languages

Quote from my Second Language Acquisition class:

"There are a lot of language we don't teach in schools, like, basically all of them."

This was during a discussion of Ebonics and school, responding to another person's comment about the need to teach Ebonics if society is going to acknowledge and value its existence. But it would be nearly impossible to be able to teach every language that walked through school doors.

they be nice

An "I'm Thankful For" letter that a student gave me this Thanksgiving

addendum: kevin henkes

I was going to take out Julius: The Baby of the World from the library today. But, I was already taking out too many books and walking home, so I decided to sketch my own rendition of the scene I mentioned.

I know I don't do Henkes justice, but you get the gist:


(Lilly, the one behind the tree, isn't supposed to be quite so big. Hey, I said I wanted to be a teacher, not an artist!)

squeaky wheel

I am quite privileged to be living with a person who is not only extremely thoughtful but is also an educator. So you can imagine what a lot of our conversations revolve around (aside from whether or not we should go eat pho. The answer is always yes.).

One great thing that I get from talking about my day or about teaching in general has been the mirror that M will hold up in front of me to help me gain clarity on a particular issue.

Most recently, I've been noticing how negative I'd become. I'd been stressing out over the kids in my class who are disruptive and require a lot of my energy. How do I engage them? What am I doing wrong? How do I convince them that what we're doing is something they'll gain satisfaction from and ultimately enjoy doing?

Not easy questions. And while I'm not saying that these aren't important questions to ask, I found them to be all-consuming. I came home frustrated and disappointed in myself. Nothing kills your mood than having spent the whole day shushing kids and putting on a stern, serious face. Not very satisfying.

So this past week I'd decided to harness my energy elsewhere. Why let the squeaky wheelers get my attention? For each kid who is acting up, there are five who are engaged, are being respectful, and do have fun.

My switch in humor became abundantly clear one day when I was waiting for students to line up to go to lunch. A number of kids were horsing around, talking, and not paying attention to what I was saying. I decided to use a line one of my lead teachers often uses: I am feeling disrespected. Upon saying this, one student exclaimed, You're respected, Miss Vi!

Oh man! The moment this student said that, I realized my big mistake: By concentrating so much on the bad, I was missing the good.

Also, I felt icky after making that statement that centered around me. I don't want them to do things to please me. I want them to understand how their behavior affects the class and that yes, it is disrespectful to disregard what I am saying, but not as a teacher but as an individual.

In my hand little notebook that I try to carry around with me, I've been writing the positive things that go on around me...and there are plenty of them.

Some examples:
- Seeing new and unexpected friendships begin to bud.
- Student M and N are playing on the playground. M does a split and touches her head to the ground. M asks N if she can touch the ground with her head. N says yes, picks up woodchips in her hand and dumps them on her head.
- D, who began the year hating the concept of school, walking away from one activity saying, "I love reading."
- K skipping around the blacktop chanting, "I'm a beautiful pony"
- Banana tag! I love this game. Everyone is it and you chase anyone down. If both people tag each other at the same time, you roshambo (rock paper scissors). The loser sits down and can't get up until the person who got them gets tagged. Kids love it too.
- Doing yoga in a reading group. One book described how animals influence yoga poses. Nothing's cuter than five 1st graders lying on the ground doing the fish pose.

List goes on and on...which is why I wanted to become a teacher! I just needed the reminder.

kevin henke

This author is brilliant. Kevin Henke has a series of books that have the same mouse characters (I'm not exactly sure why mice are so endearing, but hey...it works). Some of his stories feature the heroine, Lilly, who is badass. She is a really strong girl mouse that is unique, creative, fun, a bit cocky, and stubborn.

His stories have a lot to do with kid angst. It also have a very Simpsons feel to it - it's a children's book that appeals to adults too. The adults in the stories are edgy and sarcastic. Very witty.

The one that was the most laugh-out-loud for me was Julius: The Baby of the World. In one scene of the book, Lilly expresses her dislike for her new baby brother by hiding behind trees and warning pregnant strangers against the "lumps" in their bellies. You just need to check it out. Brilliant.

"Julius is the baby of the world," chimed Lilly's parents.
"Digusting," said Lilly.

p.s. Turns out he also wrote Kitten's First Full Moon. Even more brilliant!

literature for emergent readers. eek!

We have started to meet with students in reading groups. B stays inside the classroom and keeps an eye on the activities in the room. R and I split the class and take reading groups in groups of 4 or 5. It's been awesome getting this responsibility, but there has been little time available to get direction on what to do.

Unfortunately, the books we have available are these pretty boring readers (I like fish. I like fox. I like dog. How about you?). It's partly a result of not having more interesting resources available. So since I've been given almost-free reign, I'm been racking my brain for interesting texts that are interesting and appropriately leveled.

It's not easy!

I went to the library yesterday and felt like my butt was on fire and I was looking for a bucket of water hidden on the shelves to put it out. But nowhere on the crammed shelves of my local library could I find something to squelch the flames.

Tomorrow I think I'm going to bring I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean (courtesy of Bottom Shelf Books and Hand Full of Heart Stones), but no doubt the kids will know it already. I bet I can still stretch it maybe 2 days....but then what?!

It's not that there's a shortage of good books, but it's a tricky balance between getting books that have interesting plots and aren't totally frustrating for kids who are barely sounding out words.

Help! I need my Fairy Godmother to bibbady bobbidy boo me some good literature! Dr. Seuss where are you?!

ways you can read, the musical

Every Friday the whole school meets on the yard for assembly. There are weekly traditions (a welcome song, birthday wishes, announcements) including a performance put on by a different class each week. Today was the first grade class's turn to perform.

Assembly somewhat fell into my lap...it was clear that me taking over the planning was something welcomed by my head teachers. So I ran with it.

Theme: Different ways a person can read.

In our class, we stress the idea that you don't have to be reading Harry Potter to be considered a reader. So why not really drive that message home.

The gist: I split the class into groups that represented different types of reading: Words, Pictures, Faces, Music, Stars, Braille (the list went on an on...it was hard limiting them). And each had a different visual representation. The one that went over the best, I think, was when the four students got on stage with four pieces of construction paper and, when put together, formed a picture of a fish. Ta da!

I had trouble sleeping the last two days because, why lie, I was nervous. Though I knew it wasn't a big deal in the long run, the fact that this was the first thing I would really call my own made the event seem more monumental than it needed to be.

AMAZING! The class rocked that assembly and really wowed the audience. Hearing the audience "ah ha!" during the fish puzzle really made it clear to me that we had the audience eating out of their little 6-year old palms.

Afterwards, parents came up gushing about their superstar baby actors (as they should have) and congratulating us on a job well done. But what really meant a lot to me was hearing the response from the teachers.

While I don't know him very well, there is a teacher in the middle school who left me speechless. He is a no-nonsense type of guy whose opinion I've come to value. He doesn't just hand out compliments like Halloween candy. So it was my time to gush when he came up to me and said (paraphrasing), "That was possibly the best assembly I've seen. Not only was the content meaningful, the presentation was just as thoughtful. This type of presentation is something I might have expected from the 4th or 5th graders."

These students are sharp and wonderful and have proven they can live up to high expectations.

Yippee!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND

50 states. 10 minutes

Can you name all 50 states in 10 minutes?

Apparently I can't (and I call myself an almost-teacher!)

halloween

I had some trouble coming up with a good costume for Halloween this year and the pressure was on because my two lead teachers were dressing up. So I sat back and thought a while and came up with this:

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!

I glued cotton balls to the top of the umbrella and then put paper-covered foam balls on fishing wire and hung it from the umbrella pokies. During the school parade I carried my umbrella along with my plate and fork. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures, but I thought it was a teensy bit clever. The people who got it loved it. The ones who didn't get it, just thought I was weird which is still pretty satisfying.

i heart read alouds

I knew I would love reading out loud to my class. On roadtrips, I'll read novels aloud as a form of entertainment (that is, in between playing Celebrity and the license plate game).

The teachers and I have been taking turns reading a chapter book to the class. It is currently my turn. It was hard to choose what book to read. It's not easy anticipating what book will light the little fires in these little bellies. Between what I could find in the library, my vague memory from my own early reading career, and the upcoming holiday, I decided on The Chocolate Touch.

There is nothing more rewarding than reading to a group of kids and looking up at their faces as they listen. Seeing the kids leaning 5 inches closer toward me; having 26 sets of eyes bugging out; noticing when the room will collectively hold their breath during climax moments of the story; knowing that the students who have a tendency to roll around on the carpet and disrupt other are sitting like criss cross applesauce statues. The love to make predictions on what happens, and they go whine (endearingly) "awwwww" when the end of the chapter comes and I stop for the day.

It is hands down my favorite part of the day.

abcs of science v. religion

At the end of journal time today, I caught and briefly participated in the following conversation:

K: Do you believe in God?
G: Yeah
K: Really?!
G: Yeah. God created the Earth.
K: God didn't create the Earth. The Big Bang created the Earth.
G: No, God created the Earth.
K: No, the Big Bang created the Earth. Miss Vi, who created the Earth?
[long pause]
me: Well, that's a hard question because there are a lot of people who think differently about it. [avoidance accomplished!]
K: Aww. I wish there was one answer. I wish I knew the answer.
G: Well, there's only one way to find it out...Time travel!
K: Time travel?! What? How would you do time travel?

patricia polacco

Author studies are part of my Reading and Language Arts class, and something I'd like to do with my students some day. A few weeks ago we discussed and read through the prolific author, Patricia Polacco. She was especially intriguing because she is local to Oakland and spent a lot of time near my neighborhood.

Polacco's books are particularly striking in their illustrations (done by her) and her "real deal"-style of writing. She writes about her Babushka, fear, shame, family, adventure, isolation, bravery...list goes on. She doesn't write down to kids and doesn't shy away from topics that I think some people believe are too heavy for kids (e.g. death, homelessness).

Here are two that I fancied (I haven't had a chance to read them all yet!):

Thank You, Mr. Faulker - about her struggle with dyslexia (almost cried at the end)





I Can Hear the Sun: A Modern Myth - about an orphan who befriends the caretaker of the Lake Merritt geese, two homeless people, and of course the geese. I love Lake Merritt!

jonathan kozol

Last Friday I listened to Jonathan Kozol speak in Berkeley. He is an educator and advocate for public education. He was speaking on his new book, Letters to a New Teacher. I was first introduced to Kozol's work through his book, Savage Inequalities, as part of my Ed20 class (Contemporary Issues in American Education).

He appeared rather thin and a bit frail: his sleeves rolled up around his sticks-for-amrs, his voice wavering throughout his talk. Turns out he is on a partial fast in protest to No Child Left Behind (NCLB). His thoughts on NCLB were pretty clear and not surprising. To paraphrase Kozol, NCLB has created an environment where students are learning out of a source of fear instead of learning out of joy and for the sake of learning. This "regressive pedagogy" that exists in a lot of public schools can be linked to the corporate take-over of schools (where school missions include words like "global market") and hope to churn out entry-level employees to do their bidding. An outraged Kozol's response to these corporate figures: you should be preparing these kids to be the ones who are going to be buying you out!

One point he emphasized that rang true was the issue of class size. It makes so much sense and is so simple. Face time with a student is undoubtedly important. I am lucky to have a 1:9 ratio in my class (3 teachers, 27 students), and still it doesn't feel like I have enough time with the kids. One colleague of mine (who just started teaching and is not yet credentialed) is a head teacher in a 6th grade class room with 37 kids. 37! That is shocking. In a 7-hour school day, that comes down to only 11 minutes per student if the teacher were to give equal one-on-one face time with every student. Imagine writing that fat check for your kid's Catholic school education knowing that!

Kozol was inspiring and awesome to listen to (funny guy, that Kozol). His talk strengthened my desire to enter public schools determined to teach and learn, despite NCLB's attempts to prevent meaningful instruction. This is no easy task. Question is: Will I ever be ready?!

Other interesting tidbits from Kozol's talk:

• "Why should they [kids] care about the global market? They care about belly buttons and itchy elbows."
• If a child is retained (held back) once, their chances of graduation decrease by 50%. If they are held back twice, there is a 90% chance they will not graduate from high school. (!!)
• On the issue of those $20k/year preschools: "How much is that per pound?!"
• Why are we holding a 9 year old accountable for their education and not the White House?

rainy day in san francisco

Mud mud glorious mud
Nothing quite like it for cooling my blood
Follow me, follow
Down to the hollow
Where we will wallow in glorious mud.

Rain rain glorious rain
Nothing quite like it for soothing my brain
Follow me follow
Down to the hollow
Where we will wallow in glorious mud.

Sun sun glorious sun
Nothing quite like it for having some fun
Follow me follow
Down to the hollow
Where we will wallow in glorious sun.

storytelling

We had a visitor in tonight's Reading and Language Arts class tonight, a professional storyteller, Muriel Johnson. She was wonderful. It made me really want to practice my read aloud/storytelling skills (something that is seriously lacking right now).

She had an outlook on the question "What is appropriate for kids?" that really makes sense. She thrives on telling stories that are, as she says, scary. She wants kids to experience a whole range of rich emotion in a safe environment (the perfect place would be schools!). It definitely makes me want to pick books to share with my class that are a little more substantive and emotionally-challenging.

She told us awesome stories, including stories about a girl and the Gunny Wolf, Briar Rabbit, and one about a baker and a beggar woman. I'm going to practice my delivery of the stories and then maybe one day you'll see a youtube post of my new and improved skillz....

politicians

My Kindergarten teacher friend came over to me during lunch to tell me about the conversation her students were having.

K Teacher: "My kids are talking about good guys and bad guys...The context being that the good guys are Democrats, the bad guys Republican."

When asked about why Democrats are good guys and Republicans bad guys, a Kindergartener responded:
"I dunno. Democrats just make better choices."

hELLO!

portrait

For my birthday, my first grade class put together a book full of drawings of me! They are all pretty amazing. Not that I play favorites, but here's one I especially like:
I'll be using this drawing as inspiration to complete the trilogy of the Edward and Edwina the Emu series.

ships and jars

Student: "Miss Vi. Guess what ship is my favorite that I've been on."
Me: "Hmmmm....you got me. what's your favorite ship?"
Student: "Friendship!" [big hug]
(appropriate considering my last blog entry).

And from the same hugger:
Hugger: [Holding out his hand]: "Miss Vi, can you open this jar?"
Me: [I pretend to unscrew the lid of the imaginary jar, making squeaking noises]
Hugger: [Gives me a big hug] "That was a jar full of hugs!"

friendship v. friendliness

Class has been going extremely well. I am in the middle of my 2nd week of 1st grade. The days go by pretty quickly. We manage to fit in a lot in one day.

Just moments ago at recess, I was confronted with my first kid argument. "L" was supposedly excluding people from jump rope. "S" was unhappy about that but apparently said some threatening things in response.

And then there's me. What do I do? I tried to calm them down and maybe give each other space (a clever tactic to buy myself more time to figure out what could come next!). R (head teacher) said the Responsive Classroom thing to do is to let them work it out. So once they've cooled off a bit I'll have them talk it out. But wow! I can handle "He pushed me and it hurt." But "I've decided to be your friend NEVER because you threatened me" is another.

We don't set the expectation that everyone in the class is going to be friends. But we do expect everyone to be friendly.

I'll have to do some hocus pocus on this one.

wish list

BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS!

Getting kids to read is something that really needs to start with me being well-versed in children's literature. SO! If anyone is doing spring cleaning and want to get rid of old kid's books, send them my way! Gotta start my collection now. And what better and greener way to do so than to reuse books that have been thoroughly loved already.

I'll pay postage!

school: day I

Finally! First day of school. It was nice to finally meet the kids. They are everything you expect them to be: super cutie, miniature people. I had the honor of reading at story time (Edward the Emu by Sheena Knowles with kick-butt illustrations by Rod Clement...fyi, bro) which went relatively well, though I had a little trouble quieting down the masses (27 for sure constitutes a mass, right?).

The day flowed really well. R and B (head teachers) each bring such amazing things to the class room. B, who has tons of experience under her belt and a calm disposition, brought a degree of zaniness that won the kids over instantaneously. R connected with each kid so well that I could tell they felt super comfortable. As for me? My strengths are still TBD.

A theme I'm finding is that it's been hard for me to really make sense of things because my brain is on information overload, constantly trying to process and make connections from what's happening around me. What seems to help, though, is to keep a small notebook in my pocket so I can keep jot down things to remember (to-do lists, schedules) and funny anecdotes (material for "kids say the darndest things" for sure).

On the plate for Day II: I get to read Whoever You Are by Mem Fox that'll be a lead into creating self-portraits (face only to start. pace is key).

New to me: p c construction paper

4.sept.2007 update

Oh boy! I've been pretty delinquent with my blog and a lot's happened over the last month+. Here's the gist of it:

• Went to Responsive Classroom Training (week-long) while I was in Connecticut. RC offers a great approach to education that's given me a good base to jump off of.
• Started work at school! Because of construction, we still haven't started school yet (first day is Monday the 10th).
• Have been working with my two co-teachers. "R" also went through the same credential program that I am enrolled in. She's really high-spirited, caring, and enthusiastic. "B" is also new to the school, so we've been helping one another get acclimated to the school. She brings with her 30 years of experience and it really shows. I know I'm going to learn a LOT from her. She's totally chill and for sure knows her stuff. So far from conversation, she has the kind of approach to teaching that I'd like to develop. I can't wait to see it unfold when the students get here.
• Just finished one of the two days of parent conferences. It's a little weird to meet them before meeting the kids, but it's been great to meet families (what an interesting bunch).
• As part of my program I will be spending half a day a week in a nearby public school. Awesome news: I'll be in a Spanish/English bilingual 1st grade classroom! Couldn't be more perfect since I'd love to teach in a bilingual school some day. I haven't met the class yet but hope to real soon.
• My courses have just started. I am taking Second Language Acquisition (yay, I love this topic), Reading and Language Arts, and a seminar. So basically I am inundated with books. I'm having flashbacks to when I was 8, carrying around a backpack weighing two of me and that caused me to stop growing at 5'3". bah!

And very unteacher-like, I'm not proofreading this. Otherwise I'll never post again.

happy thought of the day

(courtesy of AO)

summer vacation v.0

There hasn't been much to report because (wheee!) it's summer vacation! I've been lucky enough to have a summer vacation even before going back to school this fall. In fact, since graduating college, I've been continually graced by summer vacation - a major perk of working on college campuses.

But for you out there working the 9-to-5, four-season gigs, it's not always what it's cracked up to be. Summer vacations are much like a second New Years: holiday with a black cloud hanging over, ready to dump guilt buckets on you.

Yes, the dreaded Resolution.

But we've all been there. Except now, instead of my resolutions revolving around developing my ambidextrous penmanship * and watching All My Children with Mom**, I'm pretty sure I'm expected to have adult goals. Goals that no doubt involve spreadsheets, brooms, and Project Runway reruns (hi brother!).

As masochistic a ritual as it is, it is much too powerful for one Vi to resist. So here goes:

Vi's 2007 Summer Vacation Resolutions
Drink more water (now thERE's an oldie but goodie)
Create a personal budget (seriously...I love spreadsheets)
Make my bed every morning
Help make the house beautiful (I've already played in dirt and in varnish!)
Cook
Develop hip and kickin' abs while also developing a sense of rhythm (could it be possible?)
Map out my fall schedule
Visit family
Read more on educational approaches and policy

And yes, I know I am making a rather bold move blogging this for all you (two) people to see, but if I learned anything from Ratatouille, it's that you can always rely on your furry friends and family for support. And that Paris mice for some reason don't adopt the French accent.


*this is a sad but true story
**this is also true. and I'm not ashamed. Susan Lucci was robbed all those years!

Christine LaRosa

You are missed.
26 October 1954 - 15 June 2007












About Mrs. LaRosa.

learning about my students

I attended my first staff meeting this morning. There was a great slideshow that recapped special moments the teachers wanted to share. The 2006-2007 school year's theme, chosen by the staff, was Interdependence: interdependence among students, adults, families, and other organizations.

Afterwards, the head first grade teacher and I met with the Kindegarten team so they could pass on information regarding my soon-to-be students. Hearing about the kids I would be working with was very energizing and has made teaching feel all the more real. And I will say, based on their headshots, it is going to be an adorable year ahead of me.

I imagine the purpose of the information hand-off is to create a sense of consistency for the students so it's not as though they are starting at the beginning with a new teacher. This way, new teachers know not only what level they are in when they walk through the first grade door, but also what their progress was like over the past year so we can continue to encourage the students in ways that worked in the past.

Themes revolved around strengths, weaknesses, what students might make good partners, degree of parental involvement, and inter-personal relationships. Some words to come to mind after hearing about the students (we only covered half the class):
sweetheart
brainiac
victim of divorce
goal-setter
mischievous sneakster
loner
artist
perfect
crier
affection-hungry
"hella tight" (as used by one of the kindergarteners)
pleaser (gives the last crumb)
risk-taker

While the information was extremely useful, I couldn't help but think about the potential damage that was being caused by planting certain seeds of prejudgments about these students. The head teacher said that it is helpful to hear about the students (and parents, which I found particularly interesting), but that she doesn't really refer to her notes. I took this as very good news because then students are less likely to be pigeonholed. Even six and seven year olds deserve a chance to redefine themselves. The Nature v. Nurture argument is no new debate; it’s a fine line between biological personality traits and self-fulfilling prophecy. Determining where this line falls is just another challenge to add to the long list for educators.

country fair

The school where I'll be working put on a Country Fair each year on the school's campus. It was a gorgeous day in the Mission...sunny and hot. There was square dancing, ring toss, face painting, bbq, and naked sheep!

At the event they take their two sheep and shear them. I do have to say, I did like their new look better than the 80's teased look (plus, shearing can be very slimming). Then students take the wool, wash it, and then leave it in the sun to dry. The wool goes to the art department.

I was introduced to some teachers, parents, and trustees. All very nice folk. I resisted buying school gear, figuring there'll be time for that later. But I did walk away with a hand-made bracelet by one of the students. Very chic. All in all, the Country Fair was a pretty awesome showing of the school's community coming together.

private institutions

While I fully intend on working in the public school system after I get my credential, I will be working with an independent (private) school for the next two years. At first, I was a little hesitant because it almost felt as though I was selling out. But, I feel very comfortable with my decision now because I know I'll learn a ton at CDS and will hopefully build a strong enough foundation to tackle other issues that face public schools.

The debate between private and public school is one that is much too big for this blog posting, but the following are some thoughts that have been rattling around in my brain:

• Private schools are probably a good representation of what public schools would look like if money was pumped into the public school system. But I have to believe that money is not going to be the end-all solution. We have to change how we think about education (ahem, constructivist learning theory), not use money as a crutch to excuse our education woes. Buy $10,000 speakers for your run-down car: it's still a lemon.
• Family support. Right now, school and home are often two separate worlds. People learn to act differently in each environment. This is a sure recipe for contradiction and confusion. If we could meld the two (and in reality, more than two of these worlds) so that it's under one overarching community bond, then the standards we hold up in a school would be held up outside and vice versa. Community, continuity, consistency...can you dig it? (and do you dig alliteration? I sure do)
• Reality. On my street, all the kids go to private school. Not one in public school! But the reality is that there are a lot of stellar private schools and a lot of not so stellar public schools. Do we wag our fingers at parents for not sucking it up and trusting the public school system, despite reputation? Do we picket in front of Arnold's mansion for putting aside money to help families pay for private school instead of putting it toward public schools? At the end of the day, families will do what is best for their kids and within their means. This might mean sending them to private school where their biggest worry is someone writing "I hate horses" in a bathroom stall, not gang violence or overcrowded classrooms. This might mean fleeing and leaving these problems for someone else to deal with. I don't look down at families for feeling this way. It's just a harsh reality we have to deal with.

new home

Hurrah! As of Monday I've committed to a school.

The school is tucked away in the heart of the Mission Dolores neighborhood (very near where I used to live). I got such an amazing feeling the moment I walked on campus.

Some key things that sold me:
- Constructivist outlook on education
- Classrooms with big windows
- Everyone saying hello in the hallways by name
- "I hate horses" is one of the worst things you can say.
- Chicken and sheep

I had an amazing talk with one of the teachers who I hope to work with sometime in the next two years. She really embodied a lot of what I hope to incorporate in my own teaching.

So! I know where I'll be, which is very exciting. I know the summer will fly by faster than I actually want, but August just doesn't seem close enough.

duke ellington

Scene: elementary school hallway
Class project: discovering Jazz
Grade: third
Topic: music of Duke Ellington
Quote: "I like it because it reminds me of ice cream"

status report: 21 april 2007

Where I am right now in my education journey (ed-jo? edurney?):

The plan right now is to pursue my Multi Subject teaching credential through the Bay Area Teacher Training Institute (BATTI). BATTI partners with San Francisco State University (SFSU) through SFSU's extended learning program and offers specially-designed BATTI courses. The program last two years.

As part of the program, I am responsible for getting a full-time position at an independent (private) school in the Bay Area. The program director helps when possible to make connections. It's been a busy few weeks for me visiting potential schools. I've already seen four schools. So far three have been extremely promising. After each visit I feel like I'm getting a clearer idea of what kind of school does or does not resonates with me. Here are just a few:

• Teachers, administrators, and students all say hi to each other by name = yes!
• Over emphasis on the academic side (boasts about high school or college placement stats) = no.
• Community garden located on campus = booyah! (chickens get a double-up booyah...though seriously, this is just an added bonus cause I'd never hold it against a school who couldn't afford this kind of luxury. However, it's important to me for a school to be conscious of conservation issues.)

In the next couple weeks I hope to know where my new home will be for the next two years...!

Passed my tests: I've gone and miraculously passed my CBEST and CSET (a post is coming about my thoughts on standardized testing).

Now...moving forward!

chapter II of vi, myself, and i

After dabbling in the weblog world for 2 weeks (exactly!), I've decided it's time for a change. I started to get a little discouraged because I was running out of interesting things to say. Should I really be spending my time thinking of clever ways to share the fortune from my Chinese lunch? (Btw, today's is good: "You deserve to have a good time after a hard day's work.")

While initially the whole purpose of my blog was to share all these little things in my life, I've decided to focus in with a theme. Mike gave me the great idea of spinning my blog around my journey to become a teacher. Since I am planning to fully immerse myself in all things education, it seems the natural choice.

Of course, this doesn't mean that I won't be interjecting with random tidbits that make me laugh or gawk. Cause it's just too hard to resist.