Thursday, April 29, 2010
What do you think, Krissy?
At the end of the day when they're at their craziest. Pretty common for this student in particular to interrupt me with outrageous statements.
Heroes
My social studies lesson from Wednesday was about heroes from our country's history. It's funny to see how watered down things are in first grade social studies, especially when you're talking about people like Sandra Day O'Connor. I mean, I spent about 70% of my senior seminar talking about the woman, and you can't exactly tell first graders "She determined the course of abortion legality for the last twenty years!!!" I went to college and gained all that information about her- seriously, my pub pol professor practically threw up Sandra Day O'Connor juice on us once a week for three hours- and all I can teach my kids is "She makes sure laws are fair."
"Like not shooting guns?"
...yeah. Just like that.
After talking about all the people in our big book, we got to sharing who we thought our heroes were. My classroom might as well have been an Office episode. "Who are your heroes?" I asked.
"Martin Luther King, Jr."
"Superman."
"Adra-Ham Lincomb (spelling shows pronunciation)."
One little girl looked up at me with a very stern look and a long, dramatic pause.
"God," she whispered.
I wanted to make sure they didn't think that only famous people could be heroes, so I over dramatized a little family history.
"Heroes don't always have to be famous," I explained. "Sometimes, they can just be people in your community. Or even your family! A lot of people think their moms and dads are heroes. But other people can be heroes, too. Let me tell you a story about a boy I know."
For once, I actually had their full attention. Maybe it was the fact that my room's thermostat is messed up so it's about 87 degrees in there by 10 am. They're too hot to talk. I kept going anyway.
"In kindergarten... he couldn't read." Gasps. "No way!!" Several kids called out. You couldn't read in kindergarten either, dummies.
"In first grade... he couldn't read." More gasps, loudest from the few kids still struggling to read.
"In second grade... in APRIL of second grade... he couldn't read." Awe. Dramatic first grade awe, but still- awe.
"I know, I know. Finally, at the very end of second grade, he learned. But it wasn't easy. And it still wasn't easy for him all through school. He had a lot of trouble learning because his brain was different. He was still good at things, especially sports. When he got to high school, he wanted to play sports in college."
"Awesome! Like Kobe Bryant!" ...not exactly.
"But everyone told him he couldn't. They said, 'You can't go to college- you'll fail out. You aren't smart enough.' They said, 'You can't play sports in college- you're too small. Plus, you'll fail out.'" I'm a really good storyteller, clearly.
"But he didn't listen to them. He tried anyway. And do you know where he is now? In COLLEGE. And do you know what else? He plays a sport at a Division I school (that means a really big, good school) and he's 8th in the country in saves because he's a sports goalie." Too many details, like which sport, bogs the kids' minds down. I had to keep it simple. By now, you can probably see that I'm talking about my little brother.
"And do you know who that boy is?" Blank stares. "My little brother."
"Oh wow!"
"Awesome!"
"And he gets straight A's, right?" ...not exactly...
"Yes. Straight A's. So keep a look out, because you might find a hero in someone you know, someone younger than you or the same age, someone in your own family! Maybe your very own little brother or sister." I was hoping to impart some piece of greater wisdom to them, something that would stick with them as they grew up.
"Shoot," one kid said. "My little sister ain't no hero. All she does is scratch me and throw up on herselfs."
...apparently, I failed. At least for the time being.
"Like not shooting guns?"
...yeah. Just like that.
After talking about all the people in our big book, we got to sharing who we thought our heroes were. My classroom might as well have been an Office episode. "Who are your heroes?" I asked.
"Martin Luther King, Jr."
"Superman."
"Adra-Ham Lincomb (spelling shows pronunciation)."
One little girl looked up at me with a very stern look and a long, dramatic pause.
"God," she whispered.
I wanted to make sure they didn't think that only famous people could be heroes, so I over dramatized a little family history.
"Heroes don't always have to be famous," I explained. "Sometimes, they can just be people in your community. Or even your family! A lot of people think their moms and dads are heroes. But other people can be heroes, too. Let me tell you a story about a boy I know."
For once, I actually had their full attention. Maybe it was the fact that my room's thermostat is messed up so it's about 87 degrees in there by 10 am. They're too hot to talk. I kept going anyway.
"In kindergarten... he couldn't read." Gasps. "No way!!" Several kids called out. You couldn't read in kindergarten either, dummies.
"In first grade... he couldn't read." More gasps, loudest from the few kids still struggling to read.
"In second grade... in APRIL of second grade... he couldn't read." Awe. Dramatic first grade awe, but still- awe.
"I know, I know. Finally, at the very end of second grade, he learned. But it wasn't easy. And it still wasn't easy for him all through school. He had a lot of trouble learning because his brain was different. He was still good at things, especially sports. When he got to high school, he wanted to play sports in college."
"Awesome! Like Kobe Bryant!" ...not exactly.
"But everyone told him he couldn't. They said, 'You can't go to college- you'll fail out. You aren't smart enough.' They said, 'You can't play sports in college- you're too small. Plus, you'll fail out.'" I'm a really good storyteller, clearly.
"But he didn't listen to them. He tried anyway. And do you know where he is now? In COLLEGE. And do you know what else? He plays a sport at a Division I school (that means a really big, good school) and he's 8th in the country in saves because he's a sports goalie." Too many details, like which sport, bogs the kids' minds down. I had to keep it simple. By now, you can probably see that I'm talking about my little brother.
"And do you know who that boy is?" Blank stares. "My little brother."
"Oh wow!"
"Awesome!"
"And he gets straight A's, right?" ...not exactly...
"Yes. Straight A's. So keep a look out, because you might find a hero in someone you know, someone younger than you or the same age, someone in your own family! Maybe your very own little brother or sister." I was hoping to impart some piece of greater wisdom to them, something that would stick with them as they grew up.
"Shoot," one kid said. "My little sister ain't no hero. All she does is scratch me and throw up on herselfs."
...apparently, I failed. At least for the time being.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Inspiration Boards
My cheesy roommate has gotten me hooked on the idea that if we surround ourselves with reminders of the kind of people we want to be, it will keep us motivated and focused on the end result. SO this weekend I was busy cutting pictures out of magazines that embodied the things I was striving to achieve. (Note: an excellent procrastination technique for actually taking steps to becoming the kind of person you want to be).
My boyfriend just laughed at me, especially because I spent ten minutes of our Skype date showing him my "inspiration board" by holding it 2 inches away from my webcam. But it's an interesting concept to think about, whether all that positive thinking and association really works. Whether just thinking results in actually becoming.
There's a book that a lot of people bought into (and made fun of) called "The Secret," focused around the power of positive thinking. It used the idea of a concept board too, asserting that if you just thought about the things you wanted, asked for the things you wanted, went as far as pretending you already had these things, they would just come to you. Think about big checks coming, and big checks would start coming, conveniently arriving right in your mailbox!
This new age kind of thing is easy to criticize and laugh about- after all, if it was that easy, everyone would be doing it and everyone would have just what they wanted, right?
But I think if you strip away all the gimmicky stuff about getting money or the perfect man or the perfect job, if you look at the idea, you can find a lot of support for it in other places. All those sayings that coaches deal out to their players, the proverbs e-mailed by nonprofit organizations to their supporters, the Hallmark cards celebrating hard work and effort, Michael Jordan's quote books- they all say the same thing.
"The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible."
"Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right."
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
Then I found this one (which really just made me laugh, AND think of my roomie):
"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems,
but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."
The place I see this idea put in practice more than anywhere else, though, is in religion- another thing my roommate has sucked me into. Last week, I went with her to this thing in Charlotte for young Christians to get together and do whatever it is that young Christians would want to do on a Tuesday night. We had to go to a bar afterward to take the edge off for me. Anyway, the session topic was all about having faith that God is going to provide you with the things you need as long as you keep living your life in the Christian way.
Aside from the overwhelming religious message in the whole thing, it really made me think about this idea of faith. Not necessarily faith in God, but faith in general. So much of the time people define faith in a religious way. But really, what is the difference in faith put in God and faith put in something else? Wherever you are applying it- whether you have an unshakable faith in the goodness of people, in the loyalty of your friends, family, and lovers, in yourself- it really has the same kind of effect. Generally, people who have strong faith in their friends have pretty good friends. People who believe in humankind are going to look at life through that lens and generally will focus on the things that affirm that faith and downplay the things that do not. People who love themselves and think highly of themselves are usually going to be pretty pleased with themselves.
To me, the idea is that positive thinking and faith works because you believe it will. You're making an active choice to see things a certain way, and usually, that works.
So I'm going to keep looking at my inspiration board, willing myself to have a six pack like the one I cut out, and dancing around in booty shorts and a sports bra to get my butt nice and tight. Positive thinking like that works, right?
My boyfriend just laughed at me, especially because I spent ten minutes of our Skype date showing him my "inspiration board" by holding it 2 inches away from my webcam. But it's an interesting concept to think about, whether all that positive thinking and association really works. Whether just thinking results in actually becoming.
There's a book that a lot of people bought into (and made fun of) called "The Secret," focused around the power of positive thinking. It used the idea of a concept board too, asserting that if you just thought about the things you wanted, asked for the things you wanted, went as far as pretending you already had these things, they would just come to you. Think about big checks coming, and big checks would start coming, conveniently arriving right in your mailbox!
This new age kind of thing is easy to criticize and laugh about- after all, if it was that easy, everyone would be doing it and everyone would have just what they wanted, right?
But I think if you strip away all the gimmicky stuff about getting money or the perfect man or the perfect job, if you look at the idea, you can find a lot of support for it in other places. All those sayings that coaches deal out to their players, the proverbs e-mailed by nonprofit organizations to their supporters, the Hallmark cards celebrating hard work and effort, Michael Jordan's quote books- they all say the same thing.
"The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible."
"Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right."
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
Then I found this one (which really just made me laugh, AND think of my roomie):
"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems,
but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."
The place I see this idea put in practice more than anywhere else, though, is in religion- another thing my roommate has sucked me into. Last week, I went with her to this thing in Charlotte for young Christians to get together and do whatever it is that young Christians would want to do on a Tuesday night. We had to go to a bar afterward to take the edge off for me. Anyway, the session topic was all about having faith that God is going to provide you with the things you need as long as you keep living your life in the Christian way.
Aside from the overwhelming religious message in the whole thing, it really made me think about this idea of faith. Not necessarily faith in God, but faith in general. So much of the time people define faith in a religious way. But really, what is the difference in faith put in God and faith put in something else? Wherever you are applying it- whether you have an unshakable faith in the goodness of people, in the loyalty of your friends, family, and lovers, in yourself- it really has the same kind of effect. Generally, people who have strong faith in their friends have pretty good friends. People who believe in humankind are going to look at life through that lens and generally will focus on the things that affirm that faith and downplay the things that do not. People who love themselves and think highly of themselves are usually going to be pretty pleased with themselves.
To me, the idea is that positive thinking and faith works because you believe it will. You're making an active choice to see things a certain way, and usually, that works.
So I'm going to keep looking at my inspiration board, willing myself to have a six pack like the one I cut out, and dancing around in booty shorts and a sports bra to get my butt nice and tight. Positive thinking like that works, right?
Monday, April 19, 2010
Truckin' Along
Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be forced to drive to Virginia to switch cars with my mom. She was "worried" about the Jeep not being inspected (bogus claim) and insisted on switching it with my father's monstrous truck. At least I got a free lunch out of it, talking about what to do for my sister's bachelorette party. My mom's told me that-
"Pa knows a lady at school that does *looks around and starts to whisper* sex toy parties!"
How does something like that come up in casual conversation? "Whoops, my dildo for my sex toy party fell out of my purse in the staff lounge AGAIN!"?
I also had a long drive home to think of the pros and cons of driving the truck.
Point- I look pretty badass in it.
I won't lie, I like driving around in big cars because I feel awesome. I get to say things like "I'm bigger than you," "I will destroy you if you don't let me merge" and "Get out of my f***in' way" (with the windows rolled all the way up and my face turned away so they can't read my lips).
Counterpoint- I can't park it.
I'm lucky that Walmart has parking lots big enough to allow the people who can't park for their life enough space a mile away from the store to leave their cars. I don't need to work out anymore now that I have to park so far away.
Point- I don't have to worry about the same things as other drivers.
Potholes? Speed bumps? Small mammals? No problem. I can just run them over. Which I do. In fact, I ran over a curb today on my way to work. Not turning a corner or anything (I'm serious, I was on a slightly curved road), but I didn't have to wonder whether it hurt the car cause it's a gigantic truck- nothing can hurt it.
Counterpoint- I run over curbs.
No way to make that look any better. Except...
Point- revert back to point 1.
I can still look badass running over curbs because it looks more like I just don't care than I just don't know how to drive.
That's all. I suck at driving.
"Pa knows a lady at school that does *looks around and starts to whisper* sex toy parties!"
How does something like that come up in casual conversation? "Whoops, my dildo for my sex toy party fell out of my purse in the staff lounge AGAIN!"?
I also had a long drive home to think of the pros and cons of driving the truck.
Point- I look pretty badass in it.
I won't lie, I like driving around in big cars because I feel awesome. I get to say things like "I'm bigger than you," "I will destroy you if you don't let me merge" and "Get out of my f***in' way" (with the windows rolled all the way up and my face turned away so they can't read my lips).
Counterpoint- I can't park it.
I'm lucky that Walmart has parking lots big enough to allow the people who can't park for their life enough space a mile away from the store to leave their cars. I don't need to work out anymore now that I have to park so far away.
Point- I don't have to worry about the same things as other drivers.
Potholes? Speed bumps? Small mammals? No problem. I can just run them over. Which I do. In fact, I ran over a curb today on my way to work. Not turning a corner or anything (I'm serious, I was on a slightly curved road), but I didn't have to wonder whether it hurt the car cause it's a gigantic truck- nothing can hurt it.
Counterpoint- I run over curbs.
No way to make that look any better. Except...
Point- revert back to point 1.
I can still look badass running over curbs because it looks more like I just don't care than I just don't know how to drive.
That's all. I suck at driving.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Sara's Attempt at a Sports Blog
Stolen material from Jack, when he recommended his roommate blog about it. Proving that my blog is the best.
Awesome!!!!!!! (?? not quite sure what else to say... maybe I should stay away from sports blogging, especially about hockey)
Awesome!!!!!!! (?? not quite sure what else to say... maybe I should stay away from sports blogging, especially about hockey)
Blog Block
As my mother has pointed out to me several times, I have been getting behind on my blogging. Bit of a "blog block," if you will. Coming back this week wasn't so bad, especially because I forgot how funny my kids were.
Examples:
Examples:
- One of my girls brought in a little vase with fake flowers sticking out of it. Her explanation? "Miss Fiorillo, I got you this flower to remind you of Jesus and say thanks for teaching me lots of stuff. Also, its not just a flower. It's a pen too (long pause). I made it."
- Holding up a crumpled straw- "This looks like Michael Jackson's hair."
- Male student- "I play baseball. I'm so good."
Me- "Oh really? What position do you play?"
Male student- "Batter."
Me- "Don't you have to play in the field too?"
Male student- "Oh yeah. I'm the one that take the ball away when they don't get it."
...right. My boyfriend plays that position too.
- I like to bribe my kids with things. One of my little girls (aka the future Beyonce) CANNOT walk down the hall without dance, sit on the carpet without doing someone else's hair, or read without singing the words with one hand in the air. I told her if she had a good day, she'd get to see pictures of my sister in her wedding dress (she freaked out when she heard the word "wedding"). After finally having a good day, I got to show her the picture on my phone doing recess.
"Oh, Miss Fiorillo!" she gasped. "It is so pretty! But wait... where's her man at?"
I showed her another picture of Kristin and Ryan, which prompted her to call him "SOOOO handsome!" and to ask if she could be the flower girl.
At this point, given how quickly they got engaged (I'm sorry guys, I will never let that go), a cutie Nigerian flower girl with dreads wouldn't cause anyone to raise an eyebrow.
- "He farted at me."
- "Miss Fiorillo, I need to move my spot on the carpet. I'm sitting by all boys and all the do is mess with each other and dig up their noses and act all nasty!"
Friday, April 2, 2010
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Or at least it is now. I'm sitting in the Philly airport, enjoying my lengthy two and a half hour layover (that isn't sarcasm... I really do like layovers), so ready to be HOME for the first time since July. It's funny, because there's always such a love-hate relationship with where you're from, especially when it's a small town. You grow up conditioned to hate it, cutting down the people that stick around and vowing to pack up and get out after high school and never come back. But I think once you leave, it becomes easier to see how important that place was in defining the person you become in adulthood. Or really, defining the person you DON'T become. In some ways, my hometown had a more decisive role in helping me understand who I wasn't. Plus, when I think about all the incredible relationships I came out with- friends mentioned in my 2nd grade journal, strong family ties- I can't help but take back all the criticisms I have from when I was younger. Then again, those things are hard to grasp when all you think about is the endless gossip chain and the lack of things to do.
I say this with all my 23 years of wisdom (THAT was sarcasm). Maybe the moment I finally embraced my hometown came when I could start drinking legally, because as anyone from there knows the bar life is one of its redeeming qualities. I think I'll stick with mushy, sentimental reason. And with that, my flight's boarding!
I say this with all my 23 years of wisdom (THAT was sarcasm). Maybe the moment I finally embraced my hometown came when I could start drinking legally, because as anyone from there knows the bar life is one of its redeeming qualities. I think I'll stick with mushy, sentimental reason. And with that, my flight's boarding!
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