I pride myself on finding fabulous deals and getting things free or almost free.  Today I  paid $4.73 for nine items that originally rang up $48 something.   That means I paid about 10%.  Here is a pic of the items purchased and the receipt.

It is rare, but sometimes I get in the mood to create.  Today while sitting in faculty meeting I got the urge to draw while looking at my mini paper cup and paper plate.  A teacher liked it so much that she asked if she could have it because she was going to use it as an art assignment. This is what became of the urge.

I have needed a laptop bag for my MacBook so I decided to make one.  Here are some pics along the way and they final product.

I have been thinking lately about being a teacher for the thirty year stretch.  I have only been teaching for three years and I just can’t imagine myself teaching forever and then retiring.  I love teaching, especially when you get to be with the same group of students for two years in a row, but I have all of these other things I want to do.

I want to open a charter school or some school where people higher up are not breathing down my neck telling me what time I can teach which subject.  I became a teacher because I took a class in college and on the first day the professor put a blank map of the world in front of us and told us to label nine countries.  I couldn’t do it.  I was 22 and I couldn’t do it!! I looked around and I saw that there were others that couldn’t do it.  I realized that the only reason I couldn’t do it was because of my base education.  That is the exact day that I decided I would become an elementary teacher. I wanted to give my students a better education than I received.  Little did I know I wouldn’t be able to teach social studies or geography or a whole list of other subjects that make learning worth while.

I want to open a shop.  Where I live in Salt Lake there are cute little shops that I love walking into.  One of my favorites is called The Children’s Hour.  They import a lot of their stuff from Europe.  It is adorable and small.  Another store I love walking into is a consignment store called Emilie Jayne’s.  It is tightly packed and organized by color.  I also love small coffee shops and specialty shops.  I would love opening up my own shop and running it everyday.

I hate how society sets up life for us.  Go to school, get a degree, do work for 30 years in the area of your degree, retire, and then enjoy life.  Why should we wait until we are 65 to fulfil our dreams.  Why do we have to be what our degree says we are.  I am a teacher, but before  that I am a person.  Why should we limit ourselves to what society expects.

If you have seen the video of the Lingo Kid in India you know it truly is amazing.  If you have not seen it watch! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PrleqeCAPw]  A few years later the same guy who filmed this went back to India found the Lingo Kid and took video of him again.  This video is also a  must see!

I applaud sufiwindsurfing for making these videos and promoting understanding between cultures.  Don’t look at this and think that this boy has a sad life because he doesn’t go to school and has to sell things on the side of the road. Remember that this is a different culture and just because it may not match with what your idea of a good lifestyle is doesn’t mean it is a sad life for him.

I couldn’t be more excited to move to India in August.  I am constantly having people say things to me like, “Your not going to be able to handle it there.” or “Where are you going to live? Do they even have houses there?” or “Are you going to eat water buffalo?  You know you can’t just go get a burger don’t you?” I also get comments like “What’s it like there?” or “What are you going to do while you are there?” or “Are you excited?” or “What kind of food do they have there?” You can clearly see the difference between the two sets of questions.  I am able to tell right away if the people that are asking the questions have an open mind about different cultures or are shut off to anything that is different from what is “normal” in their eyes.

Truthfully I can’t wait to go.  I can’t wait to quit my job, sell everything, and experience something on the other side of the spectrum from my life here.  If I could give one piece of advice it would be to stop thinking that you are normal or your life is normal because what is normal to you is not normal to someone else.

It is time. It started today. The dreaded end of year testing. As a fifth grade, public school teacher, who’s school has been failing the No Child Left Behind test, I am required to teach 90 minutes of math and 145 minutes of literacy everyday. I am also required to teach 45 minutes of ELD (English Language Development), and there is a 45 minute rotation block built in for other things like library and PE. There is little to no time to teach Science and Social Studies.

I feel like I have failed as a teacher because I have not been teaching these two subjects much this year. We started the Science test today and the district tells us (not in so many words) that it’s ok that we aren’t teaching science and it’s ok if the students don’t pass science because it doesn’t count against our school for No Child Left Behind. I am saddened and disgusted by the way our public school system works. I know that this kind of stuff can’t be happening to schools that are not Title I. This kind of stuff is happening around the nation in schools that are not passing. We are not developing well-rounded future leaders. Our students will be able to read and do math, but what else?

I came across this video about a year ago and it makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time because it is so very true. I want parents to realize how much power that they have when it comes to public schools. We can stop this from happening. I am embarrased to say that I am a public school teacher that has been working in this kind of system. The system will remain this way unless parents and teachers start taking a stand and saying that this is not ok.