The Butt-Fart-Death-Grip

Ever since I could remember, anyone and everyone, would always ask me this question, “What was it like to grow up with four brothers?” I always felt a little speechless with this question, and a little annoyed. I mean, how would I know anything different? To me, growing up with four brothers was just normal. Well, “normal” for me. So, here I am, attempting to answer the question with memory of a common interaction between me and my oldest brother. Here's a little picture of what "normal" was like for a girl stuck in the middle of four boys!

Firstly, I need to communicate just how much bigger my oldest brother was than me. He was a good four years older than me, and was not some stringy, thin older brother either. And I was definitely a girl, meaning I was, in no way, stronger than him. 

Secondly, I was "mostly" (yes I do realize I was probably the typical annoying little sister) an innocent bystander to his "shenanigans".  Most of the times, I would be sitting on the couch enjoying a TV show that wasn’t football, basketball or baseball, minding my own little business. My oldest brother would come along, see that I was just sitting there, obviously enjoying myself a little too much, and most likely irritated that I had gotten control of the channel box (aka remote control). Then, all of a sudden, and completely out of no where and beyond my control, he would tackle me down on the couch, manage to get his butt on my face, and release a big, nasty, full of intestinal odor, fart. No kicking, yelling, punching, or squirming could release me from the butt-fart-death-grip. Unfortunately for me, this was a common interaction between me and my oldest brother and until he moved out and on to college did I see the end of these butt-fart-death-grips. 

It Is The Music

We all know that there is a song for every mood, every moment, that just captures the emotion and heart that words nor anything else can. I have felt this way my whole life. My father trained his whole young adult life to be a concert pianist. He is probably one of the most passionate men I know, and I admire him greatly for that. He won't do anything that he doesn't love. I hope, and some have told me, that I have inherited this quality from him. To me, there's no point to life, to every day life, if there's no passion in it. I love feeling passionate and I love seeing other people be passionate. So I grew up around a father who was very passionate, about life, about his reason for being in this world, and for music. One of my favorite memories growing up, was when my dad would sit down on the piano and start banging away on the keys. From "Saturday in the Park" by Chicago to "Let it Be" by the Beatles to any one of his classical exploits (that I don't remember), I would dance away in the background as he would rock back and forth with his fingers flying across the keys. Then I would get tired or embarrassed because one of my four obnoxious (but very wonderful) brothers would appear and I wouldn't dare give them another opportunity to tease me, if I could help it. I would sit on the stairs, pretending that I couldn't be seen, and just listen to his music. It was one of those moments, where I felt on the outside looking in, looking in on something magical, something passionate.

My Most Brilliant Ideas

Why is it I get my most brilliant ideas at night? And I don’t just mean the evening, I mean night, like midnight to 2 am. It’s just like my brain turns on at night, my writing brain and when I try to turn it on during the day, its not available. I can’t even seem to squeeze one creative thought out during daylight. But at night, when it’s dark, and still, and the stars are covering the sky, and it seems it’s just me, my brain, and the world, all alone. And then all of sudden, thoughts just spark and come alive, from stories to thoughts about blogs, to hilarious moments, to ultra-moving and inspiring quotes. But it’s my bedtime! And I have to sleep because I have to get up the next morning and work with kids for 6 hours (and you definitely need sleep for that!). So, I try my best to fight the urge to creep out of bed, into the still dark living room, turn on my laptop, listen to my latest theme song, and just write away. 

A Green Beginning

Here's to doing something new and different in life! I've always heard that gardening can be therapeutic, not that I need "therapizing" at the moment, but I could use the rejuvenation of a little new adventure. So let meet introduce you to my three little guys. On the left, we have a concoction of three different mystery herbs (the tag listed nine possible herbs they could be without specifying which ones I had) and I'm not good enough with herbs to be able to smell and name. The middle guy, is lemon peppermint, which I did not know even existed nor did I realize I bought "lemon" peppermint. And lastly, is my cactus, which now that I'm introducing my plants, I realize I don't know what this one is either! Well, I guess this is a pretty haphazard beginning to my garden adventure! Let's hope this is not a foreshadowing of my success as a gardener. At least, I'm guaranteed that one will survive. I've heard it's pretty hard to kill a cactus.

Hoping for the Best...Life of Pi

                                                              

Have you ever found yourself reading a book, you get so into it, you just have to highlight that line because it was such an amazing quote? And then, immediately afterward, you feel all the effects of nerdiness spilling out? Well, that's me, every time I pick my new addiction Life of Pi. No, I have not seen the movie, and please don't spoil it any more for me than one of my brothers has already. To quote him, the movie was "finding nemo meets castaway meets the jungle book meets the book of Job". Finding that critique to be entirely uninspiring, I dropped the book for a few weeks and resorted back to the always satisfying Harry Potter series. However, the other night, I was in one of those, take-on-the-world-and-do-good-things-that-I-never-want-to-do moods and decided I needed to give the book one more try. And, once again, I got out my highlighter and my nerdiness and absolute happiness seeped out. Well, here's to hoping that the book is a million times more satisfying than the movie!
Oh, and, I just have to share with you all a few quotes. I really can't help myself (really).

"If we, citizens, do not support our artists, then we sacrifice our imagination on the altar of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams."

"I have nothing to say of my working life, only that a tie is a noose, and inverted though it is, it will hang a man nonetheless if he's not careful."

"It was my luck to have a few good teachers in my youth, men and women who came into my dark head and lit a match."

"Doubt is useful for a while. We must all pass through the garden of Gethsemane. If Christ played with doubt, so must we. If Christ spent an anguished night in prayer, if He burst out from the Cross, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' then surely we are also permitted to doubt. But we must move on. To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation."

Who Knew a Tech Class Could Be So Interesting?

I'm creative. I love art, even though I'm not very good at it. I love writing and reading and reading some more. I hate math and doing anything with numbers. I'm terrible at measurements, spacial awareness, and especially technology. I have a brother and a boyfriend who are both obsessed with technology. I'm always hearing (and tuning out) the latest phone, software, and apple product. They keep nagging me to get a new computer because the one I have is so old! To me, however, it's only 5 years old. I'll use it until it stops turning on, even though I can't itunes on it, the disc drive is broken, and it can no longer receive new updates. Needless to say, I am very technologically illiterate.
When it came time for me to take EDSE 241, I was a little worried about dedicating a whole semester to a technology class. Among my many assignments for the class, I was asked to accomplish things I have never done before and never really thought very capable of. I created my first website. I learned about and fell in love with Prezi. I'm creating my first blog and will eventually get a handle on how to create a podcast.
Those are the "techy" aspects of the class that have changed me but there are the fundamental ideas and beliefs set forth in this class that have also changed me. The belief that the role of teachers is changing in the 21st century. Using technology is a critical part of the future of education. My role is no longer to stand in front of the class and lecture and assess and grade. Instead, my role is to engage and push to inspire and equip my students for the 21st century, with its permeation of technology.
My role and my passion as a teacher has always been to inspire and to instill in my students a belief and understanding that they could change the world around them. Now I know the tools to help them accomplish that task.