Life has been so crazy lately. Everything just seems to fall behind or get pushed aside. Its so difficult to make time for the things we love when we're busy.
I just can't seem to get back on the bandwagon. Everyday is a struggle just to keep up. I'm drowning in a sea of work, wedding planning and school. As soon as i pick one up the other two drop.
It's the most frustrating thing i've experienced, but it also makes me wonder, how are we, as teachers, supposed to deal with the inevitable burn-out? How can we get recharged and re-energized? re-enthused about the purposeful career we have chosen?

I feel like I need to be rebooted or smaked upside the head. However, instead I have chosen the much more sane option and escaped my regular surroundings for something more... inspiring.
Happy Friday everyone!

English and Apps

I love learning about other languages and cultures; they're positively fascinating. It is entirely possible that I should have chosen to major in Anthropology instead of English Literature, but I digress.

Due to this mild obsession, a friend recently pointed out a free website called Duolingo which, as the name suggests, helps you learn a second language.  I chose German. After two days of using the service during study breaks and bouts of boredom I have acquired several useful phrases such as "Die Frau trinken das Wasser" (The woman drinks the water) and "Der Mann isst eine Fischsandwich"(The man is eating a fish sandwich).

Linguistic dabblings aside, this has been a very productive evening. I came up with what could either be a brilliant idea, or the dullest suggestion anyone has ever heard. What if we, as teachers, could develop phone or computer apps for our vocabulary lessons?

All of my students (6th grade) have cell phones, the majority of which are smart phones. If this is true for the majority of the student population, why couldn't we come up with a more tech-savvy method to help students expand their vocabulary?

This Duolingo app introduces new vocabulary slowly, perhaps seven words per mini-unit. When using the app, you are asked to form sentences using the vocabulary, point out similarities, et cetera.
Wouldn't it be neat if teachers could plug in their own vocabulary words into an app? One that students could download onto their phones and use to review vocabulary or even as a homework assignment?

If such an app already exists, could someone kindly point me in its direction?

If it doesn't, well it looks like I found something to do over the summer break after all.

Slice Seven

As I was perusing the internet today I came across a blog entry about Pixar's "22 rules of storytelling."
What a wonderful thing to share with other writing teachers!
Here's the link: http://aerogrammestudio.com/2013/03/07/pixars-22-rules-of-storytelling/

I found a few of these to be particularly relevant to my own issues with writing:

#8:Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.
I have such a difficult time letting go of a story once i've started it. Even when i'm beating a dead horse, I refuse to give up on it. Perhaps I really should just set it aside and move on.

#10: Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.
This is such great advice for writing! I think this is something i'd really like to try with my own students one day, I'd only need to figure out how.

There were also several other lists of writing advice from several authors linked at the bottom of the blog.

On Internet Etiquette and Religion

As I was browsing through Facebook today I came across something that really made my blood boil.
I'd never really experienced it before, but before I knew it I felt like my skin was on fire.

I came across a post made by a close family member. This post was choc-full of logical fallacies and sweeping generalizations about my particular beliefs. I understand that he posted it on his profile, but this family member also set it out on the internet for the world to see, and thusly crossed a line with me.

I am not for the lampooning of the beliefs of others. We live in America. We all possess the right to freedom of or from religion. It's wonderful.

However, it's the perpetuation of ignorance and spread of hate by childish memes and viral videos like this particular one that I have a problem with. Other people believe other things. Why can't we all be okay with that?

You cannot judge every member of a certain sect by the ill actions of one. Not all Christians are Rush Limbaugh. Not all Muslims are Bin Laden. Not all non-believers worship at the altar of Karl Marx.

It's 2013 world. Why haven't we moved on?

One motto, one badge, and singleness of heart

Today is the day.
I open my dusty jewelry box
and take out the tiny badge held within.

I hold it in my hand
turning it over
admiring the minuscule greek letters etched on its back.
I gently unlatch the clasp and pin it to my sweater.

I haven't placed this shining gold badge over my heart in over a year.
I missed this.
I never thought it would mean this much to me.

I joined a women's fraternity in hopes of making friends in an unfamiliar place.
At first I was reluctant to participate
I didn't want to change who I was or how I dressed.
I didn't want to change how I acted.
I thought the fraternity would change me,
and it did.

It changed me for the better.

This bright token, our badge, it means more to me than any other piece of jewelry I own.
It is more than three gold letters stacked upon each other.
It is more than an inexpensive momento from my college days.

It is a steadfast reminder of my pledge.
It is reminder that I am loved and valued.
It is the physical manifestation of the bond my sisters and I share.
Of the promises we made
The values we swore to uphold
The secret rituals that lay at our very core.

This is the true face of my fraternity.
Our sisterhood.
One motto, one Badge, and singleness of heart,
Loyal forever, Alpha to Thee.

A slice of my "normality"

Yesterday officially started the March leg of the Slice of Life Challenge. True to form, I began a little late. Since we're supposed to be writing a little bit each day, I thought i'd begin my blog with an introduction.

Hello.

I'm Leslie, a twenty-something graduate student and future educator. I suffer from what my best friend has dubbed "chronic mean face," although instead of "mean" she substituted a choice five letter word beginning with "b." I might look mean and moody, however I am anything but. Unsurprisingly, Tard the grumpy cat is my spirit animal.
I am the proud mother of two fish and a poodle. Anyone who says that fish and poodles aren't awesome clearly has not met mine yet.

In the spirit of saving time I present to you a short list of my likes and dislikes:

Things I like:
-Coffee
-Science Fiction
-Dinosaurs
-Classic Rock
-Pickles
-Key lime pie
-Museums
-The ocean

Things I don't like:
-Not having coffee
-certain arthropods with eight legs
-He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named
-Allergy season
-The Miami International Airport

I hope you, dear reader, are having a wonderful Saturday evening.

Best Wishes,
Leslie

Fish the Guppy, or A Lesson in Tenacity

As I sit here writing this entry the little cursor blinks impatiently while I struggle to compose my thoughts in an eloquent and professional manner. I'm a twenty-three-year-old college graduate, I'm supposed to sound professional right? But why on earth am I so concerned with sounding intelligent? Why do I really care what my peers think of me, or any of you who just might happen across this?
I sometimes wish I could just live my life in a fish bowl like my pets. I wouldn't have to think, I wouldn't have to do anything but live and swim.

My fiance recently moved to the caribbean for medical school and he left me in charge of his pet fish. All four of the little rainbow colored guppies were named Fish. And the sucker fish? Well Richard creatively named him Sucker Fish, although I've recently started referring to him as Dyson.

One by one our little Fish fish began to die off; Guppies have short life spans after all. I would call Rich in tears to tell him that I found one of them belly-up or wedged in one of the glow-in-the-dark plants. Each loss further punctuating the distance between us.

Eventually all of the fish died, save two: Dyson and one of the fish named Fish. This little Fish fish was special; Rich and I bought him together. He was a very tiny red guppy.  He looked sick, and possibly mentally handicapped. He swam erratically around the tank, often bumping into the other fish. We didn't want him. Rich called the pet store fish-wrangler over and she scooped out two little guppies for us. When the girl went back to scoop out a third fish she scooped up our Fish. And Fish, being the tenacious little bugger that he is, promptly jumped out of the scoop net and fell about five feet to the floor.

We all stood there stunned for a few seconds, and then the girl scooped him up with a paper towel and plopped him into a little bowl of water on her supply cart. "You don't want him. He won't last long," the girl said as she went to scoop out a different fish for us.

But we did want him. He had personality. He had tenacity. Or perhaps he was simply a few french fries short of a Happy Meal. Either way he was perfect. She begrudgingly placed the tenacious little guppy in the baggie with our other two fish and we took them all home.

Fish the Tenacious has since outlived all of the other guppies. He is, aside from Dyson, the last fish standing. He survived two fish-sickness epidemics, power outages, and countless tank cleanings. He is also the only fish who was not afraid of Dyson the suckerfish. In fact, Fish likes to swim after Dyson and pick algae off of him. Fish has also been known to get excited near feeding time and splat into the side of the tank.

I look forward to feeding him each morning. He swims up from behind the plants and writhes maniacally in the water beneath the little feeding flap. Seeing his little red feathery body zoom around the tank is a daily reminder to be a little more tenacious, and perhaps, to have a little more faith.