| Kim -- [adjective]: Smells like teen spirit 'How" will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com |
Friday, May 05, 2006
In the dictionary
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Wish Fulfillment
So the other day I wished for things at work to change . . . and now they're gonna! L, the boss from hell, is being transferred to our campus in Victoria! In approximately 5 weeks she'll be a distant memory - yipppeeeee! The current assistant director is going to become the new director, which is what should have happened 7 months ago when the previous director left. For the time being we won't have an assistant director, which is going to make things a little tough at first but I think everyone will adjust. Anyway, now I just have to survive the next 5 weeks with her ;-)
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Worst. Day. Ever. Period.
WARNING: For those who do not care for foul language, stop reading here. I have a feeling this post will be full of foul language!
So today I had possibly my worst work day ever. I had this funny feeling when I woke up this morning that I should just stay in bed. It turns out I was right. So here, preserved for all eternity, is what happened to me on May 3, 2006.
1. I got to work 5 - 10 minutes later than my normal time. This was planned because I'm tired of having to open the door on L's (The Director, other wise known as Dragon Lady, bitch from hell, etc.) day to do it. The phone was already ringing when I unlocked the door, but I thought it was more important to turn off the alarm than answer the phone. I spent the next half an hour waiting to see if the phone would ring again because one of my colleagues has been sick the past couple of days and I wanted to see if she would come to work today. She did, but only long enough to explain that due to some stress and mental health problems she's dealing with right now, her physical problems are being exacerbated and she doesn't know if/when she'll be able to return to work. Fucking great. I honestly do feel bad for her, but L is not a sympathetic person and wants to move her out of her current teaching job and possibly make her a TOC. That means the new TOC just starting out will take over for her, which means another fucking person I have to train and another fucking change for the students.
2. I waited and waited for the girl who subbed for my colleague the past two days to come in. 9am came and went and she didn't show up. I had to race around to find someone else to cover the class. The assistant director agreed to do it for a few minutes while we got another CA into the room. I had to spend another few minutes trying to figure out what had been taught the past two days so I could tell the new teacher what to teach. Luckily this person has been doing this job for a long time and can very easily and quickly adapt. She was fine for the rest of the day. While I was racing around I asked the receptionists if anyone had checked the messages that morning. They hadn't. They checked. The person who had been subbing for the past two days did indeed call in sick. Great.
3. During my second class of the day, one of my students left the room to join a student from another class in talking to L about a money problem relating to another student that had absolutely fuck all to do with them. L talked to them for close to an hour. WHY? Why did she talk to them for that long about something that was none of their business????!!!! My student missed the entire lesson and came in as I was letting the students finish some reading.
4. During the third class, one of my more problematic students mouthed off to me one to many times and I sent him out of the class with a dictionary to look up the meaning of the word respect. I had him copy the meaning. He managed, during the three minutes it took, to get into a conversation with a new teacher and get completely distracted. He completely missed the point of what I was trying to teach him. Great.
5. Lunch time. One of my less bright students came to the door of the lunchroom twice to get my e-mail address so he could send me some class materials he wanted me to print out. When I opened the e-mail I realized that my student had e-mailed me the completely wrong stuff. Wonderful. Who knows if he's going to have time to send me the right stuff?
6. Last class of the day. I'm thinking "great, only 1.5 hours left to get through before I can relax a bit in front of the computer and lose myself in curriculum work. WRONG! Three of my students were missing from class. One apparently went home sick. Two went to the bank together and were late getting back. When they arrived back they were in the middle of explaining that they ran into a former student who stole the wallet of one girl and they had to chase him down to get it back when two other students got into a swearing match over ?? It VERY quickly escalated and I realized that I had to remove the two students from the room and send them to L to sort out the problem. Here I was, naively believing that L would sort out the problem. As I was getting them to follow me out of the room, one of the boys, a shithead called Zack*, starting laughing at the anger of the other boy, Todd*. I could see it coming, but I wasn't quick enough to step between them and Todd literally kicked Zack in the ass. Well, by this point I'd really had it. I practically dragged them to L's office, explained the situation really briefly, and left them there. I was confident that L would keep them out of class as they had gotten into a physical fight. Nope. L brought Todd back to class a few minutes later and said Zack would follow in a few minutes because he was outside. Yep. Zack was outside fucking SMOKING! I didn't know we allowed that during class time. I'm thinking about taking up smoking now. As soon as Zack returned to the class, I could see by their body language that this problem had not been resolved and that there was going to be a fight. Luckily nothing broke out during class, but I knew at 3pm there'd be trouble. At 3 I asked Zack to stay behind for a few minutes in order to give Todd time to get away. I know that in a fight between the two, Todd would get his ass kicked. I talked to Zack and when I left class I didn't see Todd. I figured Todd had left.
7. I realized that I really needed some fresh air, so I headed to the door to go outside. I didn't even make it to the FUCKING door when I ran across the boy who had apparently gone home sick. He took one look at me and ran to hide in the boy's bathroom. I called him out of the bathroom and stared at him. He had the grace to look really embarrassed. I asked him if he knew why I was mad. He did. I asked him if he had told someone at the front desk that he was going home sick. He had. I took him to talk to that person at the front desk. That person talked to him for a few minutes and came into the staffroom to feed me the same bullshit story the kid fed him. AM I THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN TELL WHEN A TEENAGER IS LYING??? Why is lying straight to the teacher's face something that the students seem to be allowed to get away with? Then this person casually says "by the way, you know about the fight in the parking lot, right?" Christ. Bloody fucking hell. Yup, you guessed it. Zack and Todd, part two. A few minutes later Todd got a bunch of his friends together and they tried to gang up on Zack. Meanwhile, L had disappeared from the campus on a business-related meeting. She returned shortly after and ended up pulling Zack, Todd and Todd's friends into her office to "get to the bottom of this". I joined them. It was discovered at some point along the way that L had told Zack and Todd during their original meeting during class that it was okay to fight as long as it wasn't inside. Holy fuck woman! Are you a complete idiot??!! Then L goes on to lecture the students about how unsportsmanlike it was to gang up on someone and how unfair it is. Implied message: go ahead and fight as long as it's one on one. She did say a couple of times "no fighting", but what message do you think the students really took away from that? Then it came out that Zack took off his belt to hit Todd with. L told Zack that he shouldn't use his belt because it comes a weapon and he should only fight with weapons when he feels his life is in danger. Fuck yeah! Now when he gets into a fight again all he has to say to L is that he felt his life was in danger. Since he and his friends have L wrapped around their little finger L will probably end up throwing him a parade because he remembered her pearls of wisdom. L couldn't even get the boys to promise not to fight anymore!! She had them promise that the next time they felt like fighting they would go and talk to her first. Yes, because all teenage boys who get upset enough to get into a fight are rational enough to go and find an adult to discuss their feelings with first.
FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HATE L! I want to strangle her so hard that her little head pops off her little body. I am not a violent person, but I left work today so mad that I probably only narrowly missed having a heart attack. In case you couldn't tell, it makes me really, really mad that L doesn't think about the message she's sending to my students when she tries to discipline them. This over-50 woman, who has had two kids (boys) has no clue that my ESL teenagers routinely lie to her and play her for a fool. She thinks she's doing the right thing, but that makes her the president of fantasyland. No wonder we have problems with the students everyday! She can't even see that she's making the problems worse. This can't continue. It just can't. And I am still left with the question of why, when the two students came back to my class clearly still upset and with issues unresolved, she fucking sent them back to class.
* Names have been changed to protect their identities. This is Canada and in Canada we can't publish the names of youthful offenders due to the stupid Young Offenders Act.
So today I had possibly my worst work day ever. I had this funny feeling when I woke up this morning that I should just stay in bed. It turns out I was right. So here, preserved for all eternity, is what happened to me on May 3, 2006.
1. I got to work 5 - 10 minutes later than my normal time. This was planned because I'm tired of having to open the door on L's (The Director, other wise known as Dragon Lady, bitch from hell, etc.) day to do it. The phone was already ringing when I unlocked the door, but I thought it was more important to turn off the alarm than answer the phone. I spent the next half an hour waiting to see if the phone would ring again because one of my colleagues has been sick the past couple of days and I wanted to see if she would come to work today. She did, but only long enough to explain that due to some stress and mental health problems she's dealing with right now, her physical problems are being exacerbated and she doesn't know if/when she'll be able to return to work. Fucking great. I honestly do feel bad for her, but L is not a sympathetic person and wants to move her out of her current teaching job and possibly make her a TOC. That means the new TOC just starting out will take over for her, which means another fucking person I have to train and another fucking change for the students.
2. I waited and waited for the girl who subbed for my colleague the past two days to come in. 9am came and went and she didn't show up. I had to race around to find someone else to cover the class. The assistant director agreed to do it for a few minutes while we got another CA into the room. I had to spend another few minutes trying to figure out what had been taught the past two days so I could tell the new teacher what to teach. Luckily this person has been doing this job for a long time and can very easily and quickly adapt. She was fine for the rest of the day. While I was racing around I asked the receptionists if anyone had checked the messages that morning. They hadn't. They checked. The person who had been subbing for the past two days did indeed call in sick. Great.
3. During my second class of the day, one of my students left the room to join a student from another class in talking to L about a money problem relating to another student that had absolutely fuck all to do with them. L talked to them for close to an hour. WHY? Why did she talk to them for that long about something that was none of their business????!!!! My student missed the entire lesson and came in as I was letting the students finish some reading.
4. During the third class, one of my more problematic students mouthed off to me one to many times and I sent him out of the class with a dictionary to look up the meaning of the word respect. I had him copy the meaning. He managed, during the three minutes it took, to get into a conversation with a new teacher and get completely distracted. He completely missed the point of what I was trying to teach him. Great.
5. Lunch time. One of my less bright students came to the door of the lunchroom twice to get my e-mail address so he could send me some class materials he wanted me to print out. When I opened the e-mail I realized that my student had e-mailed me the completely wrong stuff. Wonderful. Who knows if he's going to have time to send me the right stuff?
6. Last class of the day. I'm thinking "great, only 1.5 hours left to get through before I can relax a bit in front of the computer and lose myself in curriculum work. WRONG! Three of my students were missing from class. One apparently went home sick. Two went to the bank together and were late getting back. When they arrived back they were in the middle of explaining that they ran into a former student who stole the wallet of one girl and they had to chase him down to get it back when two other students got into a swearing match over ?? It VERY quickly escalated and I realized that I had to remove the two students from the room and send them to L to sort out the problem. Here I was, naively believing that L would sort out the problem. As I was getting them to follow me out of the room, one of the boys, a shithead called Zack*, starting laughing at the anger of the other boy, Todd*. I could see it coming, but I wasn't quick enough to step between them and Todd literally kicked Zack in the ass. Well, by this point I'd really had it. I practically dragged them to L's office, explained the situation really briefly, and left them there. I was confident that L would keep them out of class as they had gotten into a physical fight. Nope. L brought Todd back to class a few minutes later and said Zack would follow in a few minutes because he was outside. Yep. Zack was outside fucking SMOKING! I didn't know we allowed that during class time. I'm thinking about taking up smoking now. As soon as Zack returned to the class, I could see by their body language that this problem had not been resolved and that there was going to be a fight. Luckily nothing broke out during class, but I knew at 3pm there'd be trouble. At 3 I asked Zack to stay behind for a few minutes in order to give Todd time to get away. I know that in a fight between the two, Todd would get his ass kicked. I talked to Zack and when I left class I didn't see Todd. I figured Todd had left.
7. I realized that I really needed some fresh air, so I headed to the door to go outside. I didn't even make it to the FUCKING door when I ran across the boy who had apparently gone home sick. He took one look at me and ran to hide in the boy's bathroom. I called him out of the bathroom and stared at him. He had the grace to look really embarrassed. I asked him if he knew why I was mad. He did. I asked him if he had told someone at the front desk that he was going home sick. He had. I took him to talk to that person at the front desk. That person talked to him for a few minutes and came into the staffroom to feed me the same bullshit story the kid fed him. AM I THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN TELL WHEN A TEENAGER IS LYING??? Why is lying straight to the teacher's face something that the students seem to be allowed to get away with? Then this person casually says "by the way, you know about the fight in the parking lot, right?" Christ. Bloody fucking hell. Yup, you guessed it. Zack and Todd, part two. A few minutes later Todd got a bunch of his friends together and they tried to gang up on Zack. Meanwhile, L had disappeared from the campus on a business-related meeting. She returned shortly after and ended up pulling Zack, Todd and Todd's friends into her office to "get to the bottom of this". I joined them. It was discovered at some point along the way that L had told Zack and Todd during their original meeting during class that it was okay to fight as long as it wasn't inside. Holy fuck woman! Are you a complete idiot??!! Then L goes on to lecture the students about how unsportsmanlike it was to gang up on someone and how unfair it is. Implied message: go ahead and fight as long as it's one on one. She did say a couple of times "no fighting", but what message do you think the students really took away from that? Then it came out that Zack took off his belt to hit Todd with. L told Zack that he shouldn't use his belt because it comes a weapon and he should only fight with weapons when he feels his life is in danger. Fuck yeah! Now when he gets into a fight again all he has to say to L is that he felt his life was in danger. Since he and his friends have L wrapped around their little finger L will probably end up throwing him a parade because he remembered her pearls of wisdom. L couldn't even get the boys to promise not to fight anymore!! She had them promise that the next time they felt like fighting they would go and talk to her first. Yes, because all teenage boys who get upset enough to get into a fight are rational enough to go and find an adult to discuss their feelings with first.
FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HATE L! I want to strangle her so hard that her little head pops off her little body. I am not a violent person, but I left work today so mad that I probably only narrowly missed having a heart attack. In case you couldn't tell, it makes me really, really mad that L doesn't think about the message she's sending to my students when she tries to discipline them. This over-50 woman, who has had two kids (boys) has no clue that my ESL teenagers routinely lie to her and play her for a fool. She thinks she's doing the right thing, but that makes her the president of fantasyland. No wonder we have problems with the students everyday! She can't even see that she's making the problems worse. This can't continue. It just can't. And I am still left with the question of why, when the two students came back to my class clearly still upset and with issues unresolved, she fucking sent them back to class.
* Names have been changed to protect their identities. This is Canada and in Canada we can't publish the names of youthful offenders due to the stupid Young Offenders Act.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
So funny . . .
Got this from Vesper:
http://img.quizgalaxy.com/pill-effect-bg.jpg); background-repeat: no-repeat;" width="400" height="515">
Kim Pills: Will cause an instant boost in original Nintendo play | ||
| 'What" effect do you have on people?' at QuizGalaxy.com | ||
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Counting my blessings
It's Sunday. I haven't been to Church (regularly) in a long time. It makes me feel a bit guilty, especially when I do go back for a Sunday service and get a warm reception (not to mention a healthy dose of "where have you been?" guilt). The reason I haven't been to Church in ages is simple - I've gotten lazy. Before I moved to my current place I used to have to either take a cab to Church (expensive at nearly $15 a ride), ask for a ride from a friend (which made me feel guilty and I HATED, above all else, to bug my friends for rides), or take the bus halfway and walk the rest (which took about half an hour, unless someone headed for Church stopped and picked me up along the way). Now that I've moved I have to take two buses to get to Church. It takes about 40 minutes. It's way easier to stay at home. I'm a horrible Christian. Since I haven't been going to Church regularly, I thought I'd take this time to make a list of my blessings. I strongly encourage everyone who is reading this to do the same.
1. It isn't raining outside.
2. I cleaned my house this morning. Finally. Let me say hooray for swiffer, vileda, tilex, and all other products that make cleaning just that much easier!
3. I'm getting my laundry done at home, and I've been lucky enough to have in-suite laundry at every home I've ever lived in.
4. I got to see a movie and have dinner with my best friend yesterday. My best friend has been talking a lot lately about marrying her longtime boyfriend and is thinking that December is a good month to get married. She says that I will be her maid of honour.
5. I know several people who are pregnant right now. Two are due in July and one is due in September. Hearing them talk about their excitement is contagious.
6. I have a newly married sister who is very happy.
7. I am in good health.
8. My mother is happily remarried and has an awesome husband.
9. I have a new, fast computer that I love playing with.
10. My students are learning! I marked their essays yesterday and without exception all of them have learned to indent their paragraphs, write topic sentences, and confine their paragraphs to one topic. If you knew my students, you would know what a huge accomplishment this was.
11. I have lots of friends at work who make the day pass much faster.
12. In my bedroom there are two big closets. Both are mine.
13. I have the unexpected blessing of a dishwasher. When I was looking for this place I never expected to get a dishwasher. My priority was the laundry.
14. I have money in the bank. Not a lot, but enough so that I don't have to worry about money every night before I fall asleep.
15. My wonderful mom and stepfather are coming over on Monday while I'm at work to fix a couple of small things in my place. Yes, this is what prompted me to clean this morning.
16. I have a step-brother and a step-sister on my mom's side and dad's side. All of us get along. How sweet is that?!
17. I have finally finished my TESL course, which gives me more work options.
18. I got a raise at work, so the paycheck I deposited on Friday was the biggest one I've ever deposited (don't get me wrong, I'm still barely above poor, but I like to think there's nowhere to go but up from here).
19. I can raise my left eyebrow independently of my right. This is a very useful skill when dealing with students as it tends to get their attention and signal that I'm not pleased with whatever they are doing/saying.
20. I completed the Sun Run last Sunday in two hours and twenty minutes. I know a lot of people who have never even attempted it. It was my SECOND time doing it and I felt frigging FANTASTIC when I was finished.
21. I have at least two books on my shelf that I haven't read yet and can't wait to start reading.
22. I get to borrow a DVD from my sister on Monday.
23. I bought a new purse yesterday.
24. I've met some cool people online by surfing blogs.
25. I live alone (no annoying roommates to bug me!) and don't have to answer to anyone.
26. I have not one, but two pairs of sexy boots.
27. I bought new clothes last weekend.
28. I still have a whole day ahead of me to do whatever I WANT!
That's one blessing for each year I've been alive :-)
1. It isn't raining outside.
2. I cleaned my house this morning. Finally. Let me say hooray for swiffer, vileda, tilex, and all other products that make cleaning just that much easier!
3. I'm getting my laundry done at home, and I've been lucky enough to have in-suite laundry at every home I've ever lived in.
4. I got to see a movie and have dinner with my best friend yesterday. My best friend has been talking a lot lately about marrying her longtime boyfriend and is thinking that December is a good month to get married. She says that I will be her maid of honour.
5. I know several people who are pregnant right now. Two are due in July and one is due in September. Hearing them talk about their excitement is contagious.
6. I have a newly married sister who is very happy.
7. I am in good health.
8. My mother is happily remarried and has an awesome husband.
9. I have a new, fast computer that I love playing with.
10. My students are learning! I marked their essays yesterday and without exception all of them have learned to indent their paragraphs, write topic sentences, and confine their paragraphs to one topic. If you knew my students, you would know what a huge accomplishment this was.
11. I have lots of friends at work who make the day pass much faster.
12. In my bedroom there are two big closets. Both are mine.
13. I have the unexpected blessing of a dishwasher. When I was looking for this place I never expected to get a dishwasher. My priority was the laundry.
14. I have money in the bank. Not a lot, but enough so that I don't have to worry about money every night before I fall asleep.
15. My wonderful mom and stepfather are coming over on Monday while I'm at work to fix a couple of small things in my place. Yes, this is what prompted me to clean this morning.
16. I have a step-brother and a step-sister on my mom's side and dad's side. All of us get along. How sweet is that?!
17. I have finally finished my TESL course, which gives me more work options.
18. I got a raise at work, so the paycheck I deposited on Friday was the biggest one I've ever deposited (don't get me wrong, I'm still barely above poor, but I like to think there's nowhere to go but up from here).
19. I can raise my left eyebrow independently of my right. This is a very useful skill when dealing with students as it tends to get their attention and signal that I'm not pleased with whatever they are doing/saying.
20. I completed the Sun Run last Sunday in two hours and twenty minutes. I know a lot of people who have never even attempted it. It was my SECOND time doing it and I felt frigging FANTASTIC when I was finished.
21. I have at least two books on my shelf that I haven't read yet and can't wait to start reading.
22. I get to borrow a DVD from my sister on Monday.
23. I bought a new purse yesterday.
24. I've met some cool people online by surfing blogs.
25. I live alone (no annoying roommates to bug me!) and don't have to answer to anyone.
26. I have not one, but two pairs of sexy boots.
27. I bought new clothes last weekend.
28. I still have a whole day ahead of me to do whatever I WANT!
That's one blessing for each year I've been alive :-)
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Dreams
Recently I had a dream that I was chewing gum and it turned to cement in my mouth and pulled out 4 of my teeth. I was too embarrassed to go visit my dentist (in the dream) because I recently was at the dentist to get some dental work done and I didn't want him to see that I pulled out the teeth with gum. Wonder what that means?
I have dreams of travelling to Russia. There are lots of place, primarily in Europe, that I want to visit, but right now Russia is at the top of my list. I want to visit St. Petersburg. That would be totally sweet.
I dream of having a husband one day. But at the same time I love my independence and I don't want to give it up.
I had dreams about the situation at work changing. Will that dream ever be realized?
I have dreams of travelling to Russia. There are lots of place, primarily in Europe, that I want to visit, but right now Russia is at the top of my list. I want to visit St. Petersburg. That would be totally sweet.
I dream of having a husband one day. But at the same time I love my independence and I don't want to give it up.
I had dreams about the situation at work changing. Will that dream ever be realized?
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
You know those cheesy e-mail surveys? This isn't one of them!
Okay, I admit it - I secretly adore those internet surveys that I get sent from my friend Debbie (strangely, I never get them from anyone else). That's probably why I like filling in and posting these memes. Without further adieu . . .
I AM: a conscientious teacher
I WANT: more sleep! More days in the weekend!
I WISH: that I could travel more! I want to see Europe, New York, Las Vegas, and Japan!
I HATE: liars!
I MISS: my dad! More accurately, I miss the dad I knew growing up. My dad has alzheimer's disease. He lives in the hospital and sits in a chair all day. He is not the man I remember. I miss my old dad so much that sometimes when I think about him (no matter where I am) I cry.
I FEAR: never falling in love!
I HEAR: a commercial, my own inner voice telling me to dust (don't worry, I've been ignoring that voice for a few days now so I'm not about to leave you mid-meme!)
I WONDER: how I will feel tomorrow when I see a particular man I had a huge crush on last year.
I REGRET: not knowing German. Luckily I still have time to learn!
I AM NOT: pretty. It's true.
I DANCE: sexy, according to my students. They have vision problems. I like moving to music, but I'm not particularly good at it.
I SING: whenever I hear a song I like, or whenever I think of a song I like. I sing when I'm happy, and I sing when I'm stressed out or sad.
I CRY: When I laugh so hard that tears come out of my eyes! I also cry when I'm sad.
I AM NOT ALWAYS: the hard-ass some people think I am.
I MAKE: people smile, laugh, and learn.
I WRITE: e-mails, memos, curriculum, blog entries.
I CONFUSE: myself sometimes!
I NEED: more sleep! A long vacation where I am required to do nothing more strenuous than decide which beach to go lie on.
I SHOULD: dust. Not going to happen until the weekend though!
I START: reading good books.
I FINISH: reading good books.
I TAG: anyone reading this :-)
I AM: a conscientious teacher
I WANT: more sleep! More days in the weekend!
I WISH: that I could travel more! I want to see Europe, New York, Las Vegas, and Japan!
I HATE: liars!
I MISS: my dad! More accurately, I miss the dad I knew growing up. My dad has alzheimer's disease. He lives in the hospital and sits in a chair all day. He is not the man I remember. I miss my old dad so much that sometimes when I think about him (no matter where I am) I cry.
I FEAR: never falling in love!
I HEAR: a commercial, my own inner voice telling me to dust (don't worry, I've been ignoring that voice for a few days now so I'm not about to leave you mid-meme!)
I WONDER: how I will feel tomorrow when I see a particular man I had a huge crush on last year.
I REGRET: not knowing German. Luckily I still have time to learn!
I AM NOT: pretty. It's true.
I DANCE: sexy, according to my students. They have vision problems. I like moving to music, but I'm not particularly good at it.
I SING: whenever I hear a song I like, or whenever I think of a song I like. I sing when I'm happy, and I sing when I'm stressed out or sad.
I CRY: When I laugh so hard that tears come out of my eyes! I also cry when I'm sad.
I AM NOT ALWAYS: the hard-ass some people think I am.
I MAKE: people smile, laugh, and learn.
I WRITE: e-mails, memos, curriculum, blog entries.
I CONFUSE: myself sometimes!
I NEED: more sleep! A long vacation where I am required to do nothing more strenuous than decide which beach to go lie on.
I SHOULD: dust. Not going to happen until the weekend though!
I START: reading good books.
I FINISH: reading good books.
I TAG: anyone reading this :-)
Monday, April 24, 2006
Changes
My students have gotten me thinking about all the changes that have been happening at my school lately. They have heard that our Activities Coordinator is leaving (Friday is his last day), and they found out last week that they will be changing teachers (not me, their other teacher) tomorrow. Their "old" teacher isn't leaving, she's just going to be teaching another level. They're getting a little freaked out and keep asking me if I'm going to be leaving them. I keep telling them that I'm staying put, but I'm not sure they believe me. I'm not looking for a new job right now, but my job has been posted out because over the summer my school would like me to focus on administration and not on teaching. I haven't actually told my students that yet. They have no clue. Now, if they did hire someone to teach for me, that person could theoretically start teaching as early as next week or the week after. That's a bit scary. I love my students and I can't really envision someone else teaching them. Also, I have a feeling that even though they would still see me every day, they would NOT be happy if I stopped teaching them right now. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm a pretty darn good teacher and I'd like to think I've made personal connections with each of my students. But, we'll see what happens. At the rate the resumes are coming in right now, I'll probably end up teaching all summer!
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Victory!
Got home a short while ago from the 22nd annual Sun Run. I feel awesome! I just walked it (like I did two years ago), and I completed it in approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes. Last time I did it, it took 2 hours and 35 minutes. Ten kilometres - fantastic! I feel pretty good. A little sore, but otherwise fine. Of course, ask me how I feel tomorrow . . . I've done a little stretching, which should help ease the stiffness for tomorrow. I'll go sit in a hot bath soon too. It feels great to have accomplished this goal!
Friday, April 21, 2006
An Update on Work
When I last posted I was afraid that the sh*t was going to hit the fan as a result of a talk that the boss's boss had with her based on complaints from me and a couple of other colleagues. I was really nervous about how yesterday was going to go. I didn't know how the boss was going to react, but I was pretty sure it was going to be negatively. She didn't disappoint! I got the evil eye, which isn't really unusual for her. Our few exchanges were rather terse. The Assistant Director bore the brunt of her wrath though - apparently they had a closed-door *talk* that involved tears from both parties. Resignation was mentioned by the witch, but we still don't know for sure if this is just talk. I guess the next couple of weeks will tell the tale.
Here's what I don't get though: the woman is desperately unhappy in the job and even if she were happy, it's a hugely stressful job. Now that she knows that she has no friends at work, why would she stay? Ultimately isn't that worse for you and your life satisfaction? I know I've complained about work, but at the end if the day, I still laugh a lot more than I frown and I care about my students and teachers. I think of the teachers under my charge as *my* teachers, and I get VERY protective of them. My students are like my kids (even the annoying ones), and I am equally protective of them (and by protective I mean I always have their best interests at heart - academically, behaviourally, and socially).
I think the next few weeks will be more stressful for her than for any of us. I'm pretty sure she's going to be under a microscope from above because we were told that if her behaviour doesn't change then further action would be taken. In the past 48 hours, this 52-year-old woman has refused to look certain people in the eye (me included), has been rude and abrupt with people she has to work closely with, and has flat-out lied to the entire staff during a staff meeting while at the same time making a really rude and inappropriate comment. Isn't that a good indicator of maturity and suitability for the job? Mind you, I suppose if I'm being fair I would have to admit that I don't know if my reaction in her situation would be much better. I have to think it would be, but I don't know.
Anyway, the bottom line is that I refuse to let her attitude towards me and my colleagues affect my mood and attitude at work. During the past 48 hours I have still been the same cheerful person I've always been, even when dealing with the witch (whom I don't actually call the witch at work, in case you were curious). I have been friendly and polite to her and even though she acts miserably, I don't let it get to me. If she thinks that she can make me miserable, she's got another thing coming. I'm damn stubborn and I refuse to be made to feel bad by her. It's become a challenge now - I CAN and WILL outlast her.
Here's what I don't get though: the woman is desperately unhappy in the job and even if she were happy, it's a hugely stressful job. Now that she knows that she has no friends at work, why would she stay? Ultimately isn't that worse for you and your life satisfaction? I know I've complained about work, but at the end if the day, I still laugh a lot more than I frown and I care about my students and teachers. I think of the teachers under my charge as *my* teachers, and I get VERY protective of them. My students are like my kids (even the annoying ones), and I am equally protective of them (and by protective I mean I always have their best interests at heart - academically, behaviourally, and socially).
I think the next few weeks will be more stressful for her than for any of us. I'm pretty sure she's going to be under a microscope from above because we were told that if her behaviour doesn't change then further action would be taken. In the past 48 hours, this 52-year-old woman has refused to look certain people in the eye (me included), has been rude and abrupt with people she has to work closely with, and has flat-out lied to the entire staff during a staff meeting while at the same time making a really rude and inappropriate comment. Isn't that a good indicator of maturity and suitability for the job? Mind you, I suppose if I'm being fair I would have to admit that I don't know if my reaction in her situation would be much better. I have to think it would be, but I don't know.
Anyway, the bottom line is that I refuse to let her attitude towards me and my colleagues affect my mood and attitude at work. During the past 48 hours I have still been the same cheerful person I've always been, even when dealing with the witch (whom I don't actually call the witch at work, in case you were curious). I have been friendly and polite to her and even though she acts miserably, I don't let it get to me. If she thinks that she can make me miserable, she's got another thing coming. I'm damn stubborn and I refuse to be made to feel bad by her. It's become a challenge now - I CAN and WILL outlast her.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Will the Sh*t hit the fan today?
So I'm a little worried about what's going to happen at work today. Regular readers of my blog know that I have a boss who is completely unqualified for her job and a real tyrant. Her *antics* are really becoming a problem in the workplace and many, many people are unhappy working for/with her. Here's an example of something that happened yesterday: Between classes we have a ten minute break. There are clocks all over the school and all of them are slightly off with their time-keeping abilities because they're cheap clocks. My watch always tells correct time and I periodically reset my classroom clock because some of my students have issues with lateness and I want to make sure they know the correct time. Yesterday after the break I returned to my classroom only to discover that my classroom clock said 11:44 when I knew that it was only 11:40 and I was on time for class. My students took great glee in informing me that I was late, but I knew I wasn't and that the clock had been changed. That really pissed me off because I've had students tamper with my clock before (which is dumb because I always wear a watch). Anyway, when I asked them who changed the clock they all replied "(name of boss) did it!" Which (name of boss) confirmed a few seconds later when she walked past my classroom. Needless to say, this made me LIVID! This is just one example of the little mind games my immature, 52-year-old boss plays. I think she knew that I went to her boss earlier in the morning to complain about her. Several other employees in the past couple of days have also complained. So yesterday evening before we left, the boss of our boss went into her office to have a closed-door chat with her about her behaviour, language (she swears like a trucker and in the workplace it's not appropriate) and other things. I have to be honest - I'm worried about what the fallout will be today! I know that we were in the right and we didn't exaggerate or lie about anything, but my boss is not the type of person to recognize her faults and try to change. She's a mean, vindictive person who will likely either give me the cold shoulder all day (which would be fine), play more mind games today (geez, grow up already!), or come in to have a confrontation with a few of us this morning (not a fun way to start the day!). I'm hoping that since she's already unhappy in her job that yesterday would have just put her over the edge and she'll end up quitting, but I don't know if I'm that lucky! I'll update when I know more!
Saturday, April 15, 2006
I'm Finished! (Alternate title: I spent $749 on that?!)
Woot woot! Yup, those happy cries are coming from me 'cause I JUST FINISHED MY LAST ASSIGNMENT for my TESL course. Yup, it's true! My last assignment is finished - all I have to do is print it out and send it in! I started this online course about 6 months ago. Basically, I was told at work that I had to get my TESL certificate in order to continue teaching at my school. Despite the fact that I have a teaching degree from UBC, that apparently isn't good enough to teach in the ESL industry. This online course that I just finished was the cheapest course I could find that didn't require me to take time off work for a practicum. There are a couple of other people at work who are doing the same course right now too. I suppose we could have argued that it wasn't our fault the company hired us, and kept us employed, knowing our qualifications. But, since this was something I had thought about doing before, I figured I may as well get it over with now. At least this way I can say I have a TESL certificate if/when I apply for other jobs. Right now I'm just thinking about how I can celebrate this accomplishment since this course has taken up all my weekends for the past 6 months!! I did write once on this blog that I was going to go out and buy a new Nintendo game when I finished, so maybe I'll spend some time at Best Buy this weekend. Anyway, for now I'll just continue with the loud and proud "woot woot!"
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Wwwwaaaaahhhhhhh!
Okay, this is really immature, but I just discovered that my VCR did not properly tape a show I wanted to see! I got 6 minutes of the show and THAT'S IT! How unfair is that?! Now I'm going to have to wait until next week to see what happens and that SUCKS! I know, I know, there's more to life than TV, but after a tough 3 days with my teenagers I was just looking forward to chillin' with my models (yes, the show I was trying to tape was America's Next Top Model). Sigh.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
A Prison Diary
I don't normally post book reviews on my blog because that's not what this blog is about. I'm making an exception this time because I just read a book that really moved me. I'm a big fan of Jeffrey Archer - I've read just about everything he's written. I just now finished volume one of his prison diary, aptly titled "A Prison Diary". I picked it up from the library to try it out since I am a fan of his fictional books. I did not expect to have my eyes opened by the book - nor did I expect to absolutely devour it so voraciously. The books chronicles his first 21 days in prison - what new experiences he goes through, how he spends his days, and the people he meets. Prison, as you may expect, is highly routined and so I figured that the book would get a little stale. It's Archer's descriptions his fellow inmates that hooked me. He recounts exactly what these people are in prison for and what these people tell him. In a word, it's fascinating. The book made me laugh and cry. I will now think twice when I hear people talking about how cushy jail must be since the prisoners are "given three square meals a day and free television." There are two other volumes in Archer's prison diaries publication and I've got both of them on hold at the library.
What about you? What books have you read recently, or not so recently, that surprised you or made you think about something in a different way?
What about you? What books have you read recently, or not so recently, that surprised you or made you think about something in a different way?
Sunday, April 02, 2006
My sister is a married lady now!
Well, my sister is now Mrs. Lance Richardsen! She probably won't use that name much, but symbolically it's a big change! The wedding was beautiful and went off without a hitch, so I'm pleased about that. Even though it rained most of the day, nobody cared. Jennifer looked absolutely gorgeous in her sky blue dress and I wish I had some pictures right now. Lance looked very handsome in his blue pin-striped suit, and just as they are every other day of the year, they complemented each other nicely. Everyone in the bridal party (me included, shock of all shocks!) looked awesome and the day was magical. Of course during the vows I nearly lost it twice, but I managed to hold it together. The reception afterwards was great and everyone had a good time. There wasn't much dancing, which may have been the only thing that Jennifer will later be disappointed about, but the music was rather jazzy and kind of hard to dance to. I was the first person to dance actually (with Jerry, my friend Amy's boyfriend) and I found it hard to keep time with the music. It was still fun though . . . Overall I think everyone had a spectacular time and now the bride and groom will be able to enjoy their Mexican honeymoon!
Monday, March 27, 2006
My First Ever Meme
10 Favorites
Favorite Season: Spring
Favorite Color: pink
Favorite Time: 5:30pm - time to leave work!
Favorite Food: chocolate
Favorite Drink: coca cola
Favorite Ice Cream: vanilla
Favorite Place: my bed
Favorite Sport: to watch: hockey, to play: volleyball
Favorite Actor: tough one . . . either Kevin Kline, or Hugh Laurie
Favorite Actress: geez, even tougher! I think, for right now, Angelina Jolie
9 Currents
Current Feeling: tired
Current Drink: 5-Alive
Current Time: 10:51pm
Current Show on tv: The Apprentice (taped it earlier)
Current Mobile used: LG 200
Current Windows Open: are you kidding? Only my blog since my computer is so freakin' slow right now
Current Underwear: purple
Current Clothes: blue pajamas
Current Thought: I'm hungry again . . . must resist
8 Firsts
First Nickname: Kim (my full name is Kimberly)
First Kiss: a guy who was my best frined at the time. Now, we don't talk but not because of the kiss
First Crush: my fifth grade teacher, Mr. Zapf
First Best Friend: Amy
First Vehicle I Drove: well, a grey Mazda was the first car I ever practiced in. Still don't have my license, so maybe it wasn't a smart choice?
First Job: office helper at my dad's garage
First Date: a movie
First Pet: Anka, a black lab
7 Lasts
Last Drink: water
Last Kiss: geez . . . how sad! I DON'T REMEMBER!
Last Meal: steak at the Keg
Last Web Site Visited: Vesper's blog . . . where I got this meme
Last Movie Watched: Selena (on tv)
Last Phone Call: my mom
Last TV show Watched: The Apprentice (tape is over now)
6 Have You Evers
Have You Ever: Broken the Law: yes, but minor
Have You Ever Been Drunk: nope, never. Believe it or not, Vesper!
Have You Ever Kissed Someone You Didn't Know: nope
Have You Ever Been in the Middle/Close to Gunfire: nope
Have You Ever Skinny Dipped: yes
Have You Ever Broken Anyones Heart: nope
5 Things
Things You Can Hear Right Now: a commercial on tv
Things On Your Bed: uhhh, two pillows, a duvet, soon me
Things You Ate Today: a chicken burger and fries at lunch, steak and garlic mashed potatoes for dinner
Things You Can't Live Without: books, movies, my friends . . . and chocolate
Things You Do When You Are Bored: read
4 Places You Have Been Today
my place, Tim Horton's, work, the Keg
3 Things On Your Desk Right Now
whoa, okay . . . my computer, an empty glass, the remote control
2 Choices
Black or White: Black
Hot or Cold: usually cold
1 Place You Want To Visit
ooooh . . . current number one is Moscow, Russia
Favorite Season: Spring
Favorite Color: pink
Favorite Time: 5:30pm - time to leave work!
Favorite Food: chocolate
Favorite Drink: coca cola
Favorite Ice Cream: vanilla
Favorite Place: my bed
Favorite Sport: to watch: hockey, to play: volleyball
Favorite Actor: tough one . . . either Kevin Kline, or Hugh Laurie
Favorite Actress: geez, even tougher! I think, for right now, Angelina Jolie
9 Currents
Current Feeling: tired
Current Drink: 5-Alive
Current Time: 10:51pm
Current Show on tv: The Apprentice (taped it earlier)
Current Mobile used: LG 200
Current Windows Open: are you kidding? Only my blog since my computer is so freakin' slow right now
Current Underwear: purple
Current Clothes: blue pajamas
Current Thought: I'm hungry again . . . must resist
8 Firsts
First Nickname: Kim (my full name is Kimberly)
First Kiss: a guy who was my best frined at the time. Now, we don't talk but not because of the kiss
First Crush: my fifth grade teacher, Mr. Zapf
First Best Friend: Amy
First Vehicle I Drove: well, a grey Mazda was the first car I ever practiced in. Still don't have my license, so maybe it wasn't a smart choice?
First Job: office helper at my dad's garage
First Date: a movie
First Pet: Anka, a black lab
7 Lasts
Last Drink: water
Last Kiss: geez . . . how sad! I DON'T REMEMBER!
Last Meal: steak at the Keg
Last Web Site Visited: Vesper's blog . . . where I got this meme
Last Movie Watched: Selena (on tv)
Last Phone Call: my mom
Last TV show Watched: The Apprentice (tape is over now)
6 Have You Evers
Have You Ever: Broken the Law: yes, but minor
Have You Ever Been Drunk: nope, never. Believe it or not, Vesper!
Have You Ever Kissed Someone You Didn't Know: nope
Have You Ever Been in the Middle/Close to Gunfire: nope
Have You Ever Skinny Dipped: yes
Have You Ever Broken Anyones Heart: nope
5 Things
Things You Can Hear Right Now: a commercial on tv
Things On Your Bed: uhhh, two pillows, a duvet, soon me
Things You Ate Today: a chicken burger and fries at lunch, steak and garlic mashed potatoes for dinner
Things You Can't Live Without: books, movies, my friends . . . and chocolate
Things You Do When You Are Bored: read
4 Places You Have Been Today
my place, Tim Horton's, work, the Keg
3 Things On Your Desk Right Now
whoa, okay . . . my computer, an empty glass, the remote control
2 Choices
Black or White: Black
Hot or Cold: usually cold
1 Place You Want To Visit
ooooh . . . current number one is Moscow, Russia
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Moving Day for Jenn, Part II
Just got home from helping sis move. It was fairly exhausting and it made me realize that for all future moves I'm either going to move into places with elevators, or I'm hiring people! My sister's new place is very nice and I'm sure that she and Lance will be very happy there. Having the door on the lowest level of a 3-level place is really going to get tiring though. I will say this though - they have their washer and dryer on the top floor with the bedrooms and that will be very nice for them. Sweet machines too - I'm jealous! The three bedrooms will definitely give them more space for their computers and their musical instruments, etc. All in all, they have a great new place!
Moving Day for Jenn
Today is my sister's moving day - yippeee! Of course I'm on the moving crew, so that's cool. The only bad part is that the new place is kinda far from me . . . particularly since I have to take the bus to get there. I think to take the bus would take me about 30 minutes, which isn't that bad . . . but still a little further away then we've ever lived from each other! Anyway, the only other thing that kinda sucks for moving day is that the only door is on the very bottom floor, so all the stuff that has to go up to the bedrooms has to go up two flights of stairs! At least Jenn and her fiance are early in their life together (if you can call dating for 6 years and living together for 3 of them early) so they don't have a whole heck of a lot of stuff yet. I'm just super-excited that I get to see their new place since I haven't seen it yet! Mom has seen it already as she got to see it during the walk through a couple of weeks ago. She said it was really nice so I'm looking forward to the whole experience. Particularly since they are serving refreshments to the moving crew! Anyway, speaking of moving . . . I'd better get myself moving so that I'm ready to leave the house!
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Yahoo!
Here are my reasons to shout yahoo:
1. I got my new phone today. Baby, I don't know how I lived with my old phone for so long, this new phone is so great! It's sleek, sexy, and has colour! Best of all, my current wallpaper is a frog.
2. Tomorrow is Friday . . . 'nuff said.
3. My sister is moving this weekend and since I'm helping I finally, finally get to see her new place!
4. My sister is getting married in 8 days!
5. Tomorrow night is pub night and a bunch of us staff are going together.
6. My taxes are done already!
7. In a few short days I'll get to see my friend Heather, who has been teaching in Korea for the last year. We're going to have dinner and catch up on ALL the news!
8. I have two new books and a new magazine to read.
9. I'm almost finished adding a third month to all levels of my grammar curriculum.
10. It's Spring!
1. I got my new phone today. Baby, I don't know how I lived with my old phone for so long, this new phone is so great! It's sleek, sexy, and has colour! Best of all, my current wallpaper is a frog.
2. Tomorrow is Friday . . . 'nuff said.
3. My sister is moving this weekend and since I'm helping I finally, finally get to see her new place!
4. My sister is getting married in 8 days!
5. Tomorrow night is pub night and a bunch of us staff are going together.
6. My taxes are done already!
7. In a few short days I'll get to see my friend Heather, who has been teaching in Korea for the last year. We're going to have dinner and catch up on ALL the news!
8. I have two new books and a new magazine to read.
9. I'm almost finished adding a third month to all levels of my grammar curriculum.
10. It's Spring!
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Getting a new phone tomorrow!
Yippee! Tomorrow afternoon I'm getting my new cell phone! It's a flip-style phone with a camera. My current phone is about 5 years old. The antenna is broken and it's beginning to look really worn. Since I have to renew my phone contract next month anyway, I decided to get a new phone at the same time. I'm pretty excited about this (can you tell?).
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