Toy Story 3

Last night Barb and I went to see Toy Story 3. Wow. It was ridiculous. Good movie. I'd even say it could stand on its own. I didn't get choked up until the end. Which was good compared to all the die-hards around us who were BALLING. We got to see it in IMAX 3-D too. Pretty bomb.

It was 99 degrees yesterday on our way to the movies. That was at 5pm. I'm SURE it was above 100 yesterday. I'm so excited to head back to the land of 67 degrees as the daily high. Now where did I put my sweaters?????

Such a Northerner

Days like today make me realize that HOME is in WASHINGTON.

There were THREE air quality warnings this morning. I went running anyway. I thought I was going to die. (Not really mom, I promise it wasn't that bad).

But I took two showers today... really I needed a third. DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN SWEAT FROM YOUR FACE EVEN WHEN YOU AREN'T DOING ANYTHING?!?! I was on my way to Charles' at 8:15am and my face was sweating. ew.

Tomorrow's Warnings:

A HEAT ADVISORY MEANS THAT A PERIOD OF HOT TEMPERATURES IS EXPECTED. THE COMBINATION OF HOT TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY WILL COMBINE TO CREATE A SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE POSSIBLE. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS... STAY IN AN AIR-CONDITIONED ROOM... STAY OUT OF THE SUNSHINE... AND CHECK UP ON RELATIVES AND NEIGHBORS.

&

A STRONG UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL REMAIN ANCHORED OVER THE REGION... WHICH WILL HELP PUSH AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES CLOSE TO 100 ON THURSDAY. THE COMBINATION OF HEAT AND HUMIDITY WILL RESULT IN HEAT INDEX VALUES AS HIGH AS AROUND 105 TO 107 DEGREES OVER CENTRAL AND EASTERN PORTIONS OF NORTH CAROLINA THROUGH THURSDAY.

.... You know its gonna be bad when the humidity at 11:05 pm the night before is still at 74%. EW.

I officially <3 air conditioning. However, I can't imagine having to spend all summer cooped up in an AC-ed house. REALLY!? No wonder no one hikes. Or Canoes. Etc. It's too durn hot!

Michigan

So. Just finishing packing. Barb and I are driving her clunker car up to Michigan to her mom's. We're gonna swap out cars. But while we are there, we might as well stay a while, right? And shoot, let's go to Canada to the family cottage.

WOW.

This week was insane. In every way imaginable. It was the last week of school, work days, and we inducted the new corps members into ENC. Welcome 2010s! They are amazing. Its great to be reminded of the electric force of wanting to make a difference in the world.

It was bittersweet, though, because I have felt so disconnected to the TFA mission this year. I feel like I am helping to close the inequality gap, but not the achievement gap. I can reinforce writing and math skills, but only that: reinforce. However, I am teaching all those "soft skills." Manners, disposition, respect, confidence. Especially confidence. So much of what I teach in performance skills can transfer to the workplace.

Also, apparently next year I'll be helping to teach 4th grade math. Yay. :)

Granola

So last weekend my family (Derrei, Mom, and the twins) came out and spent the Holiday weekend with me in NC. It was pretty awesome. They were so much fun to hang out with. We went to Wilmington and played on the beaches, and they came and watched me teach a class and had lunch with me. It was an all-around great trip.

They left on Wednesday, and I flew to Washington on Friday.

We had a wedding! I played in it: Congrats Matt and Sara!

But so now I'm sitting in the airport at Seatac, and I am looking around at all the granolas I miss. I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb. I'm lacking tevas, a north face jacket: shoot, I don't even have a coat with me hahaha.

My shoes are all wrong: I'm wearing boat shoes! In my attempt to assimilate to NC, I feel like I've lost a bit of myself... This summer is going to be a fun transition back.

At least they know how to make a Vanilla Latte correctly here. Even if it is only SBC... :)

Chorus Master

So. I got the job.

What job? Welll.......

Currently the chorus sitch in this county is rough at best. We don't have any chorus in the middle schools on the northern side of the county at all... Currently the high school position is only a "flex class" before school. One chorus. (I know.... It breaks your heart).

Well. So the current teacher also teaches at an elementary school, but she'd like to step down, so I said, in my very classic Brandon way, "Oo, oo! Me!" (It was a lot more professional than that. Don't worry.)

And last night I was offered the position. I'm really stoked about it. And the current teacher is awesome, and she'll hold my hand whenever I need it next year, and she left me a great bunch of kids. I'm really excited.

Does anyone else hear SAB versions of Glee music? What is that?...........

Update

So I really fail at this.

Let's see: Last week we had our Concert. It went really well. I printed Concert Etiquette on the back of the program, and we went over it before the concert. Then I proceeded to ALWAYS wait until the audience got quiet before starting the next song.

It was great: Joan, a friend from church, played the piano on Pie Jesu, which Barb played violin on. My PK-K-1st grade group got REALLY nervous. Even though they knew ALL THE WORDS! Oh well... They still did a GREAT job. :)

My favorite part, though, was when I got a group of guys together to play in a Jazz Combo. My kids have been studying Jazz during "Jazz Month" (April) through Princess and the Frog. They finally got to hear what a combo really sounds like. YouTube does better than an audio track, but the REAL experience was GREAT. And I gave them time to talk with their families about what they heard. It was awesome.
The Bass Player and the Drummer (Whom you can't see in this) also joined us (the 4th and 5th graders) on "Dig a Little Deeper": That Gospel Song from P&F. They were amazing. I had 12 kids play keyboards at the concert. They were just so brilliant!

EOG testing is this next week. That'll be crazy, but my load is really light: We'll just have Specials from 1-2pm every day, and I'll administer an exam on Wed and Thursday for a child with an IEP. It'll be a great week to prep for the rest of the year.

I am going to be working for TFA for their Induction week... It's gonna be great. I'm the Transition Team Captain, which means I am in charge of the non-logistical aspect of Induction. We're there to answer questions about what its really LIKE to live in NC. We'll focus on being positive, but honest. In looking through all the concert photos, I've realized how in love with my kids I am. No matter how crazy they make me, or how much they drive me nuts, they are amazing, and have grown SO MUCH this year. I can truly say I've made a difference here, which is the whole reason I came in the first place. I struggled at first with the idea of helping to close the achievement gap by teaching music, yet part of closing the achievement gap is leveling the playing field. Let me tell you: These students are getting a better music education than I got in school. And I have had a BLAST giving it to them. It's been INCREDIBLY hard, but SO worth it. :)

Brainwashing

WOW.

So today we wrapped up our Cinderella unit, you know, now that they actually went to see the musical. So in order to be able to include our other students in the convo, I showed part of the 1997 Cinderella starring Brandy, Whitney Houston, and Burnadette Peters (and more...!) and when I asked what were the differences, you know what each class told me within the first three answers? "She's Black in this one." And I was going to talk about that, actually, and use it as a great lesson, so I asked "Yes, but does the actors not being white ('cuz remember the prince is Asian) change the story?"
They all answered "yes." When I prodded, they said that their blackness made it more hip-hop. I pointed out that there was no hip-hop music, and that all the songs were exactly the same as the Julie Andrews Version. They tried to tell me that skin color affects the way you play a character. I disagreed. Finally, I converted all of their thinking.... Crazy to think I had to convince 5th graders that skin color didn't matter.

*ugh*

I'll post pics from Spring Break soon. I just had to vent.

Wow... I stink at this

I'm leaving on a jet plane in a mere 4 hours, and it just hit me: I haven't blogged in a month. I am completely unreliable. Let me tell you, though, that it is because I've been BUSY!

Firstly, as many of you know from my Facebook picture, I'm growing out my hair. "Why?" you ask? Well... In the words of my Grandfather, when I don't have any left, I'm going to have wished I grew it out at one point! Plus, I'm actually liking the length a lot. Only thing is that it's in this in-between length, and it needs to be thinned. I've got a little fro thing going on in the mornings. I want it to grow longer so I look like this: (Henry Cavill: The Tudors. I got into the show. Not bad.)Hmm... otherwise we're gonna go see Cinderella at the North Carolina Theatre!! I'm taking 82 kids to see it. Well... "I'm" meaning JTOH. I'm actually gonna be in WA for the Holiday and Spring Break. Oh: They all say "Theatre" Thee-aee-ter.... Three pronounced syllables. I think we speak funny in WA... hahaha

More cultural differences: Everyone at school was wishing me a Happy Easter. OK. Sounds good to me. But at school? Having Easter Egg hunts? Putting up Easter Bunnies on the windows at the front entrance? I suppose its not putting up pictures of the Risen Christ, but hey... Still so foreign to me. hahaha.

What else? I don't know... My kids have all learned to play the piano, they ROCK, and they are amazing. We are going to do a Jazz unit after break based on The Princess and the Frog. I'm stoked. I think I'm even gonna have my kids sing one of the songs from it for our Spring Concert. I can already feel the end of the year bearing down upon me, yet it seems so far away at the same time. So much to do in so little time!!

Wish me luck on my plane ride. I'll see many of you at Mass on Friday and Sunday, and my fellow Newmanites at Easter Vigil.

Spellebration and More!

Well... since I jumped back into the whole school thing, I thought to myself: "Self, why not relive your days in the spelling bee?"

Granville Education Foundation has a fundraiser every year in which schools and community businesses enter into the spelling bee they host. Teams are made up of three people from that organization, and there are three rounds: Easy, Medium, Hard. Well... we weren't the first out, but we WERE the fourth!! hahaha. And each team has a theme: We were the Joe Toler Oak Hill(billies)

More importantly, I went and saw a movie yesterday that I encourage you ALL to try to get your hands on eventually. It is set RIGHT HERE in Oxford, NC, my current home. Back in 1970. It's called "Blood Done Sign My Name" and is based on a true story. Many of the people we watched the movie with were alive during this time. Many of the people in the movie still live in Oxford. One is the county commissioner.

Check out the link below for the trailer!! Look for the confederate soldier statue. It currently sits outside of the library, but people want it GONE. I, for one, am with them.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/127642/movie-trailers-blood-done-sign-my-name

Update

Still alive. :)

Didn't get the internship, but I was told that I should definitely apply for the induction internship: With my "interests and specific skills set" I would be a great candidate for it. I actually was wanting to be a TTL at induction, so I was planning on staying in town for that week anyway, and so I think I'm definitely interested!

Glossary:

Induction: The week before Institute in which all new CMs come to ENC for a week of bonding and an overview of the Institute experience

TTL: Transition Team Leader: CMs are broken into smaller groups and have multiple TTLs who act as leader/big brother/sister to help with the transition from college to the real world.

Institute: AKA "Teacher Boot-Camp"... where we learn in 5 weeks what education majors learn in 4 years. Baptism by fire is a great analogy.

CM: Corps Member (TFA is part of AmeriCorps)

ENC: Eastern North Carolina, where I live/work/play.

TFA: Teach For America.

long-overdue post

Well.. this post is long over-due. Its been a month.

Needless to say, I'm busy. I have been prepping for this big all-county concert that was SUPPOSED to happen this past weekend. BUT. We got snowed out. There was an inch of snow on the grass. Nothing on the roads. Well, I heard there was Ice...

Two weekends ago was the start of this so-called "Snow-mageddon" of the East Coast. It snowed 6 inches-ish... and then we were out of school through Wed. We had a late start on Thurs, and then canceled school again on Friday. Craziness.

So now I'm behind BUT my kids are actually rocking the content, so we are actually a week ahead of schedule, not counting the week lost, so really we are TWO weeks ahead of schedule. I'm going to test them this week and be done with it: Let's move on.

I got the Granville Arts Education Grant of $500, and I am buying keyboards with that money. I am STOKED. I will have a complete classroom set. :)

What else.. I dunno. Life is what it is. Its GREAT. I interviewed for an internship with TFA, and I'd REALLY like to get it, but we'll see.

What are YOU doing for Lent? I am going to say the rosary every night. I think its a good way to set aside time to pray. I like the meditative mood it sets you in as well. Chanting the same thing over and over has a way of letting your mind wander within the boundaries of the content in which you are chanting. I think its great.

Well.. 10% battery life is left, and its nearly 11pm. On a school night. WHY CAN'T I SLEEP!?

We made it!

Back from a glorious weekend in NYC. Thought I'd have city shock, but I didn't. It was kinda impressive.

Barb had never been to NY, so this was her maiden trip. It was cool. We stayed with my cousin Sara Roeder, and she was awesome. We had a GREAT time visiting with her.

I will post pictures later, but we saw The Fantastiks (off-Broadway, but the longest running musical EVER), and rockefeller, times square, madison square garden, WTC, battery park, central park, the met, statue of liberty, and ellis island. We were wiped on the train home.

And then i had a work day on Tuesday, but Barb had to work. Gross.

Its Finally Friday, and she's asleep on the couch. Its only 6:51 and we have a potluck to go to.

Oh! The timer went off. Gotta grab the pie and run!

And we're off...

And just to make sure we start the new year in style, Barb and I are headed out to NYC this weekend. WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!

We are staying with my awesome cousin in NJ, and we will be out to see the sights and sounds in teacher-fashion. AKA we will be eating cereal in the morning, packing PB and crackers for lunch, and window-shopping. 50% of TKTS booth for day-of Broadway tickets. See if we cain't get a teacher discount for the MET. Going to church at St. Patrick's on Sunday. This is going to be AWESOME.

Especially since I had a half day today (Thurs), a work day tomorrow, Monday off (MLK) and Tuesday is a work day too... I don't teach for nearly a week! WOW.

Not that I don't like teaching. My body is tired tho. Switching back into teaching is HARD.

SO EXCITED.

Back

For some reason, I keep hearing Relient K's "Boxing Day" in my head.

The Holidays ARE over, but that doesn't mean Christ is gone. It doesn't mean that the fun is gone. It just means we are moving on to the next season! We had a good year, now let's have another: Remembering all the good times that we had!

Tomorrow I start work. I flew home on Saturday. Came to an empty house. Barb doesn't get back until Tuesday. Sleeping in the house last night, knowing I was the ONLY ONE in the apartment was creepy. The wind didn't help. It completely DESTROYED the bow on our front door.

Am I ready for work tomorrow? Well, I'm ready to see all my homies: I've missed their joy and their laughter, even their insecurity. Its a blessing to be able to work with children.

New Year's Resolutions?
1. Spend a year with JP2!! Danielle got me a book of daily reflections from JP2's work. I'm sorta in love with that man. Too bad I forgot to do it last night... make up two tonight!

2. Keep better track of where I'm spending my money! Not that its a problem, I just want to get in the habit of keeping my checkbook better!

3. Hang out with TFA people more. Mom was laughing because I only talked about Barb the whole time I got there, and then didn't mention her for the last 3 days, because I ran out of stories. Basically the lesson here is that I need more friends. HAHAHA

4. Find a way to stay fit(ter) in the real world. I ordered an "AM Yoga" DVD today. 5 workouts. Hopefully I will be able to drag myself out of bed and do them!

Lastly, and most importantly, I want to make sure to spend this year touching people's hearts, and being a manifestation of the light of Christ to everyone I meet. Boy do I have a long hard road on that one... :-P

God Bless Us All in this New Year!