monday morning ughpdate (resumed)

now that summer is officially over (despite my squeezing the last drops of leisurely summer evening dates out of the days before my workload goes nuts), routines are coming back in full force.

and so monday morning ugh-pdates return, just as long as nobody mentions how it sometimes comes in the afternoon and how i don’t always feel horrible about monday mornings.

1. the mad men season 3 premiere last night did not disappoint.  since it’s not really available anywhere else except on actual cable television, which i usually don’t have and the boy does not either, i think we’re going to have to make it a sunday night date.  score one point for parents with cable.  i realize that the glory of mad men escapes some, but it is not lost on me.

2. this weekend was good.  like, good good.  the kind of good that is more like digging your hands in some rich cool soil on the first hot day of summer after a bone chilling winter, rather than a fleeting cotton candy tasting good.  yes?  we’re all together on the imagery?  yeah, so it was good.

3. i like my boyfriend, despite feeling a little silly saying the word “boyfriend” at 28 years old.  but then again, i’m also in a high school every day, so perhaps it’s fitting.  i got excited to go see him after school today, and i’m telling you that i’m not generally the smooshy excitable type, so this makes me very pleased.  him being in the same mood?  now that’s just good.

4.  jujubes.  i realize they have a bad rap, and i can’t say that i haven’t perpetuated this bad reputation in a previous life.  but ever since one of my favorite places in town started serving these little italian jujubes in lieu of an after-dinner mint, i’m hooked.  a little gummy, a little hard, delightfully fruity and not too sweet.  puntini, i’m in love.  so much so that the boy and i may have ordered some to go in this little candy jar i made him get.  it kind of looks like this (but yellow, and there is a set of them):

and now i have reason to say one of my favorite words more often.  “what is a puntini?”  a juuujuuube.  rolls off the tongue.

5.  my mentor teacher is this very entertaining black man whom i like to call “fitz”.  we get along very well thus far, and he’s been teaching for a gajillion years, so i’m in good hands.  today we put up his minimal classroom decorations.   they consist mainly of a series of black and white photographs of him in full mime costume making various faces.

no, i’m not kidding.

6.  i’ve been getting a lot of teacher swag lately, and in case that sounds really enticing, let me assure you that it is untrue.  some of it is helpful, and i’m appreciative (don’t get me wrong) as otherwise i’d have to get it myself.  what is teacher swag?  well, let’s see…i’ve gotten a gradebook, a cheap backpack (like the kind with strings as the straps that look sturdy enough to hold a sandwich…maybe) pencils, candy, a single band-aid, a shirt for the school i’m teaching at, a planner, and lots of paper.  today i got: a lanyard!

7. i don’t feel very grown-up yet, and i’m just fooling EVERYONE.  i mean, should i really be allowed to work with kids? 😉

8.  wanting long, shiny, zooey deschanel hair.  i’ll have to settle for the same color for now.

9.  i get the question “so…what exactly are you doing” a lot from people when it comes to my schedule these days.  understandable, as even the boy gets confused when i say “school” since that means about 3 different places now.  the fall semester goes a little something like this:

monday, tuesday, thursday, friday mornings and all-day wednesday:  i am student teaching at the Unnamed High School.  this entails me doing some observing, leading groups, teaching lessons with my mentor teacher.   i do this for 8 weeks, and then switch to Unnamed (New) Middle School for the last 8 weeks of the semester.  sprinkle in some seminars with my fellow student teachers who are at the same school as me each wednesday and the occasional friday.  lather, rinse, repeat.

monday, tuesday, thursday afternoons: i have a different education class each day.  these revolve around methods for teaching, literacy, etc.

that’s the semester.  oh, and i’m also doing my last english class via correspondence course with UC Boulder, too.  American English I.  good times.

next semester i actually student-teach full-time at an entirely different school in a different district, because i’m special 🙂  i’ll explain why at some point in the future, but i’m the only one who does this.  and no, it’s not because i’m bad 🙂 everyone else goes back to either the Unnamed MS or Unnamed HS to student-teach full-time.

this semester involves more teaching, including a minimum of 3 weeks solo teaching without your mentor teacher in the room, a teaching portfolio, and copious amounts of macaroni & cheese and cocktails to combat the heart palpitations i have while doing this.

graduation in may.

10.  the boy just walked in from getting groceries saying “i have a surprise for you”.  yesss!

11.  it was sushi for dinner.

12.  so now i’m going.

happy trails, friends.  i feel like as an almost-teacher i want to take roll to see who’s present.  like murray the band manager in flight of the conchords.  sara, present.  who else is here?