The Intimidation Factor

Thank you LeBron for ending the agony of wait. Stupid..........

Summer is coming to a screeching halt for the DC area. Students and teachers alike are preparing for the big comeback on August 2nd. Some people in other professions have strong opinions about teachers and our complaints about salaries and time off. My thoughts on these opinions (put nicely) are #1. Give it a try it and see how much recovery time you need. #2. Even though it seems like we work from 8-3 during school, trust me, that is NOT the case. Some days I will come home and grade papers until midnight. That's not including Homecoming week where I only get close to 7 hours of sleep in 5 days. (Why do I do this again? Oh yeah. That's right. B/c I pretty much love it.) Most people work hard regardless of their profession, but I feel like I have to defend mine sometimes due to the negative connotation surrounding the large amount of vacation time. Teachers will be returning a full week earlier for in-service. I had no clue what in-service actually was as a student. I've come to realize I really don't know now, as a teacher what it is. J/k. Sort of. Truth be told, I actually enjoy working with students way more than adults. (Sidenote: I LOVE my teaching family. Kids are just easier for me to deal with. Hence why I'm a teacher.) Because I have been a Peggy Procrastinator ALL summer I will be working round the clock next week getting my classroom and curriculum ready. I am usually really on top of things as far as my curriculum is concerned. I have been trying to figure out why that has NOT been the case with English 3. I have come to the conclusion that it is because I am SO intimidated by these standards and curriculum. I'm teaching Gatsby and persuasive writing for goodness sake! 11th grade is my dream job. I just didn't think I would have it year 3 of teaching. Fear of failure is a huge issue for me, and this class is highlighting that fact. Whine much? Apparently. Looking forward to the challenges to come though.

Just do it.

Dear LeBron James,

Just pick a damn team already! You're pretty and all, but I'm sick and tired of hearing about you. I really did like and appreciate your talent up until the past month. When I watch Sportscenter I naturally expect to see 3 seconds about World Cup action and then the other 59 minutes and 57 seconds is devoted to you and your every waking move and the tough decision of which team you're going to accept a bajillion dollars from, but seriously?! I don't care what you had for lunch or that you played a pick-up softball game last night. And national news coverage? I'm really more interested in the nationwide disaster of spreading oil in the Gulf instead of whether or not you're staying in Cleveland. Call me lame b/c I'm not a huge NBA fan, but I'm really kind of over it. No disrespect man, and I would be honored if you randomly for no good reason or good money came to Memphis. Way to go with that whole straight out of high school thing too.

Sincerely,

Ashlee Jennings

Picture found here

The business of people pleasing

4th of July weekend was a nice time with good people. I spent today working around the house. Mainly figuring out how to make my yard look a little less white trash. Mirrors, picture frames, and other wall decor items were hung with not that many holes this time. I did all of the hard work today with the help of the fam and some pretty sweet ladies.

Side note: I'm having another one of those good, good talks. Main topic: people pleasing. I have this BFF, E., who quite possibly could be a poster child for people pleasers. Once upon a time, I think I also could have fallen into this category. Not to get too deep b/c I don't consider my blog to be a forum for life lessons but here it goes: Over the past 6 months I have made a conscious effort to NOT be this way. Before this dramatic change I did anything to make sure people were happy with me (including make myself unhappy.) Friends, family, co-workers, pretty much anyone (excluding students) is included in what was my strong desire to make people happy. When I say "make people happy" I mean mostly emotional things. And nothing serious just small things that eventually add up. In most cases, this is completely okay, but this is also an excellent way to allow yourself to be taken advantage of. When it's close, best friends/people who sincerely care about you, it's totally okay to want to please them in normal, non-creepy ways. But then there are people who are not those things and it becomes just a cluster mess of a friendship/ relationship. No longer a fan of those. Not one bit. I now find myself in a place where I realize that those people who genuinely care, love, and appreciate me for the person I am. Those people don't need me to actually do anything to please them. They're friends or whatever with me because of who I am and that's just dandy. It's enough. Nothing expected and full understanding. I'm definitely a work in progress going on 25 years now, but you learn something new everyday I guess.