Confessions of a Blogaholic

**Pic is us literally sitting on the rim of the Grand Canyon. It was scary and fascinating at the same time.

At the advice of a friend, I finally called a Reproductive doctor. I'm excited, nervous, happy, and sad all at once. Excited to finally have some answers, to know that we are moving forward and not stagnating, to feel like someone is finally putting some effort into helping us figure out our situation. Nervous because I don't know what to expect. Happy that I will be getting monitored while fertility treatments are dumped on me, but sad that I now have to wait to receive further treatment until after I have met the RE (no second cycle of Clomid even if this cycle ends before the RE appointment).

I recently read that the woman who just gave birth to 8 babies in California already had 6 kids, is single, and is living at home with her parents. What the hell? All I want is one kid; I'm stable, successful, married, happy, and able to take care of a child, and here is some irresponsible woman giving birth left and right. It's funny how the world bites us in the ass sometimes.

Here, I've taken excerpts from Gov. Strickland's State of the State speech and added my own reactions...

1) "we will also add new topics including global awareness and life skills to the curriculum"----Absolutely. Global awareness and life skills are the way of the future. Access to better technologies will aid in this endeavor.

2) "Under my plan, the Ohio Department of Education will set standards for Ohio schools requiring innovative teaching formats. Interdisciplinary methods, project-based learning, real world lessons, and service learning will be the norm."----Complete agreement. What a progressive plan. One I would stand behind 100%, and even be willing to lead the charge as a teacher leader. However, please ensure that adequate training and time during the school day will be made available to implement these projects.

3) "Over a ten-year period we will add 20 instructional days to the school calendar bringing Ohio's learning year up to the international average of 200 days."---You lose me here. What is the rationale for this? I would support it if I knew there would be funding to keep struggling school buildings and districts open for an extra month each year. Currently, my building has to shut off the heat at 4pm and over the weekends. Show me the money, and I'll show you support.

4) "We will create community engagement teams in our schools."---I am entertaining the idea of this. Community engagement seems lacking in much of rural Ohio, but how do we get parents and community members who don't value education to see the importance in it? How do we get parents with lackadaisical attitudes to engage in the schools?

5) "And for the first time the state will provide dedicated resources for instructional materials and enrichment activities" ---From....?

6) "We will celebrate learning with new academic achievement competitions and awards that make learning as publicly praised as athletics. With the creation of the Ohio Academic Olympics, students will compete in science, in math, in writing, in debate, in the arts, and in technology."---Coming from a school currently cutting extra- and co-curricular activities, can you promise that interested students from any interested school will have the ability to participate in these activities? How will you ensure that my kids will have the same access to these competitions as the kids in the suburban districts (with more money)?

7) "Third, under my plan, we will improve educator quality."----uh-oh. Now you're on slippery territory.

8) "we will revolutionize teacher preparation and development in Ohio with a residency program. Just as future doctors begin their careers under the watchful eye of an experienced colleague, we will give our new teachers the benefit of thoughtful guidance from an accomplished senior teacher. After a four-year residency, successful candidates will earn their professional teaching license."----Pros: The experience gained, possibility of doing away with subs and using in-house residents, having an "aide" in the classroom. The pros are extensive, and I think it is a wonderful idea, but let us not forget....If we are going to compare teachers to doctors (as you do in your speech, Governor), if we are going to expect teachers to have an educational background comparable to a doctor, then we need to pay them accordingly. For the amount of education and training teachers must already have, they are incredibly underpaid, but they do it for the love of the job. If we are going to treat them like doctors, they should be paid as such (and no, I don't mean teachers should get a 6-figure salary, but there should definitely be more equality in teacher pay across this state).

9) "Let me say that not everyone is cut out to be a teacher. And the residency program will identify them. But even for teachers already in the field, we must have the ability to remove them from the classroom if their students are not learning. Right now, it's harder to dismiss a teacher than any other public employee. Under my plan, we will give administrators the power to dismiss teachers for good cause, the same standard applied to other public employees."---Define good cause.

10) "my plan creates a research and development function within the Department of Education"---What career path do I need to take to be a part of this in the future?

11) "We will make our assessments both relevant and rigorous by replacing the Ohio Graduation Test with the ACT and three additional measures."----Amen

12) "Students will also take statewide 'end of course' exams"---scratch my response to #11 if we're just moving from one standardized test to another.

13) "Fifth, under my plan, we will establish an unprecedented level of school district accountability and transparency."---Where is parent accountability? Will schools be compared to each other or is this to replace AYP?

14) "Under my plan, school districts that choose this option will not have to go to the ballot year after year just to stay even with inflation."-----Amen again. And teachers will not have to worry year after year about having a job!!

I BELIEVE in Ohio education, and I BELIEVE in the education of my students. I will perform at my best 110% of the time, and I will do everything you (the government, school, parents, and community) ask of me, so long as you give me the resources and time to do this job. I don't need money to feel fulfilled, but I want to be respected as a devoted, caring professional.

I try not to complain that much, especially about things completely out of my control. But I HATE SNOW!!!

Today was yet another snow day (our 6th of the year, I think), which means we have to make up days at the end of the year now. No big deal to me; it's finals week, all I do is sit around anyhow. Hell, at this point, if we're going to have to come back for an extra day in an extra week anyhow, we might as well take another 4 snow days! What's the point in just coming for a Monday when you could go ahead and come for 4 more days? Like I said, it's all finals, so it's not like I have to do a lot of work. I'd rather take the entire winter off and have school through the summer when it's warm and I can open the windows, than to have to be in school on cold, snowy day.

There is nothing worse than a downpour of snow when you're trying to teach something. ("Oh my gosh! Can you believe it's snowing outside?" "Look outside, look at all the snow!" "Maybe we'll get out early today!!") As interesting and exciting as English Language Arts may be, no reading or writing assignment can compete with the white stuff.

I made a stop into the wig store today with my mom to pick up something for g-ma. We had to buy those little stocking caps that people wear under their wigs, who has officially lost all of her hair. I'm still in awe at the price people pay for these wigs, and I'm slightly offended that even cancer patients have to pay full price for them. For all the things cancer survivors (surviving with, not dying from) have to pay and do and suffer, offering them a wig or a cap at some sort of discount seems like a necessary charity. I guess even wig makers have to make a living, though.

If you're interested, you can see the last two years of my blogs here.

Hello and welcome to my new, non-Myspace blog. I'll be keeping my posts semi-anonymous because I don't want one of my wonderful students stumbling their way onto my private thoughts. So, in comments, be sure to avoid mentioning my school of employment, my last name, and anything else highly identifying.

If I don't know you, I'm Christina, 25, married, living somewhere in Ohio. I teach 9th grade English in a rural school district where the value of a cow is more important than the value of education. But, I love my job, I love what I do, and I love the kids I work with every day. I wake up every morning with the knowledge that I am serving my purpose in this life and the appreciation for being blessed with such an awesome occupation.

My husband, Nathan, almost 25, is a cable installer for a local company. He's an awesome person with the patience of a saint. He's definitely my best friend and I'm lucky to have such a great companion--but that's not to say that our relationship is always roses. Sometimes it's pure hell, lol :)

We've been married since October, 2007, but we've lived together since December, 2002. We don't count our marriage date as a "starting point," it's more like the continuation of something that was already pretty committed to begin with.

In about March, 2008, we decided something was definitely missing in our lives and made the choice to begin trying to become parents. It sounds so cheesy to say it that way, but in truth, we were tired of it being just us all the time. I think there comes a moment in a couple's life when the two realize that they're in a rut...when every night is the same--get up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, watch tv, go to bed. That was our rut. We were doing the same thing every single freaking day, which brought us to our decision. Definitely time for a family.

I think I expected babymaking to be a really easy process. Hell, if a teenager with no income and no common sense can pop one out, anyone should be able to, right? I always thought getting pregnant was as simple as "Wam, Bam, here's your baby," but it didn't turn out to be that way for me and Nathan.

In March, 2008, I went off the bc I had been on since 2003. By October, I found myself in the OB's office trying to figure out why my periods were MIA. By December, we found out I have anovulation (can't pop out an egg on my own). December 27, I started what I thought would be my miracle drug, Clomid, given to help a woman ovulate. My first cycle didn't work...I'm currently waiting for AF (yup, "Aunt Flow," gross, eh?) or CD60 (day 60 of cycle), whichever comes first. Then, my Clomid will be doubled--twice the insane headaches, definitely something to look forward to.