I have been so busy I haven't had time to update the blog. My days are very full! I am working 20 hrs a week at the Catholic school, Assumption. I am observing and volunteering at San Leandro High 10-12 hrs a week. And I have 2 classes at SFSU. I had 3 but I dropped one. Phew... but it's been really, really good all around. I really like the teachers I'm working with, both at Assumption and SLHS. I have been working with the 3rd graders at Assumption since the end of August. They are very cute and full of energy. I have yard duty twice a week which is an adventure in... many ways. I have given out soo many Band-Aids, unstuck a few, too-big basketballs from hoops and become one with my Yard Duty Lady whistle. All of the staff there is very nice and accepted me immediately. Even though I'm not Catholic ;)

I do phonics with the kids and grade a lot of homework. I see some very interesting spelling and punctuation, including words with no vowels and apostrophes before all "s"'s. I was surprised they didn't know about vowels yet. The teacher I work with there is 25, a 1st year teacher and just got engaged. Katy grew up in Oakland but lives in Pleasanton now. She's very by-the-book and sometimes gets a little nervous. Esp on Back to School Night. But she's nice and very happy to have my help. She had the students make me birthday cards for today since my b-day's tomorrow. They were incredibly sweet. Katy also gave me flowers, which was so thoughtful.

I just started officially at SLHS this week. I've been impressed with the kids and could see myself working there. For the most part, they are respectful of the teachers and other students. Walking through the halls I don't sense animosity or conflict, unlike I often did at my high school. It's culturally diverse like my high school (it's 30% Latino and Asian, 20% black and white) but the school seems much less overcrowded. I think that makes a huge difference. The school grounds are kept clean and remodeled. The student bathrooms are so clean I couldn't believe it!!! I have been observing two 10th grade world history classes with a 2nd yr teacher there. She's 27 and from AZ. She went to UC Santa Cruz, then Mills and lives in Oakland now.

I really like what she does with students. They seem to respond well and grasp pretty sophisticated concepts. Things they often have no frame of reference for. She has a lot of challenges as the first class I observe everyday is English learners (not ESL but below fluency). They vary in their proficiency a lot, too. Emily doesn't speak Spanish or any of the languages spoken by the students. Every once in awhile you hear some Spanglish, Tagalog or Arabic but for the most part the students try to speak English to one another in the classroom. The other class is college prep and also diverse. She can have even more interesting discussions with them. I graded some of their quizzes today.

Starting today I also viewed a 9th grade geography class. That teacher is 23 and graduated from SLHS herself in 2001! I call her "the kid". She looks like a kid, seriously. That's her on the left. No, I didn't steal a photo of her, it's from the Soc Sci web page. It is her first yr but she seems to be doing very well. She has 5 huge football players in that class that were gone today for their game. It will be interesting to see it when they're there. Then I hope I can see the AP US history class, also. It'll be good to see upperclassmen and AP since that's what I hope to do eventually. I know it's a middle-aged man who teaches it. I've been with all young, female teachers. That's good for obvious reasons. I get a good feeling about the dept at SLHS and I'm glad I've been placed there. Getting the placement done was enough of a stress on its own!

Of course, I've also been watching my mom teach high school since I was 11. That's when she started her own classroom. I used to wait for her to finish her senior English classes before she took me home. I can't remember when I didn't think about being a teacher. There were other things: a nurse in Ethiopia (it was the '80's), an archaeologist (after learning about Pompeii) a marine biologist, an architect and a curator. One by one, they fell away as options and teaching always remained. Even as a kid, I liked to help other kids when they needed it. One of the things that's nice about 8 yr olds is they tell you they appreciate your help. Like in a birthday card ;) But for me, the curriculum things you do with the kids at that age is so boring. I know it can all get redundant but doing stuff like multiplication tables with kids yr after yr would make me crazy! If anything high school wouldn't be advanced enough.

Strangely enough, I thought about teaching high school when I was in high school. But I've gone through a vast, mix of emotions through the years about it. Esp teaching at a high school as a young woman in my '20's who always looked younger than I was. I've also lived through all the problems my mom has had with students, parents, and administration. Some pretty ugly stuff. And stuff that my friend, Laurel, endured, too. Even though they both still enjoy it most of the time, that made me somewhat cynical and jaded. But I never really wanted to do anything else either. Watching these young women has inspired me again. And they're doing this with all impositions put on them. I feel like I've come full circle about it all. It's never going to be a cakewalk job. What I want is a positive, learning situation. The plan is to have me do some student teaching with the high school kids this semester, too. I've done some with the 3rd graders already. And I will for half a day in a week or so. Stay tuned... ;)

Also in the news... Drew hired a cleaning lady for today to deep clean our house. Fabulous! And he made me dark chocolate, cheesecake ice cream.