Barking Dogs

Last week I found out that I had to add an extra responsibility to my plate by deciding which route to take for the CTEL/CLAD certification that I need to acquire here in Cali. This CLAD thing is basically a Cultural Language and Diversity certification that will enable me to teach English Language Learners...which we all know will greatly help me in this new Spanish speaking community. Lisa and Kristin and I all decided to take the classes that help prepare for a test that we will all take in December. This seemed like the cheapest and least stressful route to take, and we do have each other to help study and what not. Anyway, the downfall is that these classes are 6 hours per week from now until the end of November!! It is every Monday and Tuesday, and I even have a book to read and homework for the class. It is like college all over again!

So, in this clas we are talking about the study of learning another language (English) and its elements...linguistics in a nutshell (Annie, I know you are thinking about Bill Spruiell right now!) One of the things we have been discussing is semantics and that ELL students don't understand sayings, and figures of speech and the meanings of other like phrases. If you are going to use these type of things you need to make sure they are fully explained, otherwise students become very confused and disconnected...this brings me to today's activity....

We read this little article in a Current Science magazine about the Marathon Man and what his goal is and how he can run so long and blah, blah, blah...then we did this "Step Up To Writing" activity with it (I'm supposed to connect in all these strategies the district is paying for)...not the point...anyway, the article talks a lot about the supination and pronation of the feet when you run and your feet strike the ground. There was a picture of three sets of feet and it was showing this concept...however the caption read "Dogs on a roll." I took this to be a teachable moment where I actually used some of my CLAD info and applied it at school!

I asked the students why this caption said "dogs" when they never even talk about dogs in the article? There were a variety of hilarious answers but no one had ever heard of the phrase, "My dogs are barking" to mean your feet hurt. I helped the students make the connection (by of course using the fact that I often wear flip flops in class because my heels hurt the dogs) and many of them wrote in their writing piece that they learned that people sometimes call feet, dogs... I thought it was funny that out of all the things they could choose to write about...they wrote about the barking dogs!

Fried Green Pickles!

The third week of school is almost over...and I'm still alive. At times, not gonna lie, I thought the spanish speaking students were going to eat me! It is surely different from teaching in good old Michigan. I have to struggle everyday to reach those students in my class who speak and understand little or no English. At times I think my eighth graders are a lot like those 4th graders I taught last semester! The ability levels, quality of writing, and even common sense is unbelievable. My class sizes are now at a good level though so I am hoping this will help me. I have around 30-31 in every class except for one that has 21(that class is my favorite!) The only downfall is that my last period class now has ALL OF THE TROUBLE MAKERS! Pedro, Pablo, Hector, Juan, Jose, Hose B, Hose C (get it!! thanks for that one dad!) there all there in full force!

On to the pickle...I got this idea from the other 8th grade science teacher, who has been SUPER helpful in my transition to this school. We are working on Physical and Chemical changes and properties, and trying to understand the differences. (By the way this is like teaching pigs to fly!) We started by identifying the pickle's physical properties, how we could physically change it, and then introduced the chemical properties and changes by electricuting the pickle. It was really neat because when you apply the electricity it sparks, smokes, turns black and smells awful. Perfect though for showing the differences between physical and chemical changes.

SOUTH BEACH!

Friday night was a great time...hence the photos! All the teachers from my school met at one of the teacher's homes in Rancho Mirage and had a wine and cheese party. It was really nice to be in an environment away from school and just relax. There are some really nice people who work at Nellie Coffman. After that the "Friday Crowd" headed to Palm Desert for a night of dancing and drinks at South Beach, which is this pretty cool club around here. I though you all might enjoying seeing some of my friends...so I attached a few of the pics to give you a visual. I'd write more, but I have to actually do some planning and I think I just might head to the pool...it is only about 90ish right now. You have to take advantage of the cooler times when you can!

A Woman's Right to Shoes

It is Thursday and I have made it through two weeks of teaching...so far, so good. In these two weeks I have made some lunch buddies, got a few chesmsos (gossips), given out many detentions, and even have a few followers. Seriously, these girls are always like, "Ms. Forgacs I love your clothes, Ms. Forgacs I like your handwriting, and Ms. Forgacs your shoes are great!"

Speaking of the shoes, yes I bought a new pair of brown heels...you see I have this great pair from Italy being held hostage in Adrian, MI. So in the meantime I needed a pair to fill the void...they are my new favorites. I have been wearing them a lot, and I constantly am told, "Gosh you are SO tall." As if I don't already know this! I think I am starting to obtain a tall complex. I hate it so much. It doesn't help either that I live in Mexicanland where everyone is like 4ft tall. Even last weekend when I hung out with the teacher buds and Rob Thomas...I was being call a "TALL drink of water!" The only stylish shoes I can find that I like are heels and now I'm being singled out for attempting to be fashionable! All this stuff reminded me of that Sex and the City episode...A Woman's Right to Shoes. I am being shoe shamed here!

A Weekend of Natural Disasters

I have a lot to blog about today in effort to recap my eventful weekend. This was a big weekend of firsts for Melissa. I’ll start with Friday…Most of my friends here are first year teachers like me, so we all decided to celebrate our first week by attending a happy hour at Haleiwa Joe’s which is this really cool Hawaiian place that is built into one of the canyons. We had a great time there, but then had to leave to go to a co-worker’s party. At the party…which was kinda lame, we started scheming as to where our next destination was going to be. We decided to go to Rob Travis’s apt (we like to call him Rob Thomas) who is another teacher at a different school in the district. Somehow, he conned us all into going to this crappy bar down the street. From there we ended up at Agua Caliente which is a huge casino here, and apparently Rob Thomas likes to go here to dance. Let’s just say that this “dance club” was less than exciting, but we made the most of it. Picture the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort with a cheesy dance floor in the center! We ended up having a crazy time here and my friend Lisa has the most ridiculous pictures of all this. (When I get the pics from her, I’ll post them!) All in all it was a fun filled evening in Palm Springs.

Saturday I woke up to an earthquake…yes, an earthquake. I thought it was me hallucinating since I have to admit I was a little hung over! I found out later on that day that there was a 3.9 quake in Desert Hot Springs (about 10-15mins from here). Anyways, I was a bit hesitant to get up yesterday because I not too excited for my camping/hiking trip with the teacher buds…but I did it! I’ve attached pictures because I figured that no one from home would believe that I WENT CAMPING!!

Some of you may be thinking…oh my gosh…Melissa turned into a tree hugger…but it is a Joshua Tree that I am hugging, no worries! We camped in what they call the “Hi-Desert”, in Joshua Tree National Park. It is about 40 mins outside the Cochella Valley and just past the Yucca and Morongo Valleys. This was quite possibly one of the most breathtaking places I’ve ever been. There were hundreds of j-trees, mountains, and rocks, the pictures really don’t do it justice. I even wore tennis shoes and hiked several miles!!! Not to mention I slept in a tent, wore no make-up and didn’t shower. I think I am truly a camper now. (I did still wear my Channel earrings though!)

So when I arrived home today from the camping extravaganza Palm Springs was in disarray due to some flash floods yesterday. Parts of Hwy 111 (aka E. Palm Canyon, where I live) were closed due to a massive rain that came through last night. Even the wash was still holding water! It does rain in the desert after all. Earthquakes, floods, hiking and camping, and I am still alive…I just might make it out here in Palm Springs!