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Tuesday, December 20, 2005 

Days 81& 82: Who has time to blog??? I am gift-worthy

I'm swamped... not only lots of grading - which I can't do in the evening because I'm too tired - but we have all the gift wrapping to do which is no small feat in this place... Perhaps if I went easier on the shopping, we wouldn't have this problem...

I was both shocked and totally pleased today when some students brought me Christmas gifts. Of course, secretly, I was hoping to get some gifts, not so much for the gift itself but more for the idea that this kid thought I, the fake teacher who improvised many lectures, should get something. In grade school, teachers receive gifts from all the kids - more of a nod from the parents really, but still... In high school, parents are less involved in deciding which teacher is gift-worthy. Much like Elaine who was very picky about which guys were sponge-worthy...

I watched the same thing 3 times today (with 3 different classes of course) : Morgan Spurlock's 30 Days at Minimum Wage. What an eye opener for all these kids - they were pretty much in shock - and somewhat in denial that this kind of poverty exists here in Canada. If you haven't seen this, I highly recommend it. You'll feel differently about many things...

Gotta go - hubby decided that this was a gift-wrapping evening... I am pooped and want it over with soon...

Thank you for putting into words how I feel about teaching at gift-giving holidays.

I am not "pretending" to be a teacher as you are, but I am not a classroom teacher. I have all the students in the school for Technology and between 7 and 14 second or third graders (depends on the year) for Literacy Block (1 1/2 a day all year). I get a handful of gifts for Christmas and sometimes up to a dozen Valentines. It is not that I want more stuff, it is just that I like knowing when they were thinking about who they wanted to give stuff to they thought of me. That's okay, some of them tell me every day how much they appreciate me. I love Elementary kids.

This was a strange year - I got more Christmas presents than I've ever gotten before. Three gift cards, and two chocolate samplers. I was very surprised.

Have a Merry Christmas!

I thought I had alread posted here -- try again.

Hope your holidays were super and you are enjoying the vacation from your pupils!

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  • I'm Lolita
  • From Canada
  • Challenges... don't we all love a good challenge? University, married life, a mortgage, kids, keeping my sanity while we cruise through life at 100 MPH... why not try my hand at teaching for a year. After all, a school year is only 180 days - anyone should be able to survive 180 days, right? Well, I'm about to find out - follow my journey and enjoy my trials and tribulations as I embark in this 180 day rollercoaster ride of teenage hormones and drama, spiked with discipline, homework, exams and surprises I'm sure...
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