friday book review: the penderwicks

Birdsall, J. (2007). The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy. New York, NY: Yearling.

This is a very sweet story. Very nostalgic for a simpler time; the kind of book you could read to your children and not worry about anything objectionable. There is a little bit of wicked mother and stepfather issues, but it all works out in the end. Not much happens, but it was witty and compelling all the way through. I'd also recommend as a read aloud, since the voices are clear in the story.

a new venture

I've been away from far too long. The end of the semester is really kicking my behind. And I've been working on a proposal for and setting up a new blog for work. This blog for new teachers is a big experiment. It will be advertised to new teacher graduates of a collaborative of MN private colleges, of which my institution is a member. Though I suppose it could blow up (yeah, right) and other new teachers might come across it.

I'm not exactly sure how I got the honor of proposing, creating, and maintaining this blog; I think I mentioned blogging in my interview and one of my colleagues remembered that. But I actually think it will be kind of exciting to see how or if it works. I'm a little overwhelmed thinking about how to keep up with posting meaningful information for new teachers twice a week, but I guess we'll see what happens.

Anyway, that's my excuse for my absence. I'll be better next week.

time to be done with the snow, ok?

Seriously mother nature? We know that you're powerful and appreciate your "whimsy" at times. You've made for a really tough winter for a lot of folks around here. And the fact that it snowed today, APRIL 20TH!!!, is "fun" for some I suppose. And yes, it has since melted. But it's time to be done. We are done with the snow. We're done with mittens and scraping windows. We refuse to go back to winter coats. We're ready for spring. I'm not asking for miracles. It is late April, after all. Please???

come on teachers, you're killing me

There have been some really disturbing stories coming out of elementary school classrooms lately. While very far from and definitely not the norm, the actions of these teachers are not just irresponsible, it's down right appalling. Actually, appalling isn't strong enough. I'm not sure a word to accurately describe the disrespectful and hideous behavior of these teachers.

A teacher in Tennessee had her kindergarten students gather in a circle and oink at a student for being "messy."

A Virginia fourth grade teacher held a mock slave auction in her class. White students on one side of the classroom bidding on African American students.

When I hear things like this I think of all the fabulous teachers I know that have been laid off and have a hard time keeping a job in favor for teachers like these. Now, these are but two in millions of interactions between teachers and students that happen every day that are positive, affirming, thoughtful, and engaging. And yes, people make mistakes in all careers. But when you are a teacher, you are to be a champion for the marginalized, a support when all others fail, perhaps the one person a child can count on. You don't get to make these mistakes. These stories make me ill. Those children deserve better.

what are we supposed to do?

I am worried by this story from last weekend. I heard about it internally on Tuesday, and then it broke local news on Thursday. It is terrible in itself, and made even worse because she wasn't even being at all risky. It was 6 pm. And light out. On a Sunday. Granted, that area of river road isn't as well traveled as others. But really.

I worry about my students because, in thinking back to how I was in college, I wasn't always very smart about walking around at night. And I was on a small, isolated campus. And my students are in the middle of a residential area in a city. I'm also worried about it because I run by myself every day. And sometimes at 6 pm. I did a hill workout Tuesday evening in an area much more remote and probably not as safe as where she was. But what do I do?

I'm not stupid about things. I usually run in the morning when I figure even criminals have to sleep. And I don't want this stuff to rule my world. So I'm not sure what to do.

pitting support against jealousy

A friend met a guy a few weeks ago and is now seeing him several times a week. I'm happy for her. But if I'm being honest, I'm wicked jealous too. Jealousy is such a nasty, ugly emotion. I don't struggle with it often, but I admit it hits me now and again. I'm trying not to be and just be supportive. She should be happy and with a nice guy. Of course she should. And I think I should too.

I think it has a lot to do with the fact that turning 35 has really hit me hard, way harder than 30 did. I've had a crappy week with it weighing on me. I need to get over myself - it's just a number for pete's sake. But I see it when I look in the mirror. And especially with this extra weight I feel it too.

I guess this means it's time for me to start thinking about this again. I don't know how to do it because I hate the online dating forum. But I think my response to someone else being with someone means I should be putting some energy toward it. I know - I keep saying this. I've always been so good at setting and working toward a goal. But this is one thing that is so unwieldy I just don't know what to do about it. That's not completely true, since I've already done a lot about it in my 18 years of dating history. And now I don't have other options.

my favorite Bourbon Street memory

Though I've been on Bourbon Street before, I don't really remember my first experience. Not that I was so crazy wasted that I can't remember it, I just can't conjure up my impressions from that horrid spring break trip with coworkers my second year of teaching. I've blocked out most of the memories from the road trip, so it's no wonder I can't remember New Orleans. I remembered the beignets at Cafe du Monde though, and those lived up to my memory.

Anyway, because I can't really remember my first time here, I can't tell if this weekend was crazy by New Orleans standards or just a regular New Orleans weekend. It was the French Quarter Music Festival, and there were lots of people in town for that. The hotels were packed between our conference of 14,000 and all the folks for the festival. And the worlds collided on Bourbon Street. Bourbon Street was sad in some ways (lots and lots of strip clubs) and funny in others (there were many karaoke bars with bad singers) and pretty amazing (live music). We stopped in a tiny bar with a fantastic zydeco band. I even had a washboard thrust upon me to play.

But my lasting memory is likely to be this: As we were walking along with our obligatory hurricanes from Pat O'Brien's, I overhead an exchange between two women behind me. One exclaimed, "They were yelling from the balcony for me to show my boobs for beads! So I did! Just as P. David Pearson walked by!"

This probably doesn't mean much to some of you. But P. David Pearson is one of the reading research rockstars out there. He used to be at the U of M, but now he's at Berkeley. I would be horrified to know that he saw my boobs. But the story as is (i.e. not my boobs) was hilarious.

running in NOLA

My run this morning was not ideal. First off, I forgot a sports bra. I used to be so good about packing, but the last couple years I can't seem to leave without forgetting something. Two years ago at this conference I didn't bring any underwear. This fall at LRA, I forgot a toothbrush and tights. I passed a Lady Footlocker on my walk around the city yesterday when I got here - if only I had wandered in then. By the time I realized I didn't have the bra, the store was closed. I only brought one bra with me (which was probably stupid too), so I frantically ran up and down Canal Street, finally finding a dollar clothing store that was open. There was one plain white bra there for $5. It was not great, but better than nothing.

Then, the guy at the hotel told me the Riverwalk was 4 or 5 miles. Actually, it's .8 miles. And it was closed for the French Quarter Festival anyway. So I ran down a street and ended up in a sketchy neighborhood, backtracked with several false starts and zigzagged my way through the French Quarter. Though the signs of debauchery had been cleaned up, I still felt dirty running down Bourbon Street. I don't think I've seen that many strip clubs in one place since the last time I was on Bourbon Street. I did end up passing the Barely Legal club my students warned me about. Yeah, like I thought, not my kind of place.

And if I'm honest, I was excited to run in heat but it was tough. I forget how hard it is to run in humidity. But I'll be back at it tomorrow. It'll be better. And seriously, hands down it's better than -5 with a windchill.

turning 35

Thank goodness I have finally reached this milestone. I have been waiting with breath that is bated to be able to run for president. And finally it is here. But I'd probably get a lot fewer votes than Michelle Bachmann which would be super depressing.

Actually, I'm not all that excited to be 35. It seems really old. And I feel old. However, I was mistaken for a student twice today so that's good. And my students think I must be enough of a wild child to warn me that the club Barely Legal in the French Quarter is gross and that I shouldn't go there this weekend.

It was a gorgeous day in the Cities today. My sis brought dinner and cheesecake. I got lots of FB posts and emails and texts and calls. All in all, a really good birthday.

resolution check in: month three

Is it already that time again?

Resolution 1: Lose dissertation weight.
How am I doing? Awful. But resolute to begin again.

Resolution 2: Start saving money.
How am I doing? Budget is working well. I have enough saved for new garage doors and should have enough for the siding by the end of the month. I found out that I can't start investing in the college's retirement plan until next year, so I'm not thinking about that yet.

Resolution 3: Submit 2 manuscripts for publication.
How am I doing? Writing papers for presentations has taken precedence this month. But it's close on my radar.

Resolution 4: Read more for pleasure.
How am I doing? I'm doing ok here, all things considered. Haven't read much that I've loved, but I'm reading.

Resolution 5: Run another marathon.
How am I doing? Signed up and training plan started.

Resolution 6: Start dating again.
How am I doing? Not doing.

Resolution 7: Attend concerts where I don't know the music.
How am I doing? Still haven't done this. I haven't been to any concerts where I know the music either though. I have to have free time to do this. And I don't right now.

Resolution 8: Work on relationship with mom.
How am I doing? This has been going well. I snapped at my mom once while working on my taxes, but I'm forgiving myself for that one.

Resolution 9: Take vitamins.
How am I doing? I'm taking this off my list, since I've done just fine with this since the new year.

Resolution 10: Take a vacation.
How am I doing? Planned and (almost) booked. Headed to Athens, Greece in July.

Not too bad. But needing to focus a bit as spring is here.

friday book review: the graveyard book

Gaiman, N. (2008). The graveyard book. New York: HarperCollins.

This book won a ton of awards, including the 2009 Newbery Medal. It's been on my to-read list for a long time. I made a deal with my students that I would read as many books as they were required to read in my intermediate reading methods course, and this one fulfills a requirement in the 15 books we have to read outside of our course texts. So, I finally got to it.

The book opens with the murder of a mother, father, and sister. The baby had toddled out of the house and escaped the knife of the assassin. Baby wanders into a graveyard and, when the ghosts realize that the parents of this young boy had been murdered, they agree to raise the baby themselves. Nobody Owens, Bod for short, grows up in the graveyard, learning all sorts of ghosty things and ghost-like behaviors. But the assassin is still out there, looking for Bod. While he's in the graveyard, he's safe. But he's growing up and can't stay in the graveyard forever.

It was ok. I didn't fall in love with Bod as a character, and though there are some really clever things Gaiman does in his writing and with some of the characters, I just didn't love this one.