so i have a new charge - the s's younger daughter, who needs help not only with geometry but with "self-esteem" issues, according to her mother. mrs. s keeps asking me how much i want to be compensated for hanging out with her. i have no idea what to tell her. i usually charge 25/hr for tutoring, but i'll also be bringing her to school so she can help me grade papers (and work on her spanish too!) and that's fine with her mom, who actually suggested it (until her art class starts i just want to make sure she's busy). plus she'll get credit for doing volunteer work (and i feel so cool i might just be the person who has to sign the shee!!!) we had a discussion on the way home from p@nera tonight about myspace... so most likely i will not be bringing my computer. (i had also told mrs. s that i'd bring her along with me on those days where i don't feel like working at home - she could do her homework, and i could do mine.) it's kind of interesting bringing what i've learned teaching elementary school into working with high school kids. and i think i'm finding that concepts are universal - my mantra is using what you know, so i was explaining to her how the surest way she was going to memorize those 3-4-5, 5-12-13, etc. triangles was to put that information in action. i also told her i thought it was ridiculous that her teacher should require them to memorize those combinations because they can be found simply by consulting our beloved pythagorean theorem. not as quickly, but still. i explained though that these would be very helpful to know and remember because they will KEEP COMING BACK the further she gets in math and/or physics (that's what i noticed a lot in college - the big math is pretty complicated so the little math tends to be pretty easy). but the important thing was to know and understand where those number combinations come from, and she's got that just fine.

today i might have done something "unprofessional." friday is an institute day preceded by two hour-long sessions in our grade levels. basically we have to think of concepts. i suggested that we do a unit on force/motion because there is so much that can be tied into that (ie, newton's third law ---> cause/effect). of course everyone nodded their heads in agreement. i know the older teacher probably isn't going to stick to it, and neither i nor the other third grade teacher will be there next year. it's kind of disheartening being unsure if someone is going to follow up on all that work we're doing, but i know doing it will give me experience and new ideas that i can take with me. so i asked our leader how they plan to deal with the fact of the high turnaround in our school. hm let me remember how i phrased it... how are they going to follow through with this when half of us won't be here next year? and i pretty much clearly implied that i would not be coming back next year. (i should mention, the leader of our workshop is from an outside company that has a contract with our school. the work they do there is fascinating btw). i don't know, i guess that comment coupled with the surprise of many other teachers at my leaving could plant the seeds of gossip, but so long as everyone ('cept the green young'uns like myself) behaves themselves as professionals i guess it's ok.

oh, and i can be such a bitch i think. earlier this evening i was watching project runway. i was cold and i noticed that the nice huge thick blanket my mom had bought to STAY on the couch was missing. the first place i thought to look was my sister's room. so seeing her door open and assuming she wasn't home because she rarely ever is, i walked in and saw the blanket. because the door was blocking the rest of my view of her bed, i didn't notice that there was a guy on it and my sister was under it! anyway i walked in and the guy was like covering his face and he said something like "oh my god" like, oh-my-god-i-can't-believe-a-member-of-your-family just-walked-in-here. because of his reaction (like i had walked in on them being in the middle of something you don't do with your door open, even if you have a huge blanket) -note the guy was fully clothed- i stared at his crotch and laughed (not to be mean, but because of his reaction! anyway i didn't see anything. i really wasn't looking, i was just reacting to his discomfort by creating further discomfort). then i tried to get the blanket back but my sister said, no, mom said i could have it, you jerk!

i walked back towards the living room, but i stopped as soon as i'd heard the word "jerk." and then i yelled, i don't think i'm the one who's being a JJJJJJEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRKKKKKKK! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

although now that i think of it, it would have been funny to jump on the bed between them and try to cuddle. ha!

and now that i think of it again, that's so juvenile! oh well, i have to deal with school politics and finding a new job and responsibility and bills and other grown-up stuff that it's ok.