doing my part...

the father type that was once on the scene vanished/
supreme famish the couples that match these
producing generations of kids with latch keys/
her daughter learned from momma how to reject men
her sons attracts women that don't respect men/
and then/
one parental provider can be the plan
but no woman can truly teach a boy to be a man/
that's why I'm always telling these many pals of mine
the most that you can spend on any child is time...

-Jurassic 5, "Contribution"

(for a taste of the song, go here... right click + save as)

The interesting (or is it strange?) part of this whole process of "becoming a teacher" and getting my master's degree is the way that everything causes you reflect on your own experiences as a child and as student. It's like every day that I work with the kids, a part of my past is reflected in their lives.

Something that I really started to pick up on early is how starved the kids are for love and care from an adult. Granted, kindergarten kids are pretty needy, and some of the kids come from really great families... but some of them don't. I'm just generalizing based on official statistics, but some of the parents are working 2, 3, or even 4 different jobs to make ends meet; other families pour all their time into keeping a small business afloat... still other families are just single parents, who barely see their kids. I wonder about the kind of society we live in where kids are so deprived of the interaction that they need from their parents... especially the interaction that the boys need from their fathers.

Not to hype up my popularity as a teacher, but the boys in my class seem really attached to me. Just today, during one of the lesson times, I was doing an observation for my peer teaching partner and one of the Chinese boys refused to sit anywhere else except by me, even though I was sitting in the back of the class. A few days ago, one of the boys (a half-black, half-latino kid named after a famous river in the Middle East) excitedly handed me a small envelope with my name written on it - inside was an invitation to his 6th birthday party this weekend (pinata, pizza, and painted faces, oh my!). I caught another boy purposely UNTYING his shoes just because he likes asking me to tie his shoes for him... funny, huh? I guess it's all a part of the awe of having a male teacher around (all the kindergarten teachers at my school are female).

But yeah... being a teacher really is being a surrogate father/mother for the kids at times. I suppose that's where the satisfaction and the immense pressure of teaching comes from.

Next couple of weeks, I'll be back in class... then I'll be returning to the same school again. Hopefully the kids will still remember my name.


.:.


authentic pizza and opening day

Yesterday after school, all the SU student teachers went out to eat at Tutta Bella, a not-so-ordinary pizza joint in Columbia City. Tutta Bella is one of only 10 restaurants in the US that has the coveted certification from the VPN (Verace Pizza Napoletana), the Italian organization that regulates what is "authentic" Italian pizza. I ended up getting a tasty 4 cheese pizza, which I downed with a tasty bottled Italian beer. Two thumbs up.

After eating the pizza, I headed to Wing Luke for the museum's grand opening of the Sikh Community exhibit that I've been helping with as a PT job. It was a great event featuring authentic Punjabi Indian food and finally meeting many people I had only been in contact with via e-mail while researching and writing some of the exhibit text. It was also fun to see my videography piece up on the monitor for people to watch.

But now that the project is over... I gotta find a new job. Sigh. >_<
posted by G at 6:10 PM   |

in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
1. The act or an instance of inscribing.
2. Something, such as the wording on a coin, medal, monument, or seal, that is inscribed.
3. A short, signed message in a book or on a photograph given as a gift.
4. The usually informal dedication of an artistic work.
5. Jeremiah 31:33