So if anyone knows how to get into the better half club let me know asap. Thanks.