FLASHBACK! East Coast Girl Heads West, The New Digs

As I pack up the apartment I'm squatting in for the summer (thanks, Courtney!) I am reminded of all of the places I've lived in Oakland.  I was lucky enough to live by Lake Merritt (though I did not appreciate it as much as I should have) and then moved to West Oakland (what to say... I survived! and had a new appreciation of what my kids deal with in their neighborhoods) and then lived on Piedmont Ave (with no windows and lots of bugs) and then moved up to the Oakland Hills (what a sunset! what a house! what a narrow road!) until settling in for the last couple of months in the Temescal (again: thanks Courtney!) Anyway, here's the email from when I got my first place in Oakland:

Yep, that's right, I got me a home! I am now the proud renter of a studio apartment (with four closets).  I moved in last night and ran the dishwasher!  Who knew that the gentle whirr of the rinse cycle could be so exciting?!  I now have very clean dishes and glasses.  Haven't cleaned out the cabinets yet though...  I hereby openly extend a place to crash for those headed out to the bay area! 

 

I don't have a mattress yet (I'm borrowing an air mattress) or chairs or anything, but my group from Oakland Fellows is coming over tomorrow for after Institute drinks.  It's going to be the only time that I can fit 13 people into the place! 

 

Which brings me to the Fellows update: Things are going surprisingly well.  I have to get my credential in Early Childhood Special Education, since I'm doing pre-k and that's about it... I'm actually (gasp!) enjoying afternoon session.  Almost all of the fellows are fun to be around and we have a really good time going over the material and doing role plays.  We've learned how far we can go with each person, so it's a really nice group.  We have our bad egg.. she got a 'talking to' after class today--we all walked by and giggled, just like proper school girls!  but the sessions are going well.  I think it also has something to do with actually learning material that we can and are using in the classroom!

 

As for the classroom, I mysteriously got food poisoning on Tuesday (read: just needed a break from school) so I've had a short week.  However, the karma gods being who they are, I came back to the classroom to find that we were short 2 aides: all of them.  So we're 50% short on manpower in the classroom of spider monkeys.  There is something very alluring to being able to jump and climb and hang... on everything.  Filing cabinets, tables, light fixtures... If only the little darlings could pay as much attention to the activity on hand as they do to trying to escape the classroom. 

 

There is actually one student who won't talk to me.  He won't listen to me or  speak back to me.  He's the biter.  Okay, he's the biter, kicker and hitter.  Multitalented little spider monkey he is.   I have very quickly learned how to prioritize behavior problems: are we going to discipline the kid who's beating the crap out of her 'friend' or the kid who's Houdini-ing out of the classroom?  Sometimes I think it would be nice if they all escaped... or just like, 2 of them.  Aside from the aides being MIA again today, I think that's what made the class better today--we had one student who was absent.  Thank the Lord!  Who's lunch should we add salmonella to today?

 

I promise I have not tried to poison or infect any of my students. 

 

Yet.

 

Alright, I'm off to actually start applying to a credentialling program... or unpacking some more! 

 

Love from left to right,

Torrey

Well the classroom was always easier to manage with one less kid!  I'm not sure what I meant about learning something that I used in the classroom... I'm pretty sure it probably involved passing notes and making our Fellow Advisor cry.  What a summer!

Victoria