Saturday's a Rugby Day

So, even though I really shouldn't have with my schedule, I started playing with the Hartford Roses this season. It's been incredible! We went up to N.H. this weekend for a big tournament; I swear, I haven't had that much fun since my first drink-up in college (which was hard to beat). I won't describe the absolute insanity at this point (because, quite frankly, there is some of it that I don't remember), but, it was a good time. They are a wonderful group of women and I am very glad to have been invited to play with them. I've never met a harder working, harder playing, harder partying girls before.

It was a tough trip going up; I got out of work at 10 the night previous (my advisee was hosting culture night at the school and I promised I would go) and drove the four hours to N.H. by myself at 5:00 am the next morning. Ouch.

Highlight of the whole weekend, though, was not the partying. Or even the rugby (thought that was AMAZING). It was getting to know some of the girls better. It felt sort of strange at first, because I am younger than a lot of them. I felt almost like the little sister. It was sort of pleasant. I spend my whole day bossing kids around and having to feel like I'm the only responsible adult in a three mile radius (which, for those of you who know me, know how RIDICULOUS that is...). It was nice to be a rookie again - to not be expected to know what to do, and praised for doing it. It's nice having people want to include you, rather than having to go out on a limb.

It was awesome getting to know some of the guys, as well. I'm a bit more timid around them. I'm a bit more timid around everyone on the team... I'm not sure why that is, quite yet. I guess I just really want to be on good terms with everyone. I sort of have a tendency to ... well, run my mouth off. I haven't yet, here. I suppose I haven't been drinking enough around them...

Anyway, soppy article - not very interesting. I don't have any good stories of my own to share. I primarily just watched. But, it's good to be happy. I haven't felt this good in a long time. Work's been wearing on me. I'll be glad to be done with it for the summer.

I've already decided I'm not coming back full time in the fall next year. I'll be the athletic director (freaking sweet!!) and helping out only when I feel like it, beyond that. Just... too much.

Best part: I'll be able to play rugby all of next season. The insanity manages to help curb my own, I suppose. I'm a more normal person on the field than I am in the classroom. Weird.

Teaching is a Profession, Not a Business.

My school exists as a part of the effort to close the achievement gap in Connecticut. Minority students from urban areas perform at much lower levels than their white peers in suburban schools. Many people ask why there is such a gap in the first place. A lot of it comes down to the ways in which racism has been institutionalized in our country. While that explains the origin of the achievement gap, institutionalized racism does not explain why the gap continues to grow, rather than recede. No one (except the occasional loud-mouthed bigot) seems comfortable offering an answer. Hartford, recently, has decided to place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the one group of people who so doesn't need it: the teachers. In the above article, we are told that Hartford teachers should work longer days, get less sick time and have stricter work evaluations, according to a report released today by the National Council on Teacher Quality, an education think tank in Washington.