Check In

1. Occupation?

Substitute teacher, mainly at the middle and high school level (although some days I can't afford to be choosy about the jobs). Right now I'm on a long-term assignment in a middle school in Portland which seems to be going well.

2. What color are your socks right now?

Right now I'm sporting rainbow-colored toe socks. It suits my zany mood. After all, it's hard NOT to be zany when you spend your days around 13 and 14 year-olds.

3. Last thing you listened to?

I'm having an early mid-life crisis so I've gone and pulled out all the stuff I listened to in high school that's still in my possession. Today it was the Misfits, who I can still sing along with without missing a beat. The thematic material seems appropriate for goofy middle school boys.

4. Last thing that you ate?

Mac N Cheese. We're classy individuals around here.

5. Last movie you watched?

Curious Case of Benjamin Button. But that was awhile ago. Lately we've been working our way through old episodes of Battlestar Galactica in anticipation of the new season which starts tonight.
There's actually some interesting-looking movies out right now that I'd like to see, although how many of them need to be seen in the theater remains to be seen. I'd like to see Slum Dogs, for sure.

6. Last thing that made you mad?

I got really mad earlier today because this kid worked on his make-up math test for two class periods and turned it in, and I noticed that he got nearly all the problems wrong. I could tell he had completely forgotten how to do everything, and he missed several days of class, so he's clearly pretty lost. I made him do it again (and work on each problem to the point of mastery).

The other thing that's bugging me currently is driving to work every day. People drive like idiots and I get really tired of it by Friday. I'm normally a patient person in most areas of my life, but this has never extended into the realm of driving. I sure wish I could go back to riding the bus (and just check out for an hour) instead of dealing with every blithering idiot on the road who clearly barely passed their driver's license exam...

7. What was your favorite toy as a child? I always liked things with wheels like bikes or roller skates or skateboards. I loved the idea of self-propulsion, and still do. I ride my bike all the time when the weather's nice, and at the end of last summer bought a pretty decent skateboard from Goodwill for $3. What made me think of this is the fact that I have a student who really loves skateboarding and talks about it every day when I see him. He reminds me a lot of myself at his age, and not just because we both sucked royally at math in the 7th grade. When he said he'd rather be outside any day instead of inside playing videogames or watching TV, I knew he was gonna turn out just fine someday...