Hello!

Hello!

18 November 2009

Quotable

I've been meaning to post something like this for a while, but I haven't gotten around to it until now.

My students are hilarious. Sometimes on purpose, and sometimes unintentionally, and they give me enough fodder to tell stories for days and days, so here are some of my favorite student quotes from this year.

1. L. (after wiping black marker off a white board with her hands): I'm all black.
B. (an African-American student): It's a privilege.

2. E.: Miss, you too serious. Do you have any friends?
Me (sarcastically and dramatically): No. None at all.
E.: Do you have any pets?
Me (Still dramatic and sarcastic): Nope.
E.: Do you have a husband?
Me (Even more dramatically): Nope. I go home and I don't talk at all until I come to work the next day.
Y. (looking concerned): For REAL Miss?!

3. While working on an example of a poem that they would have to write in class -
Me: What's something I might do over the summer?
Student: Swim!
Student: Go outside!
L.: Sell hotdogs!
Whaaaaaaa?!

4. C.: Miss, do you talk about us when you go home? Do you tell stories about us?
Yes, kiddies. I tell the Internet.

5. The day of parent-teacher conferences - J: Miss, my dad is coming; he's going to hit on you. (For the record, he did, but at least I was prepared! I flashed my ring like crazy.)

6. K.: Miss, you look nice today.
Me: I'm always scared when students tell me that. Does that mean that I don't look nice most days?
K.: Naw, Miss. You know how to dress; some teachers don't.
On a related note, I had parent-teacher conferences last night, and parents are funny, too:

1. Me: S. is doing really well; he has an A, but he talks a lot in class, and I had to give him two days of detention because he was disrupting class.
S. Sr.: I thought he had detention; he told me he was cleaning for community service hours.
So busted!

2. Me: C. has brought his grade up from an F to a C. He's been coming in for tutoring and is working really hard. I'm really proud of him.
C.'s mom: Me too. He's getting a milkshake!

The best part, though, was the mom who told me that her daughter hated speaking Spanish before my class and now she goes home and wants them to speak to her in Spanish. "She wants to send texts in Spanish and she watches movies in Spanish with her dad." I will not lie, I teared up.

03 November 2009

Songs that make me feel pretty

Forget María's catchy little ditty from West Side Story. These are the songs that make me feel better about myself when I'm feeling less than gorgeous or when I'm just in a funk.

1. "Unpretty" by TLC

About finding that inner strength when you're hit with the idea that you're less than the ideal. The actual video (linked in title) is stellar.

2. "Yo no soy esa mujer" by Paulina Rubio

Have I ever mentioned the fact that I was on the same plane as La Chica Dorada when I flew back from Chile to Miami? Because I walked right past her and thought, "Dang that's an ugly coat! But she looks kinda familiar...." It wasn't until we'd all gotten through customs that I realized who she was. Anyway, this song. "Yo no soy esa mujer que no sale de casa...." A song for the tough girl refusing to be relegated to a life of domesticity - read, me.

3. "Just Fine" by Mary J. Blige

"I like what I see when I'm looking at me when I'm walking past the mirror." Always classy and confident. Love! (Click title for the full song)

4. "Video" by India Arie

It's a classic. &heart

5. "Señora de las cuatro décadas" by Ricardo Arjona

Because no one does sexy imperfections in a song like Arjona. Another classic.

6. "Superwoman" by Alicia Keys

It's a no brainer, really. I remember having this one on repeat while I willed myself to believe it during a particularly rough period, not going to lie.

7. "Who I Am" by Jessica Andrews

Love it!

8. "Piel canela" by La Sonora Matancera and Bobby Capó

Let's hear it for this cinnamon skin! Also, it's hard to feel bad while listening to cha-cha-cha.

9. "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield

Cheesy Europop? Check. Clichés galore? Check. Catchiness? Double check. And I love it unabashedly.

10. "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley

Don't worry about a thing, cause every little thing is gonna be alright.