Found an Apartment!

Okay, so I have now checked off three major goals for my new life in San Diego. The first was finding a job. Check. Then I wanted to develop an exercise program. Check (thanks to the YMCA). Now, I have found a home. Check.

I'm moving in the end of April. I really like this apartment. It is located in a great area (Fashion Valley) with easy access to shopping and parks, close to the beach and the YMCA where I work out. Also has bike trails (I guess I'll need to get a bike) and is walkable to a trolley stop so that I can go downtown without needing to worry about parking.

The community of the complex itself is what sold me on it. Very cute. Lots of people out and about, walking dogs, smiling, talking to each other. Just very friendly. Made me feel like I would be happy to come home to this. And since pets are allowed, it makes me see a puppy in my near future. I could use a little companion.

The apartment itself isn't super remarkable. It's a 1-bedroom and in a good spot. Apparently this apartment is the only one in the whole community with upgraded design and appliances, so that is cool. But it is a nice size and I think will be very comfortable. Here is a link to the website for The Bluffs.

Now, here is the remaining checklist for the major goals for the remainder of the year, in no particular order:

1. Get furniture and stuff for apartment (I have virtually nothing besides books)
2. New car
3. Dog
4. Friends (maybe even a girlfriend)
5. Consolidate student loans! (I've got about $30,000 in debt...yikes!)
6. Something else that is important but I can't think of at the moment

So there you have it.

Introducing My Kindergartners

Let me start off by saying that kindergarten isn't all the songs and games and easel paintings that I had imagined. It is really serious. We have weekly tests, they are needing to write coherent book reviews, read non-patterned books, know numbers up to 30, and lord knows what else. It is intense. And full-day! I thought kinder was supposed to be half-day. Not here. They go from 8:30-3:30 with lunch from 11:20-12:00 and a recess from 1:45-2:00. That's it.

Now, add to that the specific challenges of our community. Very high poverty (everyone qualifies for free breakfast and lunches). Many immigrants/refugees/non-English speakers. I'm currently team-teaching with another teacher and combined we have 28 students. Of those 28, we have 2 African-American students and about 3 others who come from English-speaking homes (Chicano or mixed families). The other 23 are English language learners (at varying levels of proficiency). Some were born here, some weren't, and some arrived in the US less than a year ago. They come from very diverse places: Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, China, Mexico, and El Salvador (home languages include Swahili, Spanish, Somali, Thai, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Burmese, and Khmer). Many of their parents have very limited English skills and some have few academic skills. Many of the families have arrived in San Diego as refugees, fleeing wars and violence in their home countries. One of my mothers has lost her hands and bears scars across her face from the violence in Somalia.

Out of the 10 students who are officially mine, 4 students will certainly leave kindergarten at grade-level and ready for first grade. 3 of those students come from English-speaking homes and have literate parents, which helps and I'm sure some schools across this country take for granted. I have 2 students who are language learners and are behind mostly because of language (Swahili and Spanish), but are making good progress and should be near grade-level at the end of the year.

I have one African-American student who has a really unstable home-life and is absent about 40% of the time and, therefore, is WAY behind grade-level. Family hasn't been very cooperative and blames me/the school for everything, threatening to take her out of the school (as if that is going to do anything but put her even further behind at this point).

I have another student from Myanmar who is still at the Beginning (very low) language level in English and is actually a first grader, but had no prior schooling (he was in a refugee camp in Thailand last year) so he is with the kindergartners and will be repeating first grade next year. Still, he is near proficient in kindergarten math and knows his letter sounds well (just doesn't have the vocabulary to know what words he is sounding out).

Then there are 2 students who have mastered nearly nothing all year. No reading, no numbers. One can make a handful of letters (string of letter stage) and the other can make an A because her name starts with that, but doesn't know the name of the letter and otherwise mostly scribbles. One is a language learner (Somali) with very low English skills which is part of the problem. He is also out of control sometimes. He will destroy things, jump around, shout and make noises without stomping, hit people, and generally not cooperate. He gets frustrated and can't control his emotions, can't communicate his frustrations, and hasn't been socialized into how to behave respectfully and how to treat people and materials. I think he gets away with everything at home. The other comes from an English-speaking home, but may have some sort of mental processing issue. She doesn't have good fine-motor skills, and may be developmentally delayed.

Add to this the issues inherent with the age group, particularly those who have never attended preschool (which is most). They usually can't be reasoned with. I mean, why not crawl under the tables at center time and make cow sounds? That sounds perfectly reasonable. Struggle daily with self-control, sharing, lining up, etc.

Basically, it has been a daunting task. Many of the kids are succeeding, some are not. What to do? I wish I knew some time.

I praise all kindergarten teachers. I just hope I'm not one of them next school year. =)

Working Out

So I joined the YMCA last week and discovered the downfall of the hearty workout. The Y has this cool computerized system where you meet with a trainer who creates the program for you. Then when you come to workout, you sign in on this computer and it sets up a circuit for you and as you go to each machine it will know who you are and tell you your set-up on the machine (like where the seats should go), give your range of motion, and give/record your target reps/sets. You can also record any cardio stuff you do. And it is all compiled as data by the computer. It makes life very easy, so perhaps I might keep going.

The problem is that I've been going in the late afternoons/early evenings. I didn't want to eat beforehand, because I don't want cramps or vomiting (I see enough vomit at school). But after working out I am so hungry and seriously craving either a burger or Mexican food. Maybe I will manage some self-control and realize that that is not a good idea. But that part is definitely not easy.

Anyways, it is a start. I also asked out a coworker that I like to see if she wanted to hang out, but was deferred to the break. I feel like there aren't a bunch of teachers here that have time to hang out. Maybe that is just me. But they are mostly older or 30s but married with a young kid. Not the best combination. Hopefully next week I'll finally meet with this guy at UCSD to look into the Chicano theater scene. That would be cool to get involved with. Aside from that, I don't know. I'm hoping to find a social niche soon. I'm also very actively looking for an apartment, but it seems like an expensive undertaking. We'll see if I can find something nice though. That's all for now.

Still to come...The Inner World of a Kindergartner.

Patience

Starts out thick and firm
PATIENCE
With a smooth surface of
Freshly laid asphalt
Covering the worries
Until time and doubt
Eat away at the ground
And sinkholes
And potholes
Rip holes
In your
PAT_____CE
____IEN

And the worries leak
Onto the surface
Cracking the pavement
Along the fault line
What once was
PATIENCE
Falls apart into a crumbly
Despair of never-will-be’s
Leaving behind only the
P
To remind you that
PATIENCE
Is virtue even when
Out of reach.

Patience is a virtue

Patience, my friends and family, is a virtue. After all, good things come to those who wait. Well, I have been waiting to write this note for a long time, and I think the people that claim this are people who have already discovered the good things, not the people still waiting. I thought I would wait until I had really settled in to my new and better life. I’m a patient person after all, or so I’ve been told. And I can be very patient. Especially at work I can be very patient, almost too patient with those little hooligans. Champion of pulling an elephant through the mud.

Patience wares thin though. Just ask Emily or my family. I lose patience quickly with life sometimes. I have this mythical life mapped out in my head. I have a job I love in a beautiful city that I find comfortable. I have a love and a family and a dog, not to mention the nice home with the perfect yard for entertaining and a soft, comfy sofa. I’m surrounded with friends and family, life feels full.

Moving to San Diego would help push me in that direction, was my thought. Bring me one step closer to making that dream a reality. And I approach it with patience. After all, I don’t expect to be married next year or to buy a house (although the market makes such a dream a little more reasonable). These things take time. I’ve only been here for two months and I’ve really made some good progress. In the grand scheme of things, I have accomplished so much in just 24+ years of life. I’ve traveled the world, I have a bucket full of coursework, degrees, and honors, I’ve taught every grade from K through grad school, I’ve met amazing people, and I’ve loved.

So, am I happy with the choice of moving to San Diego? In the pit of waiting, patience gives way to despair sometimes. But, when the sun shines through the darkness, with patience I remind myself that things are going pretty well. I have no complaints about the city. San Diego is beautiful and diverse. There is a lot to explore, a lot to do, great restaurants, all the stores that I need, and some cool coffee shops too. I’ve found a job in exactly the kind of school I’ve wanted to work at, surrounded by an amazing staff all dedicated to serving a needy and diverse population.

I’m just lonely. I’ve been lonely a lot in my life. Spent many weekends alone. Seen many movies alone. Eaten many meals alone. I feel very comfortable alone, but not very happy. So, I need to pick my spirits up and pour some energy into making friends. I’m not very good at this. I don’t know how to do it without the kind of given cohort of a school environment. But just having more friends will help a lot with this patience.

So, maybe I need to join some sort of group or class. I’ve been pretty worn out and overwhelmed by my work, but that is getting better now and I think I’ll have more time. I’m going to be on vacation in April (the school is year round so we get April and August off), so I’ll be doing some traveling then. I was hoping to move out on my own in April, but I don’t know if I’ll have the money (I’m currently earning a low sub hourly range of $16 an hour, despite full time/overtime teaching work). We’ll see what another month brings. All I know is that I need more patience. =)