Feeling Pink

It's kind of like feeling blue, but more like this...

Possibly some of this.

At any rate, today feels like a Pink kind of day.

Keeping Perspective

So the last week or so has been really hard for me to focus. I have had an extremely hard time writing or studying. And by writing I mostly mean typing in and of itself. I feel like I shouldn't edit this post just so you can get an idea as to how bad my typing abilities have become; however, I won't do that to you. It would be very hard to read and probably not very entertaining for anyone either.

In effort to keep in perspective why I actually want to get good grades and graduate, I bought a book entitled "Letters to a Young Teacher" (I might have also bought it because Boarders went out of business and I got it for like $1.50). Anyway, I have started to read it as 1), an escape from homework, and 2) as a way to remember that I really do want to teach. I have yet to finish this book, but about a hundred pages in and I'm hooked. I love the way Jonathan Kozol brings teaching to most personal level that it possibly could be. He loves the aspects of teaching where the teacher actually learns something of the student, and therefore can help the student better understand the task at hand. Learning and teaching for that matter isn't just a manufactured process to make certain that students make it to the next level and then become successful. Teacher and learning is about relationships, and then building on those to create understanding. I could literally gush about this book for a very long time; however, I won't bore those of you who are not planning on becoming teachers, but I will give you a few snippets that I have found and loved. Most of these probably only make sense in context... but I still liked them a lot!

"That bond of trust and tenderness comes first. Without that, everything is merely dutiful- and generally, deadening. It is not for dutiful aridity that people who love children become teachers."

"... at the end of all those 'ands' and 'buts' there's a piece of hidden treasure where the child tells us something that we never knew about him up to now. And good teachers use that piece of hidden treasure as a key to unlock motivation and to bring the child back into the classroom work..."

"Words like these [proficient, humorous, interesting, colorful] do not teach literacy skills; they teach pomposity... Don't inflict dead verbiage on living children."

There are several more that I have underlined (and yes, I have been underlining things in this book) but those are the ones that I will share for now.

This Wednesday...

Has not been productive. And I'll tell you why. In a list.

Falling asleep in the library

Spending money for food on campus (when I definitely have food at my apartment)

Dr. Pepper

Fruit Snacks (more than I'm willing to admit to at the time)

Blog Stalking instead of finishing my seven to ten page paper due next week

Writing this blog post to avoid doing homework

Facebook

Headache

Rain

Giving up on finding sources for my seven to ten page paper due next week

Thinking about lame stuff

Looking at a paper that needs revising and has red pen all over it saying things like "Unclear," "Confusing," or my personal favorite "I'm not sure what you mean here," as well as ten thousand question marks and then proceeding to stuff it back into my folder.

Did I mention that I've eaten my body weight in fruit snacks?

The huge knot in my shoulder/neck/back area

Writing this blog post that is in essence just me complaining after attending an institute class where the teacher asked us to try to complain less on a daily basis.

Not caring about the grade that I get in my Climate Change class. At this point I think I could be getting anywhere from a B+ to a D so... who knows?

Accidentally giving people the "man you're an idiot face." I promise that's just how my face looks all the time.

Granola bars, also not healthy if you eat more than one (and in all reality, the ones I buy aren't healthy to begin with)

Stinky shoes

Trying and failing to think about the summer

There are more I'm sure, I just thought I'd give you an insight to my lack of productive skills today. I hope you enjoyed. I'll think of something better to write next time, I promise.

The Closer it Gets to Finals...

The more I find myself on facebook, blogger, or any other non-school related website.

Also, it is that lovely time of year: Registration. I think I've said quite a bit on this subject; however, there's more to be said. I hate it. FOREVER.

In addition, I'm wishing this would happen instead of the current situation of just rain:

I also wish that teachers would only have this stamp:

Dear Chocolate Milk,

Thank you for spewing violently out of my nose and mouth. It made for a lovely display, and a horrific choking noise. Also kudos to my roommate for the perfectly timed crazy eyes and fancy new way of saying "Patriotic." Who likes a boring Sunday night anyway? Not me.

Wednesday

I like the feeling of getting things done. This is usually only one sparkling moment within a week that I actually feel this in regard to school work, but it's still good all the same. As a random side note, these moments happen on Wednesdays a lot. Maybe Wednesday is my day or something, but I feel like it's the day I get the most done.

That's all I really had to say. I hope your Wednesday is successful as well :)

Monday