A Verry Merry "Un"-Birthday: Give water!

My sister's having a birthday this month, and she decided to do something cool with it. This is the email she sent out:

Hi everyone,

Today I came across this great nonprofit called charity: water that works to help provide clean drinking water to those who don't yet have access to it. Turns out there's a billion people worldwide who don't have clean drinking water, and may even have to walk miles to access the bit of polluted water they are able to drink. Nearly 50,000 people will die just this week as a result of this poor water quality. This organization raises money to be able to go to these communities and build water wells, so they are able to get the water they need-- something so essential to life, yet that we take for granted every day as we turn on the tap in our kitchens and bathrooms.

Charity: water started 3 years ago, when one of its future founding members decided to "give up" his birthday (which was in September) and instead of asking for gifts ask everyone to donate $20, with the goal of helping with this water problem. He raised $1,400 and was able to build 6 water wells with it. The project has taken off since then, and has now provided something like 700,000 people with clean drinking water.

One of the ways they raise money is by asking other September birthdays to "give up" their birthdays in the same way. And that's what I'm doing this year-- instead of birthday gifts, I'm asking any of you who were planning on buying me something (or who simply want to help out) to donate to this cause. You can do this at the fundraising page I have set up here:

http://mycharitywater.org/mightymarce

I've set my goal amount to $400. Will you help me meet it?

Thank you! =)

Marcy

(Wish I'd heard about this in July! Maybe next year...)

The power of words and the definition of marriage

Look it up: Dictionaries recognized same-sex unions under 'marriage' years before states - WHO

The first year I taught third grade, a colleague lent me the book Frindle, to read to the kids. I had nothing else to read to them during SSR (Sustained Silent Reading time, after lunch), so I gladly accepted the book. Little did I know what I was in for...

The story is about this kid who butts heads with his English teacher. She's super mean and has this huge dictionary on this almost-shrine at the front of the room, because she practically worships words and language (and makes her students do tons of homework every night).

So the kid comes up with an idea, just to tick the teacher off. Instead of using the word "pen" for pen, he calls the pen a "frindle."

The kids in the class all jump on the bandwagon (at least until they all get detention, but that's secondary). The feud becomes so huge (because both characters are too pig-headed to back down) and soon the whole city is involved. People start making t-shirts with the word "frindle" on them. The local news, then the state news, then the national news start talking about this. It became a huge thing, and people all over the country started using the word "frindle."

Spoiler to follow, so skip the next paragraph if you're planning on reading this book.

At the end of the book, years after the kid has graduated (middle school and high school) and the teacher has long retired, the kid gets a package in the mail. From the teacher. It's the newest edition of the dictionary, with a note to turn to page so-and-so. Where the word "frindle" is listed, meaning "pen." Because the word became part of the general lexicon.

Will you think less of me if I tell you that ending made me cry?

Merriam-Webster said in a statement Wednesday that the edited entry merely reflected the frequency with which the term "same-sex marriage" had popped up in print and become part of the general lexicon.

This is what I love about languages. They are alive. And we control them.

What's the definition of "marriage"? Whatever we want it to be. However we use the word, that's how it's going to be used. Whatever meaning we give it, that's what it's going to mean.

Marriage is a union between two people who love each other and have made a commitment to love and cherish one another til death do them part. Whatever color, or sex, or size, or religious belief, or whatever they may be, whether a totally irrelevant third party thinks they "match" or not.

Same-sex, different-sex, it's still marriage. The dictionary has been saying so for years -- because we have.

The Plan

So the "Does Criss need a new job?" question has been answered with an emphatic, "Yes, I do believe so." It is now time to put A Plan into action.

I should be a pretty marketable individual. But all my job experience is in education, which apparently is synonymous with "Jack Squat" in the non-education world. Funny. In a very non-funny way. But I won't jump on that soapbox today.

The Plan is to start applying to jobs now. This means I'm not really giving this semester much of a chance, but that's okay with me. I'm still going to put effort into my job, I promise. I just know I won't be going back to it, because too many aspects of it irritate the living bejeezus out of me.

Since I am notorious for having absolutely NO self-discipline, and because the Internetz has been known to suck entire days from my life, I must formulate a detailed Plan to keep my butt in gear. And to keep my sanity from imploding.

The Schedule:

• Leave school by 5:00 every day. Screw it if I still have other carp to do; at 5:00 I'm out.
• Limit weekday Internetz time at home to 6:00-8:00. The first hour can be fun stuff, like email and blogs and Facebook (when we're on speaking terms), but the second hour has to be work: applying for jobs, updating resume, fixing dissertation, editing novels.
• Get off the computer at 8:00 and join the World of the Living. (Namely Freddy.)
• Be in bed by 10:30, so I can at least have enough sleep to face the soul-suckingness of the day job.
  

If anyone out there is looking for a passionate, motivated, hard-working bilingual (almost trilingual) employee, please let me know. I have references.

Freddy sent me this, from an editorial in the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. (I tried to post it yesterday, but the Internets was broken. It made me angry.)

I am neither Democrat nor Republican. I am an educator. I am an American.

I should remember today as a significant day in American history.

Jan. 20, 2009: My son turned 14 today. It was a happy day.

I remember a day in 1963 — Nov. 22. I was in a classroom learning with other children. We were first graders. JFK was assassinated that day. I remember the principal, Mr. Jones, saying that word over the PA system — assassinated. We did not know its meaning, but we knew from watching the adults that it made everyone sad. We went home early, but it was not a happy day. It was a significant day in American history. I was in a classroom with other children.

I remember that day.

I remember a day in 1986 — Jan. 28. I was a teacher and was in my classroom teaching children. The Challenger fell from the sky on that day. I remember the principal, Mr. Walker, telling us over the PA about it. I had to leave my room so my kids would not see me fighting back tears. I was a coach and coaches didn't cry.

I had wanted badly to be in Krista McAuliffe's shoes, to be the first teacher in space. I was a science teacher and I was jealous. Now she and the others were gone. It was not a happy day. It was a significant day in American history. I was in a classroom with children.

I remember that day.

I remember a day in 2001 — Sept. 11. I was an Assistant Principal. I went to a classroom to watch a TV with children. There was no TV in the office. I had been in a meeting that was interrupted with the news that something significant was happening, so I went. I needed to be in a classroom with children.

Together, we watched the second twin tower fall. I remember asking the kids if we were watching a repeat of what had happened earlier when the first tower fell (I had heard) and they told me, no, this is the second tower and we were watching it live as it fell. We were silent. Again, I had to fight back tears. It was not a happy day. It was a significant day in American history. I was in a classroom with children.

I remember that day.

I will remember Jan. 20, 2009.

It was a happy day. Somehow, I found myself having to fight back tears. Our country elected the first black president in our history, and he took the oath of office with more than a million people watching on the Washington Mall. It was a significant day in American history. I will remember what that many people in Washington, D.C., looked like. I will remember the music by Yoyo Ma and Itzhak Perlman. I will be there with our BHS band in March.

I will remember how Chief Justice John Roberts messed up his lines. If I were in front of that many people, I might do the same. A President named Barack. I guess if I can be Priddy, he can be Barack. I will remember how toward the end of his address, he referenced a moment in history when George Washington inspired the troops at the very gravest time during the American Revolution and how he made the connection to the present.

I believe he has great social awareness. I hope he succeeds. Hope is a word I've heard a lot recently and I like that word. I believe it is a good word and should be used more by educators.

Jan. 20 was a significant day in American history. I will remember this day. I was in a classroom with children. I was a principal. I did not make a speech over the PA like Mr. Jones or Mr. Walker.

I sent an e-mail.

I am an American. I am an educator.

May God bless teachers.

— David Priddy, principal, Burleson High School, Burleson

Change in POV

Twitter emailed me today, letting me know Heart_song was following me. So I followed back. And I found these two blog posts of hers, which I feel need to be shared:

Stop the Perfecution!
I don't want to be a groan up anymore!

I think I've slowly gotten over my perfectionism (I probably have NaNo to thank for that), but I could always use more help in letting it go. Now, the groan-up issue... this one is a bad weed. In early college, I think I was reading Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and read the chapter on negativity, where the guy suggested for every negative thought you have, you have to think of a positive one: if a guy cuts you off on the freeway and you call him a jerk, you have to think of three positive things to say about him. "He drives a fuel-efficient compact car, which is better for the environment;" "he might be late for work;" "his car is a pretty shade of blue." Yes, it can be hard to come up with three, but after a while your brain starts to think more positively (either that, or it learns to not think negatively, because then you have to pay for it with three nice things). I remember doing this and it working, but then I stopped... and went back to being my regular grumpy self.

The groan-up/grin-up thing is the same idea - replace your negative thought with a positive one. This is my challenge to myself. Lately, I've been griping about my job a lot. And it's easy to do, when other people gripe with you. But I like my job. I have fun there, most of the time. I like working with the kids, and I'm lucky that I do not teach a TAKS-tested subject, so admin leaves my department alone most of the time.

At times like this week, when grades are due, it can get hectic and stressful. Kids coming in Thursday afternoon or Friday morning, asking if there's anything they can do to bring their grade up... when the six weeks ends Friday at 3:45. Parents can see their kids' grades online, but not all of them know this or have signed up for it, so I need to call parents and let them know Johnny never turned in that big assignment. Do I have enough grades this six weeks? Do I have enough test grades? Did I call that parent to make sure she knows her daughter is failing because she sleeps in class or, when awake, plays Tetris on her computer? Why is it my resposibility to keep up with these things, when I have 179 students but the parents only have 2-4 kids each? Shouldn't it be the parents' responsibility to keep up with the kids' grades?

I get to work by 7:00 and usually don't leave until after 5:00, most of the time it's closer to 6:00. We do have meetings all the time (2-3 a week, most weeks). This cuts into grading/lesson planning time. There is not enough time in the day to do everything I want to do... Freddy and I had a more concrete (ie: we've set a tentative date) conversation about having kids; how's all that going to work, working this much (and still not getting it all done) and having a newborn? Will I be able to handle it? Will things get better next year, after I've taught a full year in this school, in this subject (I have a nasty habit of jumping grade levels or subjects every few years, which is starting over all over again)? Or am I just telling myself it will be easier?

It's easy to drown yourself in a glass of water... especially for me. I like drama. And personal pity parties. And I like to complain about injustices in the world, percieved or otherwise. The science department has to contact 2-3 parents a week, and TeleParent (and automated calling system with pre-recorded messages - student didn't turn in major project; sleeping in class; made an A on a test - doesn't count); the math department has to offer tutoring every day from 4-6 (don't know if they're getting paid extra; our contracts end at 4:00). My department doesn't have to do any of that, but I'll sit and whine about how unfair it is that they are required to do that - which is unfair, on top of everything else. And why doesn't TeleParent count as a way to contact parents about their kids' progress? The district is paying good money for it, we should use it! It's a great system/tool! Uh... but do I use it? It would be very easy to keep up with those parents (or cover my butt about keeping up with parents) if I used it, but I don't. Then, at the end of the six weeks, I complain that the parents should be checking up on grades, I shouldn't have to call each and every parent... when, really, all I have to do is click a few buttons on the computer. I focus on whining about things, instead of looking for solutions or focusing on the things that are going well.

And so we arrive at the end of my rambling. I should read over all this and check it for coherency, but I have to finish grading a few assignments for my level 3 classes, and I would like to hit 40K by tonight (probably won't happen; I'm at 34,356 at the moment). I'm still about a week ahead of schedule, but I want to keep my lead!!! (Have I mentioned how much I love my AlphaSmart? Because I love it lots.)