small.town.girl

One of my graduate classes is about using technology in the classroom. One of our assignments is writing eJournals, where we are given prompts and required to write a reflection in response. Our first prompt asked us to consider technology in our own lives. “How has technology been used in your past experiences as a student or teacher? Did you find it effective? Reflect upon any field experience observations. Mention new website resources you have found. What did you learn from your fellow participants?” Here is my response:

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While I have been taking baby steps with most of my new year’s resolutions, there is one goal with which I’ve made huge strides. I’m steadily making my way through the Harry Potter series. A week after starting the first book, I’m over halfway done with the third book. I’m amazed at how quickly I flip through the pages, and how when I’m not reading them, I think about when I might get a chance to read again. The series has really grabbed me. I now understand how and why these books energized so many folks to read, even if they were not “readers.”

What’s lucky for me is that I never tainted my opinions of the series; in addition to avoiding the books, I’ve never seen any of the movies. I have kept myself fairly isolated from all things Potter, which means that I can still make my own mental images of the characters and I have no idea how the plot will twist and turn. I find myself making predictions, but I do not voice these to my friends because most of them are familiar with the books. I’m having a lot of fun being immersed in this world, and even though I thought the books would be childish and silly, I find myself admiring the prose and the language employed to convey stories that are not boring in the least. In fact, in Chamber of Secrets, Rowling used the word “tenterhooks,” which made me really, really happy. Perhaps I’ve been living in this county for too long if proper usage of words makes me giddy.

I think that after I finish the third book, I may take a brief break. Perhaps I will read something else, or dedicate myself solidly to working ahead on my classwork. Regardless, I think that three books in a little over a week will be a sufficient start to meeting this 2010 goal. Dan also pointed out that if I read all seven books in less than a month, I may start thinking that I am Harry Potter.

He’s totally wrong, though. I’d be Hermione. Duh.

I am starting online graduate classes this week. I’m fairly excited about furthering my education, and in a way, I’m glad I’ve had a couple years of limbo to make me more motivated to do my best. The online format makes me a little bit nervous, but as I’m practically a character from The Matrix when it comes to my connectivity and love of the internet, I guess I can’t worry too much. The more I substitute teach, the more I long to someday have my own classroom. I look forward to observing teachers in my field (secondary English) and learning more about classroom management. I feel more confident that I’m making the right decision to pursue this career path, and it doesn’t hurt that I have some wonderful people rooting for me in my corner.

Additionally, I’m having some thoughts about attempting the city school again. They held an orientation for substitute teachers this week, and I attended because I didn’t have any subbing work. I feel like, in the present economy, more people are emergency certified to substitute and this increases the number of options for schools and decreases the number of calls for the sub. So I may have to start taking calls at the city school to stay afloat financially, as much as I don’t want to do it. They seemed genuinely grateful that anyone would show up to teach for their school district, and they acknowledged that they do indeed have some bad eggs. They also gave me what I wanted—a written manual outlining different procedures. While it isn’t quite a Bible of How to Act at the Urban School, it does have some helpful information. They also gave us some pointers that I would not necessarily have thought to employ in teaching (i.e., ignore the “bad” children), so maybe if I try to follow their ideas of how things work, I will have a more successful time of it.

Nothing compares to subbing at my favorite suburban schools, though. I did have a day at one this past week, and because it’s almost time for high school finals, the class was doing review packets. The fact that they remained quiet and legitimately did work per the teacher’s instructions enabled me to all but finish Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in a single day. I sincerely hope that I can work with them more throughout the rest of this school year.

I may post some of my posts from my various classes on here as I move through my semester with SJU. The Psychology of Teaching course seems like it will be really thought-provoking, and we have to write weekly message board posts for it. My fingers are crossed that things continue to go well for me in the education sector.

This past weekend, my college roommate came for a visit. She comes from the very liberal land of Washington DC, where she is a social-worker-in-training. When she visits, sometimes I am reminded just how insane PA can actually be.

The night we were discussing her impending visit, I noticed a truck in a parking lot covered in bumper stickers. The most notable of these stickers? “I’ll forgive Jane Fonda when the Jews forgive Hitler.” Yeah, seriously. What the…?

However, the real WTF moment was while we were out at the bar. Now Jill and I have always been a bit crass; it’s just who we are. After a couple of beers at a local pub (a classier joint than the outings of our early twenties; the one bartender here puts the shamrock in your Guinness foam!), we were discussing which celebrities we thought would die this year. I mean, 2009 was a year for tragic celebrity deaths with Farrah, Michael, Patrick, Brittany, etc. 2010 has potential. First on Jill’s list was Amy Winehouse. The lady bartender overheard, and joined in our conversation. She also had Amy Winehouse at the top of her list, which made us happy and allowed her to stay in our conversation.

Big mistake.

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Dogfish Head Beer is easily one of my favorite beverages. I am a fan not only because many of the brews are tasty, but also because the story of these craft brewed Delaware delights is so intriguing. The founder of Dogfish Head, Sam Calagione, was an English major who started a brewpub in 1995 at the age of 25. His brewpub grew exponentially since then, and now DFH is a mid-Atlantic empire, even seeing expansion in the face of 2009’s recession. DFH has built a culture around their ales, or perhaps the beer has evolved around the off-centered culture; the off-centeredness is seen not only in the taste of the ales themselves, but also in the employees and avid fans of their craft brewing, of whom my father may be #1. My Dad, Dan and I rang in the new year in Rehoboth Beach, DE at a dinner celebrating DFH’s 15 years in the brewing business and toured the brewery (with its new and improved visitors’ center) before we headed back to PA. Though I’ve done the brewery tour before, I was especially struck by the knowledge of our guide John and convinced that I do, in fact, need to evangelize this fabulous company’s off-centered ales to other off-centered people around the world.

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