... to go until we get Spring Break. And it couldn't come quickly enough.
I got back into town last night from the Fraser Valley after coaching our first real club volleyball tournament of the year. The drive was a bit of a mess and after a long week last week, I was almost thinking of just staying home to relax, mark homework and catch up on my Z's. This was balanced with an urge to get out of town to do something completely unrelated to school, so in the end, coaching won out and it turned out to be a really rewarding weekend. The boys I'm coaching played well, I was complimented on my coaching by my coaching mentor, and we placed 10th out of 17 teams, which was good considering our "A" team only placed 7th. We actually lost a really tight game in the Consolation final which was a bit heartbreaking, and should have placed Top 8 (we were in a 3-way tie for 1st in our round robin pool, and came in second due to points scored) but the guys really played well nearly all tournament, so I have absolutely nothing to complain about.
Things around the valley are still crazy busy, though, and I don't think they'll slow down until March 10th. Obviously I teach all week, and the weekend coming up features yet another coaching clinic for 3 days, and then I get back here to the school all of next week (again, very obvious). But, it's winding down and it's going to be wonderful to have a few days to sleep in and relax, as well as to take some time to get back to Alberta to visit the families.
On a completely unrelated note, here's a great quote from Salman Rushdie on writing...
"What one writer can make in the solitude of one room is something no power can easily destroy"
- S. Rushdie
- T
Monday, February 26, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
We all have a bad test from time to time...
I received these pictures from one of my fellow staff members, and they definitely perked up my day. Hope you enjoy!
Click on the pictures to see a more clear view...
Click on the pictures to see a more clear view...
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Some days are just longer than others..
... and this may be one of those long ones.
After teaching all day, knowing that I have volleyball practice for 2 hours, as well as a boatload of marking, prep, and course work that was due a month ago, I'm just dreading the next 6 or 7 hours. This doesn't include the work I need to sort out for Friday, since I'm heading to the Fraser Valley for my first big club volleyball tournament. It also ignores the long day of dealing with 16 year olds who can't even handle 10 minutes of responsibility. But, I guess I just need to suck it up. Everyone's busy and stressed and overworked and underpaid, so I guess I should simply quit my excessive whining. Tomorrow's another day, and it's wonderfully sunny outside. Sure, there's plenty to do, but there's also plenty to enjoy.
On a side note... Hey you! That stranger from Airdrie who reads my rants here.... you should leave me a message to let me know who you are!
I'll hopefully have something more fulfilling to write about soon. Until then...
- T
After teaching all day, knowing that I have volleyball practice for 2 hours, as well as a boatload of marking, prep, and course work that was due a month ago, I'm just dreading the next 6 or 7 hours. This doesn't include the work I need to sort out for Friday, since I'm heading to the Fraser Valley for my first big club volleyball tournament. It also ignores the long day of dealing with 16 year olds who can't even handle 10 minutes of responsibility. But, I guess I just need to suck it up. Everyone's busy and stressed and overworked and underpaid, so I guess I should simply quit my excessive whining. Tomorrow's another day, and it's wonderfully sunny outside. Sure, there's plenty to do, but there's also plenty to enjoy.
On a side note... Hey you! That stranger from Airdrie who reads my rants here.... you should leave me a message to let me know who you are!
I'll hopefully have something more fulfilling to write about soon. Until then...
- T
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Crazy animals doing funny things...
I got a good chuckle out of this. It's almost like a "Best Of" for clips of animals from AFV. Enjoy!
- T
- T
First Friday of the week
The weekend is coming and it couldn't be soon enough.
It seems like this week has been dragging on. Much of that has to do with the fact that I had my coaching clinic all weekend, which didn't really provide me with an opportunity to get some much-needed rest. It was actually moderately stressful, since I wasn't sure if I was in over my head or not. Nonetheless, I'm excited that the weekend is here as of 4:00pm today. Tomorrow being a PD Day, I'm heading out to the mountains for a seminar on BC's forestry industry, which should be enjoyable. Outdoors, free lunch, no students to worry about... la dolce vita, I'd say.
On a somewhat related but otherwise unrelated topic, I hate being overtired. Interestingly, I act similarly when I'm either tired or really hungry, which means I manifest a serious attitude of jerkface. I can definitely be pleasant, but it's pretty easy to set me off in a negative direction and I've been known to, from time to time, take my fatigued bitterness out on those around me. Not typically at work or with friends, but usually on family. Why is it that we (or more specifically, I) direct antagonism toward those we really love, and not strangers? I don't know if everyone's like this, but I definitely am. I can be upbeat and chipper (maybe in a false way, but chipper nonetheless) to a total stranger, even if they anger me, but when I get home and I'm in a bit of a mood, I take it out on K or other family members far too easily. This has pretty much always been a character fault of mine, and I really hate it. At the time I lash out, I can justify my anger 6 different ways, but give me 10 seconds to think about it, and I realize that I just treated the love of my life like a piece of rubbish. I guess that's why it's love... these important people stick around even after you treat them like an enemy.
You may be picking up on a tone of guilt, which may or may not be the case. Still, I hate this fault. I was actually talking to one of my intern compadres about something similar, and mentioned that I'm terrible at disengaging when it comes to arguments. It gets even worse when I need to catch on my beauty sleep. I guess we all have our battles... this is just one of my most obvious ones.
On a much more unrelated note, K and I watched "The Departed" last night and I have to say that I loved it. Sure, it may be a bit on the violent side and the actors drop the F-bomb like there's going to be a massive lockdown on profanity in mainstream media, but it was extremely well put together and I always appreciate a good Shakespeare reference which makes sense when it's used and isn't just thrown in as an attempt to make the writing seem more intelligent. Rent it. Seriously. Rent it.
- T
It seems like this week has been dragging on. Much of that has to do with the fact that I had my coaching clinic all weekend, which didn't really provide me with an opportunity to get some much-needed rest. It was actually moderately stressful, since I wasn't sure if I was in over my head or not. Nonetheless, I'm excited that the weekend is here as of 4:00pm today. Tomorrow being a PD Day, I'm heading out to the mountains for a seminar on BC's forestry industry, which should be enjoyable. Outdoors, free lunch, no students to worry about... la dolce vita, I'd say.
On a somewhat related but otherwise unrelated topic, I hate being overtired. Interestingly, I act similarly when I'm either tired or really hungry, which means I manifest a serious attitude of jerkface. I can definitely be pleasant, but it's pretty easy to set me off in a negative direction and I've been known to, from time to time, take my fatigued bitterness out on those around me. Not typically at work or with friends, but usually on family. Why is it that we (or more specifically, I) direct antagonism toward those we really love, and not strangers? I don't know if everyone's like this, but I definitely am. I can be upbeat and chipper (maybe in a false way, but chipper nonetheless) to a total stranger, even if they anger me, but when I get home and I'm in a bit of a mood, I take it out on K or other family members far too easily. This has pretty much always been a character fault of mine, and I really hate it. At the time I lash out, I can justify my anger 6 different ways, but give me 10 seconds to think about it, and I realize that I just treated the love of my life like a piece of rubbish. I guess that's why it's love... these important people stick around even after you treat them like an enemy.
You may be picking up on a tone of guilt, which may or may not be the case. Still, I hate this fault. I was actually talking to one of my intern compadres about something similar, and mentioned that I'm terrible at disengaging when it comes to arguments. It gets even worse when I need to catch on my beauty sleep. I guess we all have our battles... this is just one of my most obvious ones.
On a much more unrelated note, K and I watched "The Departed" last night and I have to say that I loved it. Sure, it may be a bit on the violent side and the actors drop the F-bomb like there's going to be a massive lockdown on profanity in mainstream media, but it was extremely well put together and I always appreciate a good Shakespeare reference which makes sense when it's used and isn't just thrown in as an attempt to make the writing seem more intelligent. Rent it. Seriously. Rent it.
- T
Monday, February 12, 2007
The things in my life
School: really, the most time consuming part of my life. Even more so than spending time with my wife and sleeping, which I don't do often enough. The stories I hear about students and about teacher's experiences makes me think that this job takes a massive amount of both patience and responsibility. Cliched or not, we're in the people-making business, and there's little room for error.
On a completely separate note, even though my sponsor teacher is running me ragged with reflection and lesson-planning and big idea stuff that I can barely get my head around, I think she's going to do a world of good for my career. And, as I hoped, I just really love being with the kids. There's always something surprising that comes up, whether they drive me bonko or not.
Coaching: Taking up a massive amount of my spare time. Mainly, weekends. I finished my Level 1 Technical three weekends ago, and my Level 2 Technical this past weekend over 3 days (both for volleyball), and I have another 3-day clinic on March 3/4/5 to go to to get my Levels 1/2 Theory. Not to mention that I'm heading to the Fraser Valley for a tournament at the end of February, and to Calgary in May for Nationals. Although the weekday schedule is fairly light, it's still plenty time-consuming.
Everything else: I'm heading back to Alberta twice in March. The first trip will be to see one of my old teachers (and someone I hold in hugely high regard) who is retiring this year back in Alberta. Another former teacher and now VP of my old high school has organized a sort of secret send-off for him and another retiring teacher, and has invited many old theatre alumni back for it. I received an invite... for those of you who don't know, I did my high school musical in my senior year, acting as the mischievous Tommy Sloane in Anne of Green Gables. It should be fun.
The second trip is on the following weekend with my in-laws for a bit of a weekend getaway. K's parents, her brother (and his wife), and her sister (with husband and kids) are meeting us in Edmonton for some West Ed. action. We don't get together very often, so it's a chance for us to all be in one place at the same time.
K and I are also heading for bit of a resort getaway (only for one night, but nice all the same) in April, and then I'm back in AB in May for volleyball Nationals. Not to mention that I'm a certified teacher as of May 4th! Weeeee. My intern friend N.T. figured out that there's only about 45 teaching days left before certification. Crazy stuff, I know.
Okay, I've bored ya'll enough. Hope that update was sufficient, and I'll try to write more clever things soon. And I hoped you enjoyed the last post with my itsy story. Thanks for reading, K and L!
- T
On a completely separate note, even though my sponsor teacher is running me ragged with reflection and lesson-planning and big idea stuff that I can barely get my head around, I think she's going to do a world of good for my career. And, as I hoped, I just really love being with the kids. There's always something surprising that comes up, whether they drive me bonko or not.
Coaching: Taking up a massive amount of my spare time. Mainly, weekends. I finished my Level 1 Technical three weekends ago, and my Level 2 Technical this past weekend over 3 days (both for volleyball), and I have another 3-day clinic on March 3/4/5 to go to to get my Levels 1/2 Theory. Not to mention that I'm heading to the Fraser Valley for a tournament at the end of February, and to Calgary in May for Nationals. Although the weekday schedule is fairly light, it's still plenty time-consuming.
Everything else: I'm heading back to Alberta twice in March. The first trip will be to see one of my old teachers (and someone I hold in hugely high regard) who is retiring this year back in Alberta. Another former teacher and now VP of my old high school has organized a sort of secret send-off for him and another retiring teacher, and has invited many old theatre alumni back for it. I received an invite... for those of you who don't know, I did my high school musical in my senior year, acting as the mischievous Tommy Sloane in Anne of Green Gables. It should be fun.
The second trip is on the following weekend with my in-laws for a bit of a weekend getaway. K's parents, her brother (and his wife), and her sister (with husband and kids) are meeting us in Edmonton for some West Ed. action. We don't get together very often, so it's a chance for us to all be in one place at the same time.
K and I are also heading for bit of a resort getaway (only for one night, but nice all the same) in April, and then I'm back in AB in May for volleyball Nationals. Not to mention that I'm a certified teacher as of May 4th! Weeeee. My intern friend N.T. figured out that there's only about 45 teaching days left before certification. Crazy stuff, I know.
Okay, I've bored ya'll enough. Hope that update was sufficient, and I'll try to write more clever things soon. And I hoped you enjoyed the last post with my itsy story. Thanks for reading, K and L!
- T
Friday, February 09, 2007
A postcard-length short story I penned last night
For my English classes, I thought it would be a good idea to come up with an example of what a descriptive paragraph could look like, using some clear imagery and engaging with sensory-related experiences. So, I wrote this last night so my students could see what I meant in the directions. Let me know what you think... enjoy!
I walked out of the conference room toward the parking lot, shoving myself through the weighty door as I swung my backpack over my shoulder. I felt the hard thump of my laptop slam against the small of my back as I inhaled a cold, crisp November breath. The smell of diesel exhaust filled my mouth, heavy and bitter, like sucking on the gray sky that hung over the valley. But the gray above was so much sweeter than the pollution invading my lungs and causing me to hack. Stepping past a rusty Buick and a sloppy, muddy flower bed (which would be blooming with fragrant tulips in a few months), I could feel the pulse of my phone vibrating through my jacket. After being bombarded by voices all day, I needed a few minutes of solace and silence before I battled another request for attention. The partially frozen doors of my jeep creaked open, and I tossed my pack violently on to the passenger seat as I sat down on the cold, vinyl seats. My raspberry car freshener needed to be discarded. Flicking open my cell, I checked the number: home. I probably needed to grab a barbequed chicken or some salty take-out on the way home. Maybe she wanted to grab a sandwich at the jazz café up the road, listening to Duke Wellington and enjoying a glass of pinot noir. Checking the rearview, I backed out slowly, drifting in my mind to Dizzy Gillespie, hearing each note of the trumpet bleet out while the sax kept time in the background. It was like I was already there, as if it took only a moment to transport myself to the dark mahogany and rich maroon and yellow walls of the café. I pulled out on the main drag with a lurch and a grind, thinking about the sticky first gear. I heard a short burst of sound; a quickly-approaching screech, or something similar. As the sheet metal and fiberglass and vinyl and plastic crumpled around me and glass fell about my face, I was thinking about her in that café, smiling, laughing; she was thinking that maybe the day wasn’t as long or as hard or as bad as she originally thought.
I walked out of the conference room toward the parking lot, shoving myself through the weighty door as I swung my backpack over my shoulder. I felt the hard thump of my laptop slam against the small of my back as I inhaled a cold, crisp November breath. The smell of diesel exhaust filled my mouth, heavy and bitter, like sucking on the gray sky that hung over the valley. But the gray above was so much sweeter than the pollution invading my lungs and causing me to hack. Stepping past a rusty Buick and a sloppy, muddy flower bed (which would be blooming with fragrant tulips in a few months), I could feel the pulse of my phone vibrating through my jacket. After being bombarded by voices all day, I needed a few minutes of solace and silence before I battled another request for attention. The partially frozen doors of my jeep creaked open, and I tossed my pack violently on to the passenger seat as I sat down on the cold, vinyl seats. My raspberry car freshener needed to be discarded. Flicking open my cell, I checked the number: home. I probably needed to grab a barbequed chicken or some salty take-out on the way home. Maybe she wanted to grab a sandwich at the jazz café up the road, listening to Duke Wellington and enjoying a glass of pinot noir. Checking the rearview, I backed out slowly, drifting in my mind to Dizzy Gillespie, hearing each note of the trumpet bleet out while the sax kept time in the background. It was like I was already there, as if it took only a moment to transport myself to the dark mahogany and rich maroon and yellow walls of the café. I pulled out on the main drag with a lurch and a grind, thinking about the sticky first gear. I heard a short burst of sound; a quickly-approaching screech, or something similar. As the sheet metal and fiberglass and vinyl and plastic crumpled around me and glass fell about my face, I was thinking about her in that café, smiling, laughing; she was thinking that maybe the day wasn’t as long or as hard or as bad as she originally thought.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Well well well... time to breathe
Well, I guess not a lot of time to breathe, but time all the same.
I'm taking a day off today, because I've been pretty nutso with work as of late. One of my sponsor teachers has had me running ragged getting ready to teach her class. I think maybe her expectations are a little severe, but I'm hoping that the fact that she wants to micro-manage my learning is going to pay off in the long run. I hope.
The new semester/practicum of teaching started this past Thursday, and I think I lucked out with my classes. I'm not perceiving any major issues beyond chattiness and a little bit of rambunctiousness, but the term is still young, and there's plenty of time for things to go wrong. I'm still coaching a bit of volleyball, which has been good, and I was able to get my Level 1 coaching certification partially done last weekend. The first part of my Level 2 comes up next weekend as well. The club I'm coaching for has volunteered to pay for my certification clinics, so I'm happy to let them rack up the $500 bill that will need to be paid when all is said and done. But, I figure it's a good way to get some experience under my belt, pad my resume a bit, and reward myself for helping out beyond the classroom. Not to mention, it may introduce me to some people that may help me get a job in the new year.
It looks like I'll be heading back to the prairies for a few visits in the next few months, and my big brother's coming out for visit as well. In the 4 years that I've been away from AB, he is the only one of my family who hasn't come out for a visit and finally it looks like he's coming at the start of May. It's kinda bad timing because I'm in the process of finishing up my semester of teaching a 75% load and in the middle of being certified, but he's coming out all the same and both K and I are excited. I'm also heading back to the 4-0-3 a few times. My old English teacher and pseudo-mentor is retiring from teaching this year, and the school is providing him with a bit of a send-off, to which all the old theatre alumni are invited. I only participated in theatre in my senior year, but I got to know P.M. pretty well in those formative years and used to go back to visit him fairly often. Ironically, the school is even performing an adaptation of the very play I performed when I did the musical. For a little added (and obvious) irony, I'm receiving my certification for teaching in the same year he's retiring. Meant to be??? I'm not quite sure. I was never really sure what I wanted to do for a career before I actually entered the teaching program, but I think I found a good fit.
I don't really know if there's anything worthwhile to add. My beautiful wife is doing well as always, and it seems as though any major natural disasters have avoided this part of the world as of late. Other than ripping a 6 inch hole in the ass of my nice khakis about 2 weeks ago, I don't think I have anything else to share. But I'll try to keep you loyal readers reading by posting a bit more often... ciao for now...
- T
Oh... I decided to remove my profile from the public view to create a bit more privacy... I've had some strange experiences with people having my online information as of late, so I'm going to try to keep a bit of a low profile.
I'm taking a day off today, because I've been pretty nutso with work as of late. One of my sponsor teachers has had me running ragged getting ready to teach her class. I think maybe her expectations are a little severe, but I'm hoping that the fact that she wants to micro-manage my learning is going to pay off in the long run. I hope.
The new semester/practicum of teaching started this past Thursday, and I think I lucked out with my classes. I'm not perceiving any major issues beyond chattiness and a little bit of rambunctiousness, but the term is still young, and there's plenty of time for things to go wrong. I'm still coaching a bit of volleyball, which has been good, and I was able to get my Level 1 coaching certification partially done last weekend. The first part of my Level 2 comes up next weekend as well. The club I'm coaching for has volunteered to pay for my certification clinics, so I'm happy to let them rack up the $500 bill that will need to be paid when all is said and done. But, I figure it's a good way to get some experience under my belt, pad my resume a bit, and reward myself for helping out beyond the classroom. Not to mention, it may introduce me to some people that may help me get a job in the new year.
It looks like I'll be heading back to the prairies for a few visits in the next few months, and my big brother's coming out for visit as well. In the 4 years that I've been away from AB, he is the only one of my family who hasn't come out for a visit and finally it looks like he's coming at the start of May. It's kinda bad timing because I'm in the process of finishing up my semester of teaching a 75% load and in the middle of being certified, but he's coming out all the same and both K and I are excited. I'm also heading back to the 4-0-3 a few times. My old English teacher and pseudo-mentor is retiring from teaching this year, and the school is providing him with a bit of a send-off, to which all the old theatre alumni are invited. I only participated in theatre in my senior year, but I got to know P.M. pretty well in those formative years and used to go back to visit him fairly often. Ironically, the school is even performing an adaptation of the very play I performed when I did the musical. For a little added (and obvious) irony, I'm receiving my certification for teaching in the same year he's retiring. Meant to be??? I'm not quite sure. I was never really sure what I wanted to do for a career before I actually entered the teaching program, but I think I found a good fit.
I don't really know if there's anything worthwhile to add. My beautiful wife is doing well as always, and it seems as though any major natural disasters have avoided this part of the world as of late. Other than ripping a 6 inch hole in the ass of my nice khakis about 2 weeks ago, I don't think I have anything else to share. But I'll try to keep you loyal readers reading by posting a bit more often... ciao for now...
- T
Oh... I decided to remove my profile from the public view to create a bit more privacy... I've had some strange experiences with people having my online information as of late, so I'm going to try to keep a bit of a low profile.
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