Leapin' Lizards!

I just found a draft that I never published. According to the edit history, I wrote the following blog on 10/11/07. I do not remember writing it, but it does sound like me and it is true!







I have a lot to catch up on, since I've not written in a while. I have, as I spoke of before, "taken the plunge" and have thus far found the experience exhilerating and exhausting. I promise that "exhausting" is the most negative word you'll read in this blog, for this blog is of a resurrected spirit, life, joy and happiness of un femme en seul. (It's crazy to me that my limited French that I learned in high school between 1988 and 1990 still comes in waves of phrases while I write.)








After one day of interviewing in the Round Rock area, I was offered a job at a middle school in the area. My school is awesome, although to the uninvolved by-stander it may seem a little daunting and dangerous. If one only judged the school from the numbers and statistics of the students we encounter, one would rapidly dart the other way. However, I have found such the opposite experience here. The students are genuine and have no better place to be. Who knew this would be the recipe for the most teachable, interesting students?




The school is very old and has a rich sense of tradition. The kids accept "the way things are" simply because it is the expectation, always has been, always will be. Even though I've had the occasional behavioral issue with a select few, I have experienced true satisfaction working with these amazing kiddos. I love each one of them. The students and the faculty here have a sense of community, responsibility, and accountability for one another that is, according to my knowledge and experience in the educational realm, unparalleled.




Previously, I had blogged on my feelings of the failing educational system in America. I know that my views have not changed on subjects previously discussed; I have, however, now found a school that is accomplishing more than I ever believed any public school could.




The difference can be contributed to the fact that we have kiddos coming from homes where the parents are working sometimes two and three jobs each and still are able to barely provide for their families. These parents are unable to be very involved with homework and extracurricular activities, but most are adamant about their children receiving an education and expect their children to perform with the same work ethic and drive in which they approach their jobs.




I have, in one six weeks period, had more meaningful and productful moments than I ever had during my whole first four years of teaching.








Successful public education. Who'd a thunk it?