AuburnChick's Adventures

Joyce has got another bunch of questions for us.  Join in!  Make friends!

1.  February 22nd is National Be Humble Day…what makes you proud? What keeps you humble?

Well, this is certainly an interesting fact!  I’ll have to share it with my students!

So, what makes me proud?  Well, that’s an easy one to answer.  My children make me proud.  I love watching as they work toward the goals they have set for themselves.  I am so proud of the choices they are making in their lives.  Most of all, I am proud of them for dedicating their lives to Christ and serving Him.

Now, what makes me humble?  This is another easy question to answer.  Teaching makes me humble.  There are class periods that go well, and those are awesome sessions.  Then, I’ll have class periods that simply fall apart, and I have to go back to square one and do a lot of reflective thinking.  I’ve learned that being a teacher isn’t just about being in charge.  It’s about discovering your students’ needs, respecting them in their individuality, and remembering that you were once in their place and, in fact, still are…ever the life-long learner yourself.  THAT is humbling.

2.  Where is the catch-all (aka dumping ground) in your house?

My dining room table seems to be MY catch-all.  Here’s what it looks like on a typical Friday…my work for the weekend…

By Sunday night, it looks like this again…

3.  Do you make it a point to visit State/National Parks when you travel or even in your own hometown? What’s your favorite?

No, I’m really not a “nature” kind of gal, unless I happen to be driving through it on purpose or going on some sort of trip…say like an Alaskan cruise where you don’t have to visit a state park to be surrounded by nature.  The picture across the top of my blog is a picture I took from the ship we were on last summer…as we entered Juneau.

4.  How would you define honor?

In my opinion, honor is the display of respect, both for oneself, others, country, and God.  It means conducting yourself in such a way that you maintain your integrity.  It means keeping your word, giving your all, and living a life that, at its end, can be viewed as self-giving.

5.  Angel’s food or Devil’s food-which cake do you prefer?

If I were to eat dessert, which I don’t anymore, I’d select angel’s food cake with strawberries covering the top.  Light, fluffy, and delicious!

6.  What’s the most recent road trip you’ve taken? Where did you go and how many hours did you spend in the car? Do you like to zoom to your destination without stopping or leisurely wind your way there with stops along the way? What is your car snack of choice?

Rather than describe the road trip I took over Christmas, I’ll describe the road trip I’m leaving for on Thursday.

Rooster and I are headed to Auburn for “E Day.”  The “E” stands for Engineering.  Auburn will be hosting a half-day of informational seminars for incoming engineering students.  Rooster will be attending Auburn in August, and he’s going to major in software engineering.  The Mr. doesn’t want to lose overtime hours ($$), so I’m going to drive up with Rooster.  I’m psyched!  I love this boy of mine so much.

We’ll leave as soon as I get out of school on Thursday.  It’s a solid four-hour drive, I think…maybe five with me at the helm.

It will be a leisurely drive.  We’ll stop and potty whenever we need to (when I was growing up, road trips meant you had to “hold” it for hours upon hours to minimize the number of stops made).  We’ll eat dinner on the road and, probably, grab snacks somewhere along the line.

Favorite snacks in the car usually consist of Funyons, salted peanuts (for me), and Buffalo flavored Snyders pretzels (the kids and the Mr. love these).  Gatorade is also a must when the kids are in the car.

7.  Recent headlines told how a preschool child in NC had their packed lunch from home taken away and a school lunch substituted by a school inspector who deemed the homemade lunch unhealthy. Reportedly the parent was then billed for the school lunch (chicken nugget meal) although an update to the story says the parent was not billed. The inspector was conducting a routine inspection of the classroom-he/she was not there solely to peek in the lunchboxes. The packed lunch contained a turkey and cheese sandwich, an apple juice box, a bag of chips, and a banana. You can read the story here. Your thoughts?

Oh, my word.  Seriously?  I would be peeved if someone replaced my child’s lunch and then had the nerve to bill me for it.  Honestly, this is almost like an invasion of privacy.  What if that child had dietary restrictions?  What about religious beliefs that might prevent the child from eating certain foods?  I’m a vegan, and I wonder if that had been my child, and my child had only had fruits and vegetables in his/her lunch, would the inspector have “forced” my child to eat meat…all because of the “recommended” food tier?

Yeah.  I think I’ve said how I feel.

8.  My Random Thought

Actually, I have TWO random thoughts.

Random Thought #1

Last night, a guy from a marketing company called.  He was conducting a survey.  I’m one of those strange people who actually likes surveys.  I feel like it’s my chance to have a voice.  So, when I agreed to do the survey, he seemed surprised.  He had actually called earlier, but I was on the phone with Chicky, so I asked him to call back in thirty minutes, which he did.

Anyhow, this survey was LONG…twenty minutes, in fact.  I hung in there, though it did get tedious by the end.  After all was said and done, the gentleman, who sounded like he was in his early 20’s, told me how much he appreciated my participation.  I told him no problem, I had actually learned a few things.  He then told me that in the two hours he’d been working tonight, I was the first person who had completed, in full, the survey.

How often do we hang up on these people, I wonder.  I know that I have not wanted to deal with the calls, so I have hung up in the past.

We have to remember that most of these people are working for minimum wage, and the legitimate surveys are, truly, our opportunity to let the “powers-that-be” hear our opinions.

I challenge you to shock the next person who calls from one of these companies.  Say yes!  Be friendly!  See what happens.  You’ll make that person’s day, I promise!

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Random Thought #2

I went home sick from work yesterday.  I woke up feeling poorly, but I had to go in until a sub arrived.  So, I used the time to set up alternative lesson plans and get my first period students working.

After explaining that a sub was coming, one of my students and I had the following conversation:

Him:  “Mrs. AuburnChick, I’ve never had a teacher like you before.”

Me:  “Is that a good or bad thing?”

Him:  “It’s a good thing.  You are the hardest working teacher I’ve ever had.  You come in when you’re sick.  You come in when you have personal problems [I once went in after having a bad start with a certain kiddo in my home, and I was still visibly upset when class started].  You don’t let nothing stop you.”

That student really made my day!  He recognizes the effort I put in.

Teaching intensive reading is…well…intensive, let me tell you.  So many people have written these students off.  These students often have learning disabilities that prevent them from doing well on standardized exams.  As a result, their self confidence is shot all to pieces, so they act out in class, which complicates the teaching process.

I’ve been through a lot with this student’s class, in particular, but I continue to work hard, creating lesson plans that engage them and challenge them to think at levels they don’t think themselves capable of.

I’m praying that I wake up feeling better.  I’m thinking I’ll just suck it up, keep the bathroom key handy, and push on.  I have tons to do…lesson plans to execute…and hearts to touch.

Hope y’all have a wonderful week!

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: Wednesday Hodgepodge | 9 Comments »