:: p-dog ::

I spent all of yesterday playing with kittens in Sebastopol with Peanut. You must look at the pictures; they are the cutest thing ever.

Here's a taste:

:: Leslie H - 9:35 PM - ::

The verdict is in: I'm a liberal. Who's surprised?

I may be a permanent disappointment to my family.

Take this more-reputable-than-average quiz to find out which of the nine political typologies you fall into. And then tell me. I'm curious.

:: Leslie H - 2:16 PM - ::

Damn internet savvy children. Some of my 7th graders (not safely graduated alums) found our gallery, and one asked me today about the "dirty pictures" on my website. Also, I was informed, I was holding a beer in a Thanksgiving picture. Ms. Hall, do you drink?

Had they looked back to the college years, they could have found ample evidence...

I take comfort in several facts.
a) At least they didn't find this blog.
b) They will soon get bored looking at boring pictures of their teacher doing boring things.
c) I won't be their teacher in 12 more days.

I did wonder if my students finding gallery was at all related to the pictures of naked people in the Bay to Breakers album receiving more than double the hits of the others. But I know that's not just the kids. :)

:: Leslie H - 8:55 PM - ::

The staff retreat was a hoot; the anthem was a hit; and I got sunburned on the Great America field trip despite three applications of 45 spf. I may be sporting some funky tan lines in the bridesmaid dress come June 17...

:: Leslie H - 2:37 PM - ::

I was assigned to write a school anthem for our staff retreat this weekend, and I can't help but post it. I kept having to go back and replace negative, cynical bits with something more uplifting.

[I've stopped slinging my school name around with quite so much abandon after discovering--wait, no, being told by a former student--that pictures from our gallery were the first things to come up on google's image search when you typed in our school. And then when you clicked on them, it just started playing a slide show of every picture in gallery. For instance, now it would start with people dressed like genitals at Bay to Breakers. Hence, "F" = school name.]

Anthem
(to the tune of “Yellow Submarine”)

In the school where we work,
We don’t have AC to keep it cool.
We do our best to teach our kids,
But sometimes they don’t follow rules.
Some don’t do work, or join a gang;
(Last year was red, and now it’s blue.)
But every one of them’s a Saint:
We teach every kid at F School.

We all work at F Middle School…
…F Middle School…
…F Middle School…
We all work at F Middle School…
…F Middle School…
…F Middle School…

Enough textbooks can’t be found;
A lot of teachers don’t stick around.
But we that do, we are the best.

We all work at F Middle School…
…F Middle School…
…F Middle School…
We all work at F Middle School…
…F Middle School…
…F Middle School…

We teach electives on the sly;
Some district rules, we do defy.
We can do it F style
As long as we meet our API.

We all work at F Middle School…
…F Middle School…
…F Middle School…
We all work at F Middle School…
…F Middle School…
…F Middle School…

:: Leslie H - 7:07 AM - ::

Fabulous.

:: Leslie H - 3:46 PM - ::

Bay to Breakers today was everything I was promised: rolling kegs, home-made costumes, and naked people. I surprised myself by finishing the whole thing and can now say I've walked the width of San Francisco. Pictures are up, weeded, rotated, and commented upon. There are also new pictures in the Misc Spring album, including interior shots of our new apartment (which is in the process of being remodeled, so it's pretty scary).

:: Leslie H - 9:52 PM - ::

I've recovered sufficiently from losing my beautiful post the other day--enough at least to feel guilty for neglecting puddledog for so long. Hence, update, take two (less gracefully written this time).

1. Bryan and I found a place in Berkeley. Look how yellow it is!



We have the whole place. No, we have a small one bedroom in the back, for some insane monthly price I'm too ashamed to quote here. But it does have hardwood floors and is getting remodeled between now and our move-in date on July 15. And the location is unbeatable.

2. News of my exodus from FMS has finally trickled down to almost all of the staff, hopefully ending my guilt pangs everytime someone new found out and asked, wide-eyed with hurt, "You're not going to be here next year?" I've already dreamed up great plans for the newspaper-as-afterschool program next year. I just can't get loose. But I'm excited about the paper next year--the way it sounds, it will be all the great parts of teaching, once a week. Plus, I'll get a little income that will help bridge my own personal gaping budget shortfall.

3. I thought my crazy, sign-waving, whistle-blowing protest days were over when I left Austin. Wrong. Wednesday was California's "Day of the Teacher," which the Cali educators honored by protests at most school sites in the morning and large public gatherings after school. I didn't make it to the big afternoon events (but turn-out all over the state was high), but I was ambling around the front sidewalk of the school, hoisting incomprehensible signs and drinking coffee. About two-thirds of the staff turned out, all in turquoise shirts that read "Students are our special interest." Hand-painted banners proclaimed pithy slogans like "Hey Arnold: If you can read this, thank your ESL teacher!" and, curiously, (in Spanish) "Help us defend the governor's agenda!" because someone told our union rep that "defender" meant "defeat." (An unfortunate attempt to communicate with our mostly Spanish-speaking neighborhood.) All in all, though, it was quite a hoot.

:: Leslie H - 6:47 PM - ::

I just spent an hour writing a beautiful post that Blogger ATE, so you get NOTHING.

:: Leslie H - 8:53 PM - ::

Nostalgia prompted me to look through my scrapbook from last year, and I can't help reprising some student-work highlights. They're just too great.

A written complaint: "Sorry again But He Still is writing complains but alot of complains [here emotion overcomes her] luis enemy an Evil Squierl"

Quickwrite assignment on dealing with authority: "I had an incanter with the principle once or more than onces because I bit up this white bitch 3 times but I onny got cut 2 or 1 time and I got spended for 3 days. Thats cool because I had a short vacation."

And the all-time winner, featured in a post last March: Abraham's To Do list.

:: Leslie H - 6:47 PM - ::

Bryan and I spent yesterday apartment-hunting in the fine city of Berkeley. Armed only with craigs-listings, we set out bravely to find a servicable, conveniently-located, and not-too-ugly apartment that we will stay in, hopefully, for longer than a year.

Of course we geeked out completely. The six places we saw were meticulously recorded into our hand-written spreadsheet, to easily compare such features as parking, dishwasher and laundry availability, condition, and "prettiness." I took pictures of every room in every apartment, which I would post except that people were still living in most of the ones we viewed, and I would not want my messy bedroom posted on some stranger's blog. We discovered that a washer and dryer were available in most buildings, but dishwashers were rare. Alas. I would, however, rather wash my dishes in the sink than my clothes.

While we saw some decent places, nothing really jumped out at us. Bryan is going to see a few more this afternoon after his classes, but if they fail to wow, we may just call this last trip a rehearsal and try it again next weekend hoping for a better crop. Just one of the advantages of starting two months ahead of time.

In school news (28 days left), state testing began today. I prepared my chickadees as best I could, but I'm not too optimistic about their performance. Shortened class periods after morning testing mean less teaching time but additional student craziness, so it sort of balances out. It is a relief to be done with test preparation, though--one of my least favorite things to teach.

A few weeks ago, I finally told my principal I'm not coming back (news she accepted with the air of someone who has heard it many, many times before), so no one has to worry about letting it slip anymore. I have not told my students, and I don't know that I will at all. I'm considering it at the end of the year.

I think I've turned the corner, leaving frustration about the spring crazy that has come over my students, and entering the nostalgic time when nothing fazes me because I only have to put up with it for six more weeks.

:: Leslie H - 3:58 PM - ::