A day in the life. . .

First off, I want to thank whoever came up with this whole blog idea. I think it's pretty awesome that we have a forum that's so easily accessible for all of us, especially since almost all of us are going to be in places where communication is going to be so difficult. So mad props to those of ya'll, this is tight.
So just to remind you, I'm currently teaching at St. John Vianney Catholic school in Phoenix, AZ which Notre Dame's ACE program set me up. Sometimes I'll be sitting at my desk, look at my 26 5th graders, and shake my head. Me, a legit teacher? I mean I was an international relations major, so what in the world am I doing in this classroom trying to teach stuff like division, reading skills and the sacraments? Surprisingly enough, I don't want to run out of the classroom like a bat out of hell like I was told I would want to do from tons of people. I have a really good class of kids, although the mix of skills is absurd. I have kids who are smart enough to be in 6th grade and kids whose goals for the year are to learn english. I also have a kid who is ADHD and literally needs to be reminded of everything for every activity. I'll tell the class to get their books and everyone will be walking around doing it. . .except for this one boy who is just somewhere else. As some of you may know, I also have a child who is very sick with an extremely rare disease. It's something you can't look at and tell. On the surface, he looks like everybody else but his situation is just not a good one at all. When I found out, I was more or less numb for a couple days. I definetly didn't expect anything like this going into teaching. His name is Vincent Salazar. . .if ya'll could send a prayer or two in his direction, I'd really appreciate it.
On a different note, it's nearing the end of Labor Day weekend which just so happens to be ACE Phoenix's time for our traditional house party. ACE communities from LA and Tucson come up and we pretty much rock out for a couple days, share stories, and chill. It was awesome to see other teachers and hear their take on what's going on with them, not to mention swim around in our pool for 6 hours and eat bbq.
Probably the most awkward and funny part of the night was right in the very beginning. So we have about 20 some people in our house, a keg, and 7 handles. Some of the teachers I live with invited all their high school staff, just to be nice even though the majority don't show up. . .because they, you know, have families and stuff. Well lo and behold THREE NUNS show up, and one of them just so happens to be the principal. People were walking around on eggshells for a while, and I started blasting favorites like "Amazing Grace" and "Like a Child" to make them feel more at home. That probably did nothing but make it even more awkward, because then people started to not care and were taking beer bongs outside while LeAnn Rimes's version of amazing grace was pumping. When they left, three teachers from the high school showed up and drank fifths of rum. . .on their own. At one point I looked around and thought, "Man, we all teach kids" while people are jumping off the roof into the pool and going off the diving board with the empty keg in their hands. If I knew teachers did this kind of stuff in the past, that would have blown my world.
Well, there's just a lil tidbit in a day in the life of a teacher. Hope to hear from the rest of ya'll soon, much love.