Parent Conferences

So yesterday and today we had parent conferences at school. This is new for me because we did not take time out of school to do parent conferences. If we needed to meet with a parent then we called them and we met when there was time. But that is not how they do it here. They give students a free day and have parent conferences which means I had to be at work from 8:30 a.m. till 1:30 p.m. today. They also schedule it in the afternoons which meant I had to be at work till 8p.m. yesterday. It was a very long day because we had classes in the morning and then have dinner at school and then meet with the parents.

I think that is a pretty good concept. It makes for a long day but it helps get the parents to meet with the teachers. I had many parents show up. A lot more than I would have over there. Then again I wonder if I looked at percentages if it would be the same ratio. I do need to keep in mind that this is a smaller community and we have less students. Well it was still good to see many of the parents.

Most of them were very helpful and eager to learn what they can do to help their children. It was also good to hear from them that their child enjoys my class. I don't think I do anything special actually sometimes I think about what I do and I feel that I need to do more. I feel that I do not do enough, but apparently I am not that bad. It is just nice to know that you are appreciated and you really are making a difference in someones life.

I am starting to know the students and the school. I am getting very close to many of them. It is great. At first it was difficult but things are changing. I know it takes time to get the ball rolling and it has finally caught momentum. The unfortunate part is that we are on the trimester system and these students will not be in my class again. I hope the bond we have created stays with them. I know I will not forget them.

Winter is fast approaching

So I don't know about other places but man are things getting cold here. Last Monday it was raining, just like much of the week with the only difference that is snowed a bit. Nothing major because it melted by the afternoon but it was still snowing. What the heck! It isn't suppose to snow till November. I am so not ready for the snow. Then again things are getting colder here. The temperature has dropped to the high 20s. That is freakin cold. Oh well I gotta suck it up and deal with it. After all it was my choice to move here.

State of Fear

I just recently finished reading the book State of Fear. It made me think about global warming, the recent hurricanes, and the theory created by the Idaho weatherman regarding the hurricanes. Ironic that someone from Idaho came up with this theory. Also about how we lead our lives.

It made me think about the world we live in now and the tragic events that have been occuring. It is sad that all those people have been left without a home and have lost so much. I wouldn't know what to do if I lost everything I owned. It is great to hear how people are helping each other. But at the same time I also wonder about the decisions people made before the hurricane.
I remember that last year my niece had a trip planned, with the school, to go to Spain before the bombings occured. Then Spain got bombed and she was wondering if they would still go to Spain and I told her that if it wasn't safe then the school would change the location. Which they did. They ended up going to Thailand instead. And wouldn't it be ironic that Thailand got hit by the Tsunami in December. I knew that the school would protect its students and would not put them in any danger. I am also sure that the parents would not send their children if they would be in danger.

The same thing applies to what has happened to the people in New Orleans. They have relied so much on the government to get them out of trouble. What has happened to fending for ourselves. We consider ourselves such individualists and don't want anyone to interfere with our affairs. Then when something like this happens we are quick to blame the government for not responding quick enough. I think the government should have responded quicker and there is more that we could have done considering how powerful of a country the US is, but then again is it really. More should have been done to help those people but it wasn't. Many people died that should not have died.

Then again I also think, weren't people warned about the oncoming storm. I remember Charlie saw a special in the Discovery Channel that showed how bad things would turn out if a major storm hit Louisiana. If he saw it then people there should have heard something about it. Then again they live in an area that is below sea level so they are aware of the dangers. I know that in California they tell people to prepare themselves in case a major earthquake hit. They tell people to make sure they have some supplies because they could be without water, food, and electricity for several days. I wonder if they were told. Why didn't people get out when they knew the storm was coming.

I would feel bad about leaving my home and belongings but I think my life is more important than material belongings. It would take me time to rebuild my life but atleast I would have a life. Why did these people not get out. Even after the storm some people were told to get out and they didn't want to. I would just like to know why. If we are suppose to be such rational human beings, then why don't we listen. Now people are so quick to blame the government but then again why did they not listen when they were advised to leave.

Then there are all of the threats against New York and the earthquakes happenning in Asia. So much destruction going on and we are helpless to stop it. There is nothing we can de against mother nature. Yet that is only one type of destruction occuring in this world. There are many things that we create in order to make people helpless. We exagerate many events in order to create a state of fear. Something as simple as rain creates havoc in our world. Do we think that we can control everything. We are not capable of such a thing. We are good at creating fear within ourselves and making ourselves the victims when things do not go our way. I wonder how people can live in so much fear all the time and not look within themselves in order to get out of a difficult situation.

This same topic was demonstrated in Bowling for Columbine. People are so scared of each other but at the same time depend on others to help them. Isn't that ironic.

I just wonder to what extent we are willing to allow other people to run our lives. Humans are capable of so much so why don't we use it to create wonderful things instead of trying to destroy ourselves. There is so much information out there that we can use in order to research what we are told instead of believing what we are told. We need to look into things ourselves and truly be individuals.