just a quick announcement

I'm in love with my job again. :) I'm tired as all get-out right now (why oh why did I stay up until 10:30?????), but last night, I was just in such a fabulous mood.

Nothing has changed. My situation is exactly the same as it was before. I've just learned how to accept certain things, and see things as a learning opportunity.

Example--sixth hour has, in the past, not been the best hour. This week I stood between two girls as a fight almost broke out, moved one girl to the other side of the room and spoke with both of them as we were doing group projects. I probably should have sent them down to the dean's office immediately, but I have never had that happen before, so I went to find him after school. He was in an IEP meeting, and one of the girls told me she would go talk to him on her own. She did, and the following day, both girls were in the dean's office to talk about what happened.

It looks like we have some racism spilling out into my classroom. And while some people might be frustrated with that coming up in my classroom, I think it's a great learning opportunity. I am going to sit down and create a mini-lesson plan (a little unit and see where it takes us) on racism and effective communication. I'm not sure what to do just yet, but we're eventually doing To Kill a Mockingbird, and I have taught that before... I actually emailed my advisor a few days previous to see if I could do my thesis on a unit that focuses on white privilege and this novel.

So talk about coincidences and strangers meeting in unique ways a la Crash.