Elizabeth and the humanity of chickens

21-15-9 reps cleans 45 lbs
21-15-9 reps dips (x1.5 for bench dips)

11:02

My clean form is still not fantastic...I need to do some more work with Paul. It feels good to be back to crossfitting again. Have softball again tonight, hopefully it won't get rained out!

I'm in a better mood today, due to my run, I'm sure of it. I also had some good things happen. Ms. Kelly at my school is such an upbeat person. She is great at affirmation. As teachers, we are like banks from which withdrawals are constant. Maybe more like a Federal Reserve than a bank, since we can sustain A LOT of withdrawals before we start to feel the drain. Well, ironically, my trip to New Mexico, which seemed like a huge deposit, may have actually been a drain. After an awesome week with 10 terrific top students, it was hard coming back to the whining apathy that the rest of my students seemed to be showing. I had minimal patience, and the people I always feel sorry for are the students that do everything and don't complain. I will do some ranting to all the class and I always specifically apologize to those who do their work, not by name, though I hope they all know who they are. So this week was very hard, which is funny in a way, "Oh poor me I was on a trip all last week and my job sucks" doesn't really fly...and its not true (the sucking part) for the most part.

So this morning after Elizabeth I was determined to have a better day. We hatched chickens this week, and without fail, year after year, the students demonstrate their humanity in a way that is fulfilling. After a year of what seems like too much belittling each other and mockery, they let their true selves show through with the baby chicks. You can see who is the nurturer, the adventurer, and the student who is indifferent because they want to get their work done so they have no homework. They assign different roles to the chickens which are so human in nature. They all scream when the chick takes a poop (which is often). So that helped my spirit.

Our student newspaper came out today and there is a "Student of the Month" section. One student is selected from each grade 9-12. I have both the freshman and the senior students in my bio and hort classes, and they both said that that is their favorite class (along with another) because, to quote Nicole "my teachers are awesome" and Jackie "the classes are challenging and very artsy". The little deposits in the Federal Reserve that reap large benefits for me. Not to mention Ms. Kelly's story of her mother's funeral where a bride and groom showed up because the mom was the girl's kindergarden teacher. They stopped at the funeral home between the wedding and the reception. What an honor to know that that woman made such an impact in a child's life.

I have wanted to make a folder of "feel goodys" but never have over the years. I am going to start today with those student of the month clippings because I think its a good idea to have that to remind myself during the rough times.