Tooting My Own Horn!

Teaching junior high is generally, by its very nature, a thankless job. During the past two years of teaching junior high, I have come to the conclusion that no group on the earth complains quite as much as teenagers. Teenagers complain about pretty much everything. So, you can understand then, why when I receive some postitive feedback from them, it causes me to explode with joy. Recently, I received just that feedback, and please do not think less of me for wanting to shout it from the mountaintops.

I recently received letters of thank you from many of my 8th graders, and I will be sharing some of my favorite excerpts from their letters.

From a boy who rarely smiled at me and for whom I would go to embarassing lengths to try to pry a smile out of....a boy who I often proclaimed "hated" me (as a joke(to try to make him smile!))
"I would like to thank you, Mrs. Sorry. You have done so much for me and positively influenced my experience here. You have made a difference in my life. I want to acknowledge you for everything. Although you may think I despise you, I don't. I wouldn't despise someone who is kind hearted, caring, and loving. You do so much for us. Although you may be unusual sometimes, you are my favorite teacher, and almost like a parent. Thanks to you I was able to get this far. I learned more and more from you gradually. You made things easier for me, and I got to be able to ask you anything. I gained your trust, and I knew I could trust you with anything. You were always there for each and every one of us. Thanks to you, the 8th grade class has changed. We became the mature students you taught us to be...."

From a boy who often gave me trouble with his poor attitude in class...
"Mrs. Sorry, I just want to let you know that I am very thankful for everything you have done for me. I know I don't always show my appreciation, but I do appreciate everything. I just want to say I'm sorry for everything I've put you through like all the stress and headaches. I know there were mean looks, the non-smiling, and the sutff like that, but I'm sorry. I know this may seem hard to believe, but I really did enjoy having you as a teacher, I may not have shown it, but I did...."

And more kind words for other students...

"Thank you for being my teacher. You are the coolest, funniest, and best teacher. You are like a mom to us kids. You are always keeping us kids in line, making sure we do the right thing. You care about us and want the best for us. You have made this year fun and exciting for us 8th graders. You tell us when we are not acting good and respectfully so we can improve ourselves. Without you, our class wouldn't be what we are now...."

"These past two years, you have been an amazing teacher. You have given us paragraphs, candy, fun assignments, pizza parties, free time, and so much more. Personally, I will never forget your bell. I know that probably in high school whenever I hear the word "paragraph", what will pop into my mind will be Mrs. Sorry and her bell. From you I learned that school can be both fun and educational at the same time. I'll never forget a lot of things, but one thing I'll always remember is how you would make jokes during class. You are truly a great teacher...."

"I am glad to say that you have been one of the best teachers that I have ever had. I have learned a lot from you like grammar, literature, american idol, and a lot more weird sutff! I know you're my teacher, but that doesn't mean I only see you as a teacher. I really have seen you as a teacher, second parent, and friend. I can honestly say that without you being one of my junior high teachers, I would not be where I am today. I will miss you as my homeroom teacher. No, cross that out. I will miss you as my teacher. No, cross that out. I will miss you as a very mature friend....."

"Dear Mrs. Sorry AKA Power Puff Girl Buttercup Betrayer, coolest 7th and 8th grade Grammar, Literature, and Homeroom teacher, Snazzy Dancer, interesting opinionator (made up word), and weird generous candy giver. Ha-Ha! Okay, enough with the titles. I have a feeling I am going to go all writing prompt with this letter, Mrs. Sorry, and whose fault is that?! Yours! That's right; you're the reason why I am so inspired to express and unleash my writing ability creatively into my own thoughts and words. And that's not all either! You constantly remind the class to get along and lecture us on things we SHOULD be lectured on. Mrs. Sorry, you are a very inspirational instructor, teacher, and friend. As my class and I leave Sma with a tear and a smile, we will surely not forget what you have taught us through these two school years. Proceed with your skills, nosiness, and joke telling....."

And last, but not least...
"Dear Someone Who Has Had a Positive Effect on My Life,
Mrs. Sorry, I am completely grateful that you are my teacher. In the last two years, you were able to learn exactly who I am and where I fit into class. Besides being a teacher, you are a big sister. Especially in the ways that you know everything about the class, laugh at our jokes, and let us laugh at you. A very easy way of putting it is just letting you know that you are part of the class of '08 more than any teacher could ever be. I can't really tell you anything really big that made me realize that you had a positive effect on my life; because, it's not like I had some sort of epiphany realization. It's just that 7th and 8th grade are my favorite years at (this school). I am so thankful that Mr. H chose such a lovable teacher who took care of her students like her kids. There has been no other teacher in whose classes I can remember so many happy/crazy/fun/weird/silly memories. Even when I am old and gray I will always remember my 7th and 8th grade teacher. I just want you to know that the OLP teachers I will get will have a very high bar set for them compared to you..."

And, that, my friends is why teaching is, afterall, very worth all of the blood, sweat, and tears that go into it.

So, next time anyone shudders at the statement that I teach teenagers, I will remember these letters of thanks and tell them that it is not such a bad job afterall. Not bad at all.

Deployment "Practice"

Today my husband left for three weeks of training in 29 Palms. I know that there are those people out there who believe that when the Marine Corps makes its marines leave for weeks at a time before a deployment they are being cruel. I, however, happen to think of it in a different way. I don't think the Marine Corps is being cruel by robbing me of the few precious moments I have left with my husband, and I certainly don't think that the 3 weeks he will spending away will be purely for the benefit of the Marines who are training. Actually, I think these 3 weeks of training are a rather ingenius way of giving those of us on "operation homefront" an opportunity to have a deployment practice. That's right, you heard me. I'm pretty sure that even though hubby will call during these 3 weeks pretending to be tired and aching from sleeping in tents for 3 weeks.. he will in actuality be living the good life and biding his time until my 3 weeks of deployment practice are over.

So far, deployment practice is going rather smoothly. Nothing in my house has broken or fallen apart in the 24 hours that hubby has been gone. Neither one of my dogs has run away, my cars are still running just fine, and my pool has yet to turn green. Oh, and most importantly, wild fires have yet to break out in Southern California leaving me homeless and fearful.

Because of all this, when I lay my head down on my pillow tonight, I will do so with a contented sigh. Not only is my deployment practice going very well, but I will again be able to sprawl out in my bed.

See, the Marine Corps really isn't as silly and impractical as they're made out to be. Afterall, someone in their ranks did come up with the incredible idea of Deployment Practice. Oorah!

Scary

If you look at the last date that I posted a blog, you'll notice that it's been 20 days since I last wrote. And, it wasn't for lack of having anything to say. Believe me, it was just the opposite. It was having too much to say and not quite knowing how to say it.

You see, last week while not feeling so great my sister went to the doctor. The doctor took a blood test and when the results came back the next day called and told her to go to the nearest emergency IMMEDIATELY. Her platelets, it seems, were so low that even a small cut could have caused her to bleed to death. That's scary. But, what's scarier was that upon further examination they noticed abnormal lymph nodes.

I will probably never look at the movie The Kite Runner quite the same ever again, because last week as I was hunkering down excitedly to watch that movie on my ON DEMAND service, my mom called. She was having some trouble getting her words out, but finally was able to tell me that my sister would be having her lymph nodes and bone marrow biopsied to check for cancer.

My brother was sick with the flu, and not knowing that anything peculiar was going on was not answering my mother's phone calls. So, she asked me to call him and tell him what was going on.

It wasn't the first time I had to be the bearer of bad news for my brother. When my dad's mom died we were home alone, and I was the one to inform my brother. When my grandfather was slated with only a short time to live with his leukemia.. I was the one who told my brother. And last week, once again, I was giving my brother news that was less than easy to swallow.

Before I hung up with my brother after telling him what was going on with our sister.. he ended the conversation with an "I love you" --

And, to be quite honest with you, if I hadn't realized something was terribly wrong before that phone call.. after his I love you, I knew for certainty this was something to be worried about.

It was awful spending those few days thinking that something terrible might be wrong with my sister. It was hard being across the country and not being able to visit. It definitely made me realize how very much I love and appreciate her...

So, when the news came back All Clear, NO CANCER! You can imagine the relief. I don't know why my sister had to go through this terrible experience. But, I do know that it will be something that she will not soon forget. And, I.... well, I will never forget how it felt for those moments thinking that my sister might be terribly sick. Let's just say.. maybe I will be remembering her birthday from now on. :O)

I'm glad you're feeling better, Aim! :) Love you!

quotable

I am a sucker for the perfect phrase, and just moments ago I discovered one that is perfect for ME. It is...

"Blessed are the flexible for they will not be broken."

As both a military wife and a teacher, all I have to say is, "Amen to that!" - So true.