Alguna Vez...Conmigo....

I just love watching football on Sunday! And the title of this posting means nothing...just my new favorite words to stay in Spanish!

This weekend you could feel that the seasons are starting to change...fall is coming. I like fall in Virginia. The air is just crisp enough to have to wear a jacket. The leaves will magically change into the most beautifully vibrant colors. School has started and life is consumed by getting to know the lovely little darlings that have graced you with their presence. Football season begins...and Sundays are filled with watching very large men take a ball down a grass field while they bash into each other...muy perfecto!

The first week of school was good. I am definitely not in the ghetto anymore. These are nice kids...way more innocent than my classes at my other school. They are a year younger, but even the 6th graders look innocent in this place. Things are way different from my old school. I've had to make changes, but change is good for every soul.

My approach to the way I teach has changed a bit...well how I structure things anyway. This was difficult for me...to fit what I think a good classroom is into this school's structure and schedule. Of course I fought it for a minute...then I took a step back and re-thought my approach...how would the new Gracie handle things? Once I relaxed into their schedule and went with the flow, ideas just started popping into my brains...I can be a kick ass teacher and make it all fit into their world...

Just a bit more of the nerdy teacher stuff here. This school "flexible groups" for math and language arts. I have the "lower" classes for both math and language arts. The thing that is kinda cool is that the class sizes are pretty small. Math is a bit bigger (20 kids) because I combined with the special ed teacher. My group for language arts is unbelievably small - only 12-15 kids! Do you realize how totally cool that is? I can do so much....lit circles, a lot of guided reading, real writing conferences....I get goosebumps just thinking about it.

I know I did a lot of complaining...but I'm so glad that I just frigging relaxed with it all...because there are nice people at this school...and I would like to stay a while.

I've met with my language partner, Andres, twice now. Yesterday we met downtown and spoke in English and Spanish for about three hours. Andres is a graduate student from Columbia. It would be very 'romance novel' for me to describe Andres as a tall, beautifully sculpted Latino man who looks deeply into my soul with smoldering eyes. As cool as that fantasy is, my Andres is a skinny awkward kid/man studying to be an electrical engineer. He is very patient with my butchering his home language, and he's starting to get some of my jokes and word usage,,,So far so good...The hot language partner of my fantasies will continue to thrive in my imagination.

However, I WILL be ready for Spain...Keeping my eye on the prize....Spain...travel for the two summer months. You know what is funny? I really want to buy my own place...but I am seeing home ownership my ticket to summer travel...is there something wrong with that...you know being motivated by travel??

Speaking of home ownership....I lost out on the perfect place this week. My agent couldn't show me the property on Wednesday night when it became available. We looked on Thursday went to place an offer to HUD and someone had bid Wednesday night and the offer was accepted Thursday. I know, I guess it really wasn't the perfect house. Sheesh...

My agent is not very pro-active at finding me places. He should know what I like by now, we've put offers in on five different places. My little go-getter sits back and waits for me find the places...I may have to fire him if I am really seriously wanting to buy something.

Well....my new year has begun...I think I've mentioned that a teacher's year begins in September...me gusto mucho...gracias!

Teaching, Football, and A Little Something New...

It is that time again....teachers go back to work and spend the week preparing their classrooms for the arrival of students the Tuesday after Labor Day. Also football season is starting...large men bashing into each other just makes me smile. Last year at this time there was a sense of excitement because I was starting a project of sorts at school...I even had another blog that I started writing...that, and Sundays were filled watching football on a big fancy television...good times....

While I am REALLY glad to be starting at a new school, I am proceeding with caution. I have discovered that they do things much differently than I am used to. They "track" students and they are big fans of "pulling out"...If you are a teacher you completely understand what I am talking about...if you are not, well basically they put students into low, medium, high, and learning disability groups that rarely change. I feel all students should be included in the classroom and student "groups" change all them time, and are not only based on ability levels. So, my philosophical approach to teaching is very different, and I am not sure how to deal with that.

The Gracie of the last school year would fight, kick, and scream to get her point across...and her way. The Gracie of today is not sure what to do. Do I express my views hopefully finding words that will not give the perception that I am NOT, for lack of a better word....a bitch? Do I just keep my mouth shut? This is really bugging me...I am trying to do things differently...I'm just not sure how...I keep reminding myself to just surrender, the answers will come...

As far as football goes...there will still be Sunday games....I don't have a big fancy television...we will see if it is the same...

As for my something new... I have decided to improve my Spanish. So I will be more prepared when I go back to Spain next summer. I posted a request for a tandem language partner on Couch Surfing....and you know what? Someone answered....so I will follow up and hopefully find a friend to meet with once a week where we will speak English for a while then Spanish for a while...you know TANDEM...we both learn a language...kinda cool, huh? Even more cool is that by next summer I will be speaking great Spanish for my return trip....