a midnight not-poem snack

At 1 AM on three/one/twelve,

I stop grading oddly formatted papers

and decide to do dishes to have cookware to make macaroni and cheese.

Velveeta can stuff it. I use real cheddar and

scrape my bowl clean because 

I'm only hungry

when it's not time to eat and

I only want to write poetry

when it's not time to jot.

But I jot anyway, 

knowing late-night macaroni-ed thoughts

are only cheesy line breaks

oozing from a tired noodle.

True poems sprout best in sunlight.

Prayer for the day

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire— 
   but my ears you have opened— 
   burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. 
Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— 
   it is written about me in the scroll.
I desire to do your will, my God; 
   your law is within my heart.”

-Psalm 40:6-8

I desire to do Your will, my God. I desire to have Your heart, my God. I desire to know what that looks like tangibly, my God. You are my God, do not delay.

Tonight, I am young.

Number one. I love my daddy so much.
Number two. Glee (apparently) just made my favorite-band-of-sophomore-year famous. Finally.

writesingtelldraw

I’ve told you a hundred tall stories,
I’ve sung you a thousand sweet songs,
I’ve wrote you a million ridiculous rhymes
(Though sometimes the grammar was wrong).
I’ve drawn you a zillion pictures,
So being as fair as can be,
After all that I’ve writtensungtolddrawn for you,
Won’t you writesingtelldraw one for me?

-shel silverstein

"Miss Mueller, some people think I'm 'just' a kid, but I know some good truths. Remember..."

Verbatim advice from seven 6th grade students to a teacher graduating and going into the adult world...

1. Remember, don't hitchhike. There could be creepy people that you don't know and they could take you some place and friends never see you. You could never teach again if they take you. The students would miss you. Have patience with the talkative kids. They know who they are. They are just annoying. The End? -6th grade boy

2. Remember to always try your hardest and try to do one thing at a time so you can balance your focus. You also need to know to never be afraid to ask questions. Even as an adult you don't understand everything. Now sometimes adults think they know everything but they don't. Just try your hardest to remember these things and never be afraid to ask for help! That way you can enjoy your crazy adulthood not be a prisoner to it. -6th grade girl

3. Remember that don't change your personality. You're kind, funny, and creative. My point is you make learning fun and we don't get bored with endless boring sheets of homework. -6th grade boy

4. Remember... that if you want to be a good teacher and get along with kids don't act like a kid. See kids never take teachers that act like kids seriously they think it is ok to do whatever we want she will let us. When I have had subs like that I know that that the room is gonna be hecktic. I personally like teachers better when they take their job seriously. Never let the ids get too out of controll or bad things will happen. That is my advice to you. -6th grade girl

5. Remember that God will always be there to help you. You an always go to him when you need help. He will always be there. No matter what happens, he will help you. He has helped me a lot, and I know he will help you. Just be calm and don't freak out. You can always go to him. -6th grade boy

6. Remember to still have fun! Don't let work get you stressed out - your still young. You can go out with friends and have a good time. Just because you have a job and think you have to be all fancy and act like an adult doesn't mean you have to stop being a kid. Let out the eight year old in you. Another thing is don't let your work get in the way of friends and family! You only have family and friends for so long you have a job forever. -6th grade girl

7. Remember that no matter how hard things get you can always move on and make good and/or bad decisions because your decisions will change your life and sometimes you can't change the things that happen so make a thoughtful choice. One more thing. You should never ever just spend your money because sometimes things you want aren't the things you need! Pay your bills first and then buy the things you need around the house like food and necessary house needs. Then once you are finished with these then you can either save your left overs for a time in life when you really need it like for your wedding or babies. Or you can spend it. As for me, I would put it into a savings account for when I retire, get layed off, when I have kids, or for my wedding that I have always dreamed of. You can or can't take my advice but I do hope it has influenced your choices about your life decisions. Because your life decisions will influence your future. -6th grade girl

good news, bad news

You want the good news or the bad news first? When I ask my 6th graders that, I find out that they're just learning how to answer. Many shout, "Good news!" while the rest hush them and explain why they want the bad news first. It's cute. :]

Bad news. I'm just now starting to write out the teaching scenarios and rationales for my artifacts. You have no idea what that means. A teaching scenario narrates a teaching situation. It looks like this. A rationale describes, explains, and reflects upon a specific thing done while teaching, using standards and requirements. It looks like this. I have to have 8 artifacts, each with a teaching situation and a rationale, for my first placement. That's 24 linked documents. I also have to have my 8 metacognitive domain descriptions and my professional portfolio (resume, educational philosophy paper, autobiography, goals and objectives page) finished. But I'm not so worried about those.


Good news. I just went through my lessons collecting artifacts, and I have all of them with papers to spare! I had a lot of good lessons and connections and methods. Where's the picture of that kid? Hold on...

losing, running, reasoning

dream 1
The neighborhood boys' baseball team needed an extra person, so I frantically ran through our labyrinth house -- where every room looked like an attic -- trying to find my glove. I found old gloves and flimsy gloves and big gloves and small gloves, but mine was nowhere to be seen. I arrived at the coach's house only to find that they weren't going to play.

dream 2
I was running up hundreds of stairs in a building that was entirely grey stair wells. Men in trench coats kept chasing me and trying to grab me. Every time I reached a dead end, I would fight with a man and eventually kick him down the cement stairs.

dream 3
I was in the Koch's 15 passenger van with Zach and Karen. I had two macbooks and Karen had one. She threw a fit because she couldn't find her macbook in the messy van. We had been waiting for relatives to show up so we could caravan back to a house for a birthday party. I finally spotted all three computers under the car seats and Karen calmed down.