I Done Good . . .

Posted on November 29th, 2006 by gail helen.
Categories: Education, Personal, Omnia Vanitas.

Well, I had my first experience being observed teaching a class today. We did a graphical character analysis of The Crucible, and I think it went fairly well. My observer said I was very natural and had good rapport with the students. I was worried because the lesson ran long and we didn’t have time to get to the concluding points, but we will cover them tomorrow. The students were so good — participating actively & really thinking about the questions — that we’re going to bring in pizza for a little party, which should be fun.

Somedays, when things are going right, I just feel so at peace with my life. It is a good feeling to know what you were meant to do with your life, and to believe that you might actually be decent at it, too. I can’t wait to be teaching “for real.” I’ll have to try and hold on to this feeling for the rest of the week as I’m tearing my hair out trying to get all my coursework done . . .

Actually, forget the tearing, my hair is already falling out from the stress of school, working, and family. No joke, I actually have spots on my scalp that have thinned out in the last week, and everytime I touch my hair, I come away from it with a handful. Thank God there is only two and a half weeks left until I only have work & the holidays to contend with . . .

0 comments.

Strangers I Have Loved . . .

Posted on November 14th, 2006 by gail helen.
Categories: Relationships, Personal.

I have a terrible habit of falling in love with randoms that I will never speak to or see again in my life. Some of these randoms actually mean more to me than a couple of the folks to whom I’ve actually said the words “I love you.”

Today, I was driving home from my fieldwork in a local high school when “American Music” by the Violent Femmes came on the radio. Every time I hear that song, I think back to when I was 13 and saw the band for the first time in concert, with the first boy I ever really fell for. There was a couple there who will forever be etched in my heart as an image of love at its best. They were probably in their mid- to late-thirties, slightly out of place at this all-ages show, but just so damn happy with each other. When the band went into this song, they began to swing dance in this familiar way, slowly but lightly, like they’d danced to this song in exactly this same way for years. At the time, I was laboring under the heart-rending delusion of “my first true love,” an experience from which I still haven’t fully recovered. Watching those two dance, I suddenly thought to myself, “THAT is what I want.” Honestly though, I’m still not sure what I meant.

0 comments.