Dear So and So

[Catrin]

+1 on the espresso pot or a good french press, or both

Sounds like the area around my UT campus (not the main Knoxville campus), it was like stepping back in time a few decades.

[Pax]

Dear certain part of Dayton, OH--
Wow, you suck. You seem to have one grocery store, no sidewalks (next to a college campus!), the only things to eat come from Wendy's or Taco Hell, and there's no bike shop. Go more than a mile away from campus and there's convenience stores selling live bait? The Starbucks is a mile away from the campus? What sort of place is this? And you mean I have to live there for two years? *cringes*

Bet you'll find all of those things by the Base rather than the campus, I imagine Dayton is more focused on the massive AFB than the smaller commuter school.

[Reesha]

Dear midwestern climate system,

I'm ok with it being 98 degrees at night, but still 95 at 10 pm? Come on! When am I supposed to exercise when I have to work so early?!

[Owlie]

Bet you'll find all of those things by the Base rather than the campus, I imagine Dayton is more focused on the massive AFB than the smaller commuter school.

Funny thing is, this school is literally next to the AFB! My sister goes to the other university in Dayton proper, and there's no shortage of stuff (except the grocery store).

[OakLeaf]

WSU? My first husband went there. Probably before you were born.

[jessmarimba]

AHH Owlie I've been there sooooooo many times - I used to rehearse with a music group up in Centerville & we performed at the Nutter Center a couple times a year. I've been to that wendy's at 1 am more times than I can count. (I counted up once - I've spent more time in Dayton/C'ville than any other city that I haven't officially lived in, and more time than a few cities that I have lived in).

I don't know if you can get there by bike, but there's a good barbecue place & a Graeter's ice cream in historic Centerville - cute little town.

[Pax]

Funny thing is, this school is literally next to the AFB! My sister goes to the other university in Dayton proper, and there's no shortage of stuff (except the grocery store).

Huh, maybe they have all that stuff on Base now... my memories are a bit out of date as I haven't lived there since 1966.

[Veronica]

Dear Coworkers,

Stop telling me I always get the "good" kids. Three years in a row I've had the "good" kids? Really?! Maybe my students do well because I set expectations and goals for them and hold them accountable. You never hear me say, 'My students can't do that," about anything academic.

It's true, they can't shut up or walk in a straight line, and I seem to recall you saying that you didn't want several of my students. So are they the "good" kids or not? And why did you want to place some of your discipline problems in my room, if "We're all the same."

Maybe a little self reflection is in order here.

Veronica

[Owlie]

It is indeed WSU! I'm guessing some of the surrounding stuff moved onto the base, or is on the other side of it. There's some stuff, and there's stuff in the suburbs that are closer to Dayton itself, but it looks like it's a really car-centric campus. And Young's Dairy isn't that far away. I'll have a car there, so it's not too bad. (My parents are pretty convinced that if I bike on some of those roads, I'll get squished.) Guess I'll have to get used to driving again...and maybe pick up a commuter bike with a rack to keep gas costs down a bit.

I did discover that Dayton has a couple rail trails. They're not all connected, but the park that connects to the big one is about five miles from campus. (And I can go pester my sister via that trail...it actually stops not far from where she'll be living next year. Bwahaha!)
Jess, that's funny! Small world. And Graeter's...tastes of home!

My parents think (and I think they're right) that even if I decide not to go for a PhD, my only realistic choice is to go with this program, especially because I've been unemployed for a year (not for lack of trying, mind you). We've done the math, and it looks like I have just enough savings to pay the two years' tuition, but not necessarily living expenses. My parents have said they'd be willing to help with those if it weren't for their job situation. Just frustrating that my only option seems to be something that will eat all my money and only might get me anywhere. (And where I'll be living isn't ideal. I don't want to deal with undergrads...I didn't like most of my classmates when I was an undergrad. I need a cane and a lawn so that I can tell kids to get off the lawn and wave the cane at them menacingly.)

Dear wasp outside my window--
While according to the laws of quantum physics, there is a very tiny chance that the glass will disappear and you will be able to fly with gay abandon about my room, odds are that the glass will remain intact. Flying into it repeatedly will not get you anywhere. Instead, it'll just give you a headache.

[Catrin]

My renters insurance company has started a claim for me on the dog bite...I still need to talk to the adjuster but I really hope they will be willing to cover my part of the bill Crossing all fingers and toes!

Thanks for the encouragement, I was really getting depressed over all of this

[Crankin]

Veronica, hang tough. You sound exactly like I did. You are doing the right thing. My motto:
This is important
You can do it
I won't give up on you

Funny, I have found this applies in my new career, too. Sometimes people, including kids, just need someone to push them and believe in them.
The way you are being treated brought tears to my eyes, I guess because I can relate so much.

[Veronica]

Thanks Crankin.

I'm just getting so tired of the excuses - from the adults!

I talked about it a bit with my principal today. Apparently, I'm goal oriented and driven and most of my peers aren't. I've got his kid in my room and he's just thrilled with how much progress the child's made this year. Nearly two grade levels in reading - nothing changed at home, parents weren't doing anything different... my bar is set high. And I don't lower it. I'll help build stairs and ladders to reach it, but it doesn't get lowered.

Veronica

[Owlie]

Veronica, I know I always did best with teachers who did place high expectations on their students. So thank you for being one of those teachers.

[OakLeaf]

+1. I don't say it often enough. Thank you, V.

[Crankin]

I had the kids of more than one principal. The year one of my teammates was verbally abusing my class in particular when they went to her for math, it got so bad that finally I said to the daughter of the HS principal, (I can still see us sitting on the rug and me saying this through clenched teeth) "tell your father." I now believe that this woman was bipolar, but after the kids filled up 4 pieces of chart paper with complaints about her and the counselor was having to come in to my class daily, I had had it. Fifth graders didn't need that.
How can you be a teacher today and not be goal oriented?
Fourth graders would occasionally cry when they found out they had me for fifth grade, because they realized they would have to work! It became less of an issue when i when to a 6th/7th loop in middle school. I was on the team that had high expectations, but in a kid friendly way. As opposed to the "kill and drill" b*tches who thought I was evil incarnate when I first arrived at the school. Thankfully, by the time I left, they all were gone and everyone was on board. My school was great and I was very lucky to have been there for 8 years.