advice of the wise variety.

Today I was browsing stationery on papyrus.com, and I found some cards that I have seen before in the store, each with a different quotation from someone mildly to wildly famous. Although I had read through them before, the first card containing a quotation from Mary Anne Radmacher really struck me tonight. The past week or so has been a pensive time for me as I have reached yet another point in my life when I ponder what my purpose is, where I should go, what I should do, and how I should do it. The decisions I make at this point in my life could drastically affect the rest of my life, and I am struggling to decide which paths I should take. Anyway, some of the lines in this quotation gave me a lot to think about, and I hope to expand on them in later posts as I reflect upon how I can apply them to my own life.

live with intention.
walk to the edge.
listen hard.
practice wellness.
play with abandon.
laugh.
choose with no regret.
continue to learn.
appreciate your friends.
do what you love.
live as if this is all there is.

thoughts on father of the bride.

I'm into my second viewing of this movie in the past four hours, and I've realized how drastically my opinions regarding the premise of this film have changed since it came out back in 1991. Granted it seems logical that something would change in my thought processes in 17 years, but I dare say that the bouleversements of which I speak are slightly more recent, perhaps circa 2000.

I remember watching this movie in high school and thinking that George Banks was totally out of line. I mean, Annie is in love, she's 22 years old, she's returned from 4 months abroad...who is her dad to tell her that she can't marry a successful man that comes from a rich family?

Yet now, as I watch it I picture myself in her place. I cannot imagine coming home after a 4 month absence to tell my parents that not only have I met someone, but that I love that someone, and that someone and I are engaged. I think George is totally justified in his initial reaction, I mean, she is only 22 years old and she's fallen in love with a guy in Rome, seems a little ridiculous.

Maybe this post is just coming out because I've had another bitterness filled Valentines Day. I've had 23 straight years of being single on Valentine's Day, but I'm pretty ok with that. I guess I can count it as the one day on which no one has ever falsely proclaimed their love for me, or felt the name to buy me ridiculous presents "in the name of love." Sweet.

monday, monday.

The Moon Pie Girls had their first race of 2008 on Saturday, and it was a disappointment. Turns out that that constant pain I have in my knee and foot when running is not such a good thing. I finally gave in, saw the athletic trainer, and was told to take the double I treatment--ice and ibuprofen. So we will see, hopefully I can get back to running soon, and very soon, I hate getting beat at races by little kids.

Today was "dress as your favorite athlete" day for spirit week, here's what I dressed as:



That's right, the one and only Miss Northrup, my favorite runner :).


More Spirit Week goodness to follow...

growing up.

In the past month or so, I feel as if I have really grown up a lot. I'm being forced to deal with many grown-up situations and issues both in my job and my personal life, and the reality of it all can be somewhat shaking at times. One of my mentor teachers at Webb recently had her father pass away, and I realized as I showed up to his visitation that I felt old. I didn't know this man, nor anyone in his family other than his daughter, but I felt compelled to show my support for them. Also, the nurse at Webb recently found out that her son has a brain tumor, and I found myself asking God over and over again what I could do to help her family. Prayers were said, but in the end it was made evident to me that I was able and willing to assist them financially, an urge to help that came just as I received my first paycheck. It still amazes me how God uses so many small things to teach one big lesson. Then there are always the conferences with parents where I am forced to speak plainly and tactfully about a child's aptitude and devise a plan to help them achieve their goals in my class.

That all being said, I've come to the point where I feel as if I really love my life. I have great friends spread out across this great big world, and new great friends who are two minutes from me when I need them. I get to eat every meal surrounded by these people that I have grown to love in two months, I get to share my joys, frustrations, and funny stories with them, and it's so wonderful. I have the joy of giving my best to my students, when I teach them, eat with them, tutor them, encourage them, congratulate them...I can honestly say that I love them all, even the ones that I yell at everyday, the ones who don't turn in homework....I know that they will disappoint me at times, but I also know that they make my days spectacular on regular basis.

the bright spots of my week.

-I got to eat at Carrabba's with 15 high school girls. Mmm, chicken marsala.
-Kelly and I have gotten all of our running/walking in this week...10 mile Moon Pie Run here we come!
-I won a best out of 7 series of Mille Bornes, got a free Subway sandwich, and my own copy of the elusive gym master key all in one night! I'm glad that Garcia and I are friends now :).

a post for the amazing jason lee.

So as some of you may have heard from me, I am in love with one of my students. No, not like that sickos, I love him as in I wish I could adopt him, or at least hang out with him everyday. The child of whom I speak is named Jason Lee, but I call him Paul. He's in my 7th grade French class, and he is one roly poly Taiwanese boy who wears the longest shorts I've ever seen, black dress shoes with white crew socks, and is 90% of the time sporting an adorable smile.

So why do I wish this child was my own? Allow me to illustrate through several anecdotes.

-When he sees me on campus he waves frantically and says, "HI Miss Piehl!!!"
-When he takes a test and it gets too difficult, he stops, puts his pencil down, clasps his hands together and says, "Dear Jesus, save me!" This then escalated into him referring to his eraser as Jesus, and insisting that "Jesus" stay perfectly balanced on his pencil pouch during exams. When Jesus takes a tumble, Jason screams out "You pushed down my Jesus!!!" and gets rather upset.
-The very first day of class when I asked him where he was from, he told me with the the biggest smile "I am American, I am from Bell Buckle, Tennessee" (He's actually from Taipei).
-He likes to try to sneak up on Rocky, the campus canine.
-He bought me Lindt truffles for my birthday, but was too afraid to give them to me because he thought the other teachers (cough James Garcia cough) would get jealous.
-He tries so hard in class, and will occasionally break into "In the Jungle" or do a funny little dance as he arrives.

care bear stare!

I think from now on I'm only going to post when I have a funny image to accompany what I have to say, because let's face it, some of us are visual learners, and also, I like funny. Who doesn't like funny?

I remember the first time I read this comic...actually,no I don't, but I do remember thinking how I wished the care bear stare really existed. I mean, what if when all my students are being royal you-know-whats, I could just invoke the power of the care bears? It's like the definition of killing someone with kindness. But I guess the more I think about it, the more I realize that we all have the power of the care bear stare (yes, this is where the "after school movie moment" comes in.) This is the kind of mushy stuff I write when I am really just trying to waste time until the new episode of Top Chef. 1 hour 41 minutes....

happy pi approximation day.

that's right, it's pi approximation day for everyone who writes dates using the european format (22/7). so celebrate!

really i just wikipedia-ed today's date because i wanted a better subject line than something including the words "summer" or "update".

but that's really all this post is, because it has been awhile, and i have nothing better to do.

i'm still in the KC area, i have one more week of summer school left, and then i'm home free. summer school has been exhausting, but i like exhausting work, so as much as i complain, it's really good for me. i have a few things i want to do this week...like get an oil change (i don't really want to do that, but i should), and maybe go get an eye exam and some new glasses since it's been 4 years or so since my last one. i know, this post is just keeping you on the edge of your seat, right?

in other news, i am completely in love with Bethany Dillon's song "For my Love", it's amazing and well, lovely :).

oh, megan, alisa, christine, and katie left this morning to go see hannah in TX, i'm pretty bummed that i didn't get to go with them, but i guess someone's got to "bring home the bacon". which reminds me, i got my first of three paychecks last week :-D. and my paycheck for two weeks of work was more than i got paid all last summer, so that was nice. ok, pretty sure i'm done.

buggy business.

Today I've been trying to come up with an over-arching theme for my summer school kids, since as far as I know it's all up to me, and I do believe I've arrived at one: BUGS! I have six weeks of classes to plan for, and I'm hoping to spend one week each on a different bug/insect...bee, caterpillar/butterfly, ladybug, spider, ant, and firefly. I feel like it's something the kids will enjoy, and since it's summer we should be able to go out and do some "field research". I just really don't want these kiddos to be stuck inside everyday and I've come up with some really cool things for them so far. Now I just have to rifle through the school's library to find some books in French on these bugs, and spend hours preparing everything that I want to do.

I did however just realize the toll that this summer is going to take on my brain and my sanity. I'm going to be hanging out with 15-18 soon-to-be first graders every day, 8 hours a day, for six weeks...and speaking with them entirely in French. During student teaching I only spoke French 4.5 hours everyday, and it was still hard for me to turn it off when I came home. I'm excited to be able to work alongside native French speakers while staying in the Midwest, but I know it's going to mess with my mind even more and probably wreak havoc on my English.

In other news, today I got a call from a tiny school in West Virginia that sounds like they really want to hire me as their French teacher. I don't want the job unless it gets to be August and I still have nothing, but I probably should find a more tactful way of relaying that message to them.

life as i know it...

Well I've been home for a week, and I'm proud to say that I have not been significantly bored out of my mind or lazy since I've been here. I am NOT proud to say that I still have not unpacked anything, which is not totally my fault due to the unconstructed version of a bedroom I'm currently occupying, but it still makes me cringe.

I've spent the past week trying to tie up all sorts of loose ends, job searching, job interviewing, working for my parents, painting like a madwoman, and making regular trips to home improvement stores. Here is the result of all that work:

-JOB! I get to teach 21 first graders at the French immersion school in Kansas City for six weeks this summer. Kinda crazy how I rememeber telling people in the past few years that my dream job would be teaching at a French immersion elementary school...and less than a week after graduation, it's mine. It is only a summer position, but it's definitely the best summer job I could have ever requested, and it pays well, which is a HUGE change from the past two summers.
-I've made it through all the hoops with the Southern Teachers Agency, which places teachers in private schools in the South, and everyone I've interviewed with seems incredibly optimistic about my job possibilities. The neat thing about this program is that once you meet all their requirements, they go out and market you to schools and once they find a school that meets your criteria, it's pretty much a done deal.
-I got to teach a bunch of junior high kids how to rekey locks. About 80% of them failed, but it was fun to watch, and it felt nice being back in a classroom again.
-The new room is close to being done! Probably the biggest painting challenge I've faced yet...but after three coats of paint it's looking pretty spiffy.

summer :)

So summer is almost here, and I feel the need to declare my summer plans for the blogosphere...at least the plans I have in this moment so that no one can say, "i didn't know you were...." And if they do say that I will yell BLOG! and run away. Not really, but that would be quite humorous.

May 7-14--the beautiful Cedar Valley, popping into a few French classrooms, and hashing out the rest of my summer plans. oh, and chilling with colbs and whoever else i can get to commit to having fun.
May 15-20--Norfolk, Virginia area, for Stephanie's wedding! because i keep promises, unlike some people....ok, sorry, no bitterness allowed.
May 20-23--Cedar Falls for Shannon's graduation
May 24-28--Disney World and Universal Studios with Mike and Katrina, sweet action fo sho
May 30--Chicago for a Cubs game, sitting in the 2nd row bleacher seats in right field...watch for me on la télé :)

From then on, my plans depend on what my summer job is going to be. I may be going to Wyoming and Denver, CO, the Rio Grande Valley de Texas, and also a trip out to wherever I get a job for this fall (California?!? that would complete my tour of the U.S. quite nicely I think).

the job search uppity-date

You know what my fatal flaw is in this whole job search process?

I'm afraid that I will get a job, and then I won't know what to do. Pretty much, I have a fear of commitment.

Wow does that explain a lot.

teacher placement day reflection.

Well, I really enjoyed teacher placement day. At first it was rather frightening, walking in and not knowing where to go, who to talk to...but then I started off by talking to the Cedar Rapids Schools people and that helped make me more comfortable. I talked to probably about 10 different districts, and most of them were pretty nice and helpful. The only people that were somewhat rude were Shawnee Mission, Park Hill, and, ironically enough, Warrensburg. My favorite people I talked to were probably the guys from Liberty and Blue Springs, just because they actually asked me real interview questions and seemed genuinely interested and impressed with what I had to say. But who knows, I've applied to Lee's Summit and Liberty now, so we'll see what comes of that. This experience definitely helped me increase my confidence though, one of the Career Services guys even came up and told me that he overheard people talking about me (saying good things of course) so that MUST be a good sign.

Oh, and on a really weird side note, I had one superintendent approach me and seem really interested in hiring me for about 10 seconds, then he said, "I'm sorry, our district doesn't even teach French, but I don't pass up chances to talk to attractive women." WHOA. Pretty sure they don't prepare you for comments like that in the mock interviews. Oh, and I also got interviewed by KMOS for their University Magazine, so I'll be making another television appearance...we'll see if I managed to sound intelligent on this one :).

i love the freshies.

Today was my first day teaching without my district supervisor around...which I was honestly looking forward to because it meant it would actually feel like my own classroom...but I found out how much kids will try to take advantage of someone who appears to be kind and understanding. I had everyone from the shyest freshmen to the big burly football player seniors lying to me today, and I seriously wondered if I looked that dumb, seriously, like I'm going to say, "Sure, you can use your notes and your books during your test....you can leave class ten minutes early to go smoke pot in the parking lot...of course you can sit by the kid that you've been separated from all year long because all you do is talk about getting drunk on the weekends..." PLEASE!

But really, it was a pretty good day, I had lots of students come up to me at the end of my classes and tell me how much they're enjoying my lessons...even when I give them bad grades they like me, so I must be doing something right. Tomorrow is my first visit from my university supervisor, and I'm so ready for it. He decided to come for my best class, where all the kids actually pay attention and participate, so I'm hoping for a great class period!

hmm.

I've officially taken over all the French classes at WHS for the next two months! It's kind of crazy, the kids seem genuinely happy (so far, haha) and I actually had the surprise of my life today when I announced in one of my French one classes that I was going to be speaking uniquely in French (crap, that's French syntax right there...but I'm not changing it) and I had one girl say, "Yes! This will be great! I'm going to learn so much!" and a boy say, "Sweet! It will be fun to see if you can do it." Oh boy oh boy, can I do it :). It was nice to get a class that didn't meet that announcement with looks of sheer horrors and sighs of disgust...which I'm sure is what I'll get tomorrow when I announce to all those French II slackers what I expect of them.

But so far the teaching has gone well, I spend hours every night brainstorming ways to make things interesting for these kids, and they seem to appreciate the effort...mostly because that extra effort usually results in me thinking up elaborate games for them to play...EDUCATIONAL games, but they forget about that part of it.

But this brings me to sort of a crossroads...I love teaching, I really really do...so maybe I should just jump into the real world and get a job? I definitely could do it, and do it well, I've had lots of diverse teaching experiences to learn from, and the teacher whose classes I'm taking over has even mentioned that if I want to stay in the area she would help me put together an argument for why the district should hire a second French teacher...I could start a French program at the middle school and teach a section of French I and French II, which are the levels I enjoy the most anyway because they're so high-energy. Bah, who knows, I'm just rambling now...but it is something to think about. I started an application with the Clark County SD in Las Vegas since I saw on the USREAP.NET site that they are looking for a French teacher. So now I guess it's just time for me to be patient and see where God leads me.

i need to not be such a nerd.

So browsing through MSN's Slate magazine online, an article about the disintegration of the imperative mood caught my eye...that alone shows me that studying grammar has completely taken over my life. But it was interesting, it talks about how instead of using such strong imperative commands, we have become a society that focuses on "I messages" as suggested by child psychologists. So instead of telling a child to "Do your homework!" we say, "I need you to do your homework", implying that there is some sort of mystical inner desire that must be fulfilled.

Ok, so I'm probably the only one who thought that was interesting...but if you are maybe slightly intrigued by it, here's the link, and I won't tell anyone if you read the whole article and think to yourself, "Man, I wish I could read more stuff like this."

http://www.slate.com/id/2145734/

i feel the need to make a flow chart.

So...three days until I find out about whether I've made it into Teach for America or not...and I'm sitting here trying to figure out what I'm going to do when it turns out they don't want me. I guess I just want to be able to have another plan in mind so that I don't sound too heart-broken if I get rejected. And yesterday my supervisor at the high school told me she thought I should really look into teaching English in France next year if TfA doesn't pan out, since the French government has this huge budget for bringing in American college grads to teach French all over the country, and even in their overseas departments in Martinique and Reunion. And then there's the whole possibility of being a nanny for a French family...could I really be going back to France? I mean, I guess it's not a crazy idea, I don't really have a lot keeping me here, my family obviously, but my friends are going to be scattered around the country, and let's face it, once you get further than a few hours drive away, you might as well be in another country because you'll be seeing them just as frequently. But then thinking about that brings up a whole other issue...if I keep taking every opportunity to do these big things while I'm not "tied down", will I be avoiding my chances to become "tied down" to an area, because I'll have the mindset that I'll just be leaving again soon anyway?

But really...France...AGAIN? Wasn't I just there?

allez, allez, allez...

So today was my first real teaching experience of student teaching. In French III I got to sit with some kids and talk them through the corrections they needed to make on their introductions...I think that is seriously one of my favorite things to do, because it's easy for me. For some reason I can read a paragraph in horrible French but find a way to change a few little things and make it perfect...thereby not totally making an idiot out of the student by changing their entire work. Then in French IV I got to do the oral part of their exam, meaning I had them each read a couple sentences from Le Petit Prince, then I asked them questions about the meaning and symbolism in the book. Two of my students did really well, but the other two were super nervous for some reason and it showed. Then French I, White 4, my favorites....I got to do an activity that had been brewing in my mind for the past week, and my supervising teacher loved it and wants me to do it with her other classes tomorrow. I have a feeling these weeks are going to fly by, at least I hope they do, I love these kids but I'm just really anxious to have a real job, my own students, and hopefully be doing it with Teach for America (one week til the news comes!)

mardi gras!

Last year on Mardi Gras...I was in beautiful Nice, on the French Riviera, buying sunglasses, taking a day trip to Monaco, and celebrating the end of Carnaval by spraying strangers in the face with silly string and watching fireworks over the Mediterranean Sea, going to some Nordic pub, running into Dan the Australian with the dirty mouth, meeting aerospace engineers from Rochester, NY (translation:GEEKS), and consuming the best kebabs known to mankind.

This year...I will be in surprisingly warm Warrensburg, MO, teaching high schoolers, writing lesson plans, eating dinner by myself, and going to bed before midnight.

Ok, I will admit it, there ARE times when I miss France.

some blagues for this blog

Ice Ice Baby. Do do do do do do do.