Well, this was a different week: I was sick all week!\u00a0 I guess it was convenient that I was sick this week because this is the only week this year that I have a break between classes.\u00a0 The timing couldn\u2019t have been better.<\/p>\n
My daughter was also sick, about a day ahead of me (she got sick on Saturday, I got sick on Sunday), so the two of us spent Monday together.\u00a0 We watched a lot of TV.\u00a0 On Tuesday, she was better, but I had moved from the sore throat phase to the coughing phase.\u00a0 I decided that today would be a \u201cfrozen disaster movie\u201d day.\u00a0 I watched six movies that all dealt with the end of the world through freezing or a global ice age.\u00a0 I started with the worst rated movie and went towards the better rated movies.\u00a0 By doing this, each movie got progressively more impressive.\u00a0 It was a pretty good day!\u00a0 Alas, by Wednesday, my cold was turning into bronchitis (I\u2019m allergic to dust and pollen, usually well-controlled through medication\u2026 unless I get a cold, then it kicks in, and I get bronchitis).\u00a0 I spent my time taking more medication and breathing a lot of steam.\u00a0 The movie theme for today was the extended trilogy of \u201cThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.\u201d\u00a0 The first movie of this series had made it to America from Sweden last year, but I didn\u2019t realize that all three movies had already been made.\u00a0 Not only that, but the Swedes had actually made six movies: 1A&B, 2A&B, 3A&B.\u00a0 Each section was about one-and-a-half hours long.\u00a0 For international distribution, each A\/B section was condensed into a two hour movie.\u00a0 I could also watch the condensed versions on Netflix, but I had the time so I watched the full nine hours of movies instead of six.\u00a0 The series was fantastic (though sexually graphic in parts).\u00a0 I highly recommend it!\u00a0 No wonder the book series was such a hit.\u00a0 Thursday, I was in worse shape so I slept a lot and spent more time breathing steam.\u00a0 I only got through one movie, Vanilla Sky, which was interesting but weird.\u00a0 I watched original Star Trek episodes after that.<\/p>\n
Because I was sick, I had to turn down sub jobs for both Monday and Thursday.\u00a0 Both these were jobs requested well in advance so I hated cancelling these because they had requested me specifically.\u00a0\u00a0 By not taking them, I felt I was letting the school and the teacher down.\u00a0 On Monday of this week, I had gotten another specific request (for Friday) and this one was in the History department at the High School.\u00a0 Yeah! Finally!\u00a0 Up to this point, the History department wanted to have nothing to do with me, or any other sub, because they had a sub they liked very much and they didn\u2019t want to \u201crisk\u201d using any other sub.\u00a0 I had mentioned my frustration about this last week to the sub they were using, who happens to be a good friend of mine and suddenly, I get this request!\u00a0 She had put in a good word for me!\u00a0 This was quite an opportunity, and one I could not pass up.\u00a0 Dead or alive, I was going to take it, so on Friday, I dragged myself out of bed, breathed in a lot of steam, took a lot of meds and headed off to school.\u00a0 The teacher was going on a field trip with his AVID class and he was there when I arrived.\u00a0 We had a great chat.\u00a0 My wife is also an AVID teacher at the Middle School so this teacher knew my wife and has worked with her.\u00a0 He learned that I was looking for a History job and that I liked Geography and World History best, which were also his favorites.\u00a0 The both of us also talked about our mutual love of travel as well.\u00a0 We really hit it off!\u00a0 If I did a good job, he may recommend me to the department!<\/p>\n
I had seen his classroom before and thought it was the best classroom I had ever seen anywhere.\u00a0 It was so full of interesting things; one couldn\u2019t help but learn in an environment like this!\u00a0 Today, I would be showing a video on the Philippines to his three Geography classes and a video on Israel\/Palestine to his AVID class and World History class.\u00a0 The AVID class had two students, since the rest of the class had gone off to UC Santa Cruz.\u00a0 These two students were staying behind so they could take a college placement exam.\u00a0 The Israel\/Palestine video was interesting: it showed six different perspectives of life in and around Jerusalem as seen through the eyes of children of different faiths.\u00a0 The other film on the Philippines was interesting, but also full of blood and gross foods.\u00a0 Many of the freshmen students were squeamish.\u00a0 This teacher\u2019s prep was third period.\u00a0 There was also an assembly today and there was a break somewhere in between as well.\u00a0 As a result, I had a two hour block with nothing to do.\u00a0 I rested on a couch and watched a Star Trek episode and an episode of Top Gear on my iPad.\u00a0 After that rest, I felt pretty good.\u00a0 The last three periods of the day were a breeze and all of this teacher\u2019s classes were wonderful.\u00a0 I even knew a few of the students in one of his classes: our new pastor\u2019s son, and friends of my daughter.\u00a0 I would also see the pastor\u2019s son tonight at my house because we were having a potluck with his family.\u00a0 It was a good day and I survived to tell the story!<\/p>\n
Saturday will be a day of rest\u2026 and maybe I\u2019ll start that portfolio now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Well, this was a different week: I was sick all week!\u00a0 I guess it was convenient that I was sick this week because this is the only week this year that I have a break between classes.\u00a0 The timing couldn\u2019t … Continue reading