RBOC: Really random and really boring edition

Things I feel compelled to share with someone, even if that someone is the hypothetical people of the Internet:


- Thanks for all the congratulations. When I think about moving to the Southwest and teaching in Large City I alternate between feeling an anxiety induced nauseating terror, and a guarded hopeful optimism. My time is currently split about 75:25 (Terror:Optimism). I'm expecting the two to average out a bit more as time goes on. At least, I'm hoping the two average out a bit more as time goes on.

- The State University, which will be a conveniently short drive from where I will be moving, has an interdisciplinary PhD program in Applied Linguistics with a concentration in Educati0nal Linguistics. I dream of some day applying to the program. It's doubtful that it will ever happen, but a girl can dream.

- I just impulse bought a new book. I realized I still had gift card money left on my Amazon account, and decided to spend some of it.

- Today I taught a third grader about the "cut" and "paste" functions on word processing programs. It was awesome -

Student: "Ms. Grownup, I typed my introduction down here at the bottom, at the end of everything else. But I need to make it be up at the top because it's the intro."

Me: "Okay. Highlight what you want to move, and then press "apple" and "X" at the same time on the keyboard. And don't freak out because what you have highlighted is going to disappear.

Student: "Okay." (She held down the apple and the X keys, and gasped. Because everything disappeared!)

Me: "Good. Don't worry, it'll come back. Now click where you want the paragraph to go. And then type "apple" and "V" at the same time."

Student: (She did as instructed, and her paragraph appeared at the top of the page.) "Whoa!! Neat! How'd it do that?!

She then jumped up and ran to teach this super-cool new cut/paste feature to a friend. I love technology and teaching kids how to use it to their advantage.

- I had a conversation with a student about mammoth extinction. He was insisting that "no one will ever know why mammoths are extinct." I was trying to ascertain whether that was something he had read somewhere, or something he was making up. Since I do know several different theories people have as to why mammoths have become extinct. I tried to explain archeology to him in a very, very small nutshell. I think he was starting to get it, but then we had to change subject.

- Also with the same student; he said that no one would ever know what happened to mammoths until we died. I asked how we would know when we died -

Student: "Because we'll be in heaven" he reasoned.

Me: "Okay, but how will that help us know about the mammoths?" I continued to question.

Student: "Because the mammoths will be in heaven too and so we'll be able to know then. Because all animals go to heaven and people and mammoths are animals.

Me: "Okay," I relented. That was well-enough reasoned for me for the moment.

- I finally watched Juno. I cried at the end when she was giving up the baby. I kind of hate that I cried at the end when she gave up the baby. I don't know what to think about that movie. (I know my reaction is a half a year too late. I'm slow to watch movies.)