Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Give and Take

I was driving home today and got a phone call. The wording in the call got my mind spinning. I then started to stew. Now I am bubbling over. So you get to hear me vent today, because I use my blog as my journal. I express myself openly on here for people to read, judge, and make decisions on who I am and what I do. So today’s post is for no one but myself to vent. Is that clear?
I am so sick and tired. I have always admired my Grandma Ruth for being a very kind, sweet, soft spoken person that never really had anything negative to say. My Grandma Alice was the life of the party and kind. My mom is also sweet and is a caregiver like myself.
Then there is me. Mike made a comment on my 10 years of teaching post that hit home with me. “Helping others.” Your right. I do help others. That’s my job. To take care of, nurture, and guide children. I also host a ride to raise money for breast cancer. So when I am not helping kids I am raising money for breast cancer. Huh……. I guess I do give a lot.
My problem is what I take. I try to help the kids and I get attitude because they don’t feel like doing PE that day. I have a problem with a student or their grade is low. I call home and try to be as gentle and kind as I can be talking to the parent and I get yelled at. I have problems in my life and people that have nothing to do with it feel they have the right to treat me poorly when I have never done anything wrong and then say “ I am sorry if YOU felt I …….” Uh huh. I am tired of being nice to people and getting the shaft. I am tired of putting myself out on the line to take it from everyone. My riding, my anything. I am going through a lot right now and for some strange reason I may want to do something for myself. Something my broken soul needs. When I love, I love with all I am. Doing so, lends itself to the person getting hurt deeply. I don’t want to be the kind of person that after they get hurt they are more guarded. I want to love fully. I want to give myself and be loved equally in return. Respect. Just because I like to give does not mean I like to give in. I am tired of that. I am done with that. Balance. Peace. Calm. Let me be me. Let me shine. Let me show you the world through my eyes. Smile. Think of the positive things. Don’t grind me down to a pulp.



My song to vent with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-ounk0FNdY



Some positive things people like to hear now and then.......


You look nice today
I miss you
Have a nice day
I’m proud of you
Job well done
Thank you
You’re so funny
Glad to see you
Best ever

San Diego Supermoto Race






















SEEMS YOU HAVE TO CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO SEE THEM FULLY, THEY ARE TOO LARGE.



























































































Life seems to be a day to day thing for me as of late. I seem to come up with things to do, but not sure if I am going to do them. So when I heard about an asphalt only supermoto race in San Diego I was on the fence. I can’t do the dirt section of a supermoto race yet, so a street only would be best since that’s my cup of tea. Late Sat night after a day of driving forever to get quilt material to try to make my dad a quilt in a week for father’s day, I figured I would go ahead and race. Mike said if I was going to race the he wanted to go so off we went at 5:00AM. Miles was generous to offer to use his bike since mine still had all the lights, and so on, on it. I also did not want to race without hand guards. With such a busy and exhausting week at work, I did not think I was going to race. Then with working on the quilt, I really did not think I was going to go. I just through things together and hope I remembered everything.
All the way down there I just did not feel like racing. Maybe riding around, but not racing. I was just not into it. I have been very stressed and I did not want any more pressure. Now I am racing? I figured that it would be some track time and that would be ok. Everyone there was very nice, but there were not too many bikes. It’s a Go Karting event that opened up for supermotos. The grouped the beginners, intermediate, and advanced in the same grid to start but let each group start with a same gap between the next group.












Here is the race schedule.






Practice session 1
Practice session 2
Qualifying
Heat race 1 (10 laps)
Heat race 2 ( 10 laps)
Main race (15 laps)







Holy cow that’s a lot of racing. I have not used what I like to call “supermoto muscles” too much. I ride a sportbike and can do that all day, but my legs and arms were killing me due to the different style. I figured out I could do a few turns on the bike like I ride my sportbikes so I would do that now and then to save my legs and arms in some of the races.






I then found out the track was a mile a lap!!!!!!!! That’s one heck of a big track. I was thinking,” Are you kidding me? I have to do a 15 mile race? After 20 Miles of heat race laps? After a qualifying and two practice sessions that I have idea how many laps they were?”






I did all the laps and sessions and it was time for the main race. I did a lap and a half warm up to find the bike died on the start. I can’t get it going and don’t know what’s going on. I was frantic. They tell me to pull off the grid, but I was still trying to start it when a guy yells out the gas is off. I move the switch hoping I moved it to on and got the bike started. The card goes up and the bike dies again. I raise my hand and it won’t start. They tell me to get off the grid. I am pushing with one foot since I can’t touch with both feet slowly off the grid (that was a fast as I could go) as I was trying to start the bike. How could I come all this way and wait all day (5 PM by now) and not do the main? They started my beginners group and off they went. I finally got my bike started and I was told to go ahead and join them. I took off and was trying hard to catch them. After I caught them I realized I was trying really hard and had sooooooo many laps left to do. They were also not telling us the half way mark on the races. I was just riding and riding. I passed two guys and just kept trying to ride to stay ahead of them. Near the end of the race two advanced riders passed me. I felt pretty good about that since it took them so long to finally pass me. I also was then catching up to a guy that started on the wrong grid spot (that was going on each race, don’t ask me how they could get that wrong when they lined us up on a pregrid area.) that was in the intermediate level. I followed him around trying to pass him. I got him on the last turn on the last lap. I ended up getting second in my class behind a guy on a 650 Kawasaki Versys. Can’t keep up with that thing on that big of a track. Oh and with I would guess about 5 laps to go in the main race my legs were hurting so bad that I could hardly keep my leg out. It was dragging on the ground because I lacked the strength to lift it anymore. My arms were hurting as well and I was trying really hard not to make a mistake due to fatigue. Mistake, as in, get hurt.
Needless to say my body has been feeling it for the last two days. It was a great workout I guess.

More please!



xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Thursday, June 10, 2010

10 Years of teaching in the books.

Yes, you read that right 10 Years!!!!!!


Let's start with Water day! We work hard all year to raise money for things for the kids. Here is an end of the year reward for all their hard work.





Having fun.

Looks like fun, but after people have been on it all day, I think I will pass on the brown muddy pool of water to land in. HA HA HA



The kids love it.

Grab a cone or a bucket, fill it with water, and dump it on your friend or anyone for that matter.


Who want's to go first?
_________________________________________________________
Time for Hanshaw's nutty relay races.
Don't ask me where I come up with this stuff. I just stand in the storage room and look at what we have and out comes this mess. It's a lot of work, but watching the kids have that much fun makes it worth it for sure. I can't but help to laugh when they crash and burn in the giant donuts. All I have to do it yell out,"Donut Races!!!!!!!" and they go wild. I alway hide them so I can suprise them. I'm a goof I know.
HA HA HA HA

One leg of the relay race.


Tug-A-War!!! ( I always have the boys Vs' girls at least one time p/class. The boys think they will win for sure. So I walk down the line of girls and whisper for them to let go of the rope when they hear me blow the whistle. The boys end up on their back sides. It works every time, and yes, I laugh every time. That never gets old.)



Another leg of the relay. Hippity Hops.

Team walkers. Some just never get it and never move forward a step. It's so funny.

Having fun in Hanshaw's class.
(I find that other classes see my class doing this stuff and then ask why they dont get to do it. I can see them watching my class as my class yells and screams. )

Go Go Go!!!!

Classic!

Jump Rope Run.
You can do it!

As this school year comes to an end I always look back to the beginning and see just how far I have come. Not only myself, but my students. At the start of the year we play social skill games were the class has to work together. I bring games like that out on the last day of normal class because the kids love it and I can see the difference. It goes from moans and groans and not wanting to join in to yelling, cheering and everyone running over to be the first one. I am the only teacher that takes the time to set up crazy things for the kids to do. I get complements on that by my department. I sent the principal pictures of the kids playing games and he requested to come out and watch my class. The kids were having a great time and he had a big smile on his face and was laughing watching my class enjoy some crazy relay race type things I had made up. After class the principal said,” In all my years of teaching, I have never seem a PE class have so much fun. “ He then shook his head in amazement. I take great pride in my work. I not only have to educate students on physical skills, but social skills, personal skills, team work, good sportsmanship, hygiene, counsel students, praise students, and all other aspects of development. It’s a lot in one day. It’s a lot in one class period. It’s my desire for the students to have fun while learning that makes me try hard. If they have fun, then they are happy. If they are happy, my day is just that much better. If they are a great class, I find myself proud as if they were my own kids.
Just yesterday we had the 8th graders Vs the teachers yearly softball game. One of my students hit a double and I yelled out,” That’s my student! That’s my student!” Proud to be his teacher. The other teachers smile. I teach about 230 students a day. Some it takes all year to reach. Some you never reach. Most you become close with. Some are tough gang kids that I feel I help. I offer them respect, kindness, and constancy. If I know they are a tough kid I give them my speech. “ Hello. What school did you come from? Oh that’s nice. Welcome to my class, I am happy to have you. We all work hard to have a positive attitude in class and are nice to the other students. I will treat you like an adult unless you act like a child and I have to treat you like a child. I want you to have fun, but don’t talk when I am talking and don’t goof off. We play a lot of games that I think you will like. Do you have your PE clothes yet? Ok well then just watch and see how class goes today. If you work hard and have fun then it will be great. If you goof off or act up it will be hell. Don’t mistake kindness for weakness. So let’s start off with a positive attitude and welcome to our family. “That’s for my students with probation officers and that have been kicked out of schools and so on.


After ten years I figured I have taught about 2300+ students and have coached around 800 or so personally, not just kids on the team that you help anyways. Oh and yes, I did know all their names at one time. No wonder I forget things, I used up all my memory on names.
Teaching is not easy. Teacher appreciation week was not too long ago and there was a poem that someone put in all the teachers mail boxes. After reading it and seeing what we do all day, I was amazed. There is a lot that goes into it. Would I want to do something else? Not really. I dream of racing bike as a pro, but then that fun turns into a job. I think I have found what I enjoy enough to get up each day ready to go to work. Believe me there are days I want to stay in bed or wonder why am I doing this, but they are not too often.

My favorite teaching moments.

1. I coached a girl in the hurdles. She was very good. I told her a story about a hurdle race I had done and told her I see that in her and that she just had to go for it. She did and dropped her time a great deal. She told me that she trusted me and that if I thought she could do it, then she could. It’s not easy to ask someone to push themselves to the physical limit and tell them they can maintain that.
2. It was batting practice for softball. I saw a boy hiding out not hitting. After class I brought him aside and told him to stay with me and we will hit a few balls. He said that he can’t hit the ball. On the second try he hit that sucker so far and hard we were both shocked. He hit the ball over and over again. He just needed a few coaching ques. After that I would tell the class you want him on your team because he always hits the ball. He never missed the ball after that. Every day after softball he would say thank you with a smile.
3. After finding out a 6th grade girl in my class was almost molested by her father that weekend, she came up to me like she always does and gave me a big hug at the start of class. She was her normal nice self after this horrible thing. (the dad is now in jail) Made my life seem that much easier.
4. A boy, that I did not have as a student, was crying the Friday before the last week of school. Found out that his mom and dad are divorced. He lived with his dad and sister in a rented room in a house. The dad is never home and the owner of the house was just out of jail for trying to kill his own son. He was chasing the student with a knife in the house. He was upset school was going to be out and had no safe place to go and that his mom had no job and lived in her car. I told him that social services would help and not just take him away. That Monday he told me that they helped his mom get a job and now his dad is going to be home more. Smiling ear to ear thanking me. ( Not like I did much besides report it)
5. I got a letter a few weeks ago form a student that said that she loved having me as a teacher. That she knew it was going to be a fun class after we did the giant donut races that I do in class. She thanked me for helping her improve her run times and always encouraging them. She has only spoken about 10 words to me all year. She is very shy. I never knew all this. I am blessed that she told me all these things and more. It was so kind.
6. There has been a few boy students that are really tough. One boy ( I say boy due to age. He was almost 6’0” and at least 250LBS. He would not follow directions and was a mess. I pulled him aside and I asked what can I do to make class fun for him. He did not answer. I told him that I see him talking and goofing off and would love to make the class fun for him. I told him I wanted him to have a good time. After a good 15 minute talk (I did all the talking he did not want to say anything) he went back to class. The next day he volunteered to lead the class in stretches. That day and every day after that for the rest of the school year.
7. I had an Autistic boy that you could not tell he was Autistic. He just seemed to be a major problem in the class. I was warned about him and told “Oh, you have him? Good luck! He is so rude and bossy. He never does anything.” After my first day of class he started to walk away from class. I tried to talk to him calmly. He was rude and nasty. I then yelled at him (I NEVER do that) and let him have it. I ended with saying lets have fun in the class and start fresh tomorrow like this never happened. You decide. I got a angry parent call that ended ok for the most part the very next day. After that he was really good in my class. Thats when I find out his is Autistic. Great thanks. No one told me that. I got called into the office near the end of that school year and was asked what I did to him. He gets upset when they call him out of my class and not any of the others. They were shocked. He was really a problem every day, all day. I told them I yelled at him the first day and then told him we can start fresh tomorrow but it was up to him. I have to say I don’t understand why that worked. I never ever yell at students. I think it was meant to be.
8. Every time I teach a student something that they are having a hard time with and then get it. That light goes on. You can see it. That makes every bad day worth it. When a student said,” I remember at the start of the year I could not run all that way and now it’s easy.” It’s worth it. When a student says,” I hope I get you again next year.” It’s worth it. I had a group of boys that I thought would love a male teacher next year say to me last week that they wanted me again next year. That I was the best teacher. That’s what it is all about. Now that I think about it. I have been hearing that a lot this year. It seems that this year was a good one for me and a great deal of students said they want me again next year. Enough to stand out to me. That is when I know I am doing a good job. My evaluation was great this year, but when the kids like you and I asked a lot of them, that tells me it was a job well done.
This post is as long as some school years feel. Funny how some years drag and other fly by. So here is to all the teachers. No one really understands teachers. Not unless you are one. You always hear about getting the summers off, holidays off and so on. Ask anyone that is a teacher and you will find that every second off is well deserved. I used to work in an office for 3 years and never used one vacation day. I teach and mark all my days off and holidays on my calendar. Enough said.
Thanks to all the teachers that do amazing things and go thought so much each day. Thanks to my students for being so great. And to the ones that don’t get it yet, I hope you look back and see someone cared and tired.

One more week and I am off for the summer. Here comes trouble!
XOXOXOXO :-) With much love.

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Idyllwild on a hot day.

It has been some time since I have been on a ride to Idyllwild. I have only been there one other time, and that was less than fun. Last time, about 2 years ago, some random rider joined in our ride. Nothing wrong with that, until he is not paying attention to our friend right in front of him who is slowing for a cop. Pow, he hit our friend and took him out. He even has the nerve to say we did not have to call the cops to make a report. Seems that the cop that was giving tickets was not the same one that could make an accident report. Sheesh! Good thing he got the report since his bike was a mess and after riding home he found out he had a broken ankle.
After that mess a rider that was part of the club that had been MIA for years ( my first time meeting the guy) thought he would join us. So after my friend got hit on his bike, we find ourselves rounding a corner with a giant dust cloud. Two things can happen at this point. You pray someone over shot the corner and is upright in the dirt. The other option is that they crashed out, and you don’t even let yourself think that until you see it with your own eyes. Sure enough, he had crashed big. He was riding over his head, and paid the price. Broken bones, ribs, punctured lung, weeks in the hospital………. What a mess.
This brings me to today. Since my one and only time on that road was a mess, I was going to take it a bit easy. Even Mike was having an off day. I knew his arm would kill if he rode his other bike. There was a newer rider that got lost. Not sure how. He just made a turn on a random road. ??? We found him and were on our way again. ( He also blew a turn and went into the other side of the lane as a car was coming. I was trying to lead him slowly through the turns, but wow. I was looking in my mirror saying to myself," Oh no, oh no, dont blow the turn.... Oh a car.... Oh no..... Oh man! What the heck are you doing?" I think I went about 20 MPH after that leading the guy so there was no way he could blow a turn. Then we lost another rider that did not see what way we went. We found him. The restaurant we wanted to eat at was closed so we had to turn around.
As a whole the day was nice. It was hot, but the fresh pine air of Idyllwild reminded me of Bass Lake. I really missed the lake when I was up there. I hope to spend a lot of time at the lake this summer. I sure could use the R and R. Now I find myself day dreaming of riding my bike at the lake. I have always wanted to do that. Can you believe I have yet to? Also, enjoying the water. I love to hang out on the dock. I need to get the Waverunner going. Now look what you have gone and done. You got me thinking of the lake when I was talking about a ride. It’s still hot and hot in the house so I will keep thinking of the lake. Bye for now.

Videos from the ride.

Just starting up the hill.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGyuCfTNvAM
Still going up the hill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jwhcvnz25E



Hard to ride and see if the camera is on without crashing, LOL. Heading down the hill. (Dave, would you pull over so I can pass. I know you looked in your mirror two times. Don't say you did not see me. I saw you seeing me. LOL)What you cant tell is that I am right on him. The wide angle lens makes me look far away and the turns not as sharp as they really are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8FaG04BpNY



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2WefyR1FsU


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvvXLPx-CYc


XOXOXOXOX Have a wonderful day!



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