Yep, the title says it all. Tale as old as time...we don't have any time. These past two weeks have been intense, and all within a professional sense. This weekend is the first time in two weeks I got to do things Osc like, well to some degree. I still had to go to class and grade a huge stack of essays today, and lesson planned last night at Barnes & Noble, but eh, what are you going to do about that? That's life.
Even though I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed and just busy (I'll be using this word a lot in this blog apparently), it has all been for growth. I enjoyed going to the CUE conference in Palm Springs, and I can't wait to go again next year! I learned so much and enjoyed the lectures, plus getting swag from different ed tech companies is always a plus ;-)
Unfortunately, I could stay the entire time and had to leave Palm Springs on Friday night because I had to attend another ed tech conference, but this one was at Mt. St. Mary's. I'm sorry, did I say attend? I meant to say presented at! I presented at an ed tech conference with the topic of social justice (Critical Thinking in Action). Best part? I got to present with some of my students in order to present the school's iPad program and social justice assignments we have done via those means. I learned a lot, and although I've spoken at other conference, this LA-wide one was something I'll remember for a long time. The feedback I have received is also a major plus.
Spring break is around the corner, and I can't wait for it. Well deserved, I think so at least.
Busy, but good busy. It's a good busy, once you see it in retrospect. At the time I've honestly thought, "Why am I so tired? .....Oh yeeeeeah."
The main theme of my literature class this year is, "What happens if in the end, the hero doesn't win?"
Glad to say the students are catching on to it. They're in the midst of writing their own myths at the moment, and a couple of them are excited to write about their hero not winning. This was a unit I've wanted to teach since I wrote it during my credential classes at LBSU. I remember my professor for this unit stated that she hoped I'd teach it someday. The funny thing is that I wrote it for a sixth grade class, and that's the class that's doing it, kind of like a prophecy.
The works they've read and are currently reading are Ozma of Oz, The Chronicles of Narnia (esp. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian), Of Mice and Men, The Tale of Isis and Osiris, "Orpheus," "Arachne," and other Greek myths. If you've ever read any of these, you will understand about the hero not winning (esp. in the traditional sense). I remember my principal was happy I'd be teaching that theme.
All of this has had me thinking about the heroes in my life, both through my own personal connection with them such as family and friends, and my admiration through published works.
In my personal lives there are just too many to name. I'm a believer that who we are is only really 10% us and 90% of everything you have learned from those around you. And when you think about it, 10% of you may not seem like a whole lot, but you may be 10% to many many others out there, and that is incalculable.
I think in those whose lives I've read about I have greatly admired some people in history (and some who will go down in history). As a matter of fact, I added them (but not all) in a book of sorts that I wrote for a heroes class I taught during an English summer camp in Korea.
Here are some of my heroes to name a few: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Oprah Winfrey, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Toni Morrison, J.K. Rowling, Alanis Morissette, Shakira, Fey, C.S. Lewis, Dalai Lama, and Barack Obama. Don't know why? Read up on their lives, how they achieved and struggled in their careers, and what they do to give back. They didn't really win in the traditional sense, that's why! And that's life.
Also, one of my favorite Latin singers (who is on the list) is on tour. Waiting for Fey's US dates though. Here's a taste of it, watch the whole thing, she is amazing in what she does:
