Ok. So I lied. It’s not really National Hodgepodge Day, but hey, as Joyce said, there’s a “National Day” for just about everything, so why not the Wednesday Hodgepodge? Joyce, why don’t you petition Congress with that request, eh?
heehee
Wanna play along? Post your questions, link up at Joyce’s site, and visit other bloggers. It’s fun! I promise. I don’t lie. 😀
1. Did you know there is a National Day of pretty much everything in the universe? February 23 happens to be National Inconvenience Yourself Day…when was the last time you were inconvenienced?
I was last inconvenienced yesterday morning when I showed up early to work because a student had signed up to retake a vocabulary exam. She did not show. I was miffed. I had wanted to run by the grocery store to pick up some chopped fruit to eat for breakfast. Needless to say, the student didn’t keep her end of the deal, so she will not be getting another chance (I also had five students who “forgot” to show up during my lunch hour, but that’s another story).
2. When a room in your house needs painting who does the job?
The Mr. does the painting in our house. I am not allowed to because I don’t paint “evenly.” However, I am “allowed” to stand on a ladder and do the edging by the ceiling. Go figure.
3. Are you friends with your cousins?
I am friends with two cousins on Facebook. I have only seen my cousins twice in my life. Once was when I was a little girl, and the other time was when I was a teenager. They live in Canada and France, so being IRL friends is impossible.
4. Do you use an alarm clock? If yes-is it an actual alarm, music, or something else?
I have to use an alarm clock, and it is set to the buzzer. I cannot seem to wake up to music.
5. What do you put ketchup on?
I am not currently eating ketchup on anything because I am adhering to a strict vegan diet; however, I do like ketchup and will put it on fries, chicken, etc. I have an uncle who used to put ketchup on his eggs. I think ketchup tastes good on almost everything.
6. What smells make you nostalgic?
Oh, the sense of smell is so amazing where it comes to memory, eh? Let’s see…freshly mowed grass makes me think of my semi-carefree teenage days. I used to love laying in the grass after it had been mowed. The smell of Jean Nate perfume takes me back to my early high school days.
The smell of Ralph Lauren perfume makes me think of my sister as a teenager. One of her boyfriends bought the perfume for her, and it smelled delightful on her (not so much on me, darn it). Whenever I smell this perfume, I am taken back to our teenage years when we had our own vanities in the bathroom we shared (complete with stools).
Oh, and I almost forgot another perfume…Tresor…
One of the last gifts my dad bought me before he passed away was a gift box that included this perfume. I remember nonchalantly setting it aside, figuring I’d never use it. That was when I was working my way through Jude Deveraux’s books. Oh. My. Goodness. She’s a romance writer (it’s not exactly clean stuff, so don’t go thinking you’ll be picking up a good, clean Christian love story). Her characters are so amazing though and always filthy rich. One of the characters in the book I was currently reading took his beloved on a shopping spree and spent oodles of money on her. The perfume he bought?
Tresor.
After reading that, I took my little self over to my bathroom cabinet, fished that bottle right out, and decided it was good enough for me.
To this day, I cannot pass the perfume counter without catching a whiff. I always think of my dad, who obviously had good taste, and Jude Deveraux’s book.
I also love the smells associated with the beach. I grew up going to the beach in the city where I now live. Beach air just smells different, and it makes me remember the early mornings that I used to get up and take walks on the beach when we visited.
7. Have you heard about the high school English teacher recently suspended as a result of some things she wrote in her personal blog? You can read the story here but in a nutshell she vented a lot of frustration onto her blog. She didn’t mention individual students by name but she did make some harsh comments about kids in general and their parents.
What are your thoughts-If you’re a parent is your child’s teacher online and are you ‘friend’ or ‘follower’ there? If you’re a teacher are you on facebook and do you accept or friend students on fb? How about their parents? If you’re a student are you friends with your current or former teachers online? Do any of them have blogs you read? If you’re a teacher or a parent do you ever use your blog as a place to vent your frustrations with our educational system? So much to discuss…
I am a teacher. I am also the parent of a high school student. I am not friends with any of my son’s teachers on Facebook, although I am friends with a few of the staff from his school. That is not a biggie. As a teacher, I had long ago decided not to become Facebook friends with my students; however, I had a few female students who I finally accepted as friends. Then, when band season rolled around, I started taking pictures of the performances, and the kids wanted to tag themselves in the photos, so they started friending me. I finally started accepting their requests to make it easier for them to tag themselves. I never commented on their posts…just allowed them to tag themselves.
Then, I went to one of my required Saturday classes, and we discussed ethics in teaching. Although my professor did not say it wrong to be friends with students, the discussion was enough to make me go back to my original decision. When I got home, I unfriended all of my students and the band kids. My city has had a few “issues” locally in recent weeks, and I felt like the best thing to do would be to maintain a professional distance.
This is going to be the stance I maintain from here on out in my teaching career.
As far as blogs go, I do not know if any of my child’s teachers have blogs. I don’t really care, quite honestly. I write my blog, and yes, I write about my teaching adventures. However, no matter how frustrated I feel some weeks, I am very careful not to vent in a negative way on my blog. I have so much to learn about teaching that I often feel as if some of my frustrations are the result of my own mistakes. Plus, some of my students DO read my blog, and I want to set a good example. I am ever mindful that teachers are role models. We need to conduct ourselves in a way that is honorable. Kids are watching us…even when we don’t realize it. I, for one, do not want to let them down.
8. My random thought:
Is anybody as excited as I am about the start of Survivor and The Amazing Race? Both shows have brought back former players, and the shows are being revamped with new rules. It’s enough to make a “reality” junkie happy, happy, happy!!
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