Rodeo week!

     Last night was the last night of the annual Woodward Elks Rodeo - "The toughest of them all".  This year, I did the single father thing - I went with my youngest daughter.  To be fair, I knew that within 20 minutes she was probably going to be bored of sitting with me and would want to hang out with her friends, and sure enough, she did.  I didn't want her to be bored, so I released her from my weight and I didn't hear from her or see her again until it was over.  I can honestly say she probably had a better time than just sitting with me, which was the whole idea of the thing, so it's OK.  So there I was, sitting in the stands surrounded by hundreds of people I didn't know, sweating, and trying like heck to figure out what the attraction to rodeo is.

     To tell the truth, this year what I was really looking forward to, besides spending time with my daughter, was the chance to use my new camera.  I decided this past month to take up an old hobby of mine.  Turns out, my daughter is also interested in photography, so I hope we get to do it together from time to time.  I've had those little point and shoots that are tiny and fit in your pocket and they're good enough, but I wanted more so I bought what's called a bridge camera, or super zoom camera.  Not quite a DSLR, but more than those little things.  The ability to adjust settings on the camera as well as have the ease of a point and  shoot all in one camera.  Pretty cool!  I got a great deal on one (took some searching, but I got it for several hundred less than it was listed) and it came in on Thursday, and I was chomping at the bit to take pictures.  What I found out was that I have a LOT to learn about taking pictures at night!

     (All these shots, and more, are available on my Flickr page found here  Click here for more pictures taken by me of the rodeo..)

     As I sat around trying to figure out what pictures to take, I saw the giant flag they had hanging from the crane. I was going for a dramatic picture, but I don't think I captured dramatic.  I like it anyways.

 

     Who could miss the truck hanging underneath the flag?  The grey behind it is smoke from the big fire going on over by Cedardale.

 

     The kid thing was going on, so I took several of these types of shots.  Kids are always good for action.

 

     After that, it became an exercise in trying out different exposures and such, some worked, some didn't.

 

 

 

 

          Finally, my two favorite shots. I don't know why they are, I just like them out of the bunch.

     Feel free to check out all my photos of the rodeo.  Like I said, some are good, some not so much.  More pictures of the rodeo!

Doing what we love...

     To start off with, I'd like to share this letter:

     A Teacher Explains Why She Gave Up 

     It's very sad that a young teacher was reduced to leaving the job she loves.  However, it's not as uncommon as you would think.  A stat listed in the blog to give you an idea on how common this is:  more than 50% of teachers quit within 7 years of starting, and most within 5 years.  The ones that refresh this career, the ones with the fresh and new ideas and concepts, most commonly the youngest and most eager of us - over half of them leave before they are really considered master teachers. 

     I can relate.  About 5 years ago (my 5th or 6th year), I almost quit teaching.  I was having an incredibly hard time with the class I had and I just couldn't see that I was making a difference.  I remember standing in the hallway outside my classroom, staring out the window and watching the highway traffic driving by and wondered what I would do if I quit teaching.

     See, despite the stress, despite the headaches, despite all the hassles,  and the lack of pay, I really love my job.  There's nothing like seeing and talking to and with the kiddos, having them looking to me to guide them through the year, passing along knowledge - rather intended in lesson plans or spur of the moment - helping them because they need me, and being an authority/male figure that students want, need and remember year after year after year (and apparently like) is just pretty darn awesome.  Honestly, I've had several jobs in my 46 years and this one is the one I feel most suited and comfortable in.

     But, that horrible few months I was having back then was enough to make me seriously want to leave this wonderful career.  I was having problems seeing that I was making a difference (with one student in particular), rumors of teacher merit pay were flying around and had actually made it through a committee in congress (biggest joke ever - NO ONE is paid based on how someone else performs, nor should they be), rumors of more layoffs, lack of textbooks and general support from the state -  the list went on and on.  Kids were negative, not listening, not caring about their work and generally disrespectful (more than what I had seen to that point).  This profession that had once been considered a very noble and honorable profession had disintegrated into the laughable occupation to take money from, to place the blame for all student performance on, and to grind the collective cigarette butt of cynicism, negativity and doubt out on.  And I was feeling it.

     About two weeks after that, I was staring out that same window again.  I had just had a run-in with that same student again, and I had decided it was enough.  I was tired of the arguing, the not turning in of work, the lying, the fighting, the bickering, the contradictions, the interruptions, everything.  Outside of work, I was tired of hearing about how "I got weekends and holidays and my summers off" or "How I was paid for working half a year", and I was tired of feeling like I WAS NOT MAKING A DIFFERENCE (that I could see. See, we teachers don't work in tangibles.  We see the results of our hard work years later, if ever.) 

     However, along with these thoughts were, "What will you do if you leave?"  and "You're too old to start all over again!"  But there was a quiet thought also.  It said, "Why let one or two people ruin what you love?  Why give them the power to do that?  Why not see it through?"  And that little voice never stopped.  It was persistent.  It was kind, it was soothing, and it was RIGHT.  It was that day that I decided to really dig in and do what I loved - teach.

     Teaching is hard work.  I've heard stories and stories and stories about bad teachers and I always say the same thing.  Please don't let the one or two bad teachers you know affect your opinion of the rest of us.  And let me tell you this - being a BAD teacher is EASY.  Being a GOOD teacher is hard work.  We spend hours every day building lessons and units, grading papers, coming up with good ideas.  We spend our weekends and holidays playing "catch up" and getting ahead.  We take our summers and go to workshops, take classes at college, work on our Master's degrees and getting to know our families again.  We don't want the "Teacher of the Year" awards - though it's great when we get it.  We just want to do what we love.  We want to teach!

Now, get off my lawn!