Moving

I would like to know if there has ever been a move that has gone smoothly. Okay, well, I will admit my move to Japan was pretty smooth. Bear in mind, though, that I moved into a furnished apartment. All I brought were books, clothes, personal items. I think I only had something like four boxes and two suitcases.

Joy and I moved into this wonderful duplex in the museum district. It's a great old house with the original hardwood floors, windows everywhere, off-street parking, central air and heat, and an upstairs neighbor who is never around. I say we moved in. We are here. The boxes are here. Our stuff is still in boxes. Yep. As I speak, the plumber is here. Again. The electrician is supposed to come today. Again. I'm still waiting for the dryer vent to be connected so I can wash two weeks worth of dirty clothes. I still have to figure out how to hang the shower rod so that the bottom six inches of the curtain are not slouching on the ground.

I really can't complain too much, though. The bed is unpacked, of course. The A/C is keeping me nice and cool. ATT finally finished installing the Internet, so now I can work on classwork, volunteer stuff, and, of course, this blog. It would just be nice to move in for real.

Third Semester

I'm starting my third semester of library school. I am taking and indexing and abstracting course, a cataloging course, and a preservation course. I am also going to be working on two practica, both in digital services, one public and one academic. I am running for Vice President of Houston LISSA. I am now the Secretary of GCAM. I am doing volunteer work for Houston ARCH. I'll be working on the wiki. I am volunteering at Houston Public Library. Oh, and I'm looking for a part-time job. I was hoping to find something along the lines of personal assistant to world leader since that's a job I hope to take on in the future. ;)

(I really am looking for a part-time job, though, in case anyone knows of anything library or database related. Thanks!)

Final Final

I gave my very last final exam for high school English I hope I ever have to give. I have turned in my resignation, received my five year service pin, and I am packed up and done. I will miss my students--well, many of them. There are many things I won't miss, though, but all that's better left behind. I plan to just keep the odd and funny memories with me, like my Japanese students yelling konpyuuuuuutaaaaaa as loud as they could to their teammates. I'll miss my teacher friends. Fortunately, I will still get to see some of them since they play dodge ball and kick ball or whiffle ball every Sunday just down the street from me.

I do feel I have to say something about my overall experience and where I think public education is headed. Now, I am only speaking of my school, a school that ranks in the bottom fifteen percent in the state of Texas. They are truly headed in the wrong direction. They have been talking about giving teachers an extra conference period, which I do think is a good idea, especially for English teachers who have to read essays from 130 students. However, in order to accomplish this, they have to increase class size. I adamantly oppose this idea. Classes should be smaller. All they have to look at to see this is the grades of my small classes versus my large classes. I think they would see the difference across the board for all teachers. It seems like such an obvious solution to many problems teachers face that I can't believe this is not a solution they are trying their best to implement. I think I would have gladly worked seven periods a day if my classes had fifteen students, maximum. I know this isn't the only option, but I wish they had tried that out instead of all these other inane ideas that fade away long before the school year is even out. Eh. Enough about that. Summer vacation, here I come!