BLARGH!!!

how does the university of arizona suck? let me count the ways. i made some phone calls to resolve my false debt problem…turns out that the professor who was academically unethical while i was her student is the root of my problems. the poor student phone biscuit in the financial aid office may have lost some of his nine lives. i explained my problem, he didn’t get it. so i laid it out so that a monkey could understand clearly and told him, this is above your current power level, give me your supervisor. supervisor, a nice woman named rose, was also clueless. however, she was able to tell me the name of the person who filed the paperwork. two wrong numbers later, i finally located this person and it turns out that she has plus 1 problem solving skills when compared to phone biscuit which was good for me. she actually had a file with information in it. according to her, the person in charge of stipends handed out by the department, i had done everything necessary to work off my loans and this should get cleared up soon. but first she has to contact antia…the woman who is the reason why i hate the ua with a firey passion. antia hates me too. so this part will be interesting. either way, antia wasn’t available to ask why the f* she had issued this order so resolution will have to wait until tomorrow. good thing i have my exit email from antia herself detailing the nature of my financial aid/stipend repayment. regardless, this whole incident made for a less than wonderful monday.

BONSAI!!!!!!!

dylan was smart enough to force me to go to the japanese garden in portland yesterday. i was going to not go due to excessive homework, but then he made me go and i did homework in the car carsick. it was a great move on his part. i got some work done and had the most relaxing and beautiful day at the most authentic japanese garden outside of japan. i have never seen such an exquisite place in my life. there wasn’t a single detail that had been overlooked. and i don’t think there could have been a more beautiful time to go. the colors were unbelievable. also, the bonsai exhibit was kind of out of this world. and to top it all off, we ended the day with delicious sushi, iovinos and new morning bakery which makes for delicious left overs.

LEARNING

i arrived at my math methods class this evening and marna grabs me the minute i walked in the door. i’m thinking this can’t be good after the day i’m having. my student came in with his mother after school…oh shit…he didn’t have any of his data for his unit project (i handed this out on multiple occasions and for the last two classes have offered additional copies to anyone who needs it). d’oh! well, this was one of my lowest students so, i’m not totally surprised. marna then explains to me that he and his mother had wanted to clarify what mean, median, mode and range were so marna quizzed him. my third lowest student, who can hardly read or write, who hasn’t written a single thing throughout the whole unit. and he nailed each concept without any reminders. OH MY GOD! this right here is evidence that i have taught someone something. and not the smart kids who would get it on their own. what satisfaction after just last week, another parent was suggesting that i was a lowly student teacher who didn’t know how to differentiate. my differentiation tactics have worked beautifully as evidenced by this student. he may not get all of his work in on time, but damn it, he knows the information. i am absolutely thrilled.