This weekend was exactly what I needed.
Saturday morning was nothing special. At eleven thirty I went to the Church to meet up with some people and then drove down to the Allred’s farm in Zebulon, about and hour and a half south from here.
Traffic was terrible. If I had not known that it was Saturday, I would have thought that it was just another day of the week on I75 south. Fortunately I was not in it that long and made it to my exit with no problems. We got to the Allred’s at about 1:30pm.
I spent the next couple of hours shooting skeet before I went back to the house to help grill lunch, which turned out really good. After lunch I decided to hang out in the cool of the living room and catch up on some reading.
At about 7:00pm we packed up and fought traffic all the way back but it was not so bad. I was totally relaxed, the weather was really nice, and the classic rock station was playing a lot of my favorites. In my opinion it only got better.
Well after I got home I went up to my room and then fell asleep around ten.
Thankfully Sunday was rather low key.
I woke this morning actually feeling refreshed which means it was a good weekend.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Relaxing
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Waiting
Today is Thursday. One week to the day since my interview with Special Education and ESL program at BYU. During the interview I was told that I could expect hearing from them in two to four weeks meaning that I have to wait.
This morning I was kind of stressed out about it. This is definitely my first choice when it comes to where I want to go to school this coming fall. But as the day went on, things got much better and by the end of the day I was doing very well and am now looking forward to celebrating my sister in law’s birthday this evening with the family and then hopefully going out with Lisa tomorrow night.
Well, until something interesting happens that is worth writing about I am going to go read the Old Testament. I am now in the third book of Moses aka Leviticus. I will let you know how it turns out.
Friday, March 16, 2007
A happy day
So yesterday I had an interview with the Special Education and ESL department at BYU. I feel as though it went very well. They asked me some questions to which I gave lengthy and detailed responses that they appreciated. Of all the things that they said, what they said made me stand out was my experience and determination. I felt really good about this.
Along time ago my mother said that she thought that I should go to BYU. At the time I did not think much of it, but now, perhaps she was being prophetic. There are so many things about going to BYU that make sense to me in both my heart and mind. But of all the reasons that I could list here, the most important one is that I want to go there. Sure, I have been accepted to programs here, but attending BYU would also allow me take part in other things that are just not available around here.
So now that the interview is done, I have another two to four weeks before I get either the thumbs up or the thumbs down.
But let us rejoice in this victory with the greatest German Disco group with the name of a medieval Mongolian warlord ever.
I give you Dschingis Kahn, anglicized Genghis Kahn.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
The Journal
Well, we are one month and three days in waiting for a response from BYU. A response could come from them tomorrow, or as late as sometime this summer. My attempts to find out when I will get answer either yea or nay have been ineffective and what they have said has not helped. Of the three times that I have contacted them, they have told me that in about a month I would have their answer. Unfortunately that month has come and gone and the mailbox has yielded nothing.
Lately I have found some things to pass the time. Of those things, writing a reflective journal of my mission in Northern California has been the most enjoyable. This has been a really good thing. I am finding that more good things took place on my mission then I remember. So far the journal is over twenty-two, single spaced, type written pages long. There is so much to be said, not simply in terms of recording events, but how I felt about those events then, and my thoughts on how they affect the missionary experience overall.
As I was writing this, I got a call from BYU. They wanted to have a phone interview with me this Thursday at 6pm EST. So this is a step in the right direction. I am going to do all that I can do to prepare for this interview. Hopefully it will go well.
Let's celebrate this development with some Arrested Development.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Sad Cows
For some reason this video is really sad. I know that they are just paper cows, but it gets me. My favorite line is "warm light, on a winter's day." Poetic and profound in a way that I cannot express nor describe.
Enjoy Pink Bullets by the Shins
Monday, March 5, 2007
Indie Rock continued
I discovered this band while watching Current t.v., a station "dedicted to today's current lifestyle". Whatever that means. But the band is Minus the Bear. Their music is pretty complex, but something that I find relaxing and cool. This song is called Pachuca Sunrise. Enjoy them, please, as much as I do.
Indie Rock
Last year I got into independent music and have been into it ever since. I would describe indie music as stuff that's out of the mainstream, will recieve limited, if any air time on MTV and other music channels. It is not a definite thing and is more of a fluid then static genre. I give you Bloc party. Their album Silent Alarm is really, really good. If you like it, show your support of indie music by purchasing it. Keep music and creativity alive and put "The Man" down :-)
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Teachers that matter
Last Wednesday night was my first class in what will be a ten session, fifty hour, professional learning class entitled Teacher is a verb.
The first activity was the class was to divided into four groups and, as groups, collaborated to come up with as many verbs as possible that describe everything we do as professional educators in any given day. None of the groups came up with less then one hundred and twenty verbs.
One thing that stood out was that a new kind of teacher is needed now more then ever.
We went over some statistics from a recent journal study. If they are accurate then they are alarming. For example one out of six girls is likely to be sexually abused by the time she is eighteen years old. One in eight boys by the time they are eighteen will have sexually abused as well. Right now the percentage escapes me, but most kids, especially girls, will be sexually active or engaged in sexual activity by their eighteenth birthday.
Another sad fact is the homes that many of our students are coming from. In some houses children have been hit with empty liquor bottles, or spend the night cowering in a corner or closet out of fear that someone will either physically or sexually abuse them. But it does not end there. Many children, even in wealthier areas, are neglected by parents who are so career oriented that they forget about those who they suppose that their long hours at the office are supporting.
We also took a brief look into what foster children, an ever-growing population, face as they are shifted from home to home and having little normalcy or stability other then , “In a few weeks, I will be someplace else”.
Is it any wonder why the some of the disadvantaged struggle in school?
In short, it is a sad, grotesque, perverted, and violent world that is reality for many young men and women.
Alarmingly, many of the typical role models are no longer the standard that many youth look too. Everyone that I had as an example of success and productive living has been discredited as they are involved in scandals which then become fodder for the twenty four hour cable news channels, who count on sensational journalism to keep ratings high and keep the coffers of corporate sponsors full if not running over.
So what does all this have to do with teachers? Here are things that I have observed.
• The roles of teachers have dramatically changed in the past ten years.
Veteran teachers, these are not the same kids you taught when you started.
• Saying I don’t get paid to do this is not an option.
• Your students will not brook hypocrisy.
• Those that are in it for summer vacations need to get out because they will
not be the kind of teacher that today’s kids need.
• Most importantly, students need teachers that are will to offer, humanity,
mind, heart, and spirit to them if a difference is to be made.
This will be the first in a series of posts about what is needed in those who are going to be teachers today and in the future. I say in the future because it will probably get far worse before it gets better, if it gets better at all.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Happy Monsters
I saw this on my mission and thought it was both cool and funny at the same time. I was over at a member's waiting for a my new companion to arrive when this came on the tube. I guess that it was lost on the four year old watching it, but I thought it was great. Enjoy R.E.M. and the Muppets (My favorite part is when Michael says,"come on monsters, we don't have to be sad, we can be happy).