Vacation summary and Job ideas

I had a wonderful 2.5 weeks for break in which I visited with family, met up with some good friends and even went to Florida for a wedding! There were two firsts in that visit- first time in Florida (not too impressed! it's so flat and you have to have lots of money and want to only shop, eat, or sun bathe! nevertheless it was a great respite from the pace of northern life)It was the first wedding I have been to for one of my friends. Apparently this is going to be a common thing as I move through my 20s. I certainly won't be able to keep up. I am super excited for her and they seem wonderful together but marriage is no where near my radar (neither are any potential husbands or boyfriends to say the least! It seems they don't grow many intelligent, tall, charming, and fun men here in the Albany region!) Anyways, I am quite content in my singleness. I have so much I want to do and I am currently okay with the fact that I can plan and explore freely.

Speaking of which, I have some new ideas for the upcoming summer and year. it is becoming clear that I won't be at Emma Willard School next year. The contract is only for a year and even if I wanted to stay there really isn't room for another Spanish teacher. Marilyn will be back full time and they are also opening up a Chinese program. I wonder how many students will choose to study this up and coming world language over Spanish or French. So...this means I need to pursue other areas and I am actually quite excited about this. I think I am not destined to write on a chalkboard for the rest of my life but I could see myself returning to teaching in a few years. I am, however, still interested in the field of education, but perhaps I am looking for something more interactive and international. Are there grad schools for international education? i will have to look into that!

I've taken one step to get into this field. I turned in an application to an organization called Global Works (www.globalworksinc.com) which is based in State College, PA. Generally it's an organization that takes 2,3, or 4 week trips abroad trips for high school students in the summer. The programs I am interested travel to Peru, Panama, Costa Rica, central and coastal Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, and Spain. Each program is based on community service, language learning, and cultural exchange. I would like to be a co-leader for one of these programs. Two days after turning in my application I was asked to go interview in NYC on Jan.20th (next Saturday)!! I am really excited about this opportunity and hope it leads to more job opportunities in the field.

December reading list

Inspiration:
Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth: Awakening to your life's purpose" (main focus: understanding the value of this very moment. may seem a little far reaching for some but it has made a world of difference in enlightening my everyday experience)

School:
¡En Español 1! (if you in high school or if you'd just like to learn high school level beginner Spanish, this could just be your salvation!)
¡En Español 2! (think you're ready to advance to two past tenses and reflexive verbs?? you might just find this is the textbook for you! Please speak to its representative - me - if you would like some further information or tutoring)

John Dewey (okay, this is bad...can't even remember the title of the book! hopefull the intern seminar leader at EWS isn't reading this blog!) (basically this is revolutionary educational theory in its purest - and oldest- form)

"Horace's Compromise" by Theodore R. Sizer. After 5 years of so of researching America's high schools in the 1980s Sizer takes paints a picture of how American schools were in the 1980s (focusing on both the perspective of the teachers and the students) and he offers suggestions for educational reform. The message is still appropriate to today's educational scene and I really enjoy the journalistic as well as academic approach he took in writing this book.

News:
The Christian Science Monitor. Love the simplicity, yet thoroughness and sincerity with which the articles are written.

I'll be home for Christmas (imagine the song....)

One of the lovely things about being a teacher is that you still get to enjoy the holidays you had as a student. It's an added bonus to work for a boarding school with a good number of foreign exchange students who travel great distances to return to their families. Three weeks is what Emma students get to enjoy and faculty have about 2.5 because we must return early for a Faculty Forum. I'm not complaining because it gives me plenty of time to be with immediate and extended family, friends from college, as well as fly down to Florida to attend the wedding of a dear of mine from my own camp and boarding school days. Ideally I would like to get all those test graded and plan ahead for my classes but who has time for that during break??

Things accomplished since being home:
1. sleeping
2. going for a long walk with the two dogs and my mom
3. sleeping
4. watching Jon Stewart
5. sleeping
6. Playing guitar (I just learned three chords) with my cool brother
7. Lunch with Dad in DC followed by a long walk to visit the Nat'l Christmas Tree, the Nat'l Gallery of Art, and Freer Gallery
8. Fallen asleep on the Metro
9. Watched "Just Friends" with brother
10. going to bed

Is it normal that I am more tired in my unproductive state that I'm in at home than I am when I am in crazy teacher mode back at Emma??

Photos from the fall 2006

Here's some photos of my funky living space and beautiful campus!

EWS Fall 2006

Revels 2006

I took this explanation directly from the Emma Parent Newsletter: "Revels is an exciting and integral part of the rich tradition of Emma Willard School. Students have been performing this tradition since 1915, and each year the pageantry is reenacted by the senior class portraying the play's familiar medieval characters. To add to the excitement, the identities of the Lord and Lady of the Manor, the Chamberlain, the Jester, and other Revels favorites are a well-guarded secret."

Revels is probably one of the most important events at EWS besides graduation. All the underclasswomen as well as faculty dress in their best and become honored guests at the lord and lady of the manor's big feast. Below is the link for some photos from the event.

Revels 2006