Lyrics To Go

I spent the afternoon with Mike the Poet writing a kick ass poetry curriculum for 826la, an off shoot of 826 Valencia in San Francisco. Check them out if you have never heard of them.

www.826valencia.org

It was the first time in a long time that I was excited to write and develop a curriculum. I enjoy working outside the confines of my school. As of late, I feel like I am working in a mini district with the same shit as the the larger school districts. I came to charter schools to avoid that. We are all over worked, underpaid and we waste our time (well you know, you remember that conference. . . "inculturate").
In any case, I want to do something different, something I believe in. I'm thinking an all girls charter school. I want a school I can be proud of, a school that means something. A school that teaches ethics and character development, and THINKING. God forbid we teach kids to think, you know since there is no state standard for that.

I digress. My horoscope said today to "create the conditions in which you want to work." Hmmm. . .

(now is the point at which I would like a nice 80's movie montage, in which all the work gets done in the space of a Simply Red song)

The Green Light. . .Redux.

I spent the day reading The Great Gatsby for the . . . 100th time. I am, as usual, teaching it in the Fall. I'm trying to find a theme this year to focus on for a final essay other than the American Dream. I'm over it, the kids are over it, it got us into this recession, and it is just time for a new conversation.

The predicament is this- I can't find a good theme. I know this book backwards, forwards, and upside down, but I can't find a theme or topic that is both interesting and substantial enough for a good essay. Any ideas?

Right now I'm tossing around something like the human instinct to create an identity other than our own ultimately leads to destruction. Unclear I know, but I can't quite formulate the thought. Or, perhaps something like our inability to find solace in the truth leads to moral decline. I don't know. Thoughts?

Alone.

It's not so bad after all. And it's so quiet. I'll be back soon.

Mr. Moose and his doughnuts

Today is the day we call Doughnut Day or Mr. Moose's Birthday. Mr. Moose is a wonderful brother, man, friend, writer, scallywag, and good time man.

Today we will eat doughnuts, drink coffee, and celebrate the life of my dear brother.

Happy Birthday pal! I love you.

The Best Little Girl in the World

This is Eka Loa Sonksen. daughter of Mike the Poet and Emi M. Mike is a wonderful teacher, poet, artist, friend, and all around good guy.

Having recently realized that there is no baby in the near future for me, her birth fills me with joy, awe, and happiness. I can't lie and say that I am not without a little envy either. I know my time will come. I also know I'm lucky to have the kids I have and that it is enough for now.

I am amazed by my peers who maintain their lives and have babies. I always thought you had to have a ton of money and do something you didn't want to do if you were going to be a successful parent. I realize however that it is the quality of love you give your children that matters. As I got my kids later in life and didn't give birth to them, I am mystified by the whole process. I know what it means to love a child (my kids are children of my heart and soul, not my body) but I have no idea what it means to carry a child and create one.

Last night, the Birdman and I were talking about how very strange it must be to wake up one day without a baby then go to sleep that same day, with a baby. How quickly your world can change. I have faith in the fact that Mike and Emi will be the world's coolest parents and love Eka more than humanly possible. She will no doubt have a rich life full of art, family, music, and laughter.

I can't wait to meet her.

No words. None.

Well actually I do have a few.

The first is "inculturate." This is the word that was thrown around at least a dozen times yesterday in the "setting the stage" portion of the retreat or conference or whatever the hell it was. I assume he meant indoctrinate, but whatever. It is not amusing when you are dragged 50 miles away to be preached to by an "educator" about raising your standards as a professional when he MAKES UP WORDS. How can I take this organization seriously when this is what I am forced to deal with? I am currently too tired/frustrated/ disheartened to write any more about that.

I will give you another word however, it's a phrase really, "a very impacted schedule." As in, "We have a very impacted schedule so we need to be mindful of the time." All wrong. No no no no no no. You can't have an impacted anything except teeth and concrete! But I still had to sit and listen to him tell me how to do my job.

With budget cuts looming, this is how we spend our time and money? No wonder California sucks.

I have to go listen to Journey now, so I don't stop believing.

Back to Reality? Nope, I don't like it one bit!

So I'm home and I just found out that one of my teachers quit and I have to go to a conference tomorrow far away to talk about a bunch of stupid things. I have every reason to believe that this conference is going to be a waste of time. So far it is totally unorganized and I have no idea what we're going to be doing. I imagine it is going to filled with useless "leadership" rhetoric about getting on buses and going in the same direction and climbing mountains, you know mixed metaphors and stupidity. Oh well.

I am frustrated that so much bureaucracy and politics have become part of my tiny little school system. This is what we were trying to avoid. This is how good ideas go bad, the wrong people executing them. We shall see. I'll let you know.

I'm still riding high on my kids passing the Advance Placement test. Go ahead, try and tell me I'm doing a bad job. . .and I'll just show you my test scores and the list of colleges MY students got into! Take that Mr. Admin man.

Look at me, all on fire with Texas heat!