How's your stress level?

I woke up angry this morning---a common occurrence because I dream like crazy---angry on behalf of my friends in the classroom. A revelation slow in forming (paradox?) is taking shape.

Here's some context: My family has a lot going on. My grandfather passed away last Sunday, I had to euthanize our cat on Thursday, we're in the middle of a tough home sale negotiation, we're moving November 15 and haven't yet found a house, our dog bit our son in the face a few days ago, my husband is expanding his business, I run an online store, and I have a book coming out next month. Let's not forget that I'm 45, my husband is 49, and we have a 17-month-old wild man running around our house laughing maniacally with the remote in his hand.

The question: Friends asked me this week, "How's your stress level?" I replied, "High, but it's nothing like teaching." My mom asked me last night after the funeral, "How's your stress level?" I replied, "High, but it's nothing like teaching." My pastor joked that I live a year's worth of events in one week, but my stress level feels relatively low.

So what? I woke up without the "Sunday knot" in my stomach and the carousel of 15 presentations I need to plan for the week. I started thinking about my jealous friends who pop Zoloft to deal with the pressure and look forward to December so that they will get enough gift certificates to buy their own kids' shoes. I thought of my buddies who teach elementary school without an assistant, who write seven lesson plans for seven subjects for one day and have trouble getting coverage to go to the bathroom. I thought of my friends who teach middle school, who are expected to juggle the emotional needs of little hormone bundles, all while bracing themselves to take the blame for high school failures. When I was a curriculum specialist, I saw the bulk of the district pressure fall in the middle. Of course, since my experience is at the high school level, I think of my friends there, my exhausted friends who carry a class load of 150 or more and then drag home a suitcase full of papers to grade.

It's wrong. It's unethical. It's suicide, not service, for a teacher to run on the fumes that teaching is a NOBLE SACRIFICE. Education is not a charity.

Perhaps I feel angry because it would take revolution to change our own mindset. We're so used to the pressure that we can't imagine life without it. Teachers who recognize it, get to work right on time, leave as soon as they are allowed, and refuse to work at home are seen as lazy, uncommitted, cynical curmudgeons. I'm beginning to think they have the right idea.

Freedom

Today made me grateful to have the freedom of a freelance writer. After waking up way too early, I got in an hour and a half of editing before anyone else woke up.  That's more productivity than I often manage in an entire day!

Waking up early was no accident: My father called to tell me that my grandfather was dying. (He has been in the hospital for about a week with kidney failure.) I woke up my son, fed him quickly, put him in the car, drove two hours, and was able to say goodbye. My son, a bit frightened by all the tubes, machines, and beeps, stayed far away from the dear patient but blew him sweet kisses.

What's so precious about my son seeing my grandfather? This was the first time. When we adopted Samuel, he was too tiny to travel, and then school started back, and I never carved out the time. Today, I had no substitute teacher to find, no emergency lesson plans to create, and no overwhelming guilt for putting my family before my students. After 23 years of missing funerals and other family functions, I was able--without hesitation--to drop everything and go love on this man.

Writing From Home

When I began blogging as Musing Mama K, I was in the classroom, collecting funny one-liners on a daily basis. I still gather those little gems, but I find lately that I'm gathering them from my own family. I'm going to change direction with my blog and offer a glimpse into what it's like to hold down a freelance writing career while chasing a VERY active sixteen-month-old boy.

If you do not follow my adoption blog, here's a summary of the last two years of my crazy life: In October of 2011, our adoption of a little boy fell through when the birth mother changed her mind a week before delivery. When we got up off the floor, God gave us our Samuel, and I began motherhood at age 43. After one year of teaching AND being a mom, I found that my heart was no longer in the classroom. I had waited too long to be a parent, and I was missing it. Mediocrity as a teacher? No. Mediocrity as a mother? No. A lot of parents pull it off, but for me, I had to make a choice, and I chose to work from home as a freelance writer.

Here's how it works: My son is a serious sleeper. When his eyes close, I head for the computer. What do I write? Right now, I am working on a large unit on argumentation and persuasion, which I will sell on my TeachersPayTeachers website. During Samuel's morning nap, I might dabble with that unit. During his afternoon nap, I might switch gears and revise a piece of the book I've been writing, a biography of jeweler David Webb. On rare occasions, I do a bit of dissertation proofreading or prep a workshop I've been hired to teach. That's an ideal day, but most days involve furtive, obsessive checking of sales stats, a Pinterest pin here and there, and then hunkering down once he goes to bed.

Life is still funny. Here's snapshot of lines actually spoken in my home yesterday:

"Samuel, stop putting chicken in your hair."
"How did the phone end up in the dogs' water bowl?"
"Get out of the drawer."
"Get out of the dishwasher."
"Don't slam your hand in the dryer."
"Incoming!"
"Dogs don't like asparagus, honey."
"Is that the dog's toy in your mouth?"
"Is that the baby's toy in your mouth?"
"Acting cute will not undo the fact that you whacked the dog with a cane."
"We have a showing TODAY?!"

Oh yeah, we're trying to sell our house and expand my husband's business.

So come join me. Laugh with me while I try to figure out what it looks like to be 45 with a toddler, living life as fully as possible while playing Twister.

Mr. G!!

I am always sooooooo excited when I meet another teacher who collects funny things students say. (I still have the tiny sticky note on which one of my husband's fourth graders scribbled, "Mr. Kratzer, I have a migration.")

Today on Pinterest, I discovered, Mr. G, a subsitute teacher who DRAWS the funny interactions he has with students. Adorable! Go check out this guy's blog:

http://mistergkids.com/2013/08/27/mr-g-asks/

Read a Good Book Day 9/6----and a surprise!

Friday is Read a Good Book Day! Here are a couple of reading-related products you might want to use:

Reading to Rebel: A Handbook for Getting Kids Hooked on Pleasure Reading

Punch Card Bookmarks

ANNOUNCEMENT FOR BLOG AND FACEBOOK FOLLOWERS ONLY:

I am only 14 sales away from 1000 products sold on TeachersPayTeachers! If one of my blog or Facebook followers purchases the 1000th product, he or she will win a gift certificate to TpT, redeemable for any purchases made from any store(s)!

Dinner and L.A.are Burning

I can smell ground beef burning right now, but I've been watching VH1's "Uprising: Hip Hop and the L.A. Riots," and I have enough ideas racing around my brain for about ten blog posts, so dinner will just have to burn. I can't find my reading glasses, so forgive whatever grammatical madness ends up here.

In late April of 1992, four police officers were acquitted of beating a black man named Rodney King. (For those of you who do not remember the original incident, Google "Can't we all just get along?"). Riots followed the verdict, and I watched the footage in disbelief. A random white man was pulled from his vehicle, held to the ground, and beaten senseless. Looting, fires, beatings, and death reigned.

I was 23 and in my first year teaching English and newspaper journalism at a 97% black urban high school. My students and I had discussed the trial, had healthy debates, and written about it. The day following the start of the riots, my one white student, a freshman boy, was not at school. Dentist appointment my foot.

I don't remember a lot about that day except the one empty seat. What I'm thinking of now, over 21 years later, is Why didn't something this dramatic happen over the Trayvon Martin case?

BACK INTO TEACHER MODE: There is so much to be done!!

• Comparison/contrast essay on reactions to the two cases (Lots of background knowledge required; students would need to do the legwork outside of class.)
• Re-writing closing arguments
• Using the trials to teach the importance of evidence
• Research paper on the trial, riots, black/police conflicts, etc.
• Pro/Con discussion about the riots
• Pull in Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law somehow

My lack of reading glasses and the need to find something else to cook for dinner brings this post to a close, but I need more ideas! Please comment!

Fallacious Centrum Ad

There's a television ad for Centrum vitamins running right now, and I've watched it a number of times. It touts the CHOICE of Centrum for several landmark studies.

Here's the advertisement.

What the ad does NOT include is factual information about the findings of any of the studies. The audience is led to believe that Centrum must have outperformed the other vitamins. I'd like some feedback on this: How would you use this ad in the classroom? Would it work as an example of misleading statistics?

A Facebook Professional!

NEWS:  I finally have my professional Facebook page up and running! My goal is to build a community of writers and teachers who share their ideas. The page will include

Facebook Fan Flash Freebies

Sunday Planning Resources

Book Release Dates and Signing Invitations for  long-time-coming biography of jeweler David Webb.

Links to fabulous blogs, Facebook pages, free resources, priced resources, cool Pinterest goodies, and my own store on TeachersPayTeachers.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE: 



Comment on my blog posts.

"Like" my Facebook page and invite your friends to do so as well.

Join my two collaborative boards on Pinterest. 

TpT Back-to-School Site-Wide Sale!

IT'S HERE! 

The teacherspayteachers.com back-to-school sale is this weekend! All day the 18th and Monday the 19th, enjoy up to 28% off. TpT is offering 10% off in addition to the sales (up to 20% off) in our individual stores. Fill your cart now and but wait until Sunday or Monday to buy! Don't forget to use the promo code!!!!!

BTS13

Here are a few of my newest products, all of which will be 28% off:

100 Shades of Tone: An Advanced Word Study

Reading to Rebel: A Handbook for Getting Kids Hooked on Pleasure Reading

Independent Reading Scale Score Charts

Punch Card Bookmarks

AP English Language & Composition Product BUNDLE

If my mama wasn't completely insane . . .

Today's Zinger: "Mrs. Kratzer, if my mama wasn't completely insane, she'd be a lot like you." I've decided it's a compliment!

Today's Tip: Head on over to TeachersPayTeachers for the big Teacher Appreciation Day Sale!  Tuesday and Wednesday, shop for products that are up to 28% off.

TpT Booth at the NCMSA!

The North Carolina Middle School Association Conference begins on Monday, and our own Michele Luck is manning a booth with her fabulous husband, Steve. Thank you, Michele, for all the hard work!!! I live a few miles from the conference center and dropped by tonight to make two new friends.

Michele has organized materials to highlight the work of 17 TpT folks. Here's the booth!

Teachers can enter a drawing for a goodie basket.

Steve made these trees, and this one highlights ELA materials.

Pinterest Love

I have fallen in love . . . with Pinterest. I started following a few high school English teachers, and I invited them to join me on two collaborative boards. I'd like to invite my blog followers who teach on the high school level to join these boards as well. If you pin a priced item, please add the price to the beginning of the description.

High School English

AP English

One of my classes this semester is AP English Language and Composition, so I have been posting a lot for that course. I NEED MORE AP LIT STUFF!

Grabbing a Double-Edged Sword

The scribbled sticky notes all over my desk tell me I'm behind on blogging! Instead of a tip and a resource, today my followers get treat: lots of zingers, funny one-liners spoken or written by my students. These have not been edited! Enjoy.

Today's Zinger #1: I was talking with a student about an argumentative essay we were analyzing. Here's how the conversation went:
Teacher: That issue has another side.
Student: Yeah, it's a double-edged sword.
Teacher: Is there any part of the argument that you can grab onto?
Student: How can you grab onto a double-edged sword?

Zinger #2: "Mrs. Kratzer, what is the abbreviation for May?"

Zinger #3: (During a lesson on The Civil Rights Movement)
"Selma--wasn't that a movie where they drove off a cliff?"

Zinger #4: "Glitter is the herpes of art. Once you got it, you can't get rid of it."

Zinger #5: "Ima a jack you for your church shoes."

Zinger #6: "I read it somewhere, I don't know--maybe on that link to that online newspaper, the Huff and Puff."

Zinger #7: "I am mug-shot serious."