In My Wildest Dreams

Boxing and Barbies

Well, let's see. Where did I leave off in my last post? Hold on, I think I should go read it before I repeat myself. Oh yeah, okay. Raglan and generic ramblings on curriculum and instruction. Well, anyway, this week has been relatively uneventful. I caught one serious cold and have been feeling under the weather since Thursday, but starting to recover. Just a little tired and achey. I went to buy cold medicine on Friday--thought I must be getting some really powerful stuff cuz the pharmacist asked me for my identification and the meds cost me $30 including the lozenges (about $20 US). Turns out what I got was an ibuprofen/pseudophedring combo. Wow. So, like Advil Sinus or something. That's okay. Today I paid $20 for contact solution. It's just what things cost here. When in Rome, pay like you're in Rome...

This week in teaching... We have a new cycle of students which means 3 new sets of 30-35 students each--all year 8's. They are a tough bunch. It's a bit difficult 'cuz the cycles change every 3 weeks which means just when you've got one class working the way you want them to, you get entirely new classes. That's a bit rough on me since my classroom management is largely based on creating a rapport with each student. Hence, the tough as nails strategy all over again... I made one class line up and come in 4 times last week. And, still, four or five of them looked like didn't care if I made them do it all period, even though I was making them come back to finish the lesson during their lunch period. Wow. Well, I finally got them settled and we conducted the lesson in complete silence. The purpose of all this is to set the standard so that we can do more interactive things later without too many discipline issues, but-again, by the time later comes we get a new set of students. So, mostly this week's lessons on native birds of New Zealand have been based on independent work. Not highly satisfying for me or the students... Hopefully this week and next will be a bit smoother and we can do some cool things. I hesitate to report all of this because the last thing I want is for people to think, "Oh, it's THOSE kids...." It's not about that at all. Partly, yes--it's a different set of management strategies that reflect to a greater degree the type of discipline the kids respect in their homes, which is not necessarily well-matched to a White upper and middle class type of discipline system. And, also, there's the cultural difference that often with working class non-mainstream families, often parents/guardians expect you as the teacher to handle discipline in school, while they handle discipline at home. This means that a phone call or not home does not always effect the kind of behavior management that one might desire. The kids and the families expect you as the teacher to be the disciplinarian, to be able to manage the class. So, it's not bad or wrong, just different... and makes me wonder then if the school organization is as ideal as I originally thought. Although I think the principal is AMAZING, I do think that the 3-week cycle system leads to less risk-taking and creativity in instruction throughout the year. I believe that if I had the same classes for the entire four-month period that I am teaching here, things would be much different. People ask me was it easier or more difficult teaching in the Bronx, and my initial response is "easier," but I really do think that's because, although I had 150 to 180 students total, I had them for the entire year--enough time to work with and get good work out of almost each one of them. I would put up quite a fight if the administration tried to remove any student from my homeroom. Just leave them there. They need some element of consistency.

Well, on the social side of things, everything is fabulous. My flatmates are trying to get pregnant. I keep telling them they should just adopt me instead. They may actually be tempted :). On Friday we went out to dinner with some of Bridge's friends, then went to hear some live music. Was pretty fun. Then, Saturday Bridge and I went out for sushi and did a bit of shopping. I came back home and just chilled out, took a nap, until some people from my boxing gym came to pick me up and take me to ABA stadium that night. There were some fights going on. I was actually invited to fight, but my coach wants me to wait a couple of months. The girl I would have been fighting has had more than 100 bouts. Not a good match, he thought, even though it would have just been an exhibition fight. Too many promoters and she might get tempted to show off. Anyway, she ended up fighting (see blurry pic above) another girl anyway and actually lost by one point. It was a great fight,though. There were 6 total and the women's fight was probably the best, the most action packed. The other woman was in amazing shape--a trained kickboxer although this was a straight up boxing bout. Stacey, the girl I train with, had been sick all week and wasn't up to par although she still fought really well. The rest of the fights were mediocre except for one. Some of these guys, they're supposed to be pros, and they just get up there and jab jab jab. Boring. Same thing happens in the States. Anyway, no one except for Stacey from my gym ended up fighting because their opponents backed out at the last minute. Was kind of depressing for them. They'd been training so hard. But, it was something different to do and I had a really good time. 'Course I want to fight now! (Sorry, Mom. But don't worry--won't be any time soon. Anyway, it satifies my devious side and keeps me out of trouble!!)

Today, Bridge, Sarah, and I went to this costume place cuz we're going to a "Barbie Party" next week and we all have to dress up as some sort of makeshift Barbie. Anyway, I decided to do something easy and I'm going as "Flintstone Barbie," specifically Pebbles Barbie, although could also be "Cavegirl Barbie" or something. Anyway, I rented these animal print tall boots, a club, and a Stone Age looking necklace made from mammoth's teeth (okay, not really). Now I've got to go buy a doggie bone for my hair. Should be fun. The rest of today has been chill. Went grocery shopping and then got some work done for my student teaching portfolio. Had rented a movie but started to play it and realized I'd rented it like three or four months ago. Okay, no I've not been hit in the head too many times--that kind of short-term (lack of) memory runs in the family.

Love,
Me

posted by Sara @ 11:00 PM