Life in South Florida

The conclusion of jury duty + some school info

2010-08-22T19:41:00.001-07:00

I had to go back to the courthouse for an hour on Tuesday, basically so I could wait around to find out that I didn't get picked. The people that did get chosen weren't thrilled... If it took more than a day just to pick the jury, I wonder how long the actual trial was. I hope it's over by now!

School (with students) starts tomorrow. We had open house on Thursday night, and I got to see six out of nine of my students. It went really well, and I'm actually pretty excited for tomorrow! I do have one issue though...

Most of my students ride special buses... some people call them "short buses" but whatever. :) Anyway, their parents have to call transportation to get their buses set up at the beginning of the year. I have a student who speaks some English, but his mom only speaks Spanish. I found out from transportation that the student had been calling the bus garage on Friday, trying to set up his own transportation. A general ed middle schooler would have enough trouble doing this, but since it's one of my students, I'm definitely a little worried about him getting to school tomorrow! And, of course, he can't just ride one bus and get to Yearling. He actually has to go to another school and switch buses. I just don't know how this is going to work out... I need to review my emergency procedures to make sure I know what to do when a student is misplaced...

Looking forward to a great first day! (Ugh... teacher talk is pretty annoying...)

Jury Duty- Day 1

2010-08-16T17:49:00.000-07:00

Most of the people I know went to work today. I went to jury duty. I didn't want to go, but it turns out, I feel the need to complete my civic duty.

We had to report at 8:45. The first thing we did was fill out a two page questionnaire that asked questions like what your job is, have you been committed of a crime, are you a citizen, etc. All of this occurred in a holding room. It wasn't too bad in there. We got to watch the Today show, and I studied some organic chemistry flashcards and read some of my book. We also had to watch a couple of informational/instructional videos about the justice system, democracy, and the United States. I watched them out of one eye and listened with one ear because I did take US government after all, and have a fairly solid knowledge about the balance of powers, etc.

It was all fine and dandy in the holding room. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and around 10:30, we started lining up to go up to the court room. At this time, only 50 of us remained. I am number 49. Out of 50. If I actually get chosen, I have really bad luck!

Hearing about the case was also interesting, including the detailed description of the charges, etc. And that's pretty much where the fun ended. The next 6 and a half hours (minus an hour for lunch) were spent sitting on wooden church-like pews. The prosecuting lawyers got to ask their questions first, including explaining to the jurors about the rules of trial, etc. I don't know how many times I heard today that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty. I didn't think that was such a difficult concept until the prosecutor went around asking individual questions, and time after time after time people said that they already thought the defendant was guilty. Maybe I gave some of the people of Okeechobee too much credit?

The prosecutor wrapped up his business around 2:15, and he was ok. His personality wasn't particularly abrasive, although he did have a weird laugh. I liked his tie. His sidekick (another attorney who didn't say much) has a girl's first name and a crew cut. I spent a lot of time wondering about why men get crew cuts, because when they look down, the middle of their heads look bald, because the hair is really short there. The lawyer with the girl's name also had glasses. I liked his glasses.

Once the defendant's lawyer got up there to start his questioning, it was really all over for me. First of all, he was wearing a bow tie. Not necessary. Maybe he wore it because he thinks it makes him endearing. It doesn't. It makes him more annoying. The lawyer, who I will call Bowtie, talked to everyone like they were 5 years old. I don't know if it's because it was late in the day so I was more irritable, but every time he spoke, I felt my eyes start to roll. I had to keep my head down for a spell so I wouldn't seem disrespectful. I'm so glad Bowtie didn't get to interview my row (the last row) because we were running short on time. I probably would not have been able to say nice things, or even to say things nicely. Ugh. He was just so annoying.

We were asked to leave the courtroom about ten til five, and right after five we got called back in. We were told that they were not going to be able to pick the jury today, and that we would all have to report back tomorrow at 10am. This is really inconvenient for me. I really just want to go to work!

There are some more stories about potential jurors, but I'll get to see them all again tomorrow. I'll post about them then. Best quote of the day from Juror #25: "I don't know much about the legal words you are using. I mean, I didn't wake up this morning thinking maybe I'll sort out a serious criminal case today." Maybe you had to be there, but it was really great at the time. Also, there is no set pattern to the lighting scheme in the courtroom, no matter how many different ways I tried to count to figure it out. I guess I can try again tomorrow!

Last weekend of freedom!

2010-08-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

School starts for teachers on Monday. I will not be attending, as I have been called upon to serve jury duty. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to go, but I called the hotline and didn't get the good news I was hoping for.

I've accomplished a lot in my classroom the past couple of days, which is most excellent as I will not be in attendance Monday. If I actually have to serve on a jury, then... I don't know, I guess I'll just play it by ear.

This weekend, I'm going to study... and nap. I might go to the beach, but I will probably not be out at the bars. I'm waiting for a PAYCHECK. This girl needs to get paid year round!

It has been hot hot hot down here, but so far no hurricanes. I've been seeing tons of shooting stars, though. Yay :)

Another year, another Day of the American Cowboy

2010-07-25T08:11:00.000-07:00

I got back to Okeechobee late Friday night. I ventured out the next morning to get some dog food, water, butter... you know, the essentials (my roommate had made a list!). Driving through town, I saw the flashing signs that said "7-24-10 Cattle Drive" followed by "EXPECT DELAYS". Once again, I stumbled on the Day of the American Cowboy. If I had known, I might have changed my shopping plans to go home and change into my cowboy hat.

I hear the festivities this year were really a step up from previous years. Not only was there a cattle drive through town (standard), there was also a rodeo!! I would feel bad about missing it, because who doesn't love a rodeo? BUT, it was hotter than hot with a thousand million percent humidity yesterday, so I'll just stick with the fall/winter rodeos.

We went out to the Bream Room last night, which was completely packed from all the excess cowboys being in town. The band played some good country music, (seriously! the band was good!) and we all hung out and danced a little. Overall, a good night. I wish I had taken some pictures of the bling-bling belts that I saw MEN wearing. Serious rinestones. Serious sparkle.

Today involves going to the pool, then coming home and unpacking. I figure if I keep putting unpacking on my to-do list, it will eventually get done. Also emailing. Although, emailing has been on my list for a couple of weeks now... Sorry if you are waiting for your inbox to chime! Any day now... :)

Summer Time! 2010

2010-07-17T12:27:00.000-07:00

I got a request to blog again. So I will. I'll try to be more dedicated, but it's not something I really think about that often. Maybe it will be different this time... but maybe not! :)

I'm spending most of my summer in Alabama this year, which has been nice. It's definitely been nice to see the family... although, if I could get my MCAT scores, I would probably be enjoying myself a little more. Or maybe less? At least I wouldn't be dealing with the unknown... waiting patiently does not appear to be one of my strongest character traits.

I am changing positions again next year. It will be my 5th group of teachers to work with in 5 years. Looking back, I haven't really been stable in my job! Oh well, change is good when you're doing something that can be boring. I'm really excited for next year- it's going to be something that I've never done before! I'm going to be teaching the severely mentally handicapped students... from Down's Syndrome to Autism to low IQ to emotional issues... It is going to be a challenge, but I think that I'll be able to do a good job. I've been doing some reading up on the subject as well as trying to learn a few words in sign language. The reading is going better than the sign language. I'm still not that coordinated, and I really could be saying all kinds of things with my hands. Who knows!

I will be returning to Okeechobee next week, probably towards the end of the week. It will be nice to be home. I'm ready to take my new car on the journey to see how it does! It it a luxury vehicle compared to my Honda, although I did love her (RIP Flora... or continue living the good life, if that is your destiny!)

Change is hard

2009-01-08T14:22:00.000-08:00

My job position was eliminated, so I'm taking an open 7th grade language arts job. I'm busy making new lessons, gettng my room moved, and breaking hte news to my special ed students. Some take it well, some take it poorly. I took it poorly at first too. It's going to be an adjustment. I officially start on Monday.

The weather is breaking news...

2008-11-19T16:42:00.000-08:00

This is the email I got yesterday, sent from the county office:

Issued at: 4:02 AM EST 11/18/08, expires at: 7:00 AM EST 11/19/08 Wind chill advisory in effect from 3 am to 7 am est tonight. A reinforcing cold front will move south over the area today ushering in colder temperatures into the area today into tonight. Lows over northern and interior locations will fall into the mid to upper 30s tonight. This combined with winds around 10 to 15 mph will create wind chill temperatures in the upper 20s to low 30s late tonight. A wind chill advisory means that very cold air and strong winds will combine to generate low wind chills. This will result in frost bite and lead to hypothermia if precautions are not taken. If you must venture outdoors, make sure you wear a hat and gloves.

Only in south Florida would low temperatures result in breaking news. My favorite part is the last line: If you must venture outdoors, make sure you wear a hat and gloves. I was a little concerned, as I do not have a winter hat here in Florida. In compromise, I wore my hair down so it could cover my ears, and I put my hands in my pockets.

Luckily, I did not suffer from either frost bite or hypothermia.

School Spirit

2008-09-24T18:04:00.000-07:00

We have a theme this year at my school. It's "Huntin' for the 4th A" as we have been an A school three years in a row and want to make it 4. We get letter grades from the state based on our standardized test scores.

Anyway, last year we were "surfin' our way to our 3rd A." That was an ok theme. We could wear brightly colored flower shirts and claim the school spirit had touched us. This year, since we are apparently hunting, we have a free pass to wear camouflage shirts every Friday. It's actually more than a free pass, as my principal has declared every Friday to be Camo Friday. He hunts. He's thrilled he can wear camo to school and call it appropriate principal attire. I, on the other hand, have never hunted. And I've never been in the military. You can probably see where this is going.

I did not own one single piece of camouflage attire. So the first Camo Friday came around, and I did what any school-spirited teacher would do. I went to the hunting and gun section at Walmart and made my first camo purchase. I went with a nice pocketed t-shirt with a very fetching branch, leaf, and possibly bird motif in the lovely colors of brown, gray, and tan. I wore it proudly to school. I got several comments (which I decided to take as compliments) from other teachers.

The next Thursday, there was an announcement after school. The Army Surplus Store (the name is kind of misleading as they sell many, many things not related to the Army... or Surplus...) decided to stay open an extra half hour so we (the teachers of my school) could purchase... PURPLE CAMO shirts. I raced to the store. I made my purchase. I wore my purchase at school the next day. Somehow, I did not feel quite as ridiculous as when I was wearing hunting camo.

The next week I ran into a sort of situation. It was going to be hat day. And Camo Friday. At the same time. I had some choices to make. Do I wear a camo shirt and forget about a hat? Do I try to find a hat to match a camo shirt? Do I get a camo hat? What kind of shirt do you wear with a camo hat? The last question reveals my choice. I made another trip to Walmart on that Friday before school. I found a nice camo cap in the hunting section. It was a bargain at $2.50. (Hunting clothes at Walmart are cheap... maybe to offset the price of the gun and ammo?) I thought that maybe a camo shirt and hat at the same time would be a little too much for me so I settled on a compromise.

I wore my camo hat. And I wore a purple school shirt. I had my school name proudly displayed on my shirt and a camo hat on my head. I just wanted to repeat that for effect. I was the epitome of school spirit that day.

I almost feel the need to buy more camo so I can continue to mix it up on Fridays. Almost.

Monthly Update?

2008-09-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

So much has happened in the past month. I'm actually not joking.

We started school on August 18, then due to lovely Tropical Storm Fay, we had two days off school. The storm was actually worse than everyone thought it was going to be, because it sort of stalled over my area and dumped a ton of rain on us. There were a lot of roads that were flooded, but the coastal areas near me had it much worse. One town had over 200 of its roads closed due to flooding. There was some flooding my yard, along with a lot of fallen palm fronds. I took some pictures on my cell phone, which is why they're a little on the blurry side.

Luckily, I have amazing yard people that mow, weed, etc. and one day I came home from school to find the yard cleaned. It was actually on the Thursday right after the storm. They are pretty much great, and because apparantly there is a lot of competition for lawn business, the price is right. As in not very much per week for all the work they do. Anyway. I digress. I did lose cable and internet for a few days, but all in all, it turned out ok. There were even a few restaurants in town that were open. Of course all the bars were as well. "Hurricane parties" seem to be a pretty popular way of passing the time.

After the storm, school continued as scheduled, and I'm starting to get to know my students. One has already been expelled for bringing brass knuckles to school. I just hope that doesn't set the tone for the rest of the year!

Skip ahead to Labor Day weekend: Emily came to visit! It was really perfect timing because the rodeo was here, which is obviously a big deal. I had to go to Eli's Western Wear to get advance tickets. That's serious. I think her favorite parts were Mutton Bustin' and the Calf Scramble. Both involve children, so it's got to be cute. The first event is where mean parents sign up their children to right sheep, and the announcer makes fun of them for crying when they fall off. Highly entertaining. The second event was open to any child under 10. The kids gathered in the arena (there were probably 100 or so...) to chase around 5 baby cows with ribbons on their tails. The kids who get the ribbons first get a prize. It's pretty great. There was also some pretty feirce roping and bull riding. The bull rider from Okeechobee qualified for the finals, which were held the following day. What a great, proud day to be from Okeechobee.

Another highlight of Emily's trip was being able to go around to all the local hot spots. And by hot spots I mean bars. I even dragged her to 8 Seconds, even though she didn't really want to go because she was tired. I think she's secretly glad she went though. It's an experience. We did stay just long enough for beer to get spilled all over my feet, then I felt it was time to go.

I also started my classes at IRSC (Indian River State College), but more on that another day. It's way past bedtime.

Public forums on the internet

2008-08-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

I lived in ignorance for a long time. I, unfortunately for me, was informed of this website http://www.newszapforums.com/forum58/ which is basically an open forum for Okeechobeeans to post their opinions about things. All kinds of things. Including the local teachers and school board and everything that is wrong with the system, etc. I learned of this website on Saturday and so far I've gone on everyday (yes, both Sunday AND Monday) since.

The most interesting thing I've learned was about the man from Okeechobee running for president. He unfortunately had to drop out but will continue in the campaign of another presidential candidate, for whom he will serve as vice president, if elected. I want to believe it. I saw some websites. It's just so far out there. I don't think his party is really even recognized. But I'll give him an A for effort. His post was actually full of misspellings, and in his picture on the website he was wearing sunglasses. I'll try to find the link to that one.

The other thing that I've learned, which is actually a little useful, is that I can take the Amtrak from Okeechobee to Orlando for $20. I can go to West Palm Beach for $12. That doesn't seem bad at all. I should ride the train somewhere one of these days. The only problem is that there is only one trip per day, and one return per day (and the return is before the departure...) so I'd have to stay overnight. Unless I met a friend there and they drove back to town, but I'm not sure if that might defeat the whole purpose of taking the train. But our station might close before any of this becomes an issue. That would be unfortunate, what with all the plans I'm making...ha.

One more week of vacation before it's back to school. No big plans, except for maybe going shopping out on the coast. Maybe going to the beach. I'll watch out for sharks.

Something exciting happened in this town...

2008-07-27T15:29:00.000-07:00

And apparently I slept through it. Saturday was the Day of the Great American Cowboy or some holiday with a name very similar to that. On normal holidays, the town has a parade. We have a Christmas Parade, a Labor Day Parade, a Speckled Perch Festival Parade, etc. The Cowboy holiday was in a league of its own, though. A regular ol' parade just would not do, so the town had a cattle drive. Through the middle of town. I mean, the streets were closed off so that a bunch of horse-riding cowboy-hat-wearing manly men could guide cows down the city streets. Believe me I'm sorry I missed it. I saw some pictures in the newspaper and it looks like there was quite a crowd to cheer on the cows. Which is good, because that way the cows really feel appreciated and feel like it's worth it to walk through town at 8am. Ha.

I've spent a lot of time out of town this summer, but since I've been back this time, I haven't managed to go one single place in town where I didn't run into someone I know. Sometimes I just want to pick out a movie to rent in peace. Or run into to renew a prescription without seeing students. Or go out for my birthday and not see my former student's father. Although, he did buy me a drink, in honor of my aging another year. I'm sure that probably breaks some kind of code of ethics or something, but technically the child isn't my student any more so... ?? It's a mystery.

I'm getting ready to go back to school, if only for the fact that I need some structure back in my life. I made a list of things to accomplish around the house today, but only actually finished one task. Looking around on Google Earth was too great a distraction. It really brought me back to college, a time in my life when I wasted hours online, just to avoid other things, like papers and required reading. The only thing that has really changed is that now I'm avoiding housework and chores. Some things never really change.

Valentine Surprise

2008-02-13T16:38:00.000-08:00

We're in full swing with the FCAT writing test. The students have to take the writing test about a month before the reading, math, and science tests because it takes so long to grade, so this little mini-testing period is preview for the real deal. It's going ok, but it's so tedious to give to special kids. They get all the time in the world, and I can read them the questions on the multiple choice part if they ask for it, and most of them ask. Makes for a long few days.

I have a homebound student who is such because he broke his leg and has to say in bed most of the day. I went over to his house this afternoon to drop off some more school work and to give him the essay part of the test. He finished his test, so before I left I asked if he had anything to give to me to take so school. I was thinking something along the lines of schoolwork or assignments to be turned in. He told me he wanted me to give something to a girl. I was still pretty clueless, still thinking it would be some kind of book or homework or something. He gets out this big Valentine's day gift. He tells me to give it to Jani. I asked him what her last name was, just to be sure I was giving to the right person. He did a little headshake and said wistfully that he never knew her last name. At this point I'm already about to crack up, but to make sure I knew who he meant I asked him to tell me what she looks like. He said she's short. That's all. Just short. Like being out of school has made him forget what she looks like? I knew I had to leave right at that moment because I was about to burst out laughing!

All I know is tomorrow, I have to find this girl and deliver the gift, and I just hope that she has some kind of good reaction I can tell him about, and doesn't decide to act in the typical middle school way, which is to act too cool for everything. Even if she does that, I already decided I'm going to lie and say she liked it. He's going to be out of school for at least 4 more weeks, so this whole situation will be long forgotten. One little lie wouldn't be so bad, right? I mean, afterall, he is kind of gimpy. That's enough to deal with without an 8th grade broken heart.

2 Posts in 2 Days

2008-02-06T17:14:00.000-08:00

I think this is some kind of record for me.

There is always a lot of talk about gangs and gang violence in Okeechobee. I don't really see it, and I don't think that this is another case of me being naive. It just seems like too small of a town for that many gangs to be running the streets. What is it like, oh I have 5 people in my gang so I can whip your 4 person gang any day of the week. What.

I just don't see it, but for the sake of keeping the peace with the strong believers, I just agree to it. A teacher came up to me at school the other day telling me about how this one student is in a gang and was flashing signs and all that. I just agreed, oh yeah I could see it. The funny thing is that if I was a strong believer in gangs, this would be the student I would pick to be in one. He's what you might call rough around the edges. He's in full-time special ed for both academics and behavior. He always sees me in the hall and comes up to tell me all about the trouble he's in or causing. I guess I should be glad that he seems to like me, because if there is ever a gang invasion in school, he would probably have my back. Oh that's Miss Lammers, she's cool. Miss, you don't have to duck and cover anymore, we're not going to shoot YOU.

We had a tornado drill in school today, which I guess is kind of fitting because of the recent tornados in Tennessee and Alabama. It's good to be prepared. In Indiana, we used to have to leave the classrooms and get into the crouching hands-over-head position in the hallways. In Florida, we just make the kids crawl under their desks. I get the feeling that Floridians don't take tornados quite as seriously as those who live in Tornado Alley. Not that people down here have any reason to be passive as I have heard that there have been tornados here before. But reason aside, the kids get under their desks, and I guess they're supposed to start praying that none of the random objects found in a classroom become projectiles during the violent winds. I just think it's a valid concern.

Litmus Paper

2008-02-05T19:49:00.000-08:00

Today I was in science class, and I started thinking about litmus paper. I know this sounds random, but I'm at least 65% sure that the class was learning about acids and bases. If they weren't, then I'm not really sure how a thought like that happens. The students were doing partner work, but since my fellow teachers apparently have a problem with how my job is going, I decided to just sit in there and get some other paperwork done. So I wasn't really paying attention, because yeah, I could sit there and help them find the answers to the directed reading sheets, but it's really better for them to interact with their peers than with me. Anyways.

Litmus paper. So the red paper turns blue if what is being tested is a base. And the blue turns red if it's testing an acid. But why? I mean, I understand what it's used for and everything, but it's not like the blue paper will turn MORE red if the substance is more acidic. So really what's the point? Why not just use those other little tiny pieces of paper that turn a variety of colors depending on the substance? I think litmus paper is just something I don't understand. This is something I've been dealing with for a long time. I can use the paper. I can report the results. I just don't know why it IS.

It's been really warm in Florida these past few days. Like in the mid-80's. I don't really mind except for the obvious downside: the smell of sweaty students. All the kids get to go outside for 25 minutes a day around their lunch period, which (conveniently for lunch) falls in the middle of the day. It means that after about 11:30, the school smells like sweat. I'm used to it and have grown to expect it in, say, May. Or October. But this is February. In my opinion, it should really be a sweat-free month, even in southern Florida. Although, I could pull out some litmus paper to see if sweat turns blue or red. I guess that's the upside of the situation.

The Return of the Blog

2007-08-06T13:12:00.000-07:00

So I'm back. I haven't posted in a long long time, and I'm more than willing to take complete responsibility for that.

My town is obsessed with ice. Like ice cubes. There are at least five little automated ice machines on the sides of the roads here. I can't figure out who is buying all this ice and what purpose it serves, but I realized just recently how serious ice really is. By that, I mean that the McDonalds on the southside of town now sells bags of ice. If McDonalds is trying to control part of the ice market, you know it must be serious. Next time I go for a drive, I'll take some pictures of these ice dispensers and post them.

School doesn't start for teachers until Aug. 13, and students come back the 20th, so I guess right now I should be trying to make the most of what I have left of summer. I'm ready to go back for the following reasons:
1. It's too hot to be outside for very long, so I might as well be working.
2. Without a job, Okeechobee gets really boring.
3. I miss being around a lot of people during the day.
4. I need a paycheck again. Getting paid all at once at the beginning of summer does not seem to agree with me.

Of course there are PLENTY of reasons to not want to go back, but I think those are more obvious, like not wanting to do work, etc.

I'm trying to be optimistic about this year, and everyone that I see keeps telling me that I'm really going to enjoy working with the upcoming 8th graders. That seems good, I guess. At least it seems better than everyone telling me that the students are children of the devil and were raised in hell or something like that. That would be worse.

In other news, Lake Okeechobee had disappeared for a while (and part of the lake bed actually caught on fire) but it's making a return. That's good news because with no hurricanes and no fishing, our economy is kind of going down the toilet.

One full week then a long weekend...

2007-01-08T19:27:00.000-08:00

It just looked like a fly flew out of my computer. I don't think it did, but that's what I saw. And since there are no nother witnesses, I guess what I say goes. So a fly just flew out of my computer. I can't help it that I live in a place where the flies don't die of cold, or migrate, or do whatever it is that flies do during winter. They are always around. I feel like I shouldn't have to worry about bugs in January. Oh but I do.

Another day at school. I don't really know what to say about that. The funniest thing that has happened since we've been back at break is that we got new bathroom doors. I guess they are really hard to open, because it's all the kids have been talking about. Fewer students have asked to go to the bathroom because they are not sure if they are going to be able to unlock to doors. (I'm not talking about the traditional school bathroom stall door... my school used to be an open-air wall-free sort of establishment, so all of the bathrooms are individual, with separate keys, etc.) There has been more talk about the bathroom doors than about the supposed lesbians in the 8th grade. Maybe that's why we got the new doors. It gives everyone something else to talk about.

FCAT prep is in full swing, but I think I'm just going to ignore the fact that testing is coming up in February. I wonder if my students would start asking why we're not doing FCAT practice. I'm not sure they would notice.

Tomorrow in class we're going to work on oral fluency, and since my students can't really read out loud, and it pains me to listen to them, it should be a fantastic way to spend class. But since they hate to read out loud, especially when other people are listening, maybe they will stay quiet tomorrow. Let's talk about wishful thinking for a second.

Back to school

2007-01-04T14:02:00.000-08:00

I made it back to sunny Florida. I don't think I've decided if that's a good thing or a bad thing, it just it what it is. Break was too short, and I didn't get to do everything that I wanted. I forgot how pretty much the whole continent closes around Christmas and New Year's. Those Europeans love their holidays!

I went to a few Christmas markets in Germany. It was fun, but so cold, that of course I had to stay warm by drinking hot spiced wine. It was really the only solution to fight the chill. On Christmas, my friend Shannon, her fiance, and his parents and I stayed at Shannon's and make a turkey, potatoes, gravy, vegetables, etc. all with a side of German beer. It was cold in her apartment too. :o)

The five of us did a little bit of traveling around the area, then I said bye and went back on over to France. It was cold there too. I was glad that it didn't snow like it did last year during break. I had to walk through 8 inches of snow last year, but this time the snow stayed away, at least while I was there. For New Year's Eve, I went to my friend Bruno's mom's house, and the two of them and his mom's boyfriend had dinner. Bruno and I got there at 8, dinner started around 9, and was still going on past midnight. Typical French meal. We missed midnight, but realized that it was the new year by 12:30 or so... Happy 2007. We had an impromptu dance party and drank champagne, so I think that counts as celebrating the new year.

I got back here late Tuesday night, went to work yesterday for a teacher work day. The students came back today. I can't say that I really missed them, and I can't say that we really got very much accomplished today. At least when the principal came into my classroom, they were working on a vocabulary word tree, which was pretty much their only activity. They couldn't get it together.

One student today was throwing pieces of eraser, and I gave him a warning in his agenda. He looked me in the eye and said he didn't throw anything. I told him I saw him do it. He said it wasn't him. And he actually believed what he was saying. He really thought he was telling the truth. I saw him throw eraser bits all around. One even hit me. I don't understand how he really thought he was telling the truth. That's pretty much how my whole day went today. Lots of I didn't do it and I wasn't talking. Yes you did. And yes you were.

EUROPE

2006-12-24T04:35:00.000-08:00

I made it to Germany, not as easy a trip as I had hoped, but it's ok. On one of my trains I didn't have a seat because it didn't occur to me that traveling on the 22nd of December in France would probably be a big huge mistake. Talk about holiday traveling. So anyway, the lovely people at the train station were nice enough to sell me a ticket, despite the fact that I didn't have a seat, so basically I sat on my duffle in a small area next to the bathroom for 4 hours with about five other people sitting around. I'm not telling the story very well, but it definitely was way less than ideal.

Yesterday I went to a Christmas market in Ludwigburg with Shannon, her fiance Justin, and his parents (who arrived yesterday). It was really cool, and really really cold. It's really cool because at these markets you can get hot spiced wine and you pay for a mug, which you can return to get some money back, or you can keep. I kept. Cheap souvenirs, also useful for drinking hot beverages.

We went back to the train station to catch the train, and ended up having to wait for a little while so we did what any good German would do and had a beer at the bar in the station. It turned out to be not such a bright idea, because the train we got on didn't have a bathroom. We ended up getting off the train halfway through our train ride to find the toilets, and we were searching and searching, and finally ended up going to a really cool bar acroos the street from the station. It actually wasn't a dive, despite the proximity with the train station.

So far so good. I've learned some German words. I spoke French with a guy at the train station yesterday (around 2 in the morning... by that time of night, and after enough drinking, probably ANYONE can speak French!) He was cool, just trying to get to his grandparents' for the holiday.

Going on some train thing today. I'm trying to take pictures.

We got sued

2006-12-12T15:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday when I walked into school, I had the fleeting thought that it might be better there if I were on drugs. So I think that's a sure sign that I'm ready for a break. Only five more school days to go before break because I'm taking Friday off. I NEED it.

I don't understand my students. I'm not sure they really like it when I'm there, but when I told them that I wasn't going to be there on Friday, they freaked out. Where are you going? Why aren't you coming to school? Can you just come back for our class? None of your business, because I'm not, and absolutely not.

I gave my class an assignment that involved reading some passages and answering some questions. They were FCAT-style questions (the standardized test in Florida), and out of six questions, I got 3 of them wrong. Good thing I found the answer key, or else I might start teaching them all the "wrong" information. I felt pretty good about myself when I finally found the answer key and double checked. There are definitely LSAT questions easier than some of the 8th grade FCAT questions, the difference being the difficulty level of the passage. I'm not sure if I'm really qualified to teach all this reading...

The Okeechobee school district got sued by the ACLU for not allowing a Gay-Straight Alliance to form and meet on campus at the high school. There are other non-academic clubs at the high school. CORRECTION: There WERE other non-academic clubs at the high school, but since the lawsuit was filed, the school board has gotten rid of all clubs. There are no clubs. This means no Future Farmers of America, and I'm not sure this town can function without it. Where will all the students learn to raise livestock??? (the FFA really is a big part of the community, and it's great that the future aggies can learn about it in high school) It annoys me to live in a place where so many people have tunnel vision. Welcome to the Bible Belt.

2006-12-06T16:43:00.000-08:00

This is what it looks like in Okeechobee (most days.) I try to remember this when I'm stuck inside all day without windows.

Today I was informed by my students that I must have been drinking "hatorade" because I was hating on them. Or something along those lines, I'm a little fuzzy on the details. Every thing I say or so, someone has to say that it's because of race. Like a stop talking will get almost without fail, that's racial, miss! Yeah, not racist, just racial. I'm also a little fuzzy as far as that is concerned. Is it because I'm white? Is it because I'm black? Is it because I'm brown? No, it's because you're talking when I am. That's racial!

A long time ago, I said something that made my students think that I didn't have a TV. At the time, there was physically a TV in my apartment, but I didn't have an antenna or a DVD player or anything, so in essence I didn't have a TV. They apparantly only heard that I didn't have a TV, and I didn't bother to correct them. So every now and then I get advice like if you save a dollar a day, in a couple of months you can buy a tv. If you go to the landfill, you can find a tv and tons of other stuff too. Okay thank you. I'll keep that in mind. I'm pretty sure it's racial to not watch TV. I'll have to check on that.

This week has been crazier than normal, and I'm just going to go ahead and blame winter break that's coming up. Of course if that is real source of the crazy, I'm going to have to take the next two weeks off because I'm not so sure I can handle it anymore. I was covering for the basketball coach that teaches in my pod because she had to leave during the last period to make to to an away game, and I didn't realize how much of a difference there is between the "normal" students and the special ed students. I'm convinced that all the non-special ed teachers have it just a little easier than I do, because at least they have some normal to balance out the crazy. All I have is crazy. And I don't feel bad for calling my students crazy. I could say worse... Although I'm sure I'm being racial.

My fish. It's big.

2006-12-03T18:51:00.000-08:00

This is me and my fish. We were very happy together until my friend cut off its head, and it refused to die. We shared some great times. I'll tell the story about that another day.

Like maybe tomorrow, as I finally broke down and got internet at home. Yay.

Does that mean he's gay?

2006-11-28T16:28:00.000-08:00

Today one of my students, George, decided to run around squealing "Now I'm a girl! I'm a girl!" as if he had just had some dramatic transformation. And so I just let him do it. It wasn't even worth telling him to keep it down.

It was a standardized testing day today, and it's going to continue for the rest of the week. This isn't even the real deal, just a practice. The new wave of thinking seems to be that if you burn a student out before the "real" test, that must be a positive thing. No child is Left Behind in terms of testing. They are all punished equally, so if nothing else, my students liked life a little bit less today.

A few of my students wanted to have a "serious" conversation with me today during their math class, and I obliged. They asked me (and they weren't kidding around...) if a guy looks at another guy up and down (scans), does that make him gay? I was so close to bursting out laughing, but I held it in saying that looking a person of the same sex does not make a person gay. Of course I didn't say the word sex. But they got the general idea of what I was saying, and the girls kept arguing that it does make the person gay. Nevermind the fact that not long before, George had been running around claiming to be a girl and talking in a high-pitched voice. It's really when a guy looks at another guy that they become "gay." Why my students don't keep their thoughts to themselves, I'm not sure.

It's overdue...

2006-11-14T14:01:00.000-08:00

So here I am in Okeechobee. And I have stories.

I think someone one labeled my generation as the first generation without last names. When I went to college, I always introduced myself as Mary, just passing by the fact that I actually do have a last name. That the four letters of my first name are actually not my entire identity. I still have no last name.

I always called my teachers Ms. Something and Mr. Whatever, not always caring or trying be polite, but because those were their names. My teacher name should be Miss Lammers. It's not. It's Miss. Miss, I forgot my homework. Miss, can I go to the bathroom. Miss. Miss. Miss! I still only have one name, now I guess it's Miss instead of Mary.

I don't take offense to the lack of last name-ness that prevails. It's nothing personal. The students call everyone Miss, except for those they call Mister. All's fair. I don't make my students (I only have 15 in class) write their last names on their papers either. I guess if I started calling them by first and last name all the time, I would make them call me Miss Lammers. But right now, laziness has prevailed. I call them one name, they call me one name. No one has a last name anymore.

Maybe people outside of Okeechobee (population 5,000) have last names. I'm not really sure. The closest town of any substance is a good 45 minutes from here, and that's if you speed. If you go the speed limit, don't bother. With all the traffic and the honking, you might as well stay home, and be content to just dream about the days when Miss was just a precursor to the real name, not the name in and of itself.