Adam Duritz makes me wanna…. March 31, 2008

BE A ROCK AND ROLL STAR

ok so one of my number one favorite bands of ALL time is The Counting Crows. I have LOVED them since middle school. Last Tuesday, the Crows put out their newest album that I have been listening to this past weekend,  Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings. It made me so happy because 1. i LOVE adam duritz and 2. i was relieving the AMAZING time I had at their concert this summer with sara. that got me thinking about what i want to accomplish this summer… and there are many things. there are places i want to go, bands i want to see. so in the car, i began daydreaming of some of my summertime goals. here are some things i’d like to do:

a beginning list of things i’d like to do

• become more serious about my music
• travel
• read… A LOT
• have adventures in my own neighborhood
• buy a GPS and geocache all over
• go to lots of concerts
• hang out and meet people at College Perk and Java Mammas
• take lots of pictures and learn more about my digital SLR

places i would like to spend some time in:

1. nashville, tennesee
2. boston, mass
3. san diego, cali
4. washington, d.c.
5. outerbanks, n.c.

people i would like to see in concert:

• Counting Crows (august 16th… WOOOOO!!!0
• Sara Bareilles (opening of CC… wow)
•  Jack Johnson
• Matt Nathanson
• Copeland
• Travis
• more to come

i know i will be adding to this list as summer draws closer, but i want to make a promise to myself to have fun no matter the participation of others. i just bought tickets to counting crows… i am so excited.

(is it bad that i am already daydreaming of summer and it isn’t even 4th quarter yet?)

ps this is the first week of MSAs… YIKES!!!!

here are a few more favs from the Counting Crows show with sara <3 

love you sar

2 good stories March 26, 2008

ok, i have a heart-warming school story and a hilarious school story. let’s start with the sweet:

ok, every week at one of our team meetings we take time to write “positive postcards.” usually each teacher writes one or two every week to kids who are doing awesome stuff. before spring break, i wrote a postcard to one of my favorite students, sarah, because her intelligence and writing ability are so far ahead of most kids in the 6th grade. not to mention that she is incredibly kind, generous, and friendly. basically, she’s a teacher’s dream.

anyway, upon returning to school, i see sarah in the hallway and she hands me a card that she made. that in itself was so sweet – i mean, let’s be honest, most 6th graders don’t do that kind of stuff out of the blue. later that day, i actually had a chance to read it and it just made my day. it is so good, that i have to share it here. the front was a pretty blue that said “to ms. walker” with a pretty design. when you open it, one side says “thank you for the thoughtful card! remember to…” the other side was what blew me away:

LOVE, eat, HOPE, LAUGH, care, enjoy,

appreciate Mr. Clifford’s jokes [he's the veteran and always funny science teacher],

appreciate all jokes, SMILE, value every day,

wear your favorite color, be OPTIMISTIC,

tell jokes (even if only you think their [yes, wrong "they're] funny),

read, PRAY, know how to whistle, sing in the shower (or whistle because you know how to),

eat your veggies (it’s ok to replace them with sweets sometimes), Try your best (like always),

have an awesome hobby, do this awesome hobby all the time, refuse revenge,

turn the other cheek, LOVE. ADD TO THIS LIST!

 

yeah, that came from a sixth grader. i was so blown away, i carried the card with me all day. it was a great reminder of why i love this job (sometimes i need to be reminded). thanks, sarah

 

 

ok, here’s the hilarious story:

this morning before school, one of our little sixth grade boys was standing outside. some of the eighth grade girls started messing with him, making him believe that one of the girls wanted to go out with him and be his girlfriend. he bought it and was so excited that he had an eighth grade girlfriend. this went out for about 10 minutes. right before the bell rang, the girl walked up to him and said, “preston, it’s over.” preston looked at his friends as she walked away and said “hey, it still counts.” hahaha later on, that eighth grade girl was on the tv announcements and preston exclaims “there’s my girlfriend!” all of his friends were laughing and he was too. i gave him a funny look and he said “yuh huh, ms walker, she was this morning!” hahaha ahhh middle school.

Hello Again March 24, 2008

well, hello blog world, it has been quite awhile. it feels good to be back in the blogosphere after an absence. many things have happened since then:

• my dear, sweet grandma passed away on march 12th
• i was in wisconsin for a few days for all of that stuff
• i have been on spring break
• i am behind on american idol
• i got a new camera
• two great friends, claudia and brian got engaged

so, as you can see, things have been a little crazy and spring break has not been as fun or relaxing as i had hoped. on the plus side, i have been having fun with my new camera and though it was tragic and sad to be in wisconsin, it was nice to be around family. here are some pictures from my new camera:

my sister, my brother, and me!

my cousin, jackie’s new baby, xochitl (zoh shul)

xochitl and my cousin, emma

 
sleeping xochitl and cousin, britteny

my cousin, jackie, and xochitl. yay for the new mom

i LOVE this new camera. expect to see many more pictures as i learn and play with it. more pictures from the trip to come!

matters of the heart March 10, 2008

sometimes i feel like my life falls apart because i am ill-equipped to handle stressful/tragic situations. i feel like im in one of those states right now. school is hard as i watch my sweet 6th graders turn to nasty 7th graders. one of my favorite families struggles with hardship  and illness while i feel helpless as to what to do. i love them and i just dont know how to show it. to top that off, my grandma had two heart attacks on sunday morning which almost ended her life. the situation for now, is touch and go. i lost my grandpa last spring (her husband), i just dont think i can handle losing her too. i can’t think about it too much or i get too worked up.

sometimes when life seems the most overwhelming, i like to drive. yesterday after spending some time with my favorite people (amy and hannah), i took the long, long way home through the country roads at dusk. as i was driving, i saw a man in the middle of a field, bundled up to the nines (it was cold) with an easel and art supplies. he was painting the sunset over the trees. i kicked myself as i drove away, thinking that i would have liked to stop and just watch him paint.

it amazes me how much i can lose sight of what is important and how we all have stress. we all have loads to carry. my actions – not being as cheery, feeling overwhelmed, having shorter patience – are easy to see, but the root of the problem, no one would see unless they asked. sometimes i forget this when i talk to my students or when i get mad because they don’t follow directions or don’t do their homework. i had one of those enlightening conversations today. a girl who struggled first quarter, who turned everything around second to get an A, has now plummeted back down to a failing grade. with compassion, i asked her what was going on, and she told me that it was hard to do homework because her parents fight so much. right then my heart broke for her. at that second, the girl sitting next to her spoke up about how she was in the same situation not so long ago and they talked about it right there in the middle of class. that is taking care of each other. a little piece of me wanted to cry one, out of sadness for morgan, and two, out of joy that paige would find it so easy to share a similar story with morgan. in middle school, maybe more than any other place, all kids want to do is feel comfortable and find a place, find common ground. paige did that for morgan. i’ll tuck that gem into my pocket and carry it with me this week. maybe it will help me remember compassion this week.

another gem comes from today, something i wasnt meant to hear, but overheard anyway. matthew says to louie: “you know, english class is the only place i smile all day.” im sorry, matthew, that your classes dont make you want to smile anywhere else, but im sure glad you feel comfortable and happy in our room. thanks for your enthusiasm. i’ll tuck that gem in my pocket, too.

life & ai March 6, 2008

this week i began my unit on anne frank. last year, this was by far my most favorite unit to teach. it really encompasses what all teacher dreams of – being able to teach students about life as well as content. last year i really felt like i was building citizens as well as good students. i have the same hope for this year, and already my kids have proven how much they are really processing it all. this topic provides such great discussion tools… wow, it just makes me so excited.

anyway, i had a gem today – something that just makes me smile and i can stick in my pocket to pull out when i am having a rough day. afterschool, i popped into the gt resource room to see a few kids who were working on imovies. two of them were my current students, two were former students. sam, former student, asks me, “so, how is the anne frank unit going?” i said that it was good, though we just started it this week. sam turns to john and connor (both my former students) and says “you guys are so lucky. that is the best unit you will ever do. we read great stuff, we had fun talking about it, and then we got to wear costumes. it was awesome.” wow, that just about made my day. then sam says “guess what happened today? i was in ms. richardson’s class (my colleague who teachs 7th grade english) and she was talking about being creative. then she asked us ‘well, what would ms. walker do, she seems like a pretty good teacher?’ and we all started talking about all the great stuff we did in your class. it was so great and everyone got excited to talk about it.”

wow sam, you really just made my day… and actually, my week. it is such a warm, fuzzy feeling to know that what you do matters. thanks for that gem, sam, i’ll carry that in my pocket for while.

now… on to american idol before tonight’s show.

who should go this week? DEFINITELY luke. he was TERRIBLE this last week and he was even worse this week. he is lucky he has a pretty face because that might be the only that saves him… even though it shouldn’t. the other slot is hard to predict. danny noreiaga? he is not great, but still entertaining? chikeze? he has ups and downs, but is pretty good. dred-locked jason? NO WAY! i love him and think he is wonderful. i will find it hard to watch this show if he doesn’t make it to the top 12.

females… all i have to say is, what the HECK were randi and paula saying? were they actually listening? asia’h was not that good and kady maloy was TERRIBLE. i really don’t like amanda overmyer, but she may pull through a round or two in the top 12 because she was much better this week. who will go home? i predict kady maloy and asia’h because they were the worst but i still think it’s possible that kristy lee cook could go too.
which means my predictions for top 12 are as follows:

boys:

• Michael Johns
• Jason Castro – my personal favorite guy
• David Hernandez – i think he is the underrated contestant
• David Cook – this week= WOW
• David Archuleta
• Chikeze – though i still think it’s possible that danny noriega could take this spot and be labeled the next sanjaya with a little more attitude and a little less hair.

females:

• Carly Smithson – AMAZING this week
• Syesha Mercardo – she is really good
• Brooke White – really liked it. excellent choice with the acoustic
• Ramiele Malubay
• Alaina Whitaker Amanda Overmyer – MUCH better this week
• Asia’h Epperson Kristy Lee Cook – i am changing this because asia’h has not been good these past few weeks, and while neither has kristy been that stellar, i think she’s done better. i havent really liked what asia’h has done here since hollywood week.

anyway, after tonight i will get to grade myself and see how i did with my predictions!