Stuff My Students Say Part 1

I've been down a bit about the reality that my job isn't as charming as I used to think it. However, I do have good days. One of the joys of teaching is hearing things students say to each other and to me in writing and in conversation. Today I thought I'd post a few gems from this term.

A response to an assignment where students had to read creation stories from different cultures around the world.
Student: "I learned that Japan has always been weird. Uh, I mean… Different. Lots of things just happened. The story I read was probably shortened a lot, so I don't know why a lot of things happened. When you think about it, all creation stories are weird. They try to explain very specific things that really didn't need to be explained. Did I really need an explanation as to why canoes exist? Probably not. They do let you see into other people's cultures, though. Even though most people in those countries are probably just as weirded out by them as we are. From what I have gathered, the members of the Japanese Imperial family are considered to be deities, or at least descendents of deities. Egypt is the same way, the Pharaoh used to be worshipped as a god. Something tells me these stories were written by people who were quite fond of their rulers. Or perhaps the rulers themselves wrote them? Either way, I’m glad we as a species have grown out of these kinds of stories, for the most part anyway."

As you might have read in the previous post, I tried to have a class party where students would wear togas, bring Caesar-themed treats, and have fun in class. My odd day classes inspired that post, but my even day classes seemed to have a better time. Here is a conversation with two students 10 minutes before class ended:

Student 1: So when do we party?
Me: . . . This is the party.
Student 1: Oh. Okay (sheepishly)
Me: I thought having a class debate would be fun and you'd get to talk with your friends and have a good time.
Pause.
Me: It is supposed to be fun.
Awkward Pause
Me: I hoped it would be fun, but I'm a nerd and like this stuff. Maybe you guys can plan the party next time.
Student 1: Yeah! I'll bring my x-box.
Me: Um, no. Not going to happen. I think true parties are a waste of your academic time. I think it's better when you can do something fun and educational and get treats. That's a class party.
Student 2: Yeah, I get that. It was a pretty fun debate.
Student 1: Yeah. When do we get treats?
Me: I have grapes!
Student 1: Grapes?
Me: Yeah. You know, Rome, wine, grapes. Julius Caesar. (They nodded politely, but weren't sold on the coolness of the grapes). They are easy to share. Plus I wanted to be conscious of gluten and nut and other allergies. It's hard to find a treat that every one can enjoy.
Student 2: Okay, cool. Good point.
Student 1: They are tasty grapes.
Me: I was hoping you guys would bring something to contribute.
Student 1: I forgot.
Student 2: Yeah.
Pause.
Me: Next time.

Say Thank You

I remember one day when I was in elementary school, I had forgotten an assignment or my lunch or something very important. As a responsible student, this forgetfulness didn't happen often. I received permission to go to the office and call my mom. Both my parents worked, but I got in touch with my mom and she said she would bring me what I needed. I ended the conversation with this: "Thanks, Mom."

When I hung up the phone the office secretary told me, "It's so nice of you to say thank you. We don't hear that much in this office." I remember this moment because of the shock it created. People don't say thank you to their parents? I was maybe eight years old and my parents taught me to show my gratitude. To this day, I say thank you often. When I am in the drive-thru, when students remember to do something, when I make eye contact with another human being that provided me a service, I say thank you. 

I feel like I need to say thank you to my parents right now for teaching me that interactions with people are not like ATM transactions. When you deal with another human being, showing some gratitude is always appropriate. 

I am given the task each year to make Julius Caesar come alive. It is probably the most boring play I've read by Shakespeare, but I do a good job of making it interesting. We talk about rhetoric and honor and justice. This year I offered them a toga party. Extra credit for dressing up. I brought a bowl full of grapes for each class. We watched the last scene of the Royal Shakespeare Company's newest version of the play (which I highly recommend; it's the least boring version of this play I've seen). We wore togas (well, I wore a toga) and had a class debate about whether or not Brutus was justified in killing Caesar and whether or not all the characters got what they deserved in the end. Awesome. 

As my students left, no one thanked me for the grapes or the party. No one thanked me for making the lesson interesting. In fact, I was battling phones so much, I don't know if anyone even knows really how the play ends. 

As my last class was nearing an end, I had five minutes left. I wanted to ask if they identified Brutus' fatal flaw. While I waited for a response one kid stood up and put his backpack on and remained standing, like he was ready to leave class. I said, "We still have five minutes. Have a seat." The look of disdain on his face was evident. I looked around as everyone else packed up and prepared to leave. I said, "Fine, You're excused." They looked at me dumbfounded and remained seated. I said, "No seriously, get out. You can go. Why are you still sitting? Leave!" One brave soul did, and I walked to my computer and looked busy. I would have sat at my desk, but I don't have one because there isn't enough room in my classroom for a seat for me. I removed it to add three more student desks. 

And still, no one said thank you.

I just need to realize that my students don't actually owe me anything, which is true. A simple thank you just goes so far. 

Teachers are Professionals? HA!

One of the greatest sources of my own inner turmoil is the constant nagging about how long I legitimately think I can keep teaching. Every Monday, the dread that faces me is enough to make my concerned husband ask if I want to quit mid-year. We both know I'm far too "professional" for that, but it doesn't seem like the rest of this state considers teachers professionals. 

Last week an article, "Lawmakers consider creating board exam for teachers in effort to keep standards high," appeared on KSL news, and it indicated that the State Legislature is considering enacting a new board certification process for teachers to keep and earn their teaching licenses. This move seems to be in direct response to the Utah State Board of Ed's decision to lower the requirements needed to earn a license in the first place. 

Here's some background: Utah is facing a teacher crisis (that will be the subject of another post altogether), and the Board is trying to use a short-term solution to fix it. Basically, under the new rules, any person with a bachelor's degree can get a job teaching, and through mentoring, receive a teaching license. I take issue with many of these new regulations, including increasing the already demanding work load of experienced "master" teachers, neglecting to acknowledge that it takes education and instruction to learn how to manage a classroom and educate students, and bypassing the many necessary steps it takes to prove mastery in both a content area and in teaching before getting a job. I do understand that the Board is facing a shortage, but they might be doing it at the expense of losing their overworked teachers already in the field. 

I digress. The legislature is proposing (in response to the Board's decision) that teachers be required to take . . . wait for it . . . a test to prove mastery of teaching and get board certified. The process will include evaluations and a test and who knows what else. Upon reading this article (link below), we find out how out-of-touch legislators are with the requirements it takes to get a degree in teaching and in keeping a license. 

Here's what already happens:
Every year teachers get evaluated by administrators in their building. They follow a challenging rubric of best teaching practices. Together the teacher and administrator work on a Growth Plan to improve their teaching and student outcomes for the future. This process is technically different in every district, but not much different (I've worked for 3 districts and it's all about the same). This evaluation process is also directly tied to whether or not teachers earn a pay increase, or in teacher terms, a step increase for the following year. It's high stakes and teachers really are held accountable for what they are doing or not doing in their classrooms. 

Also, before I graduated from Utah State University with a Level 1 teaching license, I had to pass the Praxis II test in my content areas of English and Speech Communications (my minor). A few years into the job, I had to pass the Praxis II PLT (Principles of Learning and Teaching) to upgrade to a Level 2 license. That's two tests. And, evaluations yearly. These are just a few of the requirements to keep or renew or attain a teaching license. Teachers are also required to do a lot of continuing education and professional development, and some teachers even go through the National Board Certification process (which I don't know much about because I don't even know how to create time to research what that takes). 

Do lawmakers not know what teachers already do in order to become "Highly Qualified" in their fields and receive a teaching license? I have to think the answer is no, because a board exam would seem redundant if they did know. Adding requirements to the licensing process will harm the interest of new recruits and deter veteran teachers from staying in the profession. A move like this from lawmakers makes me wonder who in the legislature gets a kickback every time they require or mandate another test. Are there test-maker lobbyists? Is that a thing? That theory makes more and more sense the longer I think of it. 

Teachers are professionals. I am a professional, and I work with professionals. If Utah lawmakers can't accept that, then maybe we shouldn't be called professionals or given any indication that this is a career. They should just teach us to be good little worker bees and do what they ask. Then we wouldn't get so confused about why we are continually treated as though we can't do our jobs. 

It's time that local lawmakers recognized the huge resource they have in the teaching workforce and help us do our jobs instead of giving us all one more reason to quit tomorrow. 

Here's the article if you're interested:

https://www.ksl.com/?sid=41570153&nid=148&title=lawmakers-consider-creating-board-exam-for-teachers-in-effort-to-keep-standards-high

Why I Cried After Class:

As a teacher, I am often pressed with endless questions. “When is this due?” “Why did the poet write it like that?” “Can you explain that again?” “How can you tell what that means?” These questions I can handle. I became a teacher after all to help educate the minds of the future. I want them to ask questions—hard questions. I want them to look at words and furrow their brows with critical thinking working through their brains. I want questions. I feed off of questions.

But.

Today, I designed a high interest lesson. We had class debates on issues from the play Julius Caesar. We debated questions like: Is it ever okay to overthrow a political leader? Is there such thing as fate? Students participated and fought and delved into some interesting issues. After the debate, I used my best storytelling skills and proffered all the most interesting details of Julius’s life.  I told of pirates, war, conspiracy, lovers trysts, politics, speech making, and assassination. I was at my best (and for the 5^th time, I might add).

When I finished, I asked my students to write in their notes a bit about what they learned from the class debates we had or from the info I delivered on Julius. The prompt was “What did you learn today? Any interesting thoughts?”

But they couldn’t handle this simple question. “What if I didn’t learn anything?” “Wait, what do we write about?” “How much do we have to write?” “Wait, what do we write about?” “What are we doing?” “What if nothing was interesting?” . . . I answered, I explained, I repeated. And then, I said, “Yeah write a short paragraph, 5-6 sentences about what you learned or even just a thought you had that was interesting in the debates.” I was greeted with shock and horror. “Are you serious?” “Why so much?” “Why do we have to write anything at all?” “5-6 sentences? (eye roll).” I defended the assignment. “It’s not that much. -- I just want to know your interesting thoughts from today. – This is English, you need to use words!” And then the statement that pushed me over the edge. “I’m only writing one sentence.”

Sigh. We’re doomed.

The questions that make me want to give up the most are the questions students ask that show they are their own biggest obstacles in education. To me the question sounds like this: “How little can I do and still get points for doing it?” I hate that, and I don’t use the word hate much. What happened to curiosity and learning for the sake of gaining knowledge? Why are students so opposed to effort of any kind?

At the last barrage of questions and whiny statements, I grabbed my laptop and left the room. I couldn’t take it anymore. I stood outside the closed door and counted to 10. The bell eventually rang a minute later and my students (some) literally ran out the door. Some saw me standing there and graciously offered me a thank you, full on sympathy in their observant eyes.

When all were gone, I shut the door, sat in a desk, and cried. I cried for my lack of understanding. I cried for the energy and emotion I put into educating these kids everyday, only to be greeted with sheer resistance. I cried because I’m the enemy and they’re the victims. I cried because I don’t know how much longer I can do this job.  I cried because I don’t know how to break through.

I want to be a good teacher. I want to have one of those classes where everyone is raising their hands to speak, or better yet, understanding the rules of society and can moderate their own conversations with civility.

I don’t know how to do that, and that’s why I cried.

Dress Codes

I haven't posted in years, but I'm coming out of hiding because I need a creative outlet:

How Not to Respond When a Boy Admits He Has Impure Thoughts

By Arti Teemant

At Timpview High the last two weeks, a situation about cheerleading uniforms is going viral. Reportedly a parent called administration at the high school, saying her son had impure thoughts about the cheerleaders in uniform at school. Somebody alerted the media and started throwing around words like “rape culture” and “body shaming” --two very socially prevalent phrases. Now that People Mag has picked up the story, others from the outside are happily looking in on a Mormon-heavy community, mocking us for our absurd obsession with modesty.

I, for one, think this is an unfortunate situation. We live in a society that is justifiably enflamed when women are wrongly objectified or threatened or lessened by a patriarchal society. However, we have to stop crucifying people for making mistakes that are fairly harmless and blowing them to rape proportions. Can we be a bit more strategic in our approach to these situations? There is a spectrum of severity when it comes to objectification of women. Rape is way on one end and making a comment without thinking first is on the other. This latter end of the spectrum needs education, not philippic rants making them out to be horrible human beings.

The boy who complained at Timpview about having impure thoughts about the cheerleaders in their uniforms is in a prime position to be educated about controlling his thoughts and looking beyond a woman’s body and seeing her as a person, not an object. Now, however, you better believe that this young man will never say anything out loud again when he thinks inappropriately about a woman again. Neither will any of the other young men having impure thoughts. They’ll be too afraid that People Magazine will breathe down their necks to get a statement and be epitomized as the worst male to ever think a thought about a woman in a short skirt. As we should know as a culture by now, creating change by fear is not as effective as good leadership, support, and education. Shaming men for having impure thoughts about women is not the way to respond. Straight forward discussions about mindset and old-timey beliefs about women and their bodies is a much better way to cultivate change in our young men.

Isn’t this blown up response part of the problem? I am a particular fan of the movement to allow women to love their bodies as they are and show them off if they want. I think it is liberating and akin to the bra burning of the past. But can we just imagine this situation as it probably actually happened?

Theoretically, Timpview gets a call from a concerned mom. “My son said he had impure thoughts about the cheerleaders today. Can we do something about that?” Administrators scramble to think about what should happen. “Should we not let them wear the uniforms? Well we don’t enforce our dress code here anyway, so why should we start now? No, let’s let them wear them, but talk to the cheer coach about it.” The administration talks to the cheer coach, and they say something like, “Hey, we’re concerned about the shortness of the cheer skirts. Is there something else the cheerleaders can wear to school on game days?” Instead of the sincere question, the cheer coach, as the protective woman she might be, heard instead: “Your cheerleaders are immodest, so they can’t wear their uniforms.” She circles the wagons and tells the girls they can’t wear their uniforms to school anymore. The girls freak out. News outlets are informed, and you know the rest.

I work at Timpview and that is how I see this story going. Principal Montero is not the type of principal who rules from his administrator seat on high, making decrees and banning girls from wearing their cheerleading uniforms. He’s a pretty informed, liberated member of the patriarchal system that generally runs schools in Utah. I doubt forbidding the uniforms was ever a real consideration, and if it was, I don’t really care. It’s just another opportunity to educate the men who run things. These girls have not been body shamed; they’re cheerleaders. If anyone could parade around in underwear-length skirts and pull it off, it’s these girls. The real issue here is that this boy who took his concerns to trusted adults seeking help (probably), will now internalize his thoughts and think he is an evil man for thinking them. That sounds to me like a dangerous complex for a man to be carrying around.

We have problems in our country with how we present and perceive women and their bodies. We need to protect the rights women have to love their bodies and wear what they like, absolutely. But we should definitely not be doing it at the expense of vilifying our men who are struggling to change their mindsets when it comes to women and their bodies. There are true villains in this world, but a boy admitting his impure thoughts is not one of them, yet. I have a feeling that if we don’t turn to educating the masses as opposed to vilifying them, we will only exacerbate the problem.

Vermont Part 2

Hi all,It's been over a year since I last posted and well, that's a long time. So much has happened over the year and I don't think I can report it all. In a nut shell, some big changes have come into my life. I'm dating a pretty incredible guy named Drew. In the pictures above, you'll see we've had quite a few adventures :) I got a new job and am moving to the West Jordan/South Jordan area of Salt Lake in August. I don't have a place yet, but that is where I think I'll be looking. My job is at West Jordan Middle School. It's a rougher school, but somewhere I think I can make a difference. I'm switching to 8th Grade English instead of 11th and 12th which will be . . . interesting, challenging and a bit fun I'm sure. I moved out of my apartment in May and shacked up at the Browns' calling their home my home base while I traveled or stayed home to read one of the many book on my list for the summer. They are some good folk!

I had a few adventures in June. I visited brother Bret and his family in St. George, making a quick, but definitely needed, stop in Pine Valley to visit the Grandparent Snows. I spent a bit of time in Salt Lake right when school got out and went to Yearbook Camp for one last time with my old crew. They won the prize for best concept of a yearbook and I am so proud of them. The new teacher and they will do just fine I think. Other than that, I enjoyed a lot of weekends with Drew. We went to Palisades with parts of my family in June. We went to the Scottish Highland Festival at Thanksgiving Point and took a trip up to Mirror Lake in the Uintas and enjoyed some Bees Baseball with my family too. (pictures above)

Now, however, I am in VERMONT! As part of my Bread Loaf School of English adventures, I decided to spend another Summer in Vermont. This will be the 4th of 5 and I picked an excellent campus. My first ever summer, and I think the first summer of this blog, was spent in the Green Mountains of Vermont. I am walking around and remembering things fondly. I just arrived yesterday and have already connected to my group of friends that have traveled the world with me. It feels like no time has passed since we walked the streets of Oxford together.

I flew in on Sunday to Burlington and met a friend at the airport. Together we split a hotel room for a night before a friend with a vehicle could come pick us up. Unfortunately there is not a lot of public transportation in Vermont. I would have taken an almost $100 taxi ride to Bread Loaf if it weren't for my friend Chris, who chauffeured me and Duckie (friend I met at airport (to school). Today is registration and classes start tomorrow. I am excited for my two classes: Mexican American Literature and African American Poetry since 1960. My poetry professor is one of the who's who in A.A. Lit. and I am more than excited to study with him. I hear he's brilliant. :)

So for now, that's a quick update. I'll try to post pictures and reports of the summer as awesome things happen. Hopefully I'll make it to Montreal or other Canadian places or cool Vermont places as the summer moves along.
Ciao for now!

Blogspot and Picasa have changed so much that I can't seem to find how to imbed a slide show anymore. So if you want photos, you'll have to follow this link.

Pre-Vermont Photos

Oxford

I know I've been here a month, and I haven't posted one thing. I'm terrible, and I don't know where to start. Oxford isn't quite what I imagined it would be. I'm having a good time, but parts of this summer have been absolutely incredible. For instance, many of my friends are here, and I love going out with them, staying in, and traveling around the country with their company. It's fabulous. My class is great because I get to go see all of these performances, but academically, I don't think I'm growing that much. But I can't really complain about seeing 10 plays in 5 weeks with some pretty huge actors. So here are some of the highlights:

Plays: I saw Merchant of Venice with Patrick Stewart as Shylock. The Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford has an incredible stage (called a thrust) where the audience basically surrounds the three sides of the stage. This means people sit closer and get to see more. I love it. Stewart was pretty awesome, but the play was set in Vegas and included a lot of stereotypes that really made my questions some of my own feelings about people. It was great. I've also seen Much Ado about Nothing with Eve Best, Cardenio (not by Shakespeare), Macbeth, City Madam (by Philip Massinger, not Shakespeare), and All's Well that Ends Well. I saw two at the Globe, and the rest have been in Stratford (which feels like a second home now). I have four left: Henry IV part 1 and 2 in Bath!, Midsummer Night's Dream in Stratford again, and . . . Richard the III with none other than KEVIN SPACEY! I'm so excited about that one. Spacey is one of the best villain actors alive and he's playing one of Shakespeare's most villainous characters. Can't wait.
I only have two weeks left until I'm home, so this last week we are seeing all four productions before my final project is due for class and then I'm finished. It will go by too quickly.

Trips: I went to London a few times with friends and for class, but I got to see some of the main attractions. Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and a few art galleries. oh and the Thames river, which is awesome.

I also went to Scotland last weekend. I went with five other people, we took the train 5 hours to Edinburgh and stayed in a hostel two nights. We stayed on the Royal Mile mostly, which is where most of the tourist attractions are anyway. We went to Edinburgh Castle and hiked up Arthur's Seat (trip highlight for me). We also spent Saturday afternoon at the Jazz Festival, which was another trip highlight. I picked up some souvenirs and came to the conclusion that Scotland is a place worth coming back to. The people are great and I would love to spend more time there. I had an awesome time, but mostly because I went with an awesome group. We all stayed in the same room so we got to know one another pretty well. Good friends, good fun, good place, good times. I even tried Haggis and it was too bad, though I couldn't quite get over the contents of Black pudding to swallow that down. . .

This weekend I took it nice and easy. Thursday we had what is called a High Table dinner, which is very formal. We all dress up and have a serious meal with wine and great food. It'd great fun. We have one about once a week, and this week I got to sit at the high table with our school's director because was honored this summer with a named scholarship. It's a pretty big honor, but I don't get any extra money besides the financial aid I already got. It just means that this financial aid came from a fund. It's pretty great. I went out Friday night after a day of class, so an 80's Dance Party was just what I needed. Today, I slept in late and spent the day at the Botanical Gardens with one of my best friends Amy. It was a great sunny day and I soaked it up. Tomorrow I'm off to Bath and hopefully next weekend I'll get to Wales. That will be my last adventure before I wrap things up probably. I'll be home before I know it. Enjoy the pictures, and I'm sure I've left things out, but that's what happens when I wait so long to post.
Cheers!

Yearbook Camp

I usually only update when interesting things happen, and well, my life has been anything but interesting as of late. I read Macbeth in one day on Friday and started Much Ado About Nothing. That's exciting right? No, you're right. I know boring when I see it . . . Since I got back from Joplin I've been busy getting things done for my classes in Oxford this summer. I went shopping with my dear friend Kim Gleason :) She's the best shopping buddy and keeps me rational and within budget. I had a blast with her. I also went to my cousin Jessica's wedding. It was a beautifully splendid day and my first temple sealing ceremony. I was glad to be invited, and it was a great moment for me to witness. I appreciate being a part of that special moment. I put a few pictures in the slide show above.
Other than driving to and from Salt Lake or Provo, I've been sheltered in my house packing and repacking and reading most of the time. Although I went to Yearbook Camp earlier in the week. Yeah, that sounds nerdy too, but it is actually a pretty good time. I took three of my seniors that will be on staff this year. We spent three days coming up with our concept for next year's book. They hold general and mini-sessions to teach different things like design, photography, cool ways to get everyone in the book, theme development, etc. We have deadlines and meet with cover artists who help design the cover of the book. Next year, Gunnison High is celebrating its 100th year as a school. So, no spoilers here, but the book is going traditional and really exciting. I've got an excellent crew this year, and I'm really looking forward to working with them. They should be some hard workers :)
The camp was held at Snowbird this year, and it is a beautiful place. There is still plenty of snow (though brownish now) and I was tempted to take my skis with me. But there was no time for playing around :) We road the tram lift up to the peak and walked around in the snow. It is a beautiful view, though my student who is afraid of heights didn't enjoy the edge much at all.
It was a great three days. Kim and Cody let me crash with my students at their house. They are so good to me that way. I loved seeing the boys and Laney, though I didn't get to play legos with them. I hope I can return the favor of hospitality someday. Maybe when Cody gets involved with Scouts he can bring the troupe down and I'll show them a good time :) I can teach woodcarving or something. :)
I'm trying not to count down to the day I leave, but I fly out in 5 days! This week has me busy with teaching stuff. I have a Core Academy to attend that will teach me the new standards and how to adapt my current curriculum to fit the new standards. I'm looking forward to it because it will be the only prep I'll do before school starts in August. Eek. But then, my mom drives down on Thursday to take me to St. George at which point I'll get on a shuttle Friday to the Vegas airport. Then, so long U.S. hello U.K. I don't know what it will be like, but I hope it's worth all the anticipation. I'll keep y'all updated while I'm gone. And of course I'll still be available via Skype, Facebook, and email :)

Joplin, MO

Okay, so here's the low down. I went to Joplin, Missouri last week and it was incredible. It was life changing. On the last day of school last week, or 10 days ago I guess, one of my co-workers and friends was telling us about her past in living in Missouri. She lived there with her husband and young family while he went to medical school. Before they moved to Utah, they lost their house to a tornado. She decided to fly to Missouri to help with the relief efforts with her husband, son and a few boys from town. I listened to her and the donations coming in from the county and I couldn't help but want to help. I don't have any money, but I do have a body that can work. I leaned over to the teacher next to me and said, "I wish I could go too." She said, "Let's take the seats out of my van and take supplies over." I said, "Are you serious?" and she said, "Yeah, why not." And that is how it started. The truly inspiring part of this story comes from my community. Without a daily newspaper, school being in session, or anything but word of mouth, Jolyn Chappell (my fellow teacher with the van) and I were able to get the word out about us collecting item donations. We put an ad on the radio, donation boxes at local stores, and flyers where ever we could. And something amazing happened: Over Memorial Day weekend this Valley gathered more donations than we could even imagine. Instead of taking a van without seats, we ended up loading a truck and a trailer. Even greater generosity came when a family in town LENT us their NEW truck to pull the trailer and a neighbor LENT us a trailer to take. If I learned anything from this trip, it's that the generosity of people is incredible. I'm so proud to be from Gunnison Valley. People give and give and give.
So with our load we left for Missouri. The crew consisted of me and my fellow teacher JoLyn and two former students Megan and Rayel. I know them as hard workers and drivers of trailers and standard trucks (hehe). We left Tuesday and arrived Wednesday evening to unload the trailer into the garage of the Bishop's house. He lined up to have some ladies in the ward to sort the stuff and lay it out for the members of the Ward that lost their houses (30 houses in the one Ward). Anyway, I know it will go to good use. We spent the next two days raking up debris mostly and listening to people. That is one thing that kind of fascinated me. People really just wanted to talk about what happened to them. Where they were in the storm, what saved them, etc. etc. It was interesting and touching.
So Joplin looks just like you've seen on TV but worse in person. Two dimensions have nothing on tornado destruction. I've posted a few pictures but that's not even the crazy stuff. St. John's hospital has been popular footage on news, but what you don't see are the concrete parking stops (rebarred into the pavement and 200-300 lbs. a piece) blown everywhere or the cars piled on top of each other. Or hundred year old trees uprooted all over the city. It's absolutely crazy.
Though, the devastation is nothing compared to the overwhelming generosity. When we unloaded our trailer of goods we met a member at the Bishop's house. She started talking to us and we talked to her too. We told her we came from Utah and she got touched. She asked where we were staying and we said the back of the trailer and sleeping bags. She wasn't going to have that so she offered us a place at her house and wouldn't take no for an answer. We followed her home and she made an awesome dinner for us. Meeting Nicole and her family was one of the highlights of the trip. She's good people. But really everywhere we went we met cool people. A Chaplain who travels to disasters and helps with grief counseling. He's been to Katrina and all over. A group of about 100 Wells Fargo employees doing service (man I love that bank). Churches opening their doors to everyone, feeding people. Chiropractors giving free care to victims and volunteers. Operation Blessing sending volunteers by the bus load and random people like us, manning shovels and rakes and doing anything asked. The list goes on and on and that doesn't include the many stories of heroism from the storm. Many of which have been made fairly public. The Joplin tornado was a tragedy, but the human response is almost as incredible to see as the destruction. Witnessing the kindness I saw this week restores some hope in humanity. People are good.
The work we did seems like peanuts in the grand perspective of it all, but someone reminded me of the starfish story and I know what we did meant something to someone. Anyway, that's what I did for my first week of vacation. Now I have three weeks to get some serious reading done and gear up for my summer in England. Man, my life seems unreal even to me.

May!

Not much is going on in my life right now. I posted a few photos of my dance recital from last month. I had a blast with the ladies this year. Though, I don't have any cool stories or scars like my niece Faye has since her dance recital. (see Bret's blog).
School is almost out for the summer, and I for one can't wait. Hope your summers are going well.

Spring Break

Whew! What a month. I knew it would be mad, but I underestimated. I mean come on, Butler! None of my final four picks made it to the final four. Most of them didn't make Sweet 16, and that isn't even the half of it.

In my bullet style post of last month, I mentioned a few things that hadn't happened yet, but that I was looking forward to. It is now time to report on said events. Yay!

Being and American Contest:
As some of you know from Facebook, I went to Washington D.C. for an award program because one of my students won an essay contest. It ended up being a great few days. I flew in to DC early to hang out with my Uncle Doug and Aunt Sara and Cousin Cameron. They let me veg with them and stay in their basement. We went on a picnic lunch to Roosevelt Island and walked the perimeter of the island. I really enjoyed it. This sounds snobby, and I'm sorry for it but I can't think of how to phrase it otherwise: I've been to DC so many times it's hard to find something I've never done, but Doug and Sara always find something :) Cameron is growing up like crazy. We spent Sunday morning beading and making pretty bracelets and necklaces with her other cousin Olive. I loved spending time with them.
On Sunday Doug dropped me off at the JW Marriott for registration of my fun-filled awards week. I met up with my student and her mother for the dinner that evening and ran into a few familiar faces. Several of the teachers here this time were return teachers like myself. I think it was four total teachers with repeat winners. Anyway, we did a lot of the same things: Mount Vernon on Monday (one of my favorite spots in the Capitol); National Archives, Library of Congress, Capitol Building. They fed us well and I remembered to pack my exercise clothes this year. The hotel had awesome facilities. Ironically, the one morning I didn't work out Mit Romney did (we'd walked miles the day before). I was so close. Man.
The Gala on Tuesday and the final event of the trip was an awesome party. Wine and open bar to start with lots of shmoozing with donors. It was cool and I chatted up a few cool people with my cranberry-ginger-ale go-to cocktail. The Gala is the big event where everyone finds out what place the students took in the contest. Going in we only knew my student was top three in our region. The contest has 9 regions total. SO . . . my student took 1st place! I could barely contain my excitement. I'd been hoping but not too much just in case we got disappointed (not that 3rd is disappointing). My student won $5,000 and the best part is the Bill of Rights Institute gives equal awards to the teachers as well. I've never had $5000 at one time before; in fact, I got grilled at the bank when cashing the check to make sure it wasn't fraudulent. I feel blessed and proud. It felt so good that my student won. It put Gunnison on the map for just a minute.
We spent our last day hitting last minute must-sees for my student before hopping on a plane and jet-setting it home. I taught Thursday and Friday before getting on another plane and heading for San Francisco to start my Spring Break.

Last summer I arranged to visit a Bread Loaf friend (that's my master's program) in San Francisco in the spring. She teaches at a private school and I've always been curious about private schools. So my friend Margaret appeased my curiosity. We saw and walked a lot, which was cool because we ate really well too. SF has incredible restaurants and bakeries. We went to a farmer's market, Fisherman's Wharf, Ghirardelli Square, Goldern Gate Park, the Full House houses, the bakery that invented sourdough, and lots of the bay. We also drove around a bit to see all the neighborhoods. We spent a day in Sausalito and Muir Woods which is home to the Redwoods. That was quite an adventure. California really is a beautiful state. I went to school with Margaret on Monday and toured her school and watched her teach. Her kids were bright! I was fascinated and it piqued my interest. Margaret helped me make some decisions. I know what it looks like to be young and single in a city and I think that is what I want. I'm ready for change!
Anyway, I'll keep you posted on that. I had a great start to an awesome spring break. I finished it by reading a book, watching some TV, working in the yard, watching Conference, and visiting Holland while he was in Provo. I bought new luggage for my England trip. After all the traveling I've been doing I realized my beat up old suitcase won't quite hack it anymore. But now March is over and hopefully so is the madness. As far as I can see I have free weekends and no special trips in mind (except Easter in St. George?) I'm a designated home body :) It'll be good for me and for my wallet.
So here's to another adventure!

March Madness

I think it's always appropriate that College Basketball Tournaments are this month. March truly is Mad, but in other ways than basketball. Here's what I've been up to, bullet style:

* Junior Prom. The first week of the month brought on the Junior Prom, which I advise with a few other teachers. Mostly it's the ladies (me and one other teacher) that run the show. We've been planning and ordering and running fundraisers since the beginning of the year. During the week of prom, we decorate every night and practice dancing all week. It's a crazy mad dash until Saturday. The night turned out beautifully. Kids danced all night, girls looked gorgeous in their dresses and boys were dashing in their sharp tuxes. In the end it went off without a hitch, and I'm in gear for next year.

* Region Speech. In the middle of the week, I helped our speech coach (who is also the other adviser for the prom ironically) run Region Speech. It was our turn to host, so for two days I was helping run a tab room with my mentor Stella Hill (my old speech coach). She taught me a lot about how a tab room should work. I've seen a lot of coaches run a meet in the past few years and it was cool to be one of the decision makers finally. I got to stand up against some cheating, something I didn't stand up for last year and cost our school a place at Region. Though, because I didn't give half the competitors a bye and a free win to qualify them for State, I've made an enemy of our close rival North Sevier. Oh well. A little hateful competition is always healthy right? :)

* State Speech. This weekend I went to State Speech with our speech team. We left Friday for sunny St. George and competed in individual events. It was a great day, with a few minor drawbacks. A few of my students chose to participate in some illicit activities. No charges yet, but I think they underestimate the power of my hearing and innate goodness of the few of the students they told about their shenanigans. Anyway, students did well. A few of our kids made it to the final rounds of individual events and debate. In the end the school took 3rd place. My star public forum debate team didn't do as well as normal, but that happens. One of our other teams got to be in the spotlight and I must say they deserved it.
I also got to see Bret and Lori for a minute. We went karaoke-ing at our favorite place Honolulu Grill. Super fun. It was great to see them, even for a short time. My friends Cassey and Landon came over to my hotel too, and had an excellent talk. I love catching up with old friends.
The team had some pretty cool adventures over the weekend. At our hotel, we saw a full scale drug bust. Teams of drug units and their dogs invaded a room and arrested several guys and took them off in discrete white vans. Plus on the way home our bus broke down in Cedar City. Thank heavens our bus driver used to drive for Iron County and knew just who to call. A mechanic came but couldn't get the engine to turn over. In the end they lent us a bus to come home in. We got home at 1 a.m. and it was late. Overall I had a blast getting to know my students a little better and I'm proud of the work they did over the weekend. Way to represent.

Coming up: I'm headed to Washington D.C. this weekend for an essay contest ceremony with one of my students. We'll find out what place she took in the top 3, and we'll also get to see some pretty great sites. I love D.C. It's one of my favorite places to visit. I'm flying in a day early to see Doug and the family. The rest of the four days I'm there will be too busy to see much of them. I can't wait.
The next week (the last week of March and first of April) I'm flying to San Francisco to visit my good friend Margaret. I planned this trip to see her last summer when we were at school. I've never been to that part of California and I'm stoked. We have plans to see the Redwoods and many other things. I can't imagine a better way to start Spring Break.

After that, who knows. I have no April plans but I'm waiting for things to happen. Easter and General Conference are in there somewhere. But I really am looking forward to a little break from the Madness that is March. So have fun with all the bracketology and I'll see you when the madness is over. :)

Pleasant President's Day

Hey, guess what? This blog post will have nothing to do with ranting! I know. I can hardly believe it myself. :) Here's the thing: winter has been hard, but it's almost over. For President's Day weekend I had an awesome time. Cody and Kim decided they needed a weekend away and picked my house as their destination. It was great to spend time with them. We went swimming on Friday; I watched the kids while Kim and Cody went to the temple Saturday morning; And we spent Sunday around the house and out taking family photos. We were relaxed and just enjoyed hanging out together. It was super nice to have people around the house and spend some quality time with my nephews and niece. Anyway, I really just wanted to post these pictures I took of Kim and Cody. I'm super amateur but they turned out pretty cute.

Time for Another Teacher Rant

I got my Time magazine this week, and the cover article is about “Tiger Moms.” It’s the new tough-love for those of you who haven’t heard about it yet (I hadn’t until the article). The article is about Chinese-parenting and making kids achieve a certain level of greatness. It’s all no-nonsense; “You don’t get to sleep or eat or pee until you can play this song on the violin. Stop your whining.” I think it’s great. Make your kids achieve greatness. Awesome. But I see it will never be the American way and that is “awesome” in its own right. Who wants to beat math, reading, and science into people and never acknowledge the importance for free thought and personal/individual accomplishment? Not me. Freedom is it’s own education in a way. I wonder if on these international tests there is ever a section of creativity or thought. I doubt it. But the truth remains. U.S. students are no longer achieving enough to compete in the world we live in. They aren’t prepared, and I’m not prepared for the future we are creating for ourselves. These kids in my classes are, after all, the same people who will be running this country when I’m 60. Sometimes that thought scares me. All I’ve prepared them for is a world full of second chances and no responsibility. I think that’s what we’ve all prepared them for unfortunately.
We still live in a world where entertainment is a billion dollar industry. After all, people may be out of work, but that won’t stop us from watching the Super Bowl or canceling our subscriptions to NetFlix. I think this is one of our biggest problems. We are born and bread as consumers, not creators or workers. We get things and buy things never really understanding what it means to have them. What happened to work ethic, or gratitude for that matter? Where did all this ‘expectance’ come from?
Now, in December President Obama mentioned that we are in the education version of Sputnik right now with China. They are blowing past the world in terms of economic growth and education. One area we expect to dominate has not been our strong suit for quite some time, and I feel a little defeated. I begin thinking, “What do we do?” or worse “Can I get out now and leave the problem to someone else?” I’m writing a portfolio of teaching philosophy right now for an award for which I was nominated. I find myself writing in a circle because I keep avoiding the question of why do I stay in the profession. Too much work and too few rewards, and for once I don’t mean money. I can’t tell you the last time I think one of my students took upon themselves to learn anything. Every day I get asked every variety of the same question “How little work can I do for enough credit?” No longer do students put effort in to learn. They ask for requirements for points. When I actually look at the quality of some of my student's work, I feel ashamed for them . . . and myself. How do I keep going?
I want to say the solution is in facing consequences and dealing with responsibility, even if it means failing. I can't say enough that sometimes we have to stop protecting kids from consequences. Maybe the real question is how do we start?

'Tis the Season

I mentioned in my last post that I would post again when I found my camera cord. Well, instead of finding the cord I bought a new camera. Thanks to a great Black Friday deal I have a pretty great new camera. I am enjoying testing it out. It doesn't do some things I liked with my last one, but I'm still adapting. I feel like a nerd when I'm reading my owner's guide to choose the appropriate setting for the light I'm in. :) I have never really Black Friday shopped before and I don't know that I'll do it again, but can I just say, I will be having a very Merry Christmas because I was pretty selfish on that day. Anyway, that seems like old news. In fact, it was nearly a month ago. Who knows where time goes?
In recent memory, life has been awesome. I went to Salt Lake last weekend for a pre-Christmas getaway with my family to the north. I shopped a little with my mom, saw "Tangled" with Cody, Kim and my nephews. Super cute flick by the way. I also visited with my dad and grandma, went to Temple Square to look at lights and watch our high school girl's choir sing in the Assembly Hall, and I even got in stand-by to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and David Archuleta concert. It was phenomenal; in fact it moved me to tears at least once. We stood in the rain for more than an hour, but it was a fun way to spend the Sabbath morning. That evening I enjoyed seeing my cousins and aunts and uncles at the Olsen Christmas Party. As always we had good food and good company. My niece was even awake long enough to smile at me (she's kind of a sleepy little one). In all, a great weekend. I didn't even grade one essay (which I paid for with lost sleep later).
This week so far has been awesome. I mean, Monday felt like a Monday of a short school week with students begging me to be the teacher that shows a movie, but I didn't cave. We took quizzes instead, mwhahaha (maniacal laugh here). Tuesday was a great day. For the second time since I started teaching, we had a snow day. A joyous occasion. After finding out about the cancellation of school, I went back to bed, only to wake up to more than 14 inches of snow in 24 hours. I spent several hours shoveling the driveway the hard way (is there an easy way?). My arms still ache. But I spent the day doing exactly what I wanted. I assembled my Christmas cards, wrapped presents, cooked. . . It was nice. Though because I didn't grade anything I was up half the night doing that, so I need to work on my priorities.
Today I am off officially. No school (except I have to chaperone a dance this evening). I'm heading south for the holiday, spending it with my brothers Holland and Bret and Lori and Faye. The next week I plan on skiing at least once. Holler if you are interested in joining me. If I don't see you between now and Saturday, I wish you a warm and happy Christmas. =>>>*

I'm 26!

I had a birthday! I turned 26 last week and now I feel sort of ancient. It's okay. I consider myself lucky to be young and single. It's fun.
I had a great birthday. On Friday my yearbook staff threw me a surprise birthday party. I was actually surprised and it was really nice of them. They gave me a "PMS Mobile" sticker for my car (My license plate letters are PMS, not by choice but coincidence. It's funny). Yeah, I can't tell if they like me or just like to make fun of me. Oh well, the gesture was sweet none the less.
My mom came down for the weekend with some of her girlfriends. We shopped at Mistletoe Mall here in Gunnison. I got a cute hat again this year. I'll put up pictures, but I can't find my camera cord anywhere. I loved the girl time and I even stayed in budget.
I drove up that evening to go to my niece's baby blessing, but in the middle of the night got really, really ill. I couldn't go to the blessing in my condition so I drove home. I took Monday off of school. Throwing up in front of my students isn't my idea of fun.
Otherwise, things are good. I've started going to a Zumba class and it is about the funnest thing I do all week. I really love it. Also, for all you Potter nerds. You better believe I bought my midnight showing tickets already. Long live the nerds. I'll post again when I can find that dang cord. :)

Vent via Blog

I'm not one to be super vocal. I mean I stand up for what I believe in, but I rather take a back seat in order to avoid confrontation. I didn't use to be that way. In fact, I used to be a brat sometimes, sharing my opinion even when unwanted. I grew out of it and thought it was maturity taking place, but really it was me conforming to become a non-pot stirrer. I think it's a sad thing, but not that uncommon. Somewhere in my education I was taught to keep my opinions to myself and then I'd likable. After four years of teaching, I'm learning that being likable isn't the only thing that matters. Giving a damn does.
Each day I walk into a class full of students who couldn't care less. They'd rather be texting or facebooking, or blogging . . . or gaming, or watching some form of media (most of those verbs didn't even exist when I was a teenager and I'm young). They don't care about government or education or human rights. Granted, they're teenagers, but I remember knowing things in high school. Maybe I was above average, but I don't think so. I remember watching the news and knowing that CNN is a news channel and not an abbreviation for Cartoon Network. I knew why my parents chose to be affiliated with the political parties they chose. I remember having discussions with my brother Bret about a million things in preparation for my own debates. I remember seeing the world through a critical eye.
I was at a speech meet this weekend and one of my extemporaneous speakers asked me what a Democrat is. I can't tell you how shocked I looked, but I could tell you that she was shocked I was shocked. In what arena of life would she have ever been expected to know what a Democrat stands for or believes in? Who expects her to care or know? The only eye my teenage students are looking at the world through is a lowercase i. If they can get it through an app on their iPhone or iTouch, they know it. But what kind of filter is that?
An entitled one. My facebook status today is "why does this generation of teens (or is it everyone?) feel so entitled to everything? 'What's in it for me?' 'If it exists it should be mine.' 'Do this for me because then it will be correct and the way you want it.' Shut up and work for something! Then maybe life will have meaning . . . That I can't do for you." Harsh, maybe. But lately, all I feel is drained when I get home from school. I used to teach and work in a place with imagination and creativity. Now sometimes I feel like the only one with an imagination left (hyperbole, not actuality). Where did we lose it? I feel like blaming teachers, parents, Hollywood, the media, and whoever else could be culpable of taking away the life force of the growing generation. But really, that's the problem isn't it? I want to blame everyone but the kids. At some point this is their fault. If they don't care about doing homework, guess what? That isn't my fault as a teacher. If they are under some illusion that the world will give them everything they ever want just because they feel it's their right, then good luck. Learn that lesson the hard way. (though I know some of them won't. We are making it easier to get something for nothing.) And maybe it isn't just teenagers. Maybe we are all social loafers looking for the easy way. If that is the case then I say to you world: Shut up and work for something. Then maybe life will have meaning. And more importantly, maybe our kids will learn to give a damn if we do.

Happy Halloween

Wow time flies. A lot has happened, and I can't ever seem to find the time to update my blog. It's been a tough month. My friend Kassie left for a mission to Costa Rica a week and a half ago. She's in the MTC until December. I've been adjusting to living in her house all alone, but haven't noticed much since I'm hardly ever home. Though I say that, I am missing her like crazy. She has been my best friend here in Gunnison and my confidant. Hopefully my independent nature will get me through all the silent meals and quite evenings home.
The end of first quarter is here and I'm inundated with papers and grading. I think I'll take a mental health day this week to get caught up with my life outside of school. I'm in serious need of a day to do my laundry, sleep in (my eye has been twitching and I dedicate that to lack of sleep), and clean parts of the house that need it. Plus, I haven't really had a weekend to myself since school started. I need a day to rejuvenate and rehabilitate :) Maybe that will be my birthday present to myself.
For Halloween I got to take the GVHS speech team to a tournament at Snow College. I've also been busy coaching my debate students on a volunteer basis. My public forum (I know most of you have no idea what that is, but it is team debate) team took first place at a tournament with 14 schools most of them 3a-4a schools. I'm uberproud. They make me look good :)
I've seen some family in SLC recently. I posted pictures of a picnic evening with 'smores. Also, mom and I got to watch Faye while all the boys went to a football game so we headed to Gardner's Village for some fun. To our surprise it was the Witch Weekend or something. Hundreds of ladies were dressed as witches. We had so much fun watching all the activities and participating in some of it too. Faye and I danced to lots of the music and shared some cookies. I'm thinking about making it a tradition next year. So, so much fun.
My birthday is coming up this weekend. My mom is coming down to Gunnison for the Boutique shopping weekend at Mistletoe Mall. And then sunday is Laney Olsen's baby blessing. Should be fun.
I'll tell you how the mental health day goes. Happy Halloween

Octombre

One of the reasons I like living in Gunnison comes from the laid back attitude. We don't have the rush of a city, only the rush of our many responsibilities keeping us busy. The last few weeks of my life have been busy. Nothing really substantial on their own, mostly just school stuff in fact. I have been coaching a few debaters. I got three students to sign up for Lincoln Douglass (the debate I did in high school). I am finding out that I am out of practice, but still know how to speak my mind. I might try it more often.
Kassie and I started taking a Spanish class at the high school. Our local teacher teaches once a week for eight weeks (just in time to get over for basketball season because he's the coach). Already we've learned a lot. In fact we read the first chapter of the Spanish Book of Mormon and we were able to understand it with just a little help from the English version. Exciting!
Kassie is also 10 days away from leaving on her mission. We're both freaking out a little about what needs to happen before she leaves, but we're working through it. I got her to help me clean the garage yesterday. It's beautiful. Recently the edges have been creeping closer and closer to our cars. We had to squeeze in and out of vehicles, and my bike was parked outside. I'm happy to say there is plenty of room for all now, even the bike. I was really worried about cleaning the garage by myself. There is no way I would be able to put everything where it goes because I don't have a Brown gene to know where everything should go. We spent the rest of the day inside. Kassie went through enough mail to last a life time while I did laundry, cleaned the fridge and microwave, and got bedrooms ready for the Brown family coming next weekend for Kassie's farewell. We cleaned from 9 to 9 and it shows. I woke up this morning a little sore and it took some time to figure out why. House work sneaks up on a person that way. We only have the basement left and I'll feel good about living in the house alone after all is clean. That means I'll only have my own messes to deal with I guess. I'll finally see just how clean or cluttery I really am, but mostly I'm going to miss Kassie a lot. Though, I'll leave my ode to Kassie blog for latter. I still have 10 days to figure this out.
School is going well. The speech team, yearbook staff, and creative writing and arts club are keeping me plenty busy. I hardly have time to grade any papers, but somehow I assign them anyway. This year is going pretty well. I somehow worked it out for my reputation to change. Instead of being the young, fun teacher, I've turned into the teacher who expects a lot- a reputation that takes years to build. I'm pretty excited about that change. It means people are finally taking me seriously. I feel good and we're a quarter of the way through almost. Plenty of drama is yet to come my way I'm sure. I'm sure I'll post pictures from Kassie's farewell. It will be my last photo opp. Until then . . .

Okay, okay

Okay, So it's been a while. Sometimes I think that my life is only exciting during the summer and maybe I'm right. But whatever. I've been home a while now, and it's about time I posted all the things I've been meaning to post. I'm going to try this fast, bullet style.

* Recently after returning from Santa Fe, I joined up with a family from town and Kassie to hike to Coyote Gulch. I've never been, but remember stories from brothers. I don't remember well enough I guess from those memories to have discouraged me from ever going to The Gulch. In retrospect it was a lot of fun. We hiked in and camped near Jacob Hamblin's Arch. It was beautiful. The next day we hiked to Stephen's Arch and back. That was sort of the crappy part. Don't get me wrong. Beautiful scenery, but not really worth some of the death defying rock sliding we had to do in order to see the arch. Also, the 16 miles in one day was a little tough to recover from. In fact (I am absolutely not lying) I got blister/rub marks from my Chaco's and the sand that day and they are still healing. I'm hoping for low scar damage, but we'll see. We hiked out the next morning and Kassie and I spent the next few days limping around and popping the IBs. Pictures are in the slide show.

* Then, school started and my adventures kind of stopped. I am really enjoying my classes this year. Students seem up to the challenge, and my yearbook staff is starting to get the picture of what it is I think they have the potential to create. We'll see though. They usually talk a good game and then whine when work needs to be done. Teenagers . . . :)

* I attended the County Fair the last weekend of August. I love the fair. Two nights of rodeo and one night of smash 'em up derby madness. I had four students (past and present) participate this year. One (who is actually the nephew of the people I live with so I know him pretty well) won$500 for being the most aggressive driver in the Derby. He drove in the mini car heat with a tiny Festiva. He did awesome. I also worked in the concession stand one rodeo night for my old dance company (I actually still clog with them). I haven't done that since high school. As an adult now, I got to help customers at the windows instead of making burgers nonstop for 5 hours. I guess that's one of adulthood's advantages. Pictures will come soon. They are on Kassie's camera.

* I got a new niece. Cody and Kim had a daughter on Sept. 3rd. She looks tiny in photos, and I can't wait to see her in real life. Relief Society duties have kept me in town on the weekends, but I'll be making a trip north this weekend to hold the little one. Oh, her name is Laney Snow Olsen and she resembles her brothers. Photos to come.

* Saturday, I helped run a 15 Stake Fireside here in Gunnison. We are trying to get all the single's ward together a couple times a year, and we decided to take the initiative to get the tradition going. It was a great experience. We've been planning for months and it is finally over. I had to conduct the meeting (nerve racking) but without fail, my old speech persona kicked in and I did a pretty good job. We had Margaret Nadauld and her husband speak to us. Their messages were excellent. Elder Daniel M. Jones of the Seventy was also there. He coached me through the conducting procedures before the meeting and we had a good talk after. Great man. But now that is over, and we have other things to plan. The work is never done I guess.

Mostly I am really busy with school. I'm helping yearbook staffers learn to use our new, awesome camera. It's Homecoming this week so I have pictures to take, assemblies to participate in, parade floats to supervise, and games to watch. I love this week as a spectator, but as a teacher it's pretty hard to keep anyone's attention. I'll report on this events later.

Now that I've accomplished the catch-up post, I'll hopefully update again soon. Until then . . .