Chipotle Joe

So, a few weeks ago we made a recipe that called for chipotle sauce. We got a bottle at the store, and as soon as I tried it I was in love. Chipotle is a hot sauce, but it has so much other flavor. It's almost sweet, but its got a dark, smokey secret. A couple days later I was making a pasta dish and instead of making up you're usual marinara, I just added a can of tomato sauce and a generous dose of our new chipotle sauce. It was crazy-easy, and really good, so try it!

Schools out

Here I am. Posting from school, right before I shut the door. I've turned in my keys, and all I have to do is give up the computer and meet with the principal. Its been a bittersweet year. I've loved it, but it's been crazy hard. I've learned a lot, but mostly I've learned that I can do it. It feels good to have been here, but I'm glad to be moving on. The future may be grim for teachers this next year, but I feel really good about it, actually. So I guess we'll see.

did you know?

Czechistankia is a country in Europe? neither did i...

End of the year

Not once or twice, but maybe 5 times these last weeks I have misplaced something in my classroom. Not just a stack of papers, but a copy of the final, my master key to a test, my ipod, etc. after checking the usual spots, plus the second usual spots, and still not finding the item, my first thought is: some punk kid came in and stole it. I wasn't looking, and they swiped it right under my nose. Ironically, one occasion was just minutes after I slathered praise on a pair of students doing some work for me after school for how much I trusted not only them, but ALL of my students. Apparently my trust is not too deep.

I think 'there was that one guy who wasn't my student sitting right next to my desk during flex', or 'it was the one kid that is ALWAYS in trouble that even the other kids don't trust'. It never has been, though. A couple months ago I thought that I had left out my mp3 player one day when there were ESL classes in my room that night. The next morning I searched my room frantically. Luckily I didn't send an accusing email to the administration because it turned up in one of my (way too) many drawers. They've all turned up in some odd spot or under something I never move.

This last week I had a real occurrence. My 8th graders were reviewing for a test and I had magnetted a copy of all the note sheets we had used during the unit. I noticed a particularly cool magnet of mine missing from the board. After I threatened to keep the class after the bell, and everyone accused the one person I actually suspected, someone found it under a cart. I think that the kid that stole it slipped it down there so that it would be found, but he wouldn't be blamed for it.

So, maybe I'm losing my mind. Maybe my suspicions are unfounded and ludicrous. Or maybe I've just been in a junior high too long. Yeah summer.

National Poetry Month

April is national poetry month. i've never really celebrated before, but i've missed poetry. also, when stuck on what assignment to give my ninth graders after watching a movie about apartheid, i decided on a poem. so they have to write a poem, any kind, about cry freedom. Here's one of my own that has been brewing in my head since friday.

     sit me down at the sea

     and be by me to look out over the world

     lost in horizons and sunsets.

     the bigness of it all, sinking in.

     but not really.

     we pretend to contemplate the universe

     but minds slip back to calendars and tasks.

     so we say, 'one day'.

     one day

     i will sit at the sea

     with no cares in the world, but the world

     and the bigness of it all.

what's up in the world

let me share what's been on my mind lately: the world.

i've always been a geek for world news, other cultures, and anything of an international flavour. i'm a self declared xenophile. now i teach world civilizations and geography, so i take it as part of my job to be up on current world events, history in the making, anniversaries, etc. (eg: i started my unit on the civil war on the 149th anniversary of its beginning.)

as a result of content and curriculum searches i've been exposed to a lot of online stuff like blogs that i've started following. here are a few i thought i'd share:

Millard Fillmore's Bathtub
This guy either grew up in Utah or went to school here. He now teaches in Texas. He's a great resource for social studies, specifically history. he also provides some interesting insight into some current social situations, specifically the texas board of ed.

John Sherffius: Cartoonist
Some of his editorial cartoons are a little cheesy, but for the most part he's right on and very clever.

Information is Beautiful
Visual artist that makes data representations for the Guardian of the UK.

i saw a guy walking along university parkway in orem with a sign saying 'the end is near'. i thought it was hilarious, but he also has a point. with the volcano in iceland, earthquakes in utah, china this week, mexico, chile, etc. i'm sure we'll keep seeing things happen.

lately i've also been frustrated with government. i've been leaning more 'liberal' in the past couple years. but denise said something to me the last time i saw her that has had me thinking: protect your rights even if you don't use them. like protecting the right to bear arms even though i will probably never own a gun or use one. but i really don't like the 'police state' that is rising. am i leaning libertarian? eh, i don't think so. but more than i ever thought i would.

new blog dos

Kamila and I started a blog together. It's for, like, US stuff. Since I finally posted something there, I'm sharing it here.