A beautiful sunset over Long Island last Saturday



Well it’s 1AM and I’m still wide awake…at least my mind is. I had a long day today, but it was a good one overall, busy but good. It seems that my mind just never stops going and if I could do without sleep I’d still probably not get in everything I want or need to do, especially during these fast-dwindling days and nights of summer. I tell ya, there’s something to be said for the routine a job gives you!



He’s still there!



Today I visited my ex-student and current family member Arnoldo, who I first told you about a couple of months ago. The last time I saw Arnoldo was towards the end of the school year back in June. He had successfully fought off that infection he’d had and was getting the much-needed treatment for his lupus, finally, after a seven week stint in the hospital. I got a text from him on July 8th telling me he was being released from the hospital, which was one of the best things I’d heard in a long time.



Ever since, I’ve settled into my own summer life, assuming that all was okay with Arnoldo, but I was wrong. His sister Mayela sent me an email the other day asking how I was doing and in my response I asked about Arnoldo. Arnoldo had called me himself a couple of weeks ago, but I regrettably neglected to call him back! In her answer she said he was “still in the hospital.” Still? I was confused.



As things turned out, Arnoldo did get out of the hospital, but it wasn’t for long. After two returns and maybe a week’s worth total of days at home, the poor guy has remained in Stony Brook Hospital battling not only the sicknesses that plague him, but the anguish and frustration that goes along with all of it. I went to the hospital today.



I think my visit helped out at least a little. Mayela had told me he’d been very down the past couple of days and he seemed fine, almost happy, during the time that I was there. During the middle of my visit, an orderly came in to take him down for a small, quick surgical procedure that he didn’t know was coming. His fiancée Jill had just brought us all some Red Mango frozen yogurt (delicious!) and we were enjoying it and some good conversation when the she showed up. I was annoyed that they had come in at such a time, as Mayela and Jill had just gotten there, but it was just another day in the life for the weary Arnoldo.



I know that yesterday I spoke of my own upcoming colonoscopy and my cuts and bruises from last week, but you know…I’m pretty lucky compared to this brave young man. I mean, he just turned 25 years of age and he knows words that no one his age should know (I’d repeat some of them now, but they’re all medical related and I can’t remember a one of them!). He mentioned getting spinal taps and other painful-sounding procedures and my empathetic nature just got the best of me thinking of what he’s got to go through every single day.



Please, I know that none of you know Arnoldo personally, but if you’ve read this far and feel for the guy, I ask that you remember him in your prayers or your thoughts. He is someone I and a lot of other people admire and he could certainly use a little positive energy sent his way. He and Jill have postponed their October wedding until next year, when hopefully Arnoldo will be able to enjoy it as he should, pain and worry free. I hope so! Thanks!



A Rant for Today



Before I had this blog I used to have another one called “Rants.” It was a series of rants about the things in life that irk me, and there are a lot! At the moment I am undergoing yet another reexamination of my life and where it’s going, as I alluded to yesterday, and one of the things I’m working on is learning to focus. I have a history of spreading myself too thin and getting involved in too many things all the time, which causes me nothing but distress and a feeling of dissatisfaction.



I want to narrow my focus in hopes of a better success and a happier future, and so even though that blog is still live, I think I may just shut it down and integrate it into here. I hardly ever go to it anymore anyway, and I’ve still got things I like to rant about. So I’ve decided that whenever I have a rant, be it big or small, I’m just going to put it here on “John’s World.” After all, ranting gets you nowhere anyway except to release some steam, and including a rant or two here and there helps me to narrow that focus just a little. So here is the first official rant of “John’s World”:



Diner Abandonment



The other night, two friends and I met at a local diner for dinner. For those of you unlucky enough to not have any diners where you live, you are truly missing out. It’s amazing to me how at any time of the day or night you can order from such a varied menu of dishes. You could order a cheese omelet or a beef brisket at three in the morning, or a roasted chicken for breakfast if you wanted. I have no idea how they do it, but they do and it’s incredible.



Any-who, diners are also great places to meet up with people you don’t often get to see. They’re great for relaxed, conversational meals with good friends, at any time of the day or night, and quite often the conversation lasts well past mealtime. Coffees or sodas are refilled and the enjoyable chatter continues, that is until the check comes…



During your meal at a diner, the waitresses and the busboys are continually monitoring the table for water or coffee refills, extra napkins, and clearing out emptied plates. Once the bill comes however, they’re simply done with your table, only to be seen from afar. You and your friends are left to sit and chat over whatever dirty dishes, napkins and glasses were left there before the check came.



This happened the other night, as me and my friends sat for almost an hour after we’d finished our meal, enjoying friendly conversation in the mostly empty place. What had been constant visits to our table by the busboy and the waitress during the meal suddenly stopped once the check had been placed on the table, leaving us to talk amongst the filth.



The same thing happened two weeks ago in another diner when I met my friend Rita for lunch. It’s just weird to me how they could suddenly ignore you at that point. I tell ya, if you work at a diner, here’s a piece of advice for you:



Don’t ignore your diners once they’ve finished their meal. Clean up after them, and they can continue what is obviously a pleasant time in your establishment. Who knows, maybe they’ll even order another drink or something while they chat, but they can’t if you don’t come back to the table. And if you did clean there table, it’ll only add to the positivity of their experience in your diner and they may even throw you a big tip, or better yet, they might come back!



They're probably gonna kill me, but during my hospital visit today, I played with Cam Wow and took some funny pictures:





Our little patient!







The worst and best of Mayela, lol









Jill, Arnoldo's fiancee....isn't she purdy?



Well, it’s almost two and that’s all she wrote for this evening. As ever, thanks for reading, especially this far! I’ll catch ya next time and until then, enjoy!





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Happy Friday everyone! Today’s a great day. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and it’s humid as all hell, lol. Really, I so hate the humidity. Living just about two or three miles from the ocean makes the area where I live very humid and it’s simply disgusting. It’s the kind of weather where I’m already sweating just five minutes after a shower. Ugh! Anyway, here’s what’s happening…



Newsday

As I mentioned the other day, my hometown newspaper, LI Newsday, sent me a message on Twitter asking for a short interview so they could feature me. I gave them my number and they called with some questions. The woman told me to keep an eye out for its publication and voila! It appeared in yesterday’s edition. Check it out.

Here’s the link to the full piece online:

@jmyers22, John MyersKinda cool, huh?

And if you’d like to follow me, too, on Twitter, here’s the link to my profile: http://twitter.com/#!/jmyers22.

He’s Out!!!!!

At 9:05 this morning I received a very happy text message. It was from Arnoldo: “I’m out of the hospital!!!” Though his sister Mayela told me yesterday that he was finally getting out, it was extra nice to hear it from him directly. Today is exactly 7 weeks that he was in there. I’ve been too busy to make any trips there for the past couple of weeks, but I knew that his infection had finally begun to clear and that they were treating him for his other ailments. I guess it worked. Thank God!!!!

Splash Summer

Two nights this week I returned to my winter playing ground, Splash. Tuesdays and Thursdays have always been good nights, and so I figured I’d take the opportunity to return there for some midweek dancing. A lots been happening this week, so for the first time in a long time it was some much-needed dance therapy. Nuff said about that, but I will say the music was slamming both nights and I danced my ass off until the wee hours. It was fun!!!

Writing

I’ve been long-neglecting posting any of my writing on this blog. After all, when I first started it that was my main goal. Next week, I’m going to start publishing a regular feature of all of my pieces for the week. I think that’s important considering my writing is so spread out these days. So here are some of my recent pieces:

Yahoo Contributor Network

Una Fiesta - A humorous look at last Saturday night's party.

John's World: My Blog - A little look at this blog...

A Billboard piece on their Mid-Year Music Awards inspired me to choose my favorite albums and songs for 2011 so far:

Top Five Albums of 2011...so far!

John's Top Ten Songs for 2011...so far!

Some NY Pride as (Gay) Marriage Equality Bill Passes

Examiner

All new "Guys Night Out" at Alfies in Patchogue - There's a new gay bar in town, on Saturday nights, and it's right around the corner from where I live. The party starts tomorrow and I'm looking forward to checking it out!

New Coasters for 2011 - Summer is roller coaster ridin' time and here are some great new ones that are already out! (I so wanna go to Busch Gardens in Tampa!)

Gather

Billboard.com's Mid-Year Music Awards - What a cool idea!

Beyonce's "4" showcases the singer's maturity and talent - I dunno, but this one hasn't gotten nearly the amount of hits I would have hoped for. Beyonce's album is absolutely awesome and this piece was my first ever review so close to an album's release.

Extra-Special NYC Gay Pride Parade - This year's parade was really meaningful, well-attended, and a lot of fun! This one almost didn't get published...they said it wasn't entertainment, but news. So it ended up in their news page a couple of days late!

Cedar Point's New "Windseeker" - Okay, so it's not a new coaster, but it looks pretty scary!

Well, as you can see I've been very remiss with posting articles on here. These aren't all of them, of course, but they'll do for now. I'm off to work on a poem I've been playing around withh and then I'm going to get on with this very hot day... As always, thanks for reading! Ciao!
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It's Monday night and I'm way behind in practically everything. I've had several pieces I'd wanted to post and I'm going to try and get some in tonight before heading to Atlantic City in the morning. I'm going to start with my Saturday:



Graduation Day

Saturday was graduation at the school where I teach and since I had four students graduating. Graduation Day is a special one for teachers, especially ESL teachers, and especially me! I go through a lot with my students and teach many of them for years, and so it's so great to see them march up there in their caps and gowns, deservedly proud of themselves for their big accomplishment.

I'm not the only teacher who attends graduation, either. Quite a few of my fellow teachers go to the ceremony, some even participate, all to pay homage to the students they helped along the way. I only wish the teacher bashers out there could see and know these people as I do.

Anyway, a big congrats goes to my guys (and gals) Asil, Beatriz, Gerber and Jackie. I'm proud of you all and I'm going to miss you!




What was I thinking?

After the graduation, I was looking forward to going out, but I wasn't sure where to go. The weather had been iffy, but the forecast was good, and so I told myself that if it was going to be nice I would go to the Grove and if not, the city. Well, the weather turned out to be gorgeous and of course I picked the wrong place!

I should have known from the moment I got to the ferry that it wasn't going to be good. I actually contemplated getting right back on and coming back so I could make my way into NY, but thought better of it since I was going to Pride on Sunday anyway. For the first time in a long, long time, I didn't know anybody there...well, almost.

On the ferry I saw that girl, Lisa, who knew me from religion class in the second grade...not exactly someone I wanted to hang out with. She's pretty sociable anyway, so I pretty much kept to myself most of the night...and then I saw Matthew, the guy I met over there Memorial Day Weekend. He was with like six or seven people and having a great time, which made me just want to go home. He came over and chatted for a hot minute, and went back to his friends.

That was it! The music absolutely sucked, too, so I wasn't doing much dancing. I decided to hightail it out of there on the 11:30 ferry and headed home for some sleep. Oh well, at least the next day was fun...
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Boy am I tired! This has been the longest, dreariest week I can remember in a long, long time. It has been raining for what seems like forever, and as I said the other day in my W is for Weather post, your mood can be affected by the weather around you, and so…



Breaking down

Lately it seems like everything around me is breaking down. First it was the dishwasher, then the vacuum, and now the dehumidifier. I’ve got a broken window in my basement and I’m trying to be calm about all of it, but it’s not easy. If I end up leaving my house in the near future, and end up doing it as a short sale, then whatever money I spend will just be for naught, like money down the drain. Grrrrr!!!!!

So close and yet so far

School is winding down very quickly and this time of the year is especially draining for most teachers. In the grand wisdom of the New York State Education Department, we teachers are no longer required to teach as of about late April on. Why, you may ask. Well, the operative word here is “testing.” These poor kids and us poor teachers are taking and administering all sorts of test after test after test, and that’s not even counting the final exams in the middle of June. There’s no time to teach, only do what you can to prepare for and have the kids take the tests. Again, grrrr!!!!!

A-Z and Z-A Bloggers Challenge

Well, I’m almost at the end of the A-Z Challenge…just one letter to go: “Z.” The only thing is, I’m having trouble thinking of a topic for the letter and since I’ve got to delve right back into the Z-A Challenge, I’ve got to think of two! Any suggestions?

So much to do, so little time

I think that what’s making me even more tired is that I’ve definitely bit off more than I can chew, especially with writing. I love writing for all the sites that I write for, but I can’t seem to get stuff out often enough, at least effectively. I love writing for this blog, for it gives me an outlet to write anything and everything I want, but even lately I haven’t had the time to update it like I want to. I don’t exactly know the answer, but hopefully once school is done, I can focus more and be more efficient.

I’ve stopped publishing Pop Music News Weekly on Y!CN, though I would like to keep it going here somehow. I especially would like to cover the iTunes and Billboard Charts of the week because I find them interesting. We’ll see…

In the meantime, I’ve been neglecting my house in favor of writing lately. I wish I could afford a maid, but that’s just not possible, lol. I don’t know how to fix all of these things I have to do, and between the weather and that, I guess I’m feeling a little crappy (and that’s not even mentioning my allergies!).

On the lighter side…



Word on Twitter Tuesday was that Madonna was headed to Chicago to do a spot on Oprah’s big finale. The reports were confirmed later, but that’s not what excited me. Supposedly during the show, she announced that she is indeed, finally, working on a new album. I think that this is the longest time she’s ever gone between albums and now I’m officially excited. I’m needing new Madonna!



Saturday night marks the season finale of Saturday Night Live, as well. The guest host will be Justin Timberlake and the musical guest is Lady Gaga. Justin’s been on before and he’s been hilarious every time and Gaga…well Gaga. It’s gonna be a cool show so set your DVR’s.

I think I’ve done enough babbling for one night. Here’s a special wish from Terence Trent Darby and me for Mother Nature. Ciao!





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Thursday was a long-awaited field trip for my students. As an ESL teacher in a 7-12 school, I am in the unique position of teaching the same core group of students year after year, and so we all get to know each other pretty well. At the beginning of each school year, they always ask me if we’re going to go on a field trip and I always start out with good intentions, but invariably I get caught up in the day to day duties of my job and I haven’t necessarily been a good teacher as far as field trips have been concerned.

This year I made a promise to myself that we’d take at least one, and I wanted to make it a good one, so I planned a long day trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island with my students. We took the two-plus hour journey into the city on Thursday, April 7th and it was a great experience.

My students and I are very much like a family. We have fun together. We learn together. We argue and make up together. All of the personalities in the group are well defined and every single person has their place within the unit, and so the trip was more like a family outing than your typical school field trip.

Once we arrived in the city, we walked across Battery Park towards the streets in search of lunch, and that was where the real fun began. Perched on a pedestal near the entrance to the park stood Lady Liberty herself. She was one of those neo-peddlers who earn their wares dressed up as statues and posing for pictures with unsuspecting tourists. Of course this one was decked out in a green robe and crown.

Once the kids spotted her the cameras came out. They started clicking away as some of them made their way towards the figure to be in the photos. Lady Liberty wagged her finger in a no-no motion…she wanted money. Two of my students, Jaqi and Sonia, went to pose for a picture with the figure. Jaqi hadn’t noticed the finger wagging, and from my vantage point I could see Jaqi arguing with the statue. Within seconds, she pulled out a $5 bill and the cameras got busy again. The two of them went into model shoot mode as Lady Liberty struck funny poses for the cameras. A couple of other students got into the action and laughter was everywhere. It would be the first bit of genuine fun we’d get from the day.




After a quick lunch at Burger King, we had to head back towards the ferry to catch our boat. On the way, some of the kids were drawn to the many street vendors stationed on the sidewalk. As I crossed the street back towards the park, I turned back to see that some of the students had stopped to peruse the tables. The other teacher was with them, so I wasn’t worried about, but I knew we didn’t have much time to catch the ferry.

“C’mon, we’ve gotta catch the ferry!” I shouted back at the shopping students.

“We’re coming, we’re coming!…Ooh, Mr. Myers,” Sonia said, “look what I got.” She proceeded to show me the ten rings that she had bought from a costume jewelry peddler down the street. All I could do was roll my eyes and move on as I lead a dash to the ferry terminal. In the end, we missed the boat, the first of three we’d miss.

Even though the little shopping spree took us off our schedule, I took it in stride and just enjoyed every minute. We went to Liberty Island to see the real statue, where we had a group picture done and then went up inside the pedestal. A trip to the gift shop was the culprit for us missing our second ferry, and we ended up staying on the island until almost three o’clock, the time we were supposed to meet the bus driver at Battery Park…and we still had to make a stop at Ellis Island.



After a quick call to the driver, we hopped on the next ferry and sailed over to Ellis, where we’d only have a half an hour. We skipped the bulk of the museum and headed straight for the famous “Wall of Immigrants.” The kids did some etchings on the wall before we headed back to the ferry, which we ended up missing too. Another half-hour’s wait and we were finally headed back to where we started from. Soon we were on our way back to school.



All in all, the day was great fun. During the long ride back, some kids slept, others did homework, while still others had some more fun together. Without prodding from me, they all pitched in to clean the bus before we got back to the school. That’s the kind of kids they are. They made me proud throughout the day. We pulled into the school parking lot around 8PM and the long day was over.

The kids came in to school Friday morning exhausted and exhilarated, just like I was feeling. Many of them thanked me for the day, and I reciprocated. I had as much fun with them as they had with me and I feel honored to have given them a memorable day that they’ll keep in their minds for years to come. I love my job!

Here are some photos from the day:























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Happy spring everybody! It’s Monday afternoon and the first big hump of the work week is over, so I’m in a good way for a change even though I was just awakened from an after-work nap by Fuzzy. Yes, he’s back, but more about that in a minute. I’ve got a lot on my mind today and I want to get it all out…

Public Speaking...Not again!

Today was a teacher’s conference day at school, which meant the students were off so that we staff members could learn something ourselves. We usually have about three of these a year and most of the time they can be pretty arduous for teachers, with hours-long seminars on this or that tedious educational topic. I think I speak for my fellow teachers when I say I’d rather have the free time to plan for future classes.

Last week I got an email from upstairs telling me that I had been named to be a facilitator for a post-presentation discussion about “Teaching in the 21st Century.” Today’s conference day was scheduled to be a joint one with two neighboring districts and a morning presentation by a guest speaker was to be followed by an hour and a half ‘forum’ on the topic at hand. I was one of only a few people chosen for the job. I have no idea why I was chosen, but I take it as a complement.

Ever since I was a youngster, I’ve always been terrified of public speaking, and that hasn’t changed even today. People ask me how I can feel that way since I’m a teacher, and my answer is that it’s different with children for some reason. I don’t know, but whenever I’m asked to make any kind of presentation to my fellow teachers, I’m always nervous about it, to the point where it consumes my mind in the hours leading up to it. Yet once I get up there in front of everybody, I do okay. Today was no exception.



As we sat through the morning speaker, I diligently took notes so that I could be better prepared to lead the discussion, and when it was over we all had to report to our assigned classrooms for our forum. My stomach was in knots and my hands were sweaty as people poured into the room. I can’t say for sure, but I think I had one of the larger groups, about 20-25 people. Just before I needed to start, I went out into the hallway and typed “Why me?” on to my Facebook page.

I then returned to the room and like magic I was on. I had three questions to pose to the group in an hour and a half’s time, and in the end I think I handled it pretty well. It just goes to show you that the more you do it, the better you get at it. As the old saying goes, “practice makes perfect” and I just need to remember that the next time I’m asked to speak in public. Those pre-speaking jitters can be terrible!

I can commiserate



After the morning sessions it was time for lunch and I had the opportunity to spend some quality time with several of my coworkers. We were all given the afternoon to catch up on some work and four of us decided to do it together, which was nice. A teacher’s job can be lonely sometimes, with students all day and nary a moment to spend with adult conversation. The four of us had a nice afternoon together until right before it was time to leave.

One of my coworkers, a special ed teacher who’s in her mid-twenties, suddenly burst into tears at the table in the back of my room. Though it hadn’t been talked about, we all knew that the guy she’d been seeing since October ended their relationship last night. She’d been texting on and off all day, presumably with him, and I guess the last one was the one that caused her to burst out in tears.

I don’t know all of the details. It was none of my business and even knowing only reminded me of my own situation from recent months. From what I gather, the dude had nothing against her, but he just didn’t want to be in a relationship. Sound familiar?

On the way home this friend sent me a text apologizing for her outburst. She didn’t have to. I know exactly what she’s going through. My car pool buddy said that she hoped that she’ll learn from this relationship when she goes into the next one and when she said that, a feeling of dread came over me. I thought about the phrase ‘next relationship’ with dismay. I don’t even want to think about ‘next relationships.’

Who am I kidding? I really, really hate to admit it, but my relationship/breakup really knocked me for a loop. I don’t like what I’ve become in the weeks since it ended for good and I can’t help but still miss the bastard. Though I hadn’t been looking for a relationship before I met him, I realized from my time with him that a relationship is something I ultimately seek. Unfortunately, this experience has caused me to retreat backwards to a point where I think to myself whether it’ll ever be worth the price that I’ve paid here to ever try again. Who knows?

I just came across an article by a good writer friend of mine, Michele Starkey. She just had to put her beloved dog, Brownie, to sleep and she constructed her piece around a quote by Queen Elizabeth. The quote went: “Grief is the price we pay for love.” As I read the piece, I hearkened back to when I had to do the same with our cat Spike back in 2007, and all of the grief that came with it. I also related it to my current state and realize that I am still grieving because I loved, and so now is my friend.

I left a comment for Michele that I agreed with the quote, and I told her that in most cases going through the grief is worth the love. I’m still struggling with that one!

Hang in there Michele and my friend “K,” and so will I.

Here’s Michele’s piece:

The Price We Pay for Love

Hmmm, I just don’t know…Am I too shallow?

A few weeks back I posted here that a friend of mine wanted to set me up on a date with a Spanish teacher from a neighboring district. About midway through the morning, I realized that his district was one of the ones we shared with today and that he was probably in the building. I immediately became nervous and when I mentioned it to another friend, she knew who he was and pointed him out to me. I wasn’t attracted to him at all. During the presentation, my friend texted me to say that she should have introduced us. I’m glad she hadn’t remembered to.

A little over two years ago, I started a series on Y!CN called “Gay Man’s Single Files.” In the first installment (check it out here), I spoke about how physical attraction is one of the first important aspects of a relationship. Without it, there usually can be no beginning. I lamented that many guys my age just don’t take care of themselves and the ones that do don’t want me. They want younger!

I work hard to keep in shape and maintain a healthy looking appearance and so I only expect the same from someone I’d consider dating. I have few objections to dating guys of any age, as long as I’m attracted to them. As things would have it, to date I’ve dated mostly younger guys, too, for that very reason since I’ve been single. I guess I’ve become one of those guys I complained about in my piece.

If this notion makes me a shallow person, then so be it. It may make me perennially single, but why should I settle for someone I’m not attracted to? My friends say I’m too picky, but at least when I’m with someone, it’s always someone who I’m interested in, so I see nothing wrong with that. This may turn out to be a sticky situation with my friend, but I will tell her directly when I get the chance. Hopefully she won’t read this before then, but in case she does, I want to say thanks for trying…


Eeww!

Now that's more like it!

Uh oh, Fuzzy's back!

As I mentioned earlier, I was taking a power nap after work when I was suddenly awakened by my cell phone ringing. I picked it up to see who was calling and it was him! Needless to say, I was jolted into awareness. I ran to my front window to see if he was outside. Nothing! Then for some reason I decided to peer out further, checking the sides of my property and there he was sitting in his red car to the right of my driveway.

He hadn’t gotten out of his car this time, otherwise I would’ve called the police. A couple of minutes after the phone stopped ringing, he pulled away. I thought it was over with, but obviously there’s definitely something wrong with this dude. I don’t get it and now suddenly I’m a little frightened again. Just what I needed!

Thanks again for reading! Here’s a video to capture how I’m feeling at the moment. Some of you may remember this one by Michael Jackson protégé Rockwell…Enjoy, and I’ll catch you next time!

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Happy Weekend everyone! It’s around 6:30 and I just got up for a nap that I took to prepare myself for going out later. It’s been a long week, as always, and I’m definitely looking forward to dancing tonight! The weather has been holding up and it feels like we’re almost to the point of summer already. It’s still March and I think we’d all better be wary that it could still turn cold. It’s nice anyway and it’s supposed to stay that way through the weekend so I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts, though it’s giving the kids some serious spring fever and making my life difficult in the process.

RACISM – I HATE HATERS!

Something happened towards the end of the day at school today that really got to me. You see, I have a break during 9th period, the last of the day and I normally take a walk outside my room either to grab a cup of coffee or get some adult interaction after five straight periods of being with kids. It was at that time today that I ventured outside of my classroom when I immediately ran into a substitute teacher that I know pretty well.

She told me something that had happened in her previous class that disturbed her, and it disturbed me after I heard it. Two of my students, Jonathan and Jose, were in their math class and a couple of kids were apparently saying things to them about being Hispanic, and they were not very nice things. The teacher looked up to see Jonathan with his face buried in his folded hands on his desk. He was crying. That’s what told me this was serious.

I’ve had Jonathan in my ESL class since he was in 3rd grade. Now he’s in 9th. Jonathan’s always been a little tough guy. I remember when he was 8 years old he was bullying some kids in the playground and I had to get a local Puerto Rican woman to come help me explain to him in Spanish the do’s and don’ts of playground etiquette. As he got older and learned to speak English, Jonathan kept on being brazen, never afraid to stand up to someone bigger or older than himself.

This is all not to say that Jonathan is a bad kid. Quite the contrary, even though he’s 15 years of age now, he’s still got a babyish side to him and he can be very sweet at times. But in 8 years of teaching him I’ve never seen him cry.

I found out what class Jonathan was in and I went to fetch him to find out what happened. As soon as he saw my face in the window he got up to come meet me. He knew why I was there. We took a walk down to my classroom and he had his head down the whole time. He told me what had happened in class and that what really made him cry was the fact that the boy was teasing Jose and Jose didn’t even know it because of his lack of English.

“Is this the first time?,” I asked him.

“No, it happens every day, all the time. They’re always calling us ‘Mexicans.’” Apparently, ‘Mexican’ is the newest derogatory word for Hispanics.



As we got to my room, he kept going, detailing all of the things he hears on a daily basis. He was crying and after a little while he even made me start to tear up. (He even grabbed me a tissue when he noticed.) I made sure that he knew to come to me when stuff like this happens so I can do something about it. He said he would, but our relationship is like that of a father and son and we all know that kids don’t always like to share things like this with their parents.

I was fuming. I could never understand hatred of any kind, especially because someone’s skin is a different color than one’s own. I work in a school district that’s 95% mid to upper class white, and I’ve had to deal with this sort of thing before. For the first two years I worked there, there were a lot of people who wouldn’t give me the time of day. They’d turn their heads away from me as I walked past them in the hallways or ignore me completely when I had something to say. I was once told that this was because I taught the “dark children.”

I’m now almost at the end of my 8th year there and before today I thought I’d changed things a lot around there. I’ve published a yearly ESL Magazine that always elicits empathy from readers for my students and things have gotten so much better over the years because of it. I wrote an article about the publication, which you can read here:

Breaking Down Barriers in Prejudice

Hearing what I heard today was upsetting, to say the least. What makes matters even worse is that I know where these kids get it from…their parents. One of my favorite sayings is “don’t be a hater.” I could never understand what makes people hate so much, especially for such innocuous stuff like this. What makes me sad is that I don’t see how things are ever going to change if it’s the children that are perpetrating the hate, whether they can realize it or not. So please, if you have any influence over any child, do your part to see that hate words hurt and there should be no place for them in anyone’s language.


Can you guess which two of these students get picked on for being different? I bet you can!

Stay tuned for more…

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Well it’s 5PM and I want to go to sleep! After being out sick yesterday and sleeping late, I had trouble going to sleep last night and ended up getting only about 4 hours worth. So I’m tired, but I think it’s a little too late for a nappy, otherwise I’ll be in the same situation tomorrow. Besides, I stopped off for one of my DD hot chocolate/coffee combos (), and so I’ll force myself not to go to sleep.

Today was a great day! Smiles all around for beautiful weather hitting our area today! I’ve actually had the windows open in my classroom all day and now in my house because it actually feels like spring outside. Good weather and bright moods are just around the corner, I can feel it!

Frittata

This morning I became somewhat of a Home Ec teacher. My beginner ESL class has been learning kitchen verbs and I borrowed the Home Ec room to make a recipe with them so that they could act out the verbs they learned. Since it was morning, I looked for a breakfast recipe that had a lot of tasks involved and I came up with a frittata. If you don’t know what a frittata is, it’s an traditional Italian breakfast dish in which leftover ingredients are combined with eggs to make a pie-like meal. Check out the recipe for frittatas that I wrote here.

I came in this morning with all of the ingredients we would need. The kids were excited to be doing something different that they could do besides sit at a desk and take notes, and so they were raring to go. Once we got into the kitchen, however, things got a little on the crazy side. Suddenly no one remembered what their assigned task was and they weren’t following the recipe as we had written it. We made it through okay, though, and had a lot of fun doing it. One thing’s for sure after that lesson: I think I’ll stick to teaching ESL from now on!











Healing

My mouth is feeling all right, except when I have to eat. Even though I’m eating only soft things for a couple more days, I can’t seem to keep whatever I put into my mouth on the good side of my mouth. When the food goes over to the other side, I have to move it back with my tongue and I can feel the stitches…ewww! Now that grosses me out!



Having had such a good day today caused me to smile a lot, which wasn’t exactly a good thing. In the afternoon I saw a friend I hadn’t seen in a long time and when I first saw her I couldn’t help but smile big and boy did that hurt! Oh well, I guess it was to be expected. It’ll be better in no time and then I can smile all I want and eat that hamburger I’ve been craving since Tuesday.



Writer’s Block and a Plea for Ideas

Well, there’s not much more going on today. I’m battling a little bit of the writer’s block, which couldn’t have come at a worse time. With Valentine’s Day being over, my daily hits have dropped the past couple of days and the only way to get them back up is to publish. The trouble is, I don’t know what to write about!?!? I’m still pondering those music pieces and I’ve got several titles in mind. If you think any of them might be better than the others, please let me know either here, through email or on my Facebook page (see below and to the right for the link!). Here are my ideas:

(Untitled) A piece on the widespread use of the word “f**k” in music today.

The Best of Sade; The Best of Love – I love Sade and since she’s got an upcoming tour, I thought I might do a piece on her best songs.

Top Ten Foreign Language Songs – With that song, “No Speak Americano”, playing on the radio these days, I thought I’d take a look back at some other songs sung in a foreign language to hit the airwaves.

(Untitled) I’ve been thinking of doing a couple of pieces on Prince and his influence on music. After posting “When Doves Cry” as “Song of the Day” I’ve been thinking a lot about his music. There are so many great tunes in his catalog; it’d have to be a top twenty, for sure. Also, another piece would talk about his wide-reaching influence on other acts in the 80’s, including Vanity 6, The Time, Sheila E, Janet Jackson, and more…

I’ve only got to do two more pieces this month and I’d really appreciate any input you’d want to give.

Finally, in honor of this lovely day of weather, I present one of Macy Gray’s latest tunes “Beauty in the World.” Though I’ve posted it before, I just think it’s sunshiny enough to listen to on this wonderful, spring-like day. Besides, we all need the reminder to appreciate what we do have once in awhile. Enjoy the song and thanks for reading…

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