Janae Says...

Well, I offered extra credit to my students for having their parents come to conferences. I'm not sure if it's that, or the fact that I have mostly 7th graders, which caused such a big turnout. We have a really difficult area with very low parent involvement. So when I have 125 parents of 195 students come, that's pretty awesome! I didn't really have any difficult or defensive parents. All were very supportive of my policies and comments and seemed to want their kids to do well. I think one of the best parts of this conference was how many positive comments I received. I had two or three parents tell me how their kids come home and talk about my class, telling their parents how much they enjoy it. Some of my students told me my class is their favorite. Several kids (especially 8th graders--we're reading The Outsiders) told me that they love the book we are reading. Add onto this how many visits I've gotten in the past 5 weeks from my old students, ...

I don’t get angry very often. Honestly, I don’t. Right now, I am angry. Really, really angry. And when I take an honest assessment of myself, I know for a fact that I do not feel this way very often. I don’t get angry because I don’t like feeling angry. I don’t like the heat and sweat and increased heart rate, and the frustration and the cloud that comes over my brain. I am, however, a really passionate, opinionated person. Sometimes this gets mistaken for anger. There’s not really a whole lot I can do about that. If my blood pressure is perfectly normal, but I’m just expressing an opinion in my “Janae” way, people think I’m angry. Then they tell me to “relax.” That’s the thing that gets me angry. One guy in a text conversation the other night was telling me to relax. Um? I am relaxed, first of all. Secondly, don’t boss me around. Thirdly, you’re basically telling me not to say what I want to say because it’s putting you off. Get over it. Now, for the reason I am angry today, let’s s...

Well, my first impressions of my classes were all good. I wish I had actually made a detailed account of my first week of school so I could remember my exact thoughts, but here’s what I can recall. My mom came with me on day one and took care of some of my dirty business—making folders for those who were absent, alphabetizing work, etc. I’m so glad she was there because I’m not sure I would have functioned the next day without her. She got the ball rolling so that I could have a productive rhythm by the second day when she wasn’t there. She gave me a feel for what I needed to get done. I’m trying out all new and/or revamped procedures this year, and so far they seem to be working wonders for the students’ grades and for my stress level. I’m structuring everything very highly--babying them, if you will. I never realized how little you can trust junior high kids to keep something with them and to bring their stuff to class until last year. This year, they’ve all been provided with ...

I was supposed to have plans tonight, but they sort of fell through. So I just did my own thing, including going to the gym, eating dinner, watching The Office, running to Costco (not because I needed a hand-dipped ice cream bar with roasted almonds), and writing an article for some extra dinero. Tomorrow I have work, then I visit Brianne, then class from 4:30 to 7. I might go to my cousins' house after to watch Glee and/or The New Girl. So it will be a late night. On Wednesday AND Thursday I have work, and then more work. You guessed it: parent-teacher conferences, till 7:30 both nights. I think if I'm going to get any exercise in, it will have to be before work. If you've ever done PT conferences, you know there is no mental (or physical) activity going on afterward. At least we get Friday off as a comp day. I also have a date on Friday night, so that's something to look forward to after three nights of chaos. I still have a lot of things to blog about, but I...

I just want to say that I think men move way too fast, as a general rule. I don't want to make the mistake of Dicto Simpliciter here. But really, as a whole, I think guys need to just lay off the physical aspect. Like since when did first or second dates become "make out time"? Or spooning time? Or whatever-else-it's-too-soon-for time? Nothing has happened recently. I've just been thinking tonight. And I don't know. I think I'm just increasingly uncomfortable with the notion of being even slightly physical with someone if I don't know I'm really into them and feel safe with them. I just want someone take the time to get to know me before they decide they want to kiss me! I want it to be more than what it is for 99% of people. Is that weird, to become more resistant to physical interaction over time? Well, whatever. If that's how I'm going to weed out the crappy ones, I'll do it. Find me a patient gentleman, and I'll love...

And now, for an episode of "From the Desks: Messages that Students Write." Message one , received on Facebook from one of my 9th graders last year: "Dear Ms. Balibrea This is your old 9th grade student Erika from last school year. I just wanted to say thanks for everything you taught us. It helped a BUNCH in High School. Today in Language Arts 10, I answered almost all of the questions my teacher asked. I felt pretty smart cause of all of the things you taught us last year. I honestly miss being in your class, even though it was pretty boring at times. High school is allot different from Jefferson, But I'm started to get use to how it is. Sincerly, Erika Lopez (P.S. I hope that you think my writing has improved, I've been working on it)" Message two , received in an after school visit from my most frequent 9th grade complainer last year: Student: Hi! :) Me: Hello! What's up? Student: I just came to say thank you. Me (confused)...

Well, I promised that lots of blogs were on their way, but I probably can count the number of free hours I've had recently to do anything that I want to do on just one hand. In that same entry, I mentioned how I have too much to say about everything. It's weird and sad interesting how much my lack of expression affects my state of being. It's like if I don't get my thoughts down somewhere, they're just rolling around in my brain waiting to be released. Consequently, I'm feeling terribly psychologically unbalanced as of late. And in order to fix that, I know that I can do two possible things. One is that I can write (in this case, on my blog), and the other is that I can go to a shrink. Ideally, I'd do both. But I don't have money to go to a shrink. This is a contributing factor to my psychological imbalance. Here are some other contributing factors that I can think of: Men Things men have said--or I guess what they've said makes them boys, no...

Today was picture day at school. I saw one student wearing the same shirt as I wore to work yesterday. And I saw another student wearing the same skirt I recently got at Old Navy. Something is very, very wrong with this... As a side note, they showed me my picture after they took it so I could approve it. That's good, right?

You know, what this comes down to is that I just have too much to say. About pretty much everything. About everything in my life. And about everything about life in general. And about everything about everyone else's lives. Just too much to say. All the time. I purchased some little tiny notepads to keep in random bags and purses that I use in case an idea strikes me. And they do. All the time. But have I used these notebooks yet? No. The idea escapes seconds after I have it, and tragically I am too lazy to write it down before it runs away from my mind forever. I DID text myself some potential topics. But then I thought of something else today that I cannot remember at this present moment. So I think I'll summarize my life as of late. And then do separate posts for the more detailed thoughts that I have. Lately, my life has consisted of work, going to the gym, running errands/taking care of other business, and going to bed. The last thing hasn't been going so well....