Wash your hands and sing
My colleague Lauren found this ridiculous video online and encouraged me to help her make it into a Spanish lesson about flu symptoms. We ended up literally singing and dancing around the classroom while the students watched in disbelief. Watch the video and you’ll understand. Corny, but you have to admit…a little catchy.
The video was actually produced at a Philadelphia public performing arts school, and is being used in a campaign to help educate kids about preventing the spread of H1N1 this year. The Department of Health has partnered up for the cause and I think they produced something worthy of attention. Pass it on to anyone who might enjoy a little song and dance, or a teacher in need of a half-hearted Thanksgiving week lesson.
- Jeff
Regifting gift cards
During one of my recent online adventures, I happened to wander upon a great organization called Gift Card Giver. It’s a pretty simple way to use your consumer leftovers for some good.
Here is how it works: Let’s say you have a $20 gift card to Target and use it to buy a $15 DVD. You walk out with $2 left on your card. You might hold onto it for next time you visit, but it likely won’t occupy a priority spot in your wallet and probably never gets used. Instead of trashing it, or waiting for a rainy day to spend it, just drop in the mail and send it to GCG. They will add up the value of the cards until they have enough to purchase things for people who need it. And for you visual learners out there, watch this video to see how it works
Such a novel idea – and one that I think could really gain some meaningful traction. Right this moment, I’ve got two gift cards with mere dollars on their tab, and I’ll be sending them in this weekend. Think about it next time you have some leftovers and keep them in mind.
- Jeff
Living
It’s not so much that I’ve been busy lately as it is that I’ve been living lately. Until I get the inspiration, an update:
Things at school are unspeakably superb. I wake up every morning excited to go to school, and I spend the day with kids that treat me with respect and want to learn. I’m in a parallel universe at a public school where teachers teach and kids learn. Some credit is due to the simple fact that the second time around really does make all the difference. I’ve come to grips with the fact that nothing is perfect, and that not every kid will love me. It’s also true, though, that some things are perfect, and some kids will love me. More than that, I now have the wherewithal and time to do all the things I never could last year. I’m tracking student data like a master and planning some killer lessons. It makes me feel like I’m finally learning how to be the teacher I should have been all along. But tis’ the learning curve. I’m over the hump, and it feels amazing.
Things at home are a bit more complicated. I just found out that my boyfriend of 3 years is moving back to California from his job in NY. That means less face time with a special guy that makes my face pretty happy. It also might mean I get to go home more often to see him. And any time spent in CA is time well spent. I won’t be going home for Thanksgiving (too expensive before Christmas) but I will be seeing Gina, who has made coming to Philly for Thanksgiving something of a tradition. We’ll probably make dinner here at home with Erika and feed the homeless in our spare time. Gina is currently working on her sainthood, so we had to fit that in somewhere.
My family is spread all over the place and I miss them terribly. Halloween is my mom’s birthday, and with such fond memories from childhood I couldn’t help but get sentimental this past weekend. Where was the pizza? Honan’s laugh? Uncle Chris’ ridiculous politics? The late night games and birthday cake? All memories that warm my heart, but in some ways leave it a bit cold these days. Being an adult on your own can have its advantages, but I’m learning it can be harder than it looked back then…when being an adult seemed like so much fun.
Halloween, 1988
- Jeff
Negative
It’s been a hectic few days getting back in the groove of things. If you were wondering my H1N1 results came back this Sunday and were negative. While relieved, it wouldn’t have been such a bad thing to have had the swine flu. It means I would likely not get sick again this year, since the H1N1 will likely be the most common strain going around this season. Oh, well. I’ll have to settle with whatever virus I had. And now that’s it’s gone I can get back to work.
Also – thanks to those of you who checked in on me in these last few days! Made me feel even better!
- Jeff
A teacher
I knew this day was coming. I got sick this week and felt like crap at school yesterday. My patience was thin and my mean streak started to show. It just isn’t fair to those kids, and I was putting myself through the ringer, and for what? A perfect attendance award? I decided to take today off work and get better. In my world, this is a big revelation – taking care of myself is no longer a luxury. It is a priority.
My school has a crazy blackout date policy that requires you see a doctor on the day you call out sick. Not the easiest thing to arrange, but I called to make an appointment yesterday in anticipation of calling out. Thankfully, I was able to get in to see someone today. There was the usual waiting in the waiting room, reading some germ-covered magazine. They took my weight, height and blood pressure before sticking a thermometer under my tongue. “Everything normal,” the nurse told me. When the doctor finally saw me, I had read every poster and chart in the room out of boredom. She walked in on me calculating my weight/height fat % index. A little embarrassing.
After taking my pulse and asking some questions about my symptoms, she asked me what my job was. My response got a rise out of her.
“A teacher? Ok, you’re definitely getting tested.”
“Tested for what?”
Did I even have to ask?
“The swine,” she hesitated, “I mean the H1N1 virus.”
Apparently teachers are a high-risk group that require testing if certain symptoms are shown. I had fatigue, sore throat and runny nose. Her next question was which I preferred first – a cotton swab up my nose or down my throat. I opted for the nose first. It hurt like hell and made my eyes water up. If I do have it, I’ll have to stay inside for a while but I know I’ll be fine. If I don’t, at least I’ll have piece of mind. The real kicker – I’m not allowed to go back to school until I get the results back this weekend. That means no Back to School Night and an early TGIF.
While having time to rest is a plus, I really don’t like missing school. It throws everything off. The kids get confused with irregularity. They need consistency and I want to provide that for them. I want them to know I’m there everyday they are. No doubt that my health is more important than consistency in the classroom, but I can’t help but consider it. Call me a workaholic – I think I just care too much.
I find out Saturday morning. Cross your fingers.
- Jeff
Web Therapy
We all need a little therapy in our lives, and what better way to do it than with humor? If you loved Lisa Kudrow as Pheobe on Friends, you’ll love this little treasure I happened upon this summer. Web Therapy’s premise is not mainstream – produced by a small studio and streamed for free online, Kudrow plays a narcissistic MBA-turned-therapist that condenses her face-to-face therapy sessions from an hour into 3 minutes online for “efficiency.” What seems like a horrible idea actually starts to work for some her more eccentric clients. I especially liked watching the short episodes (most run about 5 minutes) during laundry loads or as a break between grading and planning at home. I’ve linked the first episode here, but you can find the whole season online on L Studio’s website. Enjoy!
- Jeff
Reset
I’m back in Philadelphia now, in a different house and living a very different kind of life. It’s strange, thinking back to a year ago, when I was so uncertain about my future. I’m surprised I didn’t freak out. And I’m surprised things feel so different 365 days later. No anxiety or worries. Just a deep confidence and excitement – punctuated with bouts of nervous butterflies. I really thought those went away in grade school.
Be assured – my brief absence from JeffForAmerica isn’t a trend. A few things have been distracting me – moving among them. I’ve made the transition from South Philadelphia to Art Museum and moved in with 3 wonderful roommates (Becca from last year + Erika from back home + a random TFA guy named Kevin). We all seem to mesh well together and I have a very good feeling about spending this year in their company. Speaking of spending time here, I don’t plan to leave this house too often. It is a big upgrade from our apartment last year. It’s like comparing a peanut to a cantaloupe. My room feels lived in and spacious, and everyone has their little nooks and crannies to inhabit up and down our three stories. I’m just thrilled to be here. I wake up every morning smiling.
Other big changes are happening at work: our middle school has been moved to a newly constructed third floor upstairs and I was assigned a penthouse classroom that will greatly improve my quality of life. I actually have windows this year! There are a lot of perks to the new arrangements and I’m just eager to get in there and make the most of it. We also have a lot of new teachers (I’m one of 2 returning teachers to the middle school) and an administration that will surely add a jolt of energy to our daily routines. I’m looking for someone to challenge me, which I think was lacking in my first year. Regardless of what happens, I’m feeling ready to get back to work and teach some kids. I’ve truly missed it.
So those are my excuses for being away so long. I promise it won’t happen again until December.
For now, I’m just trying to wrap my head around what all these changes mean for me. I figure that, with change, there is always the potential for things to get better, to grow in the direction you’ve been hoping it would. Of course, there’s also the chance that it won’t – that things will get worse somehow, or that your future plans will just fall short of whatever you might have expected. But if things stayed the same, there wouldn’t even be the potential for things to get better. And I’d rather adjust to something different (whether good or bad) than always face the same thing. Change is good. Change is constant. Change is really the only thing we can rely on being the same. Embrace it.
- Jeff
Something NOT to do in Elk Grove
Looking for something different to do, my mom decided to take me to the Galt flea market today. I was thrilled – finally some shopping out of the florescent lights with the potential to find some really unique artifacts to take back to Philly. I’m a sucker for old stuff – I just can’t help but love going through people’s left overs and finding some little treasures. I’ll tell you right now – the Galt flea market is more like a dollar store than an antique roadshow. Aisle after aisle of cheap socks, tube tops and giant rugs with superimposed tiger faces. Granted, there were a few good finds (I bought a used TSA-confiscated swiss army knife), but it was mostly a bust.
I was looking for a real flea market, where the goods were used and put up for the highest bidder. I’m not sure at what point things changed, but I certainly hope this isn’t the trend elsewhere. I can see the value in a one-stop 
dollar market for families looking for good deals on mediocre stuff, but don’t call it a flea market. Call it a market. Or call it a trade show. Or call it a dollar store yard sale. After spending a good hour perusing fake Fendi bags and plastic bamboo umbrellas, we called it a day. I’m obviously not recommending it, but don’t take my word for it – check it out yourself and you may be surprised. For now, I’ll stick to more authentic flea markets and will do a little research before I set myself up for disappointment. And I’m not alone – it seems flashy flea markets are the norm in Sacramento. Regardless, I’m still optimistic that I can find some good stuff out there. If you know of any great markets, drop me a line. For now, I’ll keep looting my dad’s garage.
- Jeff
Back of the bus
I was riding the 40 bus to drop by school before I left Philly and saw this sign plastered to the window:
“Our new low floor buses offer premium seating upstairs. Please follow the arrows”
The message was clear: move to the back of the bus to make room for people getting on. It became all the more clear when the driver shouted at us to move toward the back when the bus got too full. It makes sense – I’ve done it many times before. And it’s annoying when people just stand there and block things up. But when I read the sign, I had to wonder why they didn’t just say it. Instead, they referred to the back of the bus as a “premium seating upstairs,” as if those seats were special or something. There was no reference to moving back or making room.
I realize I may just read too much into things, but this sign caught my attention. There must have been some committee somewhere that came up with the message, who then submitted it to some board for approval, which then got ok’d by the boss and printed as a sticker for the bus. Somewhere along that chain of command, someone must have thought about how to phrase the message that their patrons make room for people getting on the bus. And at some point, I wonder if they took into consideration the segregation laws of the past that required blacks to sit in the back of public buses. If so, they avoided it in a positive and round-about way. There must have been something wrong with saying “Please move toward the back of the bus to make room for boarding passengers.” Instead, they said…”premium seating upstairs.”
I mean, I’m all for it, but it just made me think about the way things work. About how our collective history and experiences as a country have shaped our lives today. Even in the details, race may come into play in unexpected ways.
Like I said, it might just be my imagination, but I couldn’t help but speculate. And even if there’s nothing to it, it made me think.
- Jeff
Home home
It’s funny how quickly we can come to call someplace new our ‘home.’ I’ll even find myself saying “I’m tired…I want to go home” when I’m really talking about a hotel on vacation. Philadelphia, a year in, has definitely become home for me. It’s nothing like my home home, back in California, but it’s starting to grow on me. Don’t worry mom – I won’t stay forever. Just for now.
Actually, a year ago today, I signed the lease for my current apartment. It just so happens that a year later I’m leaving. The new place is a big upgrade for many reasons: bigger bedrooms, fancier neighborhood and a full-fledged patio. To top it off I pay less for rent. It’s a good change all around and will cut my commute to work in half.
Erika and I spent the entire weekend packing up the old place, moving the boxes to the new house and cleaning what remained. A lot of work, but it went by fast enough. The U-Haul was a big help and surprisingly fit everything we owned. Becca is coming next weekend to move the furniture, so we split the work. When I return to Philly at the end of August, I’ll be coming back to a new home.
With the hard work done, I’m finally ready for California. I’m coming home home.
- Jeff
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