Worth the Move to Another State

After our upper school staff meeting this afternoon I drove home to drop Laura off, then rushed over to the MVA. After making two wrong turns I walked in exactly one minute before it closed.

When I got there I proudly produced everything demanded of me to obtain a Maryland driver's license: Tennessee license, proof of identity, and two proofs of Maryland residence. The lady took one look at my proof of identity, my passport, and said "This is not valid."

"Oh." I said, a little shaken, but not thwarted from my goal. "That's okay, I have my birth certificate." And I did. But I asked her anyway why on earth my passport wasn't valid, she pointed to the signature line which is labelled "Signature of Bearer" and "Not Valid Till Signed". Apparently she wouldn't just let me sign it and accept it as valid. So fortunately I had my birth certificate.

Then I took my number and waited. For only five minutes. Really, I have had very little trouble at the MVA office of Annapolis. And today made it best of all, because I got a semi-flattering driver's license photo. I had almost forgotten that step of the process, but when the lady mechanically said "Please stand in front of the blue cloth" and I repeated "Stand?" I realized what must inevitably occur. But it turned out so well! I was really quite shocked. All thanks goes to my hair stylist. I am also glad I blow-dried my hair. Also I see a lot of resemblence between me and my mom in this picture.

Not Entymology

Somtimes I teach my students etymology. I have them get out their Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionaries (have you ever noticed how you're always expected to utilize resources that are intended for higher than your level? how in high school you have to use a collegiate dictionary, but when you are actually in college they start training you to use the OED?) and find out that "pronto" doesn't exactly come from protinus, meaning immediately, but from promptus, -a, -um which means, well, prompt. I haven't yet pulled out "etymology by sound is not sound etymology" but we're working up to that.

Along those lines, I pass along from the classics blogosphere this funny excerpt from a column in the Buffalo News:

"Now I look forward to cool evenings, good sleeping and new energy. This is the time of the year when it is finally possible to enter the attic without the benefit of a space suit. The word attic is derived from “Attica,” the name for the land of the ancient Greeks — a society that accumulated so much junk that museums had to be built all over the world to accommodate it. Thus, in the modern house the attic is the place to put things that don’t fit anywhere else."

Good-Bad-Good-Bad-Good

Up and down, that's how this week has gone. Fortunately that means it began and ended on a high (except for the small insignificant little detail that the week hasn't ended yet).

* * *

"Sinner! Sinner!" No, that's not Angy bringing my grevious faults to light. Those are the words of a seventh grader in my homeroom, after discovering that a classmate didn't know about Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris is quite popular around here. "Not knowing Chuck Norris? That's a sin!" he said.

Sunny Day

I am having a much better day today - in fact it's been downright good. Thank you so much for the encouragement. (o:

At the end of my first class today I asked for questions, the way I always do. One guy in the front row looked at the guy beside him and said in a low voice, "Can I tell her? Has it been long enough yet?" I was like, "Yes! Tell me!"

Apparently one of their other teachers told them that he had conducted an experiment with his friends in college in which they could control where there professor was standing by the direction in which they looked. I guess if all of them were gazing off to one side, the professor would shift to that side to catch their gaze. But it didn't work on me. Haha! I am immune from student manipulation.

Can I Do This?

Or, Can I Do This Well? The Story of a First-Year Teacher

Well, I'm at school right now, I'm sitting at my desk. To the far left is my copy of Aeneas to Augustus ready to teach 10th graders to read real Latin. Next to that is my watch which hurts to wear when I'm typing because I always rest my wrists on the desk. Then comes my red Sigg water bottle which Caleb thinks looks like the fuel tank for a camping stove, which is empty right now. Sitting right beside that is a paper cup, which is also empty except for coffee grounds. Between that paper cup and the keyboard is a mini yellow sticky pad scrawled upon with grading calculations. Beneath my right arm are the Vocabulary Review Tests from 10th grade that are giving me much grief. To the right of that lies a red pen, a roll of white-out tape, a larger yellow sticky pad with my to-do list on it, and a stack of 8th grade Vocabulary Review Tests which are about to give me much grief.

I foolishly decided to give all six sections these gigantic Vocabulary Review Tests on the same day, which means I ended up with about 70 tests to grade all at once. That means that even if each one takes only ten minutes to grade, they take up at least 700 minutes of my time. That equals over eleven hours. And I know I may be astounding you with my mathematical skills, but I definitely did not calculate this beforehand.

That is just one of the many reasons my confidence as a teacher has taken a hit today.

Funny Teacher Moment of the Day

Sometimes students call me Mrs. Becker.

Cats and Dogs

Tropical storm Hanna is sitting right on top of us, making this a very wet Saturday -- occasionally quite gusty. I kind of like it, though. Hanna doesn't seem too unfriendly. Last weekend one of the school families invited Laura and I over for dinner, and afterwards took us on a tour of Annapolis. I didn't realize how close we were to that city, nor how close to open water. Sailing is huge there. Down by the docks there's an area called "Ego Row" where people line up their luxurious crafts and sit there enjoying the weekend. Apparently there's a big boat show every October.

But speaking of Annapolis, it has come to my attention that at least two readers, both whose name begins with "A", are a little confused 'bout things. I believe a quick recap is needed. Sorry to those who have been paying attention. ;)

• At the end of July, while on vacation at beach, I recieved an email from former roommate Laura C asking if I knew any classics majors interested in teaching Latin at her new school, Rockbridge Academy.
• Because my long-term goal was to become a teacher, I decided to give it a shot even though I was already planning to go to Georgetown. But really, of what worth is a post-baccalaureate program when compared with a full time job?
• Within the space of one week, I completed that application, was interviewed twice for at least an hour, and signed a work agreement (Laura, if you are reading this, that last sentence reminds me of what you pointed out about that section of the Nicene Creed).
• I moved up here on August 16th, meaning I have now been a Maryland resident for a grand total of three weeks. That's two weeks of teacher training and (almost) one week of teaching.

Okay? Let me know if you have any questions. Oh I just love rain.