intro to wsbg 101: parents edition

My parents and cousin Liz came for a visit last Monday through Friday. They came with no real plans or timeline, but Megan and I had a few things we needed them to do...

First (and most important!): Eat some Chik-Fil-A. And they can only order a #1.

Dad approves.

Second: Go to Food for Thought. Have dad drink a Yuengling beer.

Again, he approves.

Mom tried a mojito for the first time. I had some sort of martini named after Poe.


Third: Go through Williamsburg and W&M's campus, eat at Retro's, try the samples at the peanut shop, take senior pictures for Lizzie and make all of them take polaroids (not scanned) with Thomas Jefferson's statue in Merchant's Square and more pictures with TJ on the campus.



And thus, it becomes a tradition as we now have eight people doing this. If you come to visit, I will make you do the same.

My dad bought new shoes just for this trip and lots of walking around. Look at how new and clean they are!

Fourth: Go to Va Beach, swim in the ocean (Liz's first time!), go to Macarthur and shop, and see Pet Sounds (it was amazing! and Liz's first non-school live production)

Ocean! I now love it.

Tritan is a giant

and he has a huge turtle!

I think they all had a good time. It was nice having them here. We ate lots of good food, swam in their pool just about every night, sweat it out during the two amazingly hot days we had, and played Apples to Apples (Liz is now hooked). I took a picture of one of the rounds, because I laughed so hard:

The green card says "Quiet". I won with Helen Keller. What can I say? I have a twisted sense of humor during that game.

Today is super hot. I was planning on taking a walk up to CVS to pick up the pictures I took of Liz and having lunch, then wandering on to parts of W&M's campus, but Meg took my earbuds to my iPod. It turned out to be a good thing cause it feels about 100 degrees outside. I went up to CVS, no photos yet. Went to Plan 9 and bought two first-time pressings of Belle & Sebatian's If You're Feeling Sinister and The Boy With the Arab Strap. I wasn't sure if I wanted them at first, but then I saw the little sticker that said "Free Download of Album". What? Free download? Yes, please! So, I finally have the two albums of Belle & Sebatian's I've always wanted, on vinyl and in mp3 form. Sweeeeeet. I also bought The Road, the book it seems everyone's been talking about since Oprah got the guy to do an interview and talked up his book for about 30 minutes straight. I read the first few pages and it seemed worth it, especially since Books a Million is amazing and it was something like 40% off. I had lunch at Padow's and started reading The Golden Compass. I'm about 35 or 40 pages into it, it is really, really good. If you like Harry Potter, you'd probably like this series, as well. I stopped back into CVS since the dude working there said that the photos should be delivered any second, but they still weren't there. I really want to see what they look like!

a day in the life of an odd day

Today was another A Day, since it was the 1st. Sometimes this is really irritating, but today was really easy-going, since it was an extra day. I've been bringing my camera around more often, too, to get pictures of my kids before they leave me.

Since it was June 1st, I started telling anyone who asked what day it was that they only had 15 more days to figure out what they were getting me for my birthday. I usually got a "Whaa?"

So, first bell. We did some review for our exam, then some children started playing Apples to Apples (they're hooked, man!).
Billy declared it was "Everybody Be Gay Day!" and started sashaying around the room. He was trying to get everyone dance to the music I was playing (the Blow, Kanye West (their choice) and Interpol). He saw Ronisha outside and yelled out through the window, "Mrs. Pushie can see your stupid butt! Get your butt in here, girl!" I love that kid. I made sure he took the tag off of his new sunglasses before posing for this picture with Ronisha, his BFF!!!#%#!@!, who tried really hard to not crack a smile when I asked her about not smiling in any picture. "No smiling? Ever? Never. Really? No fun? No fun at all? Serious all the time? 110% of the time?" Oh, I went on like that for at least a minute! She held strong! It was amazing.
Maino said, "Take a picture of me doing my work!" Nycolle and I must have had the same thought, because we both said "The only time you do your work?" I must cherish this moment! Maino later challenged me to see if I was stronger than him by a shoulder fight (y'know.. randomly
pushing up against someone and seeing if you can shove them into the locker). Later on in the day, he stole some of the books I was carrying and ran into the men's bathroom, waited and peeked around the corner. That kid cracks me up.
While some kids played Apples to Apples, Bryan and I talked about music snobs vs. music slobs. Then he stole Kaila's hood and put it on his own head. Everyone agreed he looked like an elf.




3rd bell we did the same thing. A lot of students were missing, so it was pretty empty. We also cleaned out our lockers (hurray?) and I got a lot of the Literature books back-- sooo exciting, let me tell you. I don't think people realize how much paperwork and crap teachers have to do. Oh man, it's so incredibly fun. Especially at the end of the year. Totally fun.
After locker clean up, they still had silent sustained reading to do. A lot of the kids in this class (and a few of my others) actually enjoyed their novels and are almost done with them. I don't know if you even know how amazing that is. Not only did they just finish up their standardized tests, they also have 6-7 other classes, tests, projects, etc. to finish up (y'know, the end of the year=assign all those projects and tests! why does that always happen?) I can't imgine how these kids keep track of 6-8 classes! Anyway, I snapped a picture of some of my favorite ladies, Tiffany, Tyeiesha, and Elinida, (but who am I kidding? They're all my favorites) while they were reading their books. It would have never happened if I had asked them.
Some of the kids finished their review, cleaned up and then started playing Apples to Apples. This class is my hardest class to get involved in actually talking to each other (in a manner that's not joking someone), playing games, etc. etc. They would rather do their own thing. That's cool, but it's kind of sad when you want to "build community" and whatnot. But today a miracle occured! I had more than two students who wanted to play a game! (In the picture, it's Cory, Kyle, Tyrone, Tory, Elinida and Christina) One of the newcomers, Tyrone, enjoys pointing out any problem or mistake I make. That's just his sense of humor and I appreciate it because he can dish it out and take it and if I tell him that it's not a good time, he'll stop. Basically, we have a fun time making fun of each other every day. He really enjoyed the fact that I (as well as the other girls) were losing horribly. I had no green cards! I couldn't win! The girls also only had 2 or 3 cards. Tyrone ended up winning, in a sick twist of fate. That ass gloated like I've never seen someone gloat before! Amazing. I love that kid.



(you can't tell in this picture, but there are about 11 or 12 people playing this game)
Ahh, 5th bell. My light at the end of the tunnel on my long 3-classes-in-a-row A days. It was wonderful today. They crack me up and they've become really well-behaved, especially when I think about how rowdy that class was at the beginning of the year. They get their work done, they work well with each other and then they beg to play my nerdy games. Looove it! They also donated quite a bit of money for their end of the year picnic and some of the kids doing the alternative project (it's like a "10th Grade Will" all about English 10 in scrapbook or giant collage form) already started working on it! I was impressed!
Since the SOLs are done, so are a lot of classes. I've had a lot of students come and visit my other classes to play games or catch up on work, since they have nothing else to do. It's really flattering for them to come into my classroom, instead of wandering the halls. Today, Timmy B (he used to be in my 2nd bell, but had to be switched to another teacher due to scheduling conflicts with another class) and Sequena (my success story!) came to class. I kept telling Sequena I wasn't speaking to her until she turned in a research paper, but she still stayed. I took a picture of Zakiyyah, who's usually bubbly and smiling, but apparently refuses to smile in pictures. It could be because my comedienne, Crystal, did a stand-up routine for about 15 minutes about Zakiyyah's boyfriend until Z. finally stopped laughing.

And here is Jarone/"Pacman", Nekita, and Vanessa showing you how they look when they play Apples to Apples. Seriously, they posed like "Okay, this is our Apples to Apples play, ready? Go."


And during my 7th bell plan, I got to do the coolest (nerdiest) thing EVER. I didn't have much to grade, so I went to ask Rebecca (dept. head) if she needed any help with the book room business. We have to move all our English books from the A wing because the A wing will be all for freshmen and apprently we can't store the 9th grade books/novels in there next year. So she had to move all of them and she's wanted to organize the book rooms for us anyway. (She alo said she was motivated because she was trying to keep herself busy because one of the IB 12th graders was killed in a car accident which is pretty upsetting to her, other IB teachers and IB students, since it's a pretty small, tight-knit group of kids. It sucks even more because tonight is prom for seniors.) And, also, you know I love organizing, so I went to help. It was HUGE! And she had all the Shakespeare plays in one side and it turns out we have class copies of The Tempest and The Merchant of Venice as well as The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream!!! (Only the first two are on the 10th grade regular curriculum, though. I think MSND is on one of the honor's curr., but I don't think anyone does it.) That means that next year, I probably won't be doing Julius Caesar. It's so hard to do because it's really meant for people who know Shakespeare and are at a higher level of reading. It's so subtle, it's a lot of discussion and basically, it's a pain in the ass for 10th grade kids who've only read one other play by Shakespeare. Plus, as I pointed out to Rebecca, they go from Romeo and Juliet to Caesar to Macbeth! Talk about depressing! They never get to see Shakespeare's hilarious side. I told her I might do two of the other plays to see how it goes with them. I kept her company for a while while I picked out books to read from the stacks and stacks (some of them never taught any more) as well as the novels I'd have to read with 11th graders next year. It was pretty awesome.

Oh & if you ever wondered what I would look like as a cartoon:

Thank you, Cleo.

C'mon, gang members are totally feminine!

I've survived research papers and kids begging to play Mad Gab and now Apples to Apples (I've infected them!). My students have been introduced to my twisted sense of humor with that game and, fortunately, a few of my more surly boys appreciate it, which is the only way I win cards. It's hilarious watching kids be totally skeptical of a teacher's game and then get really into it. I totally play it up too, I'm a complete fool for these kids. I like making an ass out of myself to make them laugh/loosen up/make mistakes/laugh at themselves.
Funniest moment of my week so far:
Fard: I'm dropping out. School is gay.
Me: Yes. School is totally gay. So gay that, in fact, the homosexual mafia does actually run this place.
Fard: See what I mean? Gay, man, gay.
Me: I actually heard the other day that legislation is going through to ban all straight kids from coming to school.
Fard: See what I mean? George Bush, man. He is so gay.
Me: Yeah, I know. His constant push of the "homosexual agenda" is just messing everything up.
This whole conversation happened during their silent reading time, so it was even more awesome. It went something like that, but there were other things in there I can't remember them because the whole class burst into laughter. These are the moment we cherish, right? Haha. Fard is always good for a laugh, he's always got something crazy to say. For example, the day he found out that breastmilk is not injected into the breast, but, instead, forms naturally. He didn't know that. He will never live it down in 5th bell, though. This moment was almost as good as the time I made Cleo chug a cup of peaches while getting his friends to chant "Dooooo itttttt!" (completely inappropriate, but the things we do for entertainment during my caf duty) or the time this ninth grader turned to me during a debate with his friend and asked, "C'mon, haven't you ever gotten kicked in the nuts?" I need to make a list of all the wonderful moments like that I've had this year, but I'm going to have trouble remembering all of them.

Anyway, I'm finishing up my version of the 10th grade English final exam and counting down the days like every other teacher. This past weekend got me so excited for summer.
What do I have planned?
-Riding my mothereffin' gold and blue bike, man! We went on our first trip into the wild and crazy (ha!) streets of Williamsburg and man oh man, do I love this bike.
-Maybe possibly pulling out the moped. I'd be the only moped rider in Wbg and I'd have to wear my helmet (uggggh), but goddamn, do I miss that thing. I even seriously debated going to BBQ13 in Kzoo this year, but plans conflicted. Maybe next year and maybe I'll go to the Hell's Satans rally next April. I miss mopeds.
-Our parents and Liz coming down June 18th-June 22nd. It comes nicely right after my birthday.
-Trip to Kalamazoo! July 6th-11th/12th (depends on if we go to Chicago on the 11th). Yesssss. I hope to have lots of fun. Please don't let me down, Kalamazoo.
-One year anniversary of gettin' hitched on July 15th. We get to eat the top tier of the cake- hell yeah!
-Possible other trips, one will definitely be to see Miss Fancy Pants in Philly.
-Bands. Possibility of going to see the Horrors and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club in D.C. on the 8th. I think we've all (that is, myself, David, and Megan) decided to go see Interpol on July 21st in Norfolk.
-Other people visiting? Who knows? People always talk, rarely come through, but hopefully they will. It'd be fun to have some visitors down here. I need some help making fun of the tourists.
-And, lastly, getting prepped for next year. I want to have a good idea of what I'm getting myself into before diving into the year (like this year). I already know next year's going to be better since I've already done the English 10 thing once.

I love the idea that my summer is wide open. I have a stack of books. I have ideas and determination.