Christmas Research

On the way to Black Friday crowds, my dad and I were trying to find ways to justify the wheelchair in the back of the car. We had planned this day for weeks, maybe months and we were not about to give up the plan of a fabulous shopping day just because my knee happened to heal faster than expected.

{Originally, I expected to need the wheelchair due to knee surgery, however, I had been walking - with a limp - for several days.}

My dad and I have started shopping the Black Friday sales in the last couple years, mostly for the laughs. People are crazy and we like to witness the craziness. So this year, due to my situation, we borrowed a wheelchair from my parents church, and decided to answer the research question: Are people generally nicer to the wheelchair bound?

I did put the huge leg immobilizer on to make it look a little more legitimate. I did have trouble not laughing multiple times, though, because Dad decided it would be wise to run with me in tow through the parking lot. Also, I felt like a fraud, but...

Anyway, the results: People definitely stare, then quickly avert their eyes, then decide to smile at the wheelchair bound. But the crowds parted like the Red Sea! It was incredible how many "excuse me's" we got. We also got lots of offers for help at Best Buy and even a concerned Best Buy worker asked me what happened. When we went to Lowe's without the wheelchair, no such luck. Busy workers who walked right by us trying to ask for help.

Thus, I highly recommend wheelchair use during holiday shopping.

feet

You know when Cara is at her lowest: when she lets someone touch her feet!

If you are somehow unaware of my foot phobia, well let me tell you --- they gross me out more than almost anything else in the world. I've never had a pedicure, because I can't stand the thought of someone else touching my feel. And people in sandals better just keep their distance or I start flailing.

Today, however, in an attempt to complete my post-op therapy exercises I let my mom help me by supporting my foot! Fortunately/unfortunately the pain was enough to excuse my rule of no feet touching. Who knows maybe I'll be able to stomach a pedicure now....

Oh where, oh where...

has our little remote gone? Oh where, oh where can he be?

So this one time... I had some friends of the male gender who were searching for their tv remote in a hotel room. Unfortunately they decided it would be a good idea to call their sleeping friend, in another state to ask for help (Pretty sure there were a few beers involved).

In a parallel story, my roommate and I have lost our remote. I realize that this isn't a highly tragic event, but when one has searched under all couch cushions, in all drawers, in laundry baskets, under furniture, and even in the freezer (twice) it becomes rather frustrating. 2 days down, who knows how many more we will go....

Roommate quote: "It would make a much better story, if we had both been drunk when the remote was lost."

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally

I taught Order of Operations on Wednesday of last week. Actually, I should say my great aunt Sally taught order of operations. I realize it has been awhile since most of you worked sixth grade math problems, so here's your refresher course: parentheses, exponents, multiply/divide, add/subtract. Thus, Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.

Ms. Dean happened to have a "emergency math meeting" that morning, because we ALL know how often those happen.

Here's a picture of my Aunt Sally as well as the Aunt Sally for both the Explorer's and the Pro's teams. What a coincidence!
Now, I must emphasis that I had several students who genuinely didn't realize that it was me behind the pillow butt and grey/blue hair. When I walked into school on the following Thursday one of my students says, and I quote,

Andrew -- "Ms. Dean! Your grandma was here yesterday!"
Me -- "Nope, it was my Aunt."
Andrew -- "Oh yeah, Aunt Sally!"

And he was NOT joking. Oh kids...

Ms., Miss, and Mrs.

If you're ever feeling confident about your single lifestyle, just mention it to a group of sixth graders. I dare you! You will never quite look at the situation the same way.

I was teaching letter writing in my reading class a couple weeks ago, and in an attempt to teach correct Openers, I made the distinction among Ms., Miss and Mrs. Oops. Since then, I've received several interesting and humorous suggestions:

• I'm not going to call you Miss Dean anymore, I'm gonna call you Single Dean!
  
• Miss Dean, I need a picture of you, so I can set up your E-Harmony Page!
• Yeah, if you don't find a match in the first 6 months, the 2nd 6 months are FREE!
  
• You should get married this year, so you can have the wedding here [in my classroom] and we can all come!

They crack me up, and I just needed to share.
Signing out,
- Single Dean

Love My Job!

Last year on Tuesday September 25, I blogged about the fabulous-ness of parent/teacher conferences. And OMG, I just got home from the first night of conferences (yes, it was a 12 hour day) and I'm giddy. I absolutely love meeting the parents and families of my kiddos.

And oh, the glimpses into culture... There really are different concerns of parents depending on their cultural backgrounds. My white parents demand good grades, my Hispanic parents want respectful behavior, and my Marshallese parents just want everyone to be happy. Beyond that, the language barriers actually excite me, as they force me into small usages of my Spanish.

This is what we've been doing recently in math. Graphs, graphs, graphs.....

Survivor starts this week too, like it did last year. What a fabulous week!

I am just THAT cool.

Well, apparently I've got some hidden pop singer genes in me. I really think I would be a hit with the Hispanic middle school girl population. Why the absurdity, you ask? Well Dulce told me this week that my new do makes me look like Rhianna!

So rather than bother with an accurate picture of my new hair style, I thought this would work.


And yes, Brian, Dulce means "sweets" en espanol. I think.

See the resemblance?

No lie. Today, I met Blanca, and she said: "MizDee, you remind me of Mariah Carey." After the shock and laughter, I realized she was serious, and she likes Mariah Carey, so I said, "Thanks, I think."

Back-to-School

At church this morning, our pastor spoke that the good deeds of Christians should pave the way for the gospel. Sometimes I forget that my desire to see justice cover the world is really God's desire to spread his grace over people. (Okay, it is more than just forgetting. I still have serious issues with understanding/accepting that my God, who is love and goodness..., can allow some of the evil and hardship in this world. I get it, when you're talking about Christians suffering, but when you're talking about children who don't know Christ -- what's the point?! ) All that to say, I'm not faking great understanding here, but rather commenting on the great responsibility that has been placed on my shoulders.

Tomorrow's the first day back to school (with students). Although I don't know the specific needs and hurts of my kids yet, I already feel a great burden to make sure these kids see love this year. I found myself praying this morning that God would make it obvious which kids I need to focus on this year. That by week 2, I'd be finding ways to meet their needs. I will continue to pray that anything these kids see in me this year they would attribute to the provision of God. Although I want my kids to succeed in math and reading, I really desire to see them find relationship with Christ. Don't really know what that looks like in public school, but I know my God is capable of much more impossible situations.

Goodbye Summer

Well, summer's over. Ok, not the season based on astronomy, but the season of no work/no school. I go back to work tomorrow. Actually I'm looking forward to the change of pace. I am designed to work with smelly, skwirmmy, snotty sixth graders, so it fits that I would look forward to being with them again. I am, however, sad to say goodbye to many of my summer favorites. So long:

- weekday afternoons at the pool
- snowcones in the hobby lobby parking lot
- waking up at 8:30, then taking a nap from 10 to noon
- reading
- late night drives to the lake
- spontaneous travel (i.e., Eureka Springs for the 4th - see picture)
- forgetting the current date
- craft projects
- Gilmore Girls
- and just good clean fun!

Minor Resolutions

So I went to Mexico. I've been back for a week, and yet I still feel incapable of writing it justice. That is, it was a short trip, but packed full with experiences. Beyond the clinics, children's programs and haircuts, God worked in some sweet ways.

A couple of years ago, I spent a solid chunk of my summer in a big Asian country with a campus ministry. While there, we worked primarily with college students and studied the language (as stated on our visas). Regardless of how much I desired to see this nation come to know Christ, I was constantly frustrated and exhausted by the culture. On so many levels, the culture there wore on my every single nerve. So I left with a burden for spreading the fame of my Savior, and yet I also left feeling discouraged about the possibilities of returning.

This trip to Mexico, although much shorter and sheltered, gave me hope for a possible stint overseas. I have no idea what that will look like, but I left Mexico feeling like I could and would adjust to life in a Hispanic culture more quickly than in an Asian one. Maybe I am just familiar with the culture, but I loved this week.



In Other Completely-Unrelated News: Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer came out Friday at midnight. Although I did not go to any of the wait parties, I have already purchased the book and am making my way through the last volume of my favorite werewolves and vampires.

On my mind

Several things are on my mind these days: ever-changing community, the value of short-term missions and the coming school year. It makes me slightly nervous to write about things that I'm unsure of (I'm not supposed to end a sentence w/ a preposition, but I just did.). I much prefer writing (and talking) about things of which I am confident that I can contribute valuable information/insight. Thus, many of my posts deal with events, rather than opinions or theories. So here goes....

Ever-Changing Community:
People move and people get married and people just plain change. I am confident that God designed us to live with people, but I am continually frustrated by the way those people rarely stick. I am also aware that God draws me to himself each time one of my close friends moves, gets married or leaves community, but it remains difficult nonetheless.

Short-Term Missions:
I'm getting ready to leave for a trip with my church. World Missions is a big deal, and I want to be a part of it, however, I haven't figured out what that really means for me. I highly doubt that means a short-term trip ever few years or so. I think it means something more, but what? I guess I'm hoping for a bit of clarity.

The Coming School Year:
I can't wait! I realize that it isn't cool to want to go to work/school, but I can't help myself. I'm so ready to meet the new 112 kiddos. In a month I may be singing a different tune, but right now, I'm just ready to get back to the classroom!

Did you know?

Random and fabulous fact of the day:

Salsa now outsells Ketchup in the United States by 40%! Woohoo, I love me some Mexican food. Apparently, so does the rest of America.

Recently:

May is always a crazy-busy month. I think, because I'm in the educational system, it will always be busy. Just a little recap:

Returned from a fun weekend in Tulsa.
Spent a weekend in Kansas City - who knew that was such a cool place?
Saw the Broadway musical, WICKED, for the 2nd time - still fabulous.
Gave my first end-of-year final.
Visited the nostalgic small-town of Booneville.
Chaperoned an ungodly number of parties, dances and days-at-the-park.
Said goodbye to my first (and favorite) group of 112 sixth graders - a few of which are pictured above on crazy hair/hat day.
Packed up my apartment in F'ville.
Unpacked in S'dale.
Went to the pool for the first of the season.
Saw Carrie Underwood and became a REAL fan of Keith Urban.
Watched 2 seasons of Gilmore Girls - 5 more to go....
Enjoyed an evening of baseball and fireworks - and kids who get waaaay too excited about fireworks.

I'm sure I'm missing several other great moments of the last month, but these are the highlights.

My Dad is Loon!

My dad was in a play this weekend, called Arsenic and Old Lace. As you can see from the movie poster, he played Dr. Einstein. I feel inadequate to give the play a review. But I laughed a whole lot. Dad definitely had the best role of his community theater career thus far. Dr. Einstein is a German Drunk. The show is an old-fashioned Brooklynn murder comedy. Below, is my dad in all his costumed glory.

Really?

Have you ever watched sixth graders interact w/ college students? If not, let me give you a little picture of just that situation.

37 twelve year olds wander around the University of Arkansas. Mind you they travel in well defined clumps. Typically 3-4 girls linking arms, and boys tapping said girls on the shoulders or pulling their hair. When girls see any one of the thousands of college students they proceed to say, "Hey, look at the hobos!" This deduction is made from the incriminating backpacks and the foot travel -- must be the homeless!

Once teachers enlighten the ignorant students about the facts of life (there are no parking spaces on campus), girls resort to greeting EVERY passing college student, professor or dog. In high pitched, monotonous voices, "hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, oooh he's cute, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi." Think: the birds in Finding Nemo - "mine, mine, mine, mine." It really is JUST like that.

So if you happened upon a swarm of middle schoolers sometime, please don't get irritated w/ the teachers who have no control over their students (much like I do w/ tantrum throwing children and their parents). It really is just the way kids when they start going through puberty.

Kids and Roommates

Funny moment of the day:

Since today is Thursday, that means it's "Benchmark Practice" day at HTMS. Basically, I taught an extra test prep class today. I don't normally see JL (see previous post from the fall, sometime), because he is pulled out for extra help. Great kid, love him.

He walks in my room today and says, "Miz Dean, can I eat my frekfist?" I say, "huh?" He repeats himself, "I didn't get to eat my frekfist this morning, cus the bus was late." At this point I'm clueing in that he's not joking around, but actually thought breakfast was pronounced frekfist. It took at least 10 tries for him to get his mouth to make the right sounds for my own favorite meal of the day. Funny kids.

Funny roommate of the week:

So Tara, the roommate, is a sometimes sub (when not in school herself). Recently, she was unknowingly assigned to work at the alternative school in F'ville. She successful kept a log of student sayings. My fav: "Awww man, I'm not gonna be able to wear my skinny jeans until I get this ankle sh-- off!" Oh so many reasons this makes me laugh.

Also, the other night, in an argument w/ none other than Trent, she genuinely calls him a "fun hater." A fun hater? Tara, I knew your hair was blond, but I really thought you were above the blond girl comments.

Happy April Fool's Day!!!!

So, I got April Fooled today. I even told Tara last night before bed, to be prepared. I was on alert all morning long - you have to be when you work with 11 and 12 year olds. During my 2nd class, I was called down to the office. "Strange," I thought, but off I went. The kids were doing individual work, so I figured, no big deal, I'd be right back.

When I got to the office, no one knew why I was called down, so I headed back to my room. As I round the corner, I can see that the row of desks in front of the door are empty. "Awesome, I've been fooled," I thought slightly irritated. I quickly checked the room and ALL 28 of my students were GONE. Not hiding, GONE. I checked the bathrooms and outside, before I realized they had done a really good job. At this point, I'm no longer irritated, but highly amused. After checking with/accusing 2 teachers and the PE coaches, I walked back to the room ready to give up. They had come back while I was in the gym. We laughed, they were proud of themselves, it was good. Turns out a teacher on another team took them to hide behind the stage.


Then I had several students stay after school to Bluetooth songs to me. It was fun. Might have to do that again. But if you want the Apple Bottom Jeans song, I can hook you up!!!

NYC

NYC was fabulous. Quick overview for those interested (I know you've been dying to hear about our trip):

Monday - The wonderful Wes takes Laura and I to the airport at 4 o'clock in the morning - WHAT A GUY! Then we fly into Newark, NJ and travel by train to NYC. Quickly we made our first trip to Times Square, Madison Sq. Garden and the likes. We ended our St. Patricks Day celebration in a pub with some new friends. Bagpipes and beer. Great fun!

Tuesday: While walking through the financial district we found a great deal: 2 huge slices of NY pizza and coke for $5. Finished in 8 minutes flat - be impressed. South Street Seaport and Brooklynn Bridge on our way to queue (that's Laura's British version of "standing in line") for Ellis Island. It was here that we met another new friend, Eric. Laura and I have similar museum styles, we like to read -- which lead to being thrown out at closing. That evening we went to Spamalot----can't really describe just how amazing it was---highly recommend it.

Wednesday: Museum of Natural History, Spring Awakening, Excellent Bagel w/ Cream Cheese, Thai Food, Black and White Cookies, NY Library, Bryant Park

Thursday: SoHo, Little Italy, NoHo, Chinatown, Central Park, Shopping on 5th Ave., Lunch with some other Arkansans, Friday: Columbia University -- beautiful! Metropolitan Museum -- WOW! Laura's cousin Phil works at the Met, really sweet job, so we had lunch with him, played on our own in the museum for a good 5 hours. While taking a little break at the Met we ran into the one-and-only Leah Samour, weird. Then back to Brooklynn, where Phil lives, for dinner and a little Razorback basketball -- Wooo Pigs!

Saturday: Farmer's Market at Union Square, The Village, Chelsea, Mass at Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Cheesecake

Sunday: Happy Easter! We flew home. But mind you the trip started with a rather scary subway ride at 4 am. It ended with a wonderful welcome home from Weston!!

I think my favorite day was Tuesday or Thursday or Friday. Oh, I don't know they were all great. I highly recommend the same trip for anyone who has not yet been.

nicknames

Direct quote from student reading journal:

"My nickname wasn't given by my friends, actually my dad gave it to me, but I'm going to tell you what it is anyway. My dad calls me Bowlin Ball Head because my head is so hard it broke one of my grandparents teeth."

I about died laughing, as this is one of the only original nicknames. Most of the kids just wanted to be called "Blabber-mouth" or "Shorty" or "Spiky." For obvious, sixth-grade reasons.

Love these kids.

Where is your heart?

Did you know that sixth graders act like 4 year olds, on fairly regular intervals? I used the Valentine's candy, conversation hearts, for an activity in math the other day. Each kid got 20 hearts and needed to find the percentages, fractions and decimals of each color. At the end of the day I felt fairly confident in the success of the lesson until I learned that one boy decided to stick a heart up his nose! No lie. I later asked him about it, and his only response was that the other kids told him to.

I laugh at (and with) these kids on a daily basis, but typically I forget why by the time I get home. I'd really like to document the crazy adventures of sixth grades, but oh well....

Happy Days

So it is obvious that one of the perks of teaching is the time off, but the SNOW DAYS is a wonderful unexpected perk! My weekend was short, due to a Saturday professional development thing, so I was feeling stretched this week anyway. And now a snow day! Could anything be better? I even watched a movie this afternoon, without grading papers!

That's all. Just a happy day.

Europe Anyone?

With the line of work I'm in, I have the wonderful benefit of extensive time off. The two weeks of winter break were absolutely wonderful. In college, I typically became bored with the month+ breaks at Christmas time, but this was just right.

After 3 days in Tulsa with the fam, we drove to Colorado for some of the best skiing of my life. A great wedding/New Year's party and a quick trip to Dallas completed my traveling of the break. I finally came back home on Thursday, giving myself a full 3-day weekend to rest and catch up.

This brings me to my current quest: Summer Break. I really want to travel. Specifically to Europe, but I don't want to go alone. Partially for safety, partially to keep myself sane. If anyone is traveling in June/July ....