A few days ago I read about the joys of knitting. I came to the realization that knitting, as a hobby, is something that can fulfill people for their entire lives. Why? People take pleasure in taking on challenges and accomplishing them. The wonderful thing about knitting is that knitting can always offer another challenge. At first, it's incredibly difficult just to cast on and knit a simple scarf. Then you learn how to purl. For a while, knitting and purling patterns are challenging and rewarding to accomplish. Add in increases and decreases. With those techniques, you can now do lace work and make sweaters. There are so many different projects to knit: scarves, sweaters, toys, fruits, flowers, blankets, skirts, hats, pillows, cushions, etc. There are too many to list! If that isn't enough, add in color work, which can be extremely difficult.

Knitting has so many different options that knitters can challenge themselves for their entire lives. There are so many different patterns, color choices, and projects that it's impossible to try them all.

Perhaps the last challenge is to actually design one's own projects. I hope to get to that level eventually. I have really started knitting a lot recently. The more I research, the more I want to attempt different projects. So, any of my friends out there, I'm taking orders! Give me a pattern and I'll make you a gift. :)

Happy knitting!

I've had a PS3 for a while now. Growing up with Nintendo 64, it was difficult to adapt to Sonic instead of Mario. Since PS3 also allows Netflix streaming, I soon grew to enjoy using the system. I had my racing game, my Jeopardy! type game, and I could watch movies and TV shows.

The other day, however, I got the PS3 Move. I should have gotten this a long time ago! I like to play video games, but I feel guilty when I know I should be working, exercising, or--of course--knitting. With the PS3 Move, I don't have to feel guilty anymore. I love to dance and sing. They have a game called Sing Star Dance Party where you can dance and sing. You can compete online and buy more songs online. I have always enjoyed singing, so this makes me very happy. I can also learn the dance moves from music videos. Y voila! Now I understand how rock stars stay so thin--4 minutes of dancing their moves really takes a lot of effort! If they dance a few hours a day, they must lose TONS of weight.

The other game I got was Zumba Fitness. I was first introduced to Zumba at Curves and I loved it immediately. It reminded me of Jazzercise with a Latin emphasis. I have never been one to go to a gym because I don't like the smell, it's boring, and I could never push myself hard. Jazzercise, Curves, and Zumba Fitness DO push you. Zumba Fitness has you dancing in your living room. You can put in weight goals and make your own workout calendar. I love it!

Being a first-year teacher has been very stressful this year. I know that has prevented me from losing weight. Curves and Zumba Fitness take away some of my stress and get me on my feet. Any additional stress that I may have, knitting takes away.

The only issue is now...when am I going to work? :)

Often I have been in situations where I say something heartfelt and what I feel to be true, but then it is misinterpreted. Being a first-year teacher, expressing myself has been a challenge all year, which is strange for me, who loves reading, writing, and communicating.

Today I realized what it is that I need some work on: diplomacy. I need to learn to speak like a politician. Why? By learning this kind of "language," I can express what I mean without being misinterpreted or without coming across as ignorant, sensitive, mean, or naive. Everyone who works in a professional environment needs to be adept at this skill. For instance, instead of saying, "I'm afraid you won't listen to me," say, "How will you use my comments to do ______?" In this way, your concerns/opinions are heard and you will receive a response that you want. A diplomatic way of speaking tends to be straight forward and clear, which helps to avoid misunderstandings. The other trick I learned is that you should ask the person to do something that will show you the change that you want to see, or that they have taken your concern into consideration.

For the teachers out there, it's like writing your standards on the board. Ask yourself: is this observable? Is this measurable? I can't see if you understand something, but I can see your level of understanding if you write about it or say it. Diplomacy should function the same way because, unfortunately, someone's "word" might not always be trustworthy.

As a first-year teacher, I have heard it's normal to get sick, very sick. I got sick at the beginning of December with Strep throat. The only problem was that I didn't go to the doctor for three weeks because I thought I had a cold. By that time, I had developed an ear infection as well.

I can be very stubborn.

So on Monday, when I started to get a sore throat while grocery shopping, I thought I was just getting a cold. It wasn't until Tuesday when a student said that I might have strep that I wondered...Every time I swallow, I feel fire. By the end of the day, I'm dizzy and tired. This time, I learned my lesson. I went to the doctor today. I felt very silly saying that I had a sore throat, but it was good that I had. As it turns out, I do have strep throat. I can't believe that I got it AGAIN within three months. As I told my boyfriend, I shouldn't be getting sick: I exercise, I bathe, I eat right, I sleep. However, before I could even finish listing the things I was doing right, my boyfriend simply said, "You're not a machine." And he's right. No matter how well we take care of ourselves, illnesses happen.

Now, where's my beast of a pill?

It seems that teachers have been making news nationally. With American students not performing as high as their European peers, it is logical that federal and state governments are reevaluating the system to improve education. Therefore, teacher accountability does enter the conversation.

Teacher accountability is very important. Teachers do need to be dedicated to students, willing to try new teaching techniques, and open to professional development. Yet, when teachers are working 60+ hours a week and implementing all improvements, there is only so much more that they can do. Yes, teachers get two months off for summer vacation. However, during the school year, they were so much that friends and family seem to be ignored for a while. Teachers work long after the school day ends: they have planning, grading, creating materials, and responding to parent emails. They are lucky if they have time to look for professional development opportunities or time to find and write grants to get supplies to their schools. They tend to have 150+ students that they see daily. With less and less money going to schools, teachers have fewer resources, older resources, and more students with NO additional compensation. Teachers train the leaders, inventors, and workers of the future. If the system is burning them out in one or two years, the system is unsustainable. It is better to have more resources and smaller classes for the benefit of all: the school, community, and students.

Now, I am mostly referring to the teachers who constantly work to improve their craft. There are many of them. However, some school systems make it so even the bad teachers stay in the system for a while. That means a teacher can be fired from one school in the district, but other schools have to pick up those fired teachers before they can look for new teachers outside of the system. Those situations can be hurtful to the schools and the students.

Lastly, teacher accountability is only one aspect of the problem. The culture of schools and learning needs to be changed. When I was a student, if I got a bad grade, it was because I did not perform up to the teacher's expectations. If I wanted to improve my grade, I had to do extra credit, or work harder on my assignments. Nowadays, it is the teacher's fault for a student not getting an "A" or "B." A teacher can work around the clock to improve students' learning, but if students don't study at home or turn in their work and if parents don't provide a quiet learning environment, it is almost impossible for that student to succeed. Like anything, the student has to WANT to succeed in order TO succeed.

Students have to stop being apathetic and they need to be dedicated to their education. Instead of seeing school as something adults and the government make them do, they should look at it as their job and preparation for their future.

Yet students are children as well and just want to have fun. They don't see the importance of education until they are adults (usually), if ever. Therefore, we need to strike a careful balance between work and play.

Accomplishing balance is the key to success for everything.

For most of my life, an adjective people have used to describe me is "innocent." On paper, I do sound innocent: I teach at a Catholic school, I knit, I sing, I love to read, I have a tattoo, but even that is fairly artistic (at least I think so)...I don't sound like I've been corrupted. Being around Catholics most of the time, people have stopped calling me innocent. Believe it or not, I'm the rebel and risk-taker (tattoo, potty mouth...I break some doctrine rules).

However, tonight I was reminded that I am, in some respects, innocent. My friends talk about sex and body parts, and risqué-type things. It so happens that my jaw happens to drop. I am not shocked because I feel like I'm being corrupted. On the contrary. For instance, two of my friends went to a photographer to get pin-up style pictures taken of them. On the one hand, I have always felt inhibited and self-conscious. On the other, I have always wanted pin-up pictures of myself taken. What girl doesn't want to feel sexy? So why does my jaw drop? Is it because I'm afraid to let other people know that I have a wild side? Do I worry about sinning (not really, but would I if I actually followed through on my actions?)? Do I worry that I will fail and not look sexy in those pictures?

I think what it comes down to is that I am worried about how people see me. Does "bad girl" match me? Will people believe that I think those things are cool? I also worry that I won't do a good job at it, that I am a perfectionist. When my friends talk about doing those "risqué" things, I'm not shocked, I feel a little jealous because it sounds like they are really living and having a lot of fun. Sometimes I feel that I do play too much by the rules, yet I am still unsure of which rules I want to break.

It seems that women are still categorized: the religious girl, the good girl, the feminist, the man-hater, the bad girl, the slut, the smart girl, the pretty girl, the ugly girl. But it seems that women cannot wear a few of those labels at the same time. Perhaps I will one day be gutsy enough to change that.

When I'm not knitting, I'm a middle school teacher. It actually takes up a considerable amount of time. I would about 60 hours a week to prep and grade six different classes (I plan six different hours of work a day). This week, my school's email went down. I spend about an hour a day responding to parent emails. As terrible as it sounds, I'm rather glad that the email went down...

Here's why.

I spend day after day with students and I often explain the same concept 3+ times a day per class. My students should have heard the assignment, read the assignment, and wrote the assignment in their planners before leaving the class. So when a parent emails me asking for the homework, I'm a little irritated that their child either forgot, lied to them, or didn't want to tell them. Secondly, I post my weekly homework online the Sunday before the week starts. Rather than email me, parents can simply check the website. My most common email is about lost work. Of course your child thought s/he turned it in; they always do. However, after going through the backpack for five minutes or less, usually the child or parent will find the assignment. If a child is disorganized and lost the assignment, that is not my fault. My school provided an organizational class and all middle school teachers taught it at the beginning of the year. Therefore, 95% of the emails I receive ask for information that the parents can get in another way.

This tells me a few things about modern parents. They have tons of resources, but they are lazy, much like their children, and contact the teacher, giving teachers more work on their "off" time. Parents don't help their children stay organized. And lastly, helicopter parents believe that the more they check their child's grades and email the teachers, that their children should get A's in the class, regardless of natural intelligence.

So at the end of the day, it's really nice to not have to repeat myself to the parents, teaching them via email what I taught their children in class. Now I can spend more time grading and planning during my "off" hours.

Or more time knitting :D

Although my elbow was completely dead on Sunday, by Monday evening I could barely feel any pain. I was extremely tempted to knit, but I didn't (my boyfriend also wouldn't let me). I still put Tiger Balm on my elbow that night, just for safe measure. Yesterday felt fine; I could hardly remember the pain. I have not knit at all. I am going to knit today, but I will first do my hand exercises.

I am not sure how I hurt my elbow. Perhaps it was knitting too much, or perhaps I injured it at the gym. Maybe it was stress from working too much. Probably, it was a combination of everything. I am simply looking forward to finishing my sweater. Pictures to come soon!

Happy knitting!

I have officially not knit since Sunday at 7pm! The good news is that my elbow feels fine again. However, I have noticed a side effect.

As part of my child psychology class, we had to do an experiment on ourselves like with Pavlov's dog: change a bad habit to make it a good one or to make it go away. I had read that crochet was a good activity to get rid of stress. So I crocheted for two weeks (I didn't successfully make anything). That exercise helped me with my nervous tick of constantly picking at my nails.  So when the official experiment ended, I continued it, but switched back to knitting because I enjoyed that more. That was the summer of 2009, when my time spent knitting started to go through the roof.

Up until my injury, any time I had to sit and listen, I had needles and yarn in my hand. It really helped me to be productive. I didn't have one unproductive moment. This is why going so long without knitting is rather remarkable.

There was a negative consequence...knitting does not remove stress. One would think that after years of knitting to avoid picking at my nails, one day would be nothing. Wrong! I was watching TV yesterday and I couldn't stop moving my hands. They were going to my cuticles, my arms, everywhere. I was constantly moving. Finally my boyfriend had to grab both of my hands to keep them still. What did I do? I gave  him a hand massage.

So my experiment ultimately failed: no matter how long I replace a bad habit with a good one, my hands will still be going going going! At least my elbow is pain-free. It felt fine last night. Still, no knitting today. I will go to the gym and see how it works.

Lesson: take a break from knitting for 10 minutes after having knit 45 minutes.

Happy knitting!