Okay, I changed my mind from my last post. I do, in fact, wish to share my most delightful and outrageous moments from 2012. In order to follow people who seem to agree that everything should be organized according to a randomly chosen group of numbers, I'll attempt a top ten, although realistically there are probably much more (or, as I try to compile this list, I'll really have to work hard at coming up with 10!). **UPDATE...yes, there is a top ten, but I got stuck at number three and gave up. Also, these are really in no particular order because I poke fun at stuff that is organized by numbers e.g. Seven Steps to a Better Fate or whatever. :) I'm sure I could never definitely choose an orderly place for each of these memories!
#10. I danced with Goofy at the Mickey's Backyard Barbeque in Disney World. I was trying to film Owen as he danced with a group of children around Goofy when suddenly Goofy pulled my arm. It was actually pretty hilarious because it was country dancing which I know nothing about, so I pretty much just stood there and moved my body somehow. It lasted for a long few minutes and then he kissed my hand and moved on. I'm pretty sure some uptight mothers were getting mad that Goofy was spending too much time with me and not their children. I guess I'm just that good. (And I'm not sure how to spell barbeque, but it keeps popping up in spellcheck!)
#9. My AP Language students decided in March that they wanted to celebrate the 43rd anniversary of the Tinker vs Des Moines Supreme Court case, so I bought black material and made them all black armbands in honor of the verdict of this case. I was immensely proud of my students' desire to apply their learning to the real world and to their lives. Almost all of them wore those armbands for the entire day. And then one student decided to wear a red one and remain silent in an attempt to bring awareness to her anti-abortion beliefs. I admired her application of everything we'd discussed about the power of peaceful protest.
#8. A year ago, a student graduated who I'd taught in AP Language. Actually, I'd only taught him for one semester before I dropped him because he had an F. He just wouldn't turn in any work, but of course he was really smart. His senior year, he would come into my classroom with a large group of AP Language grads during lunch and we all had fun and goofed around. He's way more sarcastic than me and in a really mean way, but it was fun. However, I didn't think I'd really made any sort of impact on his life except to serve as an example of a stereotypical English teacher who was really picky and flunked people. He gave me a present, though, at the end of the year, Stephen Colbert's book I Am American (And So Can You!) which I really appreciated, needless to say. :) And it wasn't until an entire year later that I discovered he had written over the dedication on the dedication page. He crossed a line through the type and wrote, "To Mrs. Gregory who couldn't, but always will, inspire me."
I definitely started crying.
#7. I sort of obsess over the idea that my five year-old should be reading by now. And I beat myself up sometimes that if I weren't so busy with teaching and classes, I would be a better mother and he'd be able to read. One morning before school I was drying my hair and Owen was in my bathroom with me sitting on the floor. He pointed to a box of my hot curlers, and said, "That says 'on.' That says 'off.'"
Don't underestimate your children. And don't beat yourself up by thinking you don't do enough for your children. Setting a good example takes care of itself sometimes.
#6. I completed my internship for my second Master's degree at an intermediate school. Actually, my son's school. One required component was giving booktalks. To do this, I had to read six books, and my internship supervisor (who is the best!) recommended I choose from the South Carolina children's book nominees. I wasn't sure I'd enjoy this at first, but it turned out to be completely wonderful! I loved all of the books I chose to read because it made me feel like a kid again. I remembered the feeling of joy that I used to always feel when I read earlier in my life when it wasn't from a textbook titled Reference Services. :)
#5. Connor likes for me to read him Calvin and Hobbes comics as his bedtime stories. I LOVED them when I was his age as well, so this has been a special time for me. My favorite comic shows Calvin go through a rough day, and at the end he tells Hobbes, "Some days even my lucky rocket ship underpants don't work." And Hobbes replies, "Well, you've done all you can." Just awesome and true to life. This comic strip is so sarcastic and funny, it just works perfectly for both me and Connor. I'm so proud that he gets the sarcasm!
#4. (this is my last one, and it's 1:20am...I think for right now I'm gonna quit and I'll come back to this one later)
#3. My graduation from the USC School of Library and Information Science! I started this program in the fall of 2009, taking one course at at time, so this day was a long time in coming. But I think my personal motto is "Slow and steady wins the race." I had to get used to writing academic papers again and had to learn how to use a massive amount of technology (well, to me anyway). I also had to find time to complete all of the work along with my other responsibilities. I remember starting out thinking I didn't have too much to learn about libraries. I could not have been more wrong. Although at times it was tedious and seemed just stupid, I really enjoyed the program overall and learned much more than I could ever type in this blog. Anyone who really knows me knows that I'm an intellectual at heart and like to read about complex ideas, so I enjoyed reading different theories about democracies, intellectual freedom, and the changing roles of libraries in the 21st century, especially media specialists in schools. I have to be honest and admit that I'm proud of my ability to complete this program with a 4.0 while taking care of my family and teaching AP Language. I couldn't have done it without God and Brian (let me emphasize that they are two different "people"). My message to anyone: don't underestimate yourself, and if you want something, you won't let anything stop you. You won't be too tired for it. And you won't let anyone tell you that you can't do it.
#2. Twenty-four hours before a major paper was due in my last class for my Master's in Library and Information Science, I discovered the Word file had become corrupt and I could not open it. My best friend Kristin's brother who has a major job in computers couldn't even fix it. I worked on that paper for almost a full week and was just about finished with it when this happened. I had just spent the weekend in Hendersonville, NC, with my best friend on a wine tasting tour. It was so relaxing and fun and really put me in the right frame of mind to then hunker down and finish the paper. Let me emphasize that I had already written about 20 pages of it...now gone. I had twenty-four hours to redo it. After crying and screaming and trying to justify in my mind not writing it at all (I even went back to the course syllabus but discovered to my dismay that the professor explicitly typed "All assignments must be turned in in order to pass the course and receive credit"...this must have happened before to merit such specific attention). So of course I had to end up just facing the fact that I went from a fabulous weekend to the worst academic situation of my life in a period of about four hours. But guess what? I did it. I rewrote and finished the entire damn thing with about two hours to spare. And I got a 100. The lesson? Use Google docs. Don't let yourself freak out so much that you fail. It also helps if you're not a perfectionist. I also learned how to write a graduate level research paper without thinking too much because at this point I had zero mental energy left.
#1. All right, here it is! I was chosen by the steering committee to teach a session at the AP national conference this past summer. The conference was held at the Swan and Dolphin resorts at Disney World which, truth be told, is the only reason I applied (heavy hotel discount given). When I realized that going as a family wouldn't really work because I'd be teaching and attending sessions for three days, I decided I needed a special friend to go with me. Which of course meant Kristin, my best friend. I think I asked her, "Hey, you wanna go to Disney by ourselves for four days?" And that was that. We lay by the pool having a few drinks and the best pot roast with potatoes and collard greens that we've ever tasted, and we even ate dinner at the Animal Kingdom Lodge where, yes Kristin, we saw a real giraffe. And then I decided that she might be ready to go to a theme park for the first time. I discovered that the Magic Kingdom would be open until 2am that Friday night, July 20, which would be perfect because we could go later in the day when it wouldn't be quite as hot but still get our money's worth. When we bought our one-day pass, we discovered we got a discount, so it was even more awesome! I even managed to snag us a dinner reservation at the Crystal Palace character buffet. Everything was perfect except how freaking hot it was! We sat in the Crystal Palace for two hours just to avoid having to go outside. But the evening was perfect. I managed to get her on almost everything in the Magic Kingdom, and to my delight, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was her favorite (it's my older son Connor's favorite too, as well as my husband's). Throughout the night, there were times that I remembered I was going to give a big presentation in the morning to who knew how many AP Language teachers from across the country and I would get momentarily horrified. But then, I was in the Magic Kingdom!! 2am rolled around and we just managed to ride Space Mountain before everything closed. We walked with the crowd to the buses and waited. We didn't arrive back at the Dolphin until around 3am, and then of course had to shower because I had never sweated so much in my life (really). So we're talking 3:30am bedtime. My alarm went off at 6am. Presentation started at 9am, and we had breakfast first and I set up my presentation stuff. All I can say is that I have the best friend because she got up with me, and I would have been even more of a nervous wreck if she hadn't been there with me before and during my presentation! I know there were a few spotty moments at the beginning of my presentation when I really needed more coffee, but other than that, it went very well. I love doing crazy, last-minute things that make me really appreciate life, and this night was definitely one of them. Best bragging rights ever! Magic Kingdom until 2am, and then presenting information to AP Language teachers about teaching a unit on the rhetoric and argument of writings from the American Civil Rights Movement (and related topics).
I can email you my presentation if you're interested.
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