Essays

     Essays are a necessary evil in my job. They are an integral part of any high school English class. I hate assigning them. I spend approximately 6 weeks teaching my 11th grade students how to write and format an essay. You ask why I spend so much time teaching an essay. they have been writing essays since they were in 5th grade. I know this because I subbed in a 5th grade class when I was getting my credential. I had a friend who taught 5th grade. She taught essays and it was standard curriculum for 5th grade.
     So, one would thing that by the time they get to me they should know how to construct a 5 paragraph essay. I begin by teaching them brainstorming. They get that. I follow that by teaching them how to outline. We start by doing one together on the board. I teach them the rules: the roman numerals, if you have a one you must have a two and so on. I have them choose an author from their literature book and have them outline the one page biographies. Then I have them outline a newspaper article. Then we go to the computer lab and type them according to the rules. Once they type their own they practice by typing 3 more, just to get the format in their head. they haven't even been told at this point that they are going to do an essay.
     After the outlines I teach them all about the MLA Works Cited Page. I have a practice exercise that involves finding the correct information they need for thirteen pieces of information they might cite: a song from a CD, a book with two authors, a map from an atlas, an article from a magazine, a letter to the editor, an advertisement, a cartoon or comic strip and six others. There is a handout that gives them exactly what information they need to compile for each item. then we take all this information to the computer lab, again, and learn how to type it up in MLA format. I model it for them, I give them examples of what it should end up looking like and we discuss the rules regarding formatting. I also introduce them to Easybib which is a free website that allows you to put all the information into boxes under the categories and it will format the citation for you. A miracle.
     We go step by step into choosing the topics (a persuasive essay), getting backup, parenthetical citations, formatting the paper on a whole, how a 5 paragraph essay is constructed and what goes into each paragraph. then they write a rough draft. We read them out loud to each other. We do peer editing. then they type it up and have a tutor edit the first final draft. then they put it all together, make corrections, and type up a final paper with citations and Works Cited page. Comes out to be 4 pages, tops. Easy Peasy! Right? One would think so.
     But every year, even though I do get a couple of A papers, and not always from the best students, just the ones who cared enough to try and learn how to do a good job, most of the papers never get a grade above an F. And I think about giving up. Just giving up on these kids because it is part and parcel of their make-up not to care too much. They can't see how important this all is. They will need this stuff when they get to college. Sadly, many of them will remember my class and regret not learning more. But it won't be because I didn't try. I hope they remember that. 

Jobs

     I am currently holding my last job. I hope. I have been working since I was 15 and if you do the math, ACK, that is over 41 years now! I'm tired. I did take a couple of years off before I started teaching to finish my degree and get my credential. But that maybe was the hardest work of all. Brain work at an age when most people are settled into a daily routine, working at a job, having kids in high school, and would never consider going back to school. I am an over achiever I guess, or maybe just plain dumb to struggle so much so late in life. Hard to say. But I know at the time that I did not want to do what I was doing for the rest of my working career. so I thought I would take this opportunity to see if I could list all the jobs I have had, paying jobs that is, besides being a mom and wife, officer of my quilt guild, etc...
     Here goes: (Note: some of these I had overlapping as in 2 or more part time jobs) 1. Salesclerk: The Broadway Dept. Store, 2. Bookkeeping Clerk: Santa Barbara Savings, 3. Temp Office: Manpower, Inc. 4. Payroll Asst.: Manpower, Inc., 5. Delivery: Brundage Flower Shop, 6. Asst. Manager: House of Fabrics, 7. Delivery: Santa Maria Valley Garden Center & Florist, 8. Designer: Santa Maria Valley Garden Center & Florist, 9. Designer: San Luis Floral, 10. Designer/ Floral Shop Manager: Dairy's Madonna Gardens, 11. Secretary: Waterway Irrigation & Pipe Supply, 12. Salesclerk: TG&Y. 13. Manager/Fabric Dept.: TG&Y, 14. Bookkeeper/Payroll: TG&Y, 15. Designer/Manager: Cramer's Flower Shop, 16. Owner: Diet Center, 17. Salesclerk: Gottschalks Dept. Store, 18. Janitor: Central Coast Janitorial, 19. ATM Servicer: Diebold, 20. Ad Inserter: Five Cities Times Press Recorder, 21. Route Person: Five Cities Times Press Recorder, 22. Morning Weekend Grill Cook: Jack in the Box, 23. Teller: HomeFed Bank, 24. Vault Teller: HomeFed Bank, 25. Operations Supervisor: HomeFed Bank, 26. Salesclerk: Welcome Home Retail Store, 27. Teller: SESLOC Federal Credit Union, 28. Salesclerk: Betty's Fabric Store, 29. Vacation Rental Manager: Dolphin Property Management, 30. Vacation Rental Manager: Sea Wave Property Management, 31. Data Processor/office help: Pismo Coast Management & Realty, 32. Substitute Teacher: Lucia Mar Unified School District, 33. Substitute Teacher: Santa Maria Joint Union High School District, 34. English Teacher: Santa Maria Joint Union High School District.
     THAT was an interesting excercise. I think I got them all. I'm tired. When can I retire?

Fog, dark:30 & Scarecrows

     Woke up this morning to fog at last. That means the days of severe heat are gone! Yea! Please! It's October already! I am not a hot weather person. I would rather have it cold everyday than hot. I love our weather here on the coast. It ranges between 65* and 75* most of the year. Perfect. But the downside of this is that we forfeit the seasons. Without notification in the news or on a calendar we would rarely know when Autumn or Spring start. It always comes as a shock to me when the nursery puts out their selection of bulbs that need to be planted in the fall for the next spring. I have to plant some ranuculus this weekend if I have time.
     And it doesn't matter what time of year it is; I get up at 5:30 most of the year and it is dark. Dark:30. That's what I call it. I don't know where I first heard that expression but it is certainly fitting. I have never liked this. I feel like I am being robbed of sleep. If left to my own devices I usually wake up naturally about 7:30ish. and it doesn't seem to matter what time of the year it is, at 7:30ish it is light outside.
     Looking forward to this weekend. We are going to Cambria to look at Scarecrows. All of the businesses and many of the private citizens make and display scarecrows for the entire month of October. I heard about this several years ago but have never actually gone to see them. It should be a nice drive. Doug and I can stat a new book. We just finished one of Clive Cussler's and I think we are going to start Water for Elephants.