Running and Eating

I know, I know. It's been a while since I last posted anything here. I didn't go anywhere, really, I just haven't had time to blog or snap photos. Here's why: reading, writing, class, tutoring, class, reading, writing, tutoring, class, some more of the same and running when I can fit it in. Well, I'm back to write and post a few photos.

If you look above this blog you'll see a slide show of the 18 mile training run in San Francisco on Sept. 12th. This was a run to remember because there was rain, thunder, lightning and in some parts hail! The rain washed away some of the chalk marking showing up where to run in Golden Gate Park but my group and I managed to find a way out back down the Great Highway and around Lake Merced.

The team ran 20 miles this pass weekend along the beautiful Monterrey coast. Was I there? Nooo. I was a good girl and attended my Mainstreaming (Special Education) class from 9 am to 4 pm that day. I did run 20 miles yesterday, though. Captain Mike Z. lead the make-up run for four TNTers along the Los Gatos Creek Trail starting from Campbell Park. When I arrived at the park at 6:15 am a small TNT cheer team showed up. Coach Tim, Captain Steve S., and mentor Ilya showed up to send us off. Coach Tim ran with Monica, Latoya, and Lindsay part of the way, too! How awesome is that?! And Captain Rich H. was there to run us in at the end while Cap. Mike rode his bike up and down the trail supplying us with water. What a great team! Thanks for all your support guys!

The run was lonely at first but once I broke up the run into four parts and got into the rhythm and pace I did well. I find that breaking up a long run into manageable portions make the run go by faster and doesn't wear me out mentally. But lets get down to a very important aspect of running, something Mentor Jen loves, eating. Everyone runner knows the sooner you're done with a long training run the sooner you can eat, you know, for recovery purposes, and eat I did.

My husband has had a hankering for dim sum lately and his cravings were finally satisfied after my run.

From the top left hand corner going clockwise are the first items we chose off the dim sum carts. Tender marinated chicken feet, so delicious; bean curd, a.k.a tofu, stuffed with vegetables; tripe marinated in ginger, garlic, and dressed with jalapenos, has a great snap to it and a tremendous flavor; steamed pork dumplings; steamed BBQ pork buns; and shrimp stuffed eggplants. But wait, there's more.

Okay, not that much more but two extra dishes. A plate of Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce and a large bowl of rice porridge with 1,000 year old eggs, a fermented black egg. It was all washed down with hot Jasmine Tea and as Alton Brown would say, it's good eats. Now I regret not ordering honey walnut prawns and a sweet beans for dessert.

As every long distance runner knows, your stomach is like an endless pit after a training run. I hate to admit this but I actually ate two Taco Bell tacos two hours later and ate a bowl of seafood pasta from Frankie, Johnnies, and Luigi's for dinner. Not including the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, oranges, and banana I ate directly after the run. Or the bowl of oatmeal and banana I ate before the run, and the great deal of water and other fruits I consumed throughout the remainder of the day. I feel gross just thinking about the amount I ate but it was so worth it.

Now back to reading and homework.

Missing My Team

Today was my first of three Saturday classes. A Special Education class that runs from 9 am to 4 pm. Because of this class I've missed a coach led run this morning, a 16 miler! After receiving and ready the syllabus for the class I noticed that our next meeting will be on September 26th, my last coach led run for Team In Training. The last run is our 20 miler!

I cannot skip this class and I cannot join the second section because it's taught by another instructor. The only thing I can do is go to class and run 20 miles by myself on Sunday. No one to run with, no water stops and no one to greet and applaud my efforts. I really do miss my Team.

My class did save me from running in 90 to 100 degree heat this morning. Another plus is a forecast of an 80 degree high tomorrow meaning a sweet cool Sunday morning. I think I'll start my run at 6 am just to make sure to avoid the sun and the heat.

Kudos to all my teammates that did run in the blazing sun and heat today and ran between 16 to 18 miles. You guys rock!

Caffeine Headaches

Since I stopped working I've also stopped drinking coffee, or I should say espresso. Soon came the caffeine headaches. With no coffee maker in the house and no horrible instant coffee I learned to numb my brain by watching daytime television. No, not soaps but anything on TLC or Discovery. This worked until I started class this week.

By attending night classes I realized that I absolutely need coffee to stay alert. Ack. I should have bought and drank my coffee earlier in the day, like, before 3 pm instead of drinking it at 6 pm. As you can see by looking at the time this was written and posted that I am still wired. This is bad and good.

Let's start with the good, shall we. I am quite alert and can start some of my many readings. I can stay up and watch Conan. (I'm usually in bed by the time he starts at 11:30 pm.) I can do what I'm doing now, blogging, and I can start on some of my writing assignments. So basically I can get some of my work done.

Now for the bad. I'm going to bed really really late which means I'll wake up really really late the next morning. Going to bed late also means going to bed once my husband has fallen asleep. How is this a bad thing you ask-he snores! By being in bed asleep before he joins me I avoid hearing his snoring. Going to bed at the same time I can avoid it before it really kicks in. There is no way I can avoid it tonight since my hubby went to bed 3o minutes ago. Ugh.

Let me tell you what happened yesterday. I drank a cup of coffee around 3 pm and wasn't able to fall asleep until 3 am. It was a combo of caffeine keeping me up and hearing my husband snore. Guess what time I woke up. Go ahead, take a guess. I woke up at 10:30 am today. I never sleep in that late, but since I'm not tutoring yet I didn't need to wake up. But what time am I going to go to bed tonight since I had a cup at 6 pm?! What time am I going to wake up tomorrow, or should I say later this morning? I'm a bit scared. Luckily I don't have any classes tomorrow and can sleep in. But what about Thursday and next week when I start tutoring for the AVID program at 8 in the morning?

I have one more night class this week on Thursday. Class starts at 5 pm so I'll be drinking my cup of coffee way before that. I think I'll drink it soon after lunch. Think that will work? Let's hope it does. I'll figure it out by the end of next week.

Missing Track For...

Science Methods. Tonight's class is a five hour long lab where two current science teachers instruct/coach/answer/counsel/demonstrate for us future science teachers. In Science Methods I'll learn

1. The nature and purposes of science and science teaching.
2. Science curricula, present and future.
3. Teaching skills and strategies.
4. How to promote, evaluate, and assess student active learning.
5. Classroom management, discipline, seating, safety, etc.
6. Teaching English learners, multi-cultural classroom instruction, sensitivity issues, motivational techniques, etc.
7. Your role as a professional science teacher.
   

to meet all California Teaching Performance Expectations (TPEs). (More acronyms!) With it comes a lot of reading and writing and lesson planning and it's with other science teachers!

Tonight we went over a salt water-fresh water ice demo (which will melt the ice faster, salty water or fresh water? Do you know?), an intro to science teaching (how students perceive a word differently without the use of a model or specific instruction or definition, especially new science vocabulary), setting up class rules and procedures without using the words Don't and No (a little hard to do but you spin the rules with a positive outlook), and learning how to implement the Ticket to Leave the class (journal entry about what was learned) by doing it at the end of every class session.

This was a lot of new information to take in for the first class, and I have to admit it was fun, and it's going to be a lot of hard work (the syllabus is 17 pages long!) and I'm so ready for it.

EL, ELL, ESL, etc.

Walking around my alma mater earlier in the day was a bit trippy. I wanted to write a blog entry describing how I felt walking here and there. Something about the effect of walking the same grounds exactly ten years ago as a freshman wondering how tough college was going to be and pondering what and where I'd be after graduating. One thing is for sure, I never thought that I'd be back to earn a teaching credential to teach high school science. I can go on and on on how young the students look, how much certain areas on campus changed, which buildings I took classes in and which building I never stepped a foot in, etc., but I won't. My first night class of three was held today and completely intrigued me, who are California's English Learners and their corresponding programs?

English Learners (EL), English Language Learners (ELL), English as a Second Language (ESL), Limited English Proficient (LEP), Fluent English Proficient (FEP), Re-designated Fluent English Proficient (R-FEP), Cross Cultural Language and Academic Development (CLAD), Bi-cross Cultural Language and Academic Development (BCLAD), and there's seven more. There's more acronyms for English Learners and their appropriate programs than FDR's New Deal. Seriously! They're all different names to label students on how little or how much English they know. But why so many labels? All to determine different English teaching styles and programs to receive federal funding. Good thing or not? Hmm, I'm not quite sure yet.

I'm intrigued but at the same time flabbergasted at all the nonsensical acronyms for testing students and labeling them. It's great that there are many programs to teach non-native English speakers English but there aren't programs for poor speaking native English speakers. Remember the whole controversy over Ebonics? Poor inner city blacks speaking their own version of English, does that ring a bell? What about them?

This is just a little snippet of what's to come for my Literacy and Language Development for L2 (English) Learners class. Simply put, this class will certify me to teach students whose primary language isn't English. There's a lot of reading involved in this class and a lot of writing assignments. Is it crazy to say that I'm actually looking forward to it?

Tomorrow: Science Methods.

The Great Stages Of My Life

Every philosophy is the philosophy of some stage in life.
~Friedrich Nietzsche

It's Thursday again and this week's Theme Thursday is stage. (To learn more about Theme Thursday just click on the link.) Here are some of life's greatest stages I've had the honor of walking across-starting with high school!

Following the footsteps of several uncles and aunt I attended Independence High School with 4,000 other students! Yes, there are three zeros behind that four. Here I graduate from high school with my high school sweetheart, Hugh, and 800 something other seniors! Go Sixers!

I went onto San Jose State University where I met the greatest bunch of people in the chemistry department. Here I stand with my Hugh, my high school sweetheart turned fiance, Tom and his fiance Stefanie whom I met through the chemistry club. (They are now married and living in Ohio while Tom attends medical school.) I am the first in my family to graduate from a four year university and earned a bachelors of science in chemistry! Go Spartans!

Ok, you know what stage in my life comes next after college-getting married! Here are merely two photos of the 700 something that were taken overall. I was wed at St. Joseph's Cathedral Basilica.

My husband and I decided to get married here for two reasons, the first being that my parents were married here long before the renovation and the second reason is it was directly across the street from our reception hall the San Jose Museum of Art.

I can't help it, I have to share two more photos and these are from the reception. Uh-huh, those are Chihuly glass chandeliers. They are absolutely spectacular. (I had a chance to see a full Chihuly exhibit at de Young Museum in San Fransico last year and recommend anyone to see it if it's near you. It's positively amazing what this man can do with glass.)

Now the next stage in my life was not about me. This stage belongs to my husband and all the hard work he put into law school. I merely got in the way of his readings and studying, but helped out in the ways that a loving new wife could-cooking and cleaning.

After three grueling years he graduated from McGeorge School of Law. As you can see he was very happy.

I'm not going to lie and say it was easy being married to a law student, in fact it wasn't easy. There were times where we both thought we wouldn't make it to his graduation but we toughed it out and hoped that things would become easier. Having faith in each other, faith in God, and learning how to communicate with each other without hurting one another and sharing the same dreams really pulled us through. It was the greatest challenge we have ever faced together and we passed it. Unfortunately there is no stage or diploma at the end of such a challenge but if there was we would have walked across that stage proudly.

The latest stage I had the chance to cross was the finish line of my first marathon-the San Francisco Nike Women's Marathon in 2008! I didn't stand on a podium but I did earn a free Tiffany necklace for completing the race, 26.2 miles!

I ran it in 4:45! This is the very same marathon I am training for with Team In Training this summer. TNT is an awesome endurance training program that raises funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Last year I raised $2647. You can help me reach my goal of $1500 by clicking here or on the TNT badge on the upper left hand corner of this blog. Thank you in advance.

So my goal is to run this year's marathon in 4 hours, but will be happy with any time under 4:45. You can read more about my training by reading my other posts. Check out what I go through after running double digits (anything ten miles or above), an ice bath.

My next stage in life is being laid off for the first time and going back to SJSU to earn a teaching credential to teach high school chemistry/science. I start classes in late August and I'm so excited. I can't wait to buy my books and start reading through the materials!

I can't post photos of a wedding without one of the bride and groom kissing now can I? Here it is.

Now comes the next stage in our life-the soft pitter patter of feet. God willing, of course, after my second marathon. ;-) As any mother will tell you, there is no stage to walk across here either, but what a great stage of life it is, the stage of motherhood I hope to enter soon.

Happy Theme Thursday everyone!

If life were a stage, then we're all running around ad-libbing, with absolutely no clue what the plot is. Maybe that's why we don't know whether it's a comedy or a tragedy.
~Bill Watterson

You are in charge of your life. God gives you the freedom of choice to do what you will. Make your life what you want it to be.

I'm In!!!

Taking and passing exams, jumping through hoops, advising, phone calls, e-mails for the pass seven months come down to this-being enrolled at SJSU for the Secondary Education Teaching Credential Program! I just registered for my first four classes for the Fall 2009 semester.

The four classes I'm enrolled in are: Language and Literacy Development of L2 Learners; Social, Philosophical Multicultural Foundations of Secondary Education; Mainstreaming the Exceptional Pupil; and Secondary Science Education. Three of four are evening classes and one meets three times on Saturdays.

I've covered in goosebumps thinking about the first day of class in late August. I really can't wait to start a new unit in my life. I wish I can buy all the reading material right now so I can read it before school starts! (Plus I have the spare time to read here at my last month of work.)

Amid all the excitement there is one draw back, I'll be missing the last month and a half of TNT track. I'm really bumming about that but I have to do whatever it takes to fulfill my dream. Besides, my Wednesday evening are free and I can do my track workouts then. I'm so eager to get stated.

Study, study, study...

...using the two text books that the students used. I took the last of my exams this pass Saturday and only had five days to study for it. It was physical/earth science. I know it doesn't sound like a biggie but there's a lot of stuff in earth science. Astronomy, geodynamics (plate tectonics, rocks formation, energy in the earth system, etc.), waves, force and motion, and electricity and magnetism. I think that's all of them. I think. My brain is slightly fried from absorbing all that cool info but it was a lot.

The exam was ok. There were a couple of questions and terms in the exam that I didn't read in either text books I studied from and it freaked me out. All I did was give it my best educated guess and crossed my fingers that I chose the right answer.

Walking out of the classroom all I can do is pray and repeat I hope I passed, I hoped I passed, I hoped I passed.... I think I passed and I hope I do because if I don't pass this one test my chances of starting the credential classes this fall is pretty much nilch. There's another exam in mid July, which I can take, but the results don't come in until mid August. That's just a couple of weeks too late pass the deadline of August 1st. Erg.

Fall or spring, I'll take the classes I'll need eventually. I'll become a teacher eventually. In the meantime I'll continue to work until I receive my pink slip (soon enough) and get a gig working as a teacher aide, volunteer, and tutor kids after school. I can live with that if I don't pass this exam the first time.

Leaving the Madness

Today was my last day of observing Ann, a great high school science teacher in the east side. Yes, I know I said the student's were horrible on my first day, but they grew on me. They are good kids and need some TLC to grow. I'm going to miss the madness and scramble of it all. Yes I can listen to music at work, yes I have peace and quiet, and yes I have lots of time for myself but I'm not looking forward to it. I want the interactions and the questions and the smart-alecky remarks. I want to see them learn and I want to praise them for a job well done. I wish I had more time with them.

I have the patience and I believe I have the skill but unfortunately I don't the time, yet. I'm still jumping through hoops and still have one more requirement before "the committee" views my file to gain acceptance to the single subject teaching credential for the fall 2009 semester. There's going to be a lot of e-mailing and phone calls tomorrow to straighten the little details out (groan) and I'm confident I'll be enrolled soon. More details tomorrow.

Wiped Out

"You can't fly a kite unless you go against the wind and have a weight to keep it from turning a somersault. The same with man. No man will succeed unless he is ready to face and overcome difficulties and is prepared to assume responsibilities." -William J. H. Boetcker

I ran a half marathon Sunday. I went to ballet yesterday. I ran three miles today. On top of that I'm observing two great high school science teachers and have tutored Algebra after school the past two days in a low income neighborhood of San Jose, an area I grew up in; furthermore I am using up the last of my vacation days to do all of this, except ballet. Um, yeah, I'm tired and it has not been a vacation, but I'm so ready for all the upcoming challenges I'm about to face. Layoff, going back to college, fund raising and training for my second marathon with TNT, starting a family and starting a new career. Oh that's a lot!

Classes today were a bit edgy but good. The instructor was coming down with something and not feeling 100%, the kids picked up on it and bugged her of course, "Oh my God, swine flu, stay away from me! I don't want to be contagious!" Their words, not mine. But other than that they were fine as long as I walked around.

Oh, today I led an integrated science class! I helped the class learn how to find coordinates on a world map and also led the class on geography Bingo. I know, really exciting! I stood in the front of the class and spoke quietly and wrote on the overhead projector. I went home with my hands covered in ink, just like a real teacher! I'm such a dork but I like it.

Ah, I woke up this morning and forgot it's Theme Thursday! Today's theme is wind. Wind! What am I going to post? Thankfully it was a windy day at Campbell park and I happened to have my camera with me. Ok, so I took my camera with me. Here are a few shots I took today in the windy warm afternoon.

It's been a long time since I flew a kite. Then again, the last time I flew one I accidentally let it go and it hit nearby transistors. Oh how the sparks flew.

Canada geese hudling for their night and protecting their goslings from pesky onlookers.

Cattails blowing in the wind alight by the shimmering rippling pond.

Pay Attention To Me!

Something I forgot to mention yesterday, and it's important, the students I'm observing are freshmen, ESL students (Mexican and Vietnamese), are overactive (ADD and ADHD), and most have problems at home. No wonder they were horrible. After talking to the instructor about her students she shared with me that most of her students are neglected and ignored at home. With no adult supervision they act out to demand attention.

Instead of sitting back and observing the classes I interacted with the students. I walked around and helped them out and was surprised to find how bright they really are, but without being pushed they just don't apply themselves. It was amazing to see them blossom with a little help. They behaved and did their work and were quiet. It was nice. It was more than nice, it was great! The problem is there is one teacher for 28 students and it is not enough. Adding me to the mix is better but still not enough. These students require personal attention in small groups, positive reinforcement, and a fire within themselves to succeed. Unfortunately there isn't enough money in the district to pay for extra teachers and not enough people willing to do this work.

Something needs to change. Schools do have enough volunteers that come in during prep periods and after school to tutor the kids but there isn't enough volunteers to go around. Furthermore, students don't ask for help. Those students receiving tutoring only attend because they are required to attend. Ahhhhh! They need to be caught before they fail so they don't repeat the class and waste time, but that's how it goes.

On the other hand there are a large group of high school students that are doing well and do want to learn. I observed a chemistry class and for the most part the students paid attention, took their notes (a 15 minute lecture that was fairly easy but was followed by a lot of groans and complaints that it was running too long), and were not afraid to ask the instructor for help, not mine. They finally gave in and allowed me to help them with their chemical skeletal structures when they found out that I was a chemist and their instructor was not available. I guess it's a little weird having some stranger sitting in the back of the class watching over them.

Overall, today was a lot better and less scary. Yesterday was just a shock to the system that scared me but it's something I needed to experience. I'm ready for tomorrow.

Eek!

It's scarier than I thought. High school, the kids are unmotivated, they're constantly trying to up one another, and don't want to do any work! It's a game to them! Is this what high school is all about? Trying to be top dog by disrespecting the teacher? By avoiding all school work? Do they care about their futures? Is this the group of students I'm going to teach? How does one inspire the unmotivated and the ignored?

Sigh. Today was my first of five days observing a high school biology/integrated science class. Tomorrow I'll also observe a chemistry class, a more advanced class, will the students be worse? It's only been one day and I couldn't stand it. The kids, they all bug. Tomorrow is another day and I need to remind myself why I want to do this; I want to inspire and I want to enrich the student's lives. I want to help them. Hmm, perhaps I should help out in class rather than sitting back watching the instructor yell out orders to her students.

Tomorrow is another day, a brand new day, a different day and a new start.

Game Time

I missed the deadline! Not only that, but I still have one more requirement I need to fulfill! Don't be too alarmed though, applicants with who have fulfilled all 13 requirements will be accepted until all spots are filled. Yay, there's hope, but due to crazy California budget cuts the number of new students being accepted into SJSU has been reduced. Drats!

What requirement is left, you ask? The hardest one for me to obtain, 45 hours of pre-professional experience. Pre-professional what? Experience; I must observe/help a secondary classroom for 45 hours before the school year ends! Not only that, but as soon as possible to try to secure a spot for fall semester 2009. Can it be done with only six weeks left in the school year? Of course it can. Will I be able to do it? I know so. Will I receive a spot in the fall? That is out of my hands, but I'm going to give it a shot.

So here's what's going on, I managed to find a teacher willing to let me sit in on her classes for five days starting next week. I'll be observing a high school biology and integrated science class. I know, it's craziness but I'm so excited. In order to do this I will be using up my remain vacation days I have, but get this, right before I find out when I'll be laid off. Boo-hoo, I know, but it's worth it. I'm doing what I have to do for what I want to do in the future. I wish I took care of this sooner but now it's game time and I'm sprinting to the finish. Pray for me and wish me luck. I'll keep you all posted. Thank you all.