At least she wasn't another poisonous insect.

I walked into my house the other day and noticed that one of the cabinets above my refrigerator was ajar. I thought, strange and then thought nothing more of it. I went on with my business, cleaning up, preparing for the next day and getting ready to go to sleep, which I did at 8:50pm. That is completely ridiculous. I have slept 18 hours in the past two nights and am intending on logging another 9-10 hours tonight. On my way to bed, I saw a cat dart down the hall and into the bedroom. Where did it come from? It definitely startled me. Then I started thinking about what else might be living in my house, monsters, demons, and other supernatural forces. I doubt theses creatures have taken residence out on the farm with me, but one never knows. I closed all the doors and created a path to get the feline into the kitchen and out the door. Pushing the cat out from under the bed with a broom, it darted into the kitchen, hopped on the counter to the refrigerator and into the cabinet. Oh, so it is you my feline friend, the culprit behind the mysteriously open cabinet. She is a lovely cat and property of the Mings. Add it to the list of living creatures that have invaded my house.

Heating this enormous house.

Last year during one of the winter months my heating bill was in the three hundred dollar range, I think I accidentally left the heat on a few days while I wasn’t home. Since I live alone this year, I have become much more cost conscience and am very careful to conserve energy. Interpret this to mean I live in an icebox. This week has had beautiful daytime weather in the 70’s although nighttime temps have dipped down to 35. I have not yet turned the electric heat on, which means one of two things, I either go to bed with a lot of blankets or camp out in the living room and light a fire. I also have two unvented gas heaters at opposite ends of the house. Don’t worry they burn 99.9% efficient and I have a carbon monoxide detector.

The Mings filled my gas tank for free, so I have been heating my house with the gas heaters and I stay in the rooms with the heaters only venturing out to use the loo or get some food. Conveniently my house has many doors that effectively seal off all rooms including the hallway. The gas heaters effectively heat the rooms they are in and by strategically choosing which doors to open and close I can regulate the temperature and heat other portions of the house as well. I have been home most of the week and using the heat more than I regularly would. I have been checking the gas gage and I think I have been efficient, that or I am out of my mind. Yes, this is all ridiculous, but so far I am warm and my electric bill has not broken $65. We will see what happens in Jan and Feb. The takeaway here is that today I learned I can effectively heat the majority of the house by sealing off two of three bedrooms and the kitchen, opening the hallway doors and turning both the heaters on low.

I will post again when I am freezing my XXX off in the dead of winter.

End of break reflection.

What a holiday. Initially I had a negative impression of blogging. I know many of my non-TFA friends do (but thanks for reading). It’s like, look at the dork blogging away in his virtual universe. Where are your real friends buddy? Or, don’t you have better things to do than keep an online journal. Well, in fact I have more things than I can possibly manage to do, but I started blogging to keep in touch with my friends and family who are far away. This isn’t like 15 minutes far away, or a subway ride far away, or even a five-hour drive to Baltimore far away. This is like I live in the middle of an abyss in the least respected place in the country. People try to leave where I have chosen to live. Outsiders say why the “insert explicative here” would you move there. A state representative said that the state congress has been passing laws for over a hundred years that maintain the backwardness of the Delta.

How could you not want to live here? It sits at the top of some very impressive statistical lists. Highest poverty rates in the country, highest teen-age pregnancy rates, highest aids rates, highest murder rates, highest high school drop out rates, etc. But why only mention the lists that we are at the top of. How about lowest rank in education, lowest rank in per capita property ownership, lowest rank of college degrees per capita. Oh that’s right, I was talking about blogging.

I live here and I usually love it. It is brutally lonely and I am subjecting myself to a test of will. I live more removed than any other corp member I know. Other corp members have commented on the crapiness of my beautiful town. So I blog to keep in touch and I live in my little virtual world to keep in touch with my friends and family, who I love and miss dearly. In fact, I find myself yearning to be near civilization and hear Kelly say, "Miko I love you…or scream out Clareeeeeee!" I miss having conversations with Rahul that involve screaming at the top of our lungs. I miss being able to access and see my friends who live scattered on the east coast and through out NYC. I miss seeing my family. I miss conversations with my Uncles about cars and stories about my grandparents. I miss the Castagnola’s and my ever-increasing amount of cousins. I miss all of you. So I blog, and I read the blogs of others as well.

I stayed in Mississippi this Thanksgiving. I had been really excited about it. I planned on getting a lot done. Instead I found myself wallowing in loneliness, laughing at myself as I tried to create a blog post to keep in touch. What the crap is that? I am thankful for all the beautiful people in my life who have enriched my existence and continue to do so. I think about you all, all the time. School starts again in three days and I am glad. I am ready to hook these children to the faucet of knowledge in a place that actively tries to suck the exuberance out of life. The Mississippi Delta is both beautiful and the biggest hellhole this country has to offer. Unmatched sunrises and sunsets, clear night skies littered with stars and the Milky Way is always visible. The people are friendly and the food is delicious even if it is not good for you. It has been my inferno and paradise for almost two years, and maybe it will continue to be so for a bit longer. I have been hanging onto my sanity by a very thin thread this week, and I thank all of you for all the joy you have brought me. It brings me back to earth and lets me overcome what can be Delta induced misery. I give thanks and hope you all had a beautiful holiday.

FIELD TRIP!!!

The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round. Those wheels kept spinning at 65 miles an hour all the way to Germantown, TN. We went on our Shelby Fest subsidized fieldtrip to see A Christmas Carol. The event went off with out a hitch. Minor delays and minimal extemporaneous issues lead to a day of smooth sailing and enjoyment for the entire fourth grade save two students. A… and T… were absent for their decision to host a slugfest in Ms. F…’s class the day before. We were mildly behind schedule but conveniently we did not have the school bus that tops out at 56 miles per hour. Rip, bus driver and bassist for the Wessley Jefferson Band, safely conducted our travels to the theatre at a crisp 65 mph. The children were phenomenally well behaved in and out of the theater. Through careful planning we made a 65 Big Mac Mc Donald’s trip in under 45minutes. The manager had all the meals carefully assembled and ready for distribution upon our arrival. She proudly noted the fact that she had been a middle school teacher and knows what it’s like. All sauces and napkins were included abolishing the necessity for students to get out of their seats. Score. And we’re off, back on the bus. Ms. M, a parent chaperone, had tired of telling the kids to stop talking. The kids were on point all day but started to break the appropriate decibel level on the bus so she stripped off her belt and hit J…in the head.

All in all it was a very successful day. I think I have become desensitized because the belt whipping did not phase me in the least. I relayed this story to some friends in Nashville and they thought it was disconcerting. Anyway. Many of the students have never been out of MS. We observed the rolling hills as we entered TN, contrasted and compared the various homes, and counted the numerous people and cars. The students enjoyed the show and were able to explain and relay the message of the story. They liked the costumes, singing and dancing. Fulfilled from a day of treats and excitement the students slept for the majority of the ride home. The little girl sitting next to me scooted over and fell asleep on my arm.

A highlight from the return trip. We received the makings of bagged lunches and were obligated to distribute the food to the students. Federal Law requires the distribution of free lunches to those students who qualify. All of our students qualify. Thirty minutes from Shelby, Mr. F and myself started assembling premier ghetto ham sandwiches. We had been given a few loaves of bread and a pile of ham, no plastic gloves. To be as sanitary as possible while cramped at the back of a school bus, we grabbed some napkins and assembled 60 sandwiches as best we could. The kids devoured them all.

I explained the coordination efforts that had been put into assembling this trip. The students are fully aware that Shelby Fest sponsored this trip and will be subsidizing our next trip as well. We cut the cost of attendance from $15 to $5 per student. The Christmas Carol novels they are reading in class came from a generous donation from our friends at the Hamlin School who are deeply concerned with their education. They area aware of the energy and effort expended to create this fabulously smooth running experience. However, how can we ensure that purposeful extra-curricular events continue to occur? Creating continuity among projects is of vital importance. I am currently contemplating our next project. The remaining Shelby Fest funds could be used to produce a play at the middle school and fund raise to fill the coffers for next year.

A loss in the district.

I made mac and cheese for a Thanksgiving potluck. 1 pound of pasta, 1 pound of ricotta, and 1 pound of cheddar. I looked up heart attack in the dictionary and the cheese to pasta ratio seemed appropriate to kill a horse. It came out well and the evening was good fun. The table was spread with plenty of food and after trying a bit of everything I was ready for a tryptophan nap. I journeyed home with the music blaring and windows down to ensure my safe travels. I arrived at home and managed to go to bed at 9:15. I woke up at 5am to do my work. The morning was absurdly productive and I headed off to school. Half way through the day we found out that one of the high school teachers had a heart attack and died at school. He is the husband of our PE teacher and was an excellent history teacher. He taught a handful of the current North Bolivar staff during their time in high school. His commentary was priceless during district wide meetings and he was a leader among the school community. He will be sorely missed. School is closed tomorrow for reflection and grieving. My heart and prayers go out to Ms. B.

The buzz

It’s only October but the “What am I doing next buzz?” is in full swing among second years. There tends to be one definite answer, law school, since applications are rapidly coming due and then there is a myriad of maybe this or maybe that. Everybody has teaching a third year on their plate of options although I think right now that tends to be a back up plan for many. The summer institute reps came to visit the Delta to encourage us to apply for summer positions and to promote full-time work for post Delta life. I am thoroughly interested in working at institute. It would be a tremendous amount of work, but I had a great experience and would like to ensure the same for the incoming corp. I also learned that Delta teachers readily get full time placements in other regions so there is the possibility of working full time for TFA and moving to somewhere like Hawaii, although New York would be much higher on my list of choices. The application process has started and deadlines are approaching.

The halls are alive with the sound of...

PHWACK! The blistering sound of oak applied to the backside of a student. I was running around on my planning period taking care of this and that and as I walked through the lobby, FWAP! a paddle strikes the backside of another student. If there is good solid contact a resounding sound is created like a slugger hitting the sweet spot of his bat. Likewise if the swing is a dud, a slight turn of the wrist or the student squirms enough, you land a dud, an easy ground ball to first base. Not this morning, someone was swinging with emphasis and the sound rang like freedom, permeating the entrance way and surrounding hallways. There is no hiding it, closed doors hide tears and public embarrassment not the thunderclaps created by some kid getting his @$$ whooped.

And they talked some more.

The first two Mondays of every month are professional development days. Students leave at 1:10 and the developing of professionalism starts promptly at 1:15 or by Delta time 1:30. Today’s program was particularly spectacular. The librarian had spent the whole day outfitting the auditorium for patriotism. Our esteemed visitors were state and national legislators and the discussion was to be about education reform and funding. Ohhh juicy. The heavy hitter was Bennie Thompson of the second congressional district even though Trent Lott state senator and renown racist was invited he did not show.

I think it is an honor that they choose to come to Shelby to host this meeting. Recently, the school has recieved publicity, recognition, and a cash award for the gains in last year’s achievement scores. The politicians spoke about education, labor, industry and a slew of other things that were not relevant to education. Then they talked some more. And some more.

Where is my panel of preachers when I need them? I think if we held a talk off or preach off between a group of politicians and a panel of preachers we would be in for quite a show. The rules would be that you pontificate until you can pontificate no more. (“No more” said with a finger waved in the air and added emphasis.) You are eliminated if you pass out from exhaustion or if your head explodes from being talked at to the point of combustion. The last man standing wins and gets preaching rights for life. Maybe he could claim the larynxes of his defeated victims. It would be a tough battle and I am not going to make any predictions, but the preachers are way more fun to listen to and they get responses from the crowd like he’s preachin’ now, go preacher, say it like you mean it, here it comes, and that’s gonna shake the room. Wait, I change my vote …odds to the preachers particularly if they get a home field advantage.

The talking continued and clock out time drew near. The rustling and squirming in the crowd signified the approach of 3:30. During the question and answer session Mr. B raised his hand to make an announcement about the pending time stating that, “It’s clock out time and the day is up and people want to get going, can we take a quick moment to let those folks who want to leave, leave?” Mr. B… is awesome, his commentary is always tremendous. He also challenged the legislators to come back next year and report if all their talking actually morphed into any action. Go Mr. B. The superintendent asked for everybody to hold tight for a few more moments since we had such eminent guests in the house. I wonder how the legislators felt. After and hour of pontificating about the things that are changing, are going to change, and that have never changed in the last 150 years but will start changing under their guidance people were ready to call it quits. Sorry folks your time is up and we are not getting paid overtime.

I like big brains and I can not lie.

I am trying to convince/show my kids that solving problems is cool. I talk alot about how big my brain is and how awesome it is to have a big brain and that the only way to get big brains is through hard work. Problem solving makes your brain get biggger and when you work out a tough problem you feel brain ache, but that is really just your brain becoming more powerful. When I asked the class how they felt after they had just worked through a problem P... raised her hand and said, "It feels like I am getting more smarter." The sentiment is there, but it definitely makes my brain ache too.