February! February? Really? Wow....

where on earth has this year gone already? an entire month gone...it will be new year's eve again before we know it! i am not sure what makes time fly so quickly. i could guess part of it is working so much and being busy. i remember when i was young and spent day after day of doing very little and lazing around, time practically stood still. now that it is a life of go go go and rush rush rush, time flies!

today my little 'hoopty' car is in the shop. it is being inspected, tuned up, new rear breaks, blah blah blah... all the stuff that is due to be done. and i am sure it will cost quite a bit. i was discussing my car with my students today. the reason i call it 'hoopty' is because that is the urban word for POS... beater... junky car. the thing is, it is also in great shape, runs great, has awesome gas mileage and is likely to last for at least a couple more years. oh, and it's paid for! that, alone, makes it worth keeping for as long as humanly possible!

it's pretty funny, to me, how my students are. i dunno...but this group of kids is just more proof that i am in the right place at the right time. they are good kids, who want to do more with their lives than sit at home and watch tv. they want to go on to school, or at least find a job that will be better than 'flippin burgers' (their words). i can be honest with them, i can tease them...but they also know i mean business.

today one of my students got in trouble for saying the 'f' word. yes, i use it...most people do. but the lesson is that it is not an appopriate word for a classroom or workplace. some bad habits need to be broken sooner rather than later. so he had to go online and research where that word comes from.

a second student said the 'f' word, so i told her she had to write an essay about the other words she could use instead of it, when speaking. i realize that it is part of their 'culture' or environment or whatever you want to say. however, it's also my job to raise the expectations for them... to teach them when it is and is not ok to say words like that. so if i ignore it and rationalize that they don't know better, then i am not doing my job.

my students are making me proud, too. i am so impressed with their motivation to work and better themselves. i can't imagine having to do what most of them do... taking buses or walking to get to class. it would have been much easier to stay in bed. it would have been very tempting to shut the alarm off and go back to sleep. but these kids don't. they come every day and i am so proud.

personally, i'd be hard-pressed to get out of bed if i had as much going against me as they do. i have always been blessed with an incredible support system of people...family and friends...who motivate me. some of my students have no one. can you imagine?

ok...so back to time flying. yup, it's the fact that my classroom is packed full and i am going non-stop that time is a-flying. give me a few quiet weeks of no students...and i might tell you time is dragging and i'm bored. i might... hmmm.... actually... that doesn't sound so bad LOL ;)