greeting

Circling for a landing
Last night I was sitting out on my steps watching the evening ritual of the ducks. Every night at sunset, a group of ducks circle over my house and neighborhood before settling in for the night on the canal. At first there is a group of about five and it grows until there are about thirty. Last night, there was one renegade duck that seemed to not fit in. As they circled and made lazy eights over my house, he ferociously tried to fit in, only to be chased off. Finally, they seemed to accept the duck and he continued to circle with the group. The ducks did their dance for about fifteen more minutes and slowly the groups broke off until there were only three, and then none. As I sighed, thinking they were done for the night, I noticed one duck flew away back over my house. I sat and thought that there was a lesson in this. How often do we fight to be accepted in to a group, only to find as we conform to the circle, that we realize this is not where we truly want to land?

new photo blog

Check out my boyz at my blog:

bartell_boyz

 

College?
Mood:  a-ok

Hello Jane,

Do you teach at a college? I did not know this. I just found it suprising, I thought it was just us lowly public school teachers that got that twinge of the heart strings for those that try and still fail, that feeling of gottcha for those that don't work, and that self-satisfaction from those that always do their best. Don't worry another semester begins and will end yet again. Just smile and keep being the pebble in the pond!

End of the semester
Mood:  blue

Today was the last unit test and I start to calculate the grades for this semester. Even though I have been doing this for over four years, I still hate flunking students. I know: they flunk themselves. I had one girl who is going through some domestic problems and she walked into the test crying her eyes out. She just stood in a corner and cried. It was awful No one knew what to do. I know this fine lady, and she doesn’t deserve what she is going through. That is one thing about teaching at an urban college, you hear some really sad situations and you wonder how they cope. It makes me humble and proud to be their teacher and their friend. I was glad she did well and at least had some good news. Believe me. Teachers do not get paid enough.
Then there are the students you just smile when you calculate their grade and see they flunked. These are the ones who never show up, give you attitude, and then demand you do something to pass them.
Fortunately, I do not have too many of them.
I am tired.

First day of teaching
Mood:  cheeky
I remember the first day I taught in high school. The morning did not start out well, and I should have seen it as a sign. I went to start my car at home and the battery was dead. Fortunately, I lived very close to the school and my peer teacher was an early bird. He came and got me. But I was such a mess. I wanted to crawl in a hole. I hate when my car is messed up, and then combine that with a new job and a new career. If they had put a blood pressure cuff on me, I would have blown it up. " Gee, who's the new teacher? She looks like a tomato."
I was lucky that the peer teacher had a gregarious personality. We combined the classes for two days and by the second day, we were like a comedy team. It worked really well. It made it easy for me to get acclimated.
Little did I know that I would be the lead teacher within seven months. This is another story.

I teach a very basic English class in college. Most of the students find writing difficult at best. Some have never used a computer. I think using the blog would be a great way to combine two skills and have a fun way of encouraging writing. I am going to try this in my next semester and I will report if it goes over. I have to first see if our computers can support it.

Hello and welcome
This is my first entry in my blog. I think it is an exciting way to share thoughts and trials of being an older student of not just college but life itself. I am over fifty but that is a physical age and not my mental age. (Which sometimes is way too immature) I am currently teaching at a vocational college, but I am frustrated with my experience there. I also sub and have taught high school and adult education prior to this job. I went through a rough "surprise" divorce after a very long marriage. I was able to picked myself up, return to college and purchase my own home. I have a great relationship with my beloved Joe, who also went through similar changes in his fifties. He lost his job after 22 years at Kodak. He picked himself up and went back to college also. We both are now certified teachers. We have two "boyz" Bishop and Caleb (AKA Bubbi) who are rescued bassets. Life has been a challenge at a time when we thought we would be preparing for retirement instead of starting over.
 I hope to share in this space my experiences of being an older but wise person trying to compete in a youth generated work-force. I will share the joys and frustrations of growing older in a new relationship after almost 30 years with another partner. And I hope to offer some laughter and some sympathy for those who travel this similar path.