True Thanksgiving Fashion

The holiday season couldn't have come at a better time in my life and the lives of those close to me. While I'm out here in DC rifling through lesson plans and 12th grade persuasive papers on pancakes vs. waffles (no, that's not a joke), I know of a lot of people working to stay ahead of much more difficult things. So, I'm counting on the holiday spirit to aid others in any struggles that they may be going through.

With 20 minutes left of Thanksgiving I'm going to say what I'm grateful for, in true Thanksgiving fashion:

Family-2.5 weeks ya'll!

Friends-Some who I don't talk to nearly enough and they still love me.

Roommates-Rah rah ah ah ah, roma romama, gaga, ooh lala!

Students-"Ms. Dixon is funny as sh**!"

Mrs. Thompson-"It says it kills 99.9% of germs and bacteria."

DC-You may be rainy lately, but you're great.

Everything-Generic, but true.

Love you all; do me a favor and turn on Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas" and dance it out. "Lose our troubles because after all, it's Christmas time. It's Christmas time again."-Colbie Caillat

Party in the USA

Everyday I talk and talk...and talk...about writing and reading, but I never get to do any of it for myself (writing lesson plans and reading homework doesn't count). So writing, I'm welcoming you back into my life. Welcome. Now that we have that established...

Once upon a time (a year ago), I started this blog in an effort to "revel in the moment, reminisce, and speculate about the future." I talked about how weird it felt to be an adult because I was really still a kid dancing to beyonce, fighting over boys, and eating pb&js. Since then, a lot has changed but nothing has changed.

There are new places.

And new faces.

But my 22 still looks like this:

(This video portrays my roommates and Naomi so perfectly.)

I want to be young and stay up all night, and I want to be an adult in the morning when I regret hitting snooze 5 times. I want to teach my students to be responsible, and I want to procrastinate my lessons until the absolute last moment. I want to make copies in the teacher's lounge and then double dutch in my living room.

I fight time (sometimes quite convincingly).

I love that about myself.

J.M. Barrie said that every child has to grow up except for one and that's Peter Pan. Bullcrap. I say that the crow's feet on an old woman's face shows she has not grown up, not yet. That'll be me. Life has given me so much and the only favor I can give in return, is to act like I still have the spirit, the energy, and the joy to revel in the small things.

I've climbed a tree by the Jefferson Memorial. I've left the room at midnight to stop from waking up my roommate because I was laughing so hard. I've danced on the roof of my complex (inspired by Chanel). I've done magic tricks for my 12th graders.

What has the kid in you done lately?

"So I put my hands up, they're playing my song, I know I'm gonna be okay, It's a party in USA."-Miley

"Handbag Handbag Handbag"

Contrary to popular belief, I am not just vacationing out here in DC. It's not just laughter, dancing, sight seeing, and minimal sleep...BUT so far it has been that a lot of the time. Pictures of our fun in no particular order: Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan
We went to Church in the Temple!

The musical Memphis...so awesome!

Little Italy. Amazing pasta and pizza

Times Square

Statue of Liberty

Mmmmmm. Dark chocolate ice cream with peanut butter sauce.

Capitol Hill Bookstore=insanity and I love it

By Eastern Market. How beautiful is DC?

Eastern Market

I am not including a picture of our experience with the handbags that I mention in the blog title, but it was an experience straight out of a movie. We went through a wall and down into a basement in order to look at illegal knockoff handbags. We also took jumping photos in front of the Met, gained a new found appreciation for the DC Metro and took a long but appreciated hike through Central Park...among other things. Good times.

Now in the midst of all of this craziness, I have been teaching the AP class about slave poetry, imagery, tone and how to do an explication. For my teacher work sample I have to give a pre and post assessment which was an explication of a poem they had never seen...the post was the same as the pre.

3rd Period Pre average: 41% Post average: 73%

4th Period Pre average: 52% Post average: 82%

Check out that improvement! They obviously still have places to go but it's a lot better than before.

Anyway, I should be planning for a lesson for tomorrow like a good little hard worker so excuse me while I go check my facebook.

I LOVE life

I have recently taken over one of the AP classes and between planning for that class and playing, I have been pretty busy. I will have to come back later to blog, but for now, I will leave you with some fun pictures.

Kayaking on the Potomac. Yes, that's the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial in the background. No big deal.

The water got shallow at one point and we bottomed out. Jamie jumped out and saved the day!

I'm freaking buff. I was rowing all of our kayaks down the river. Hear me roar.

Washington Nationals vs. LA Dodgers game. Woot!

It's so great out here and I have so much to tell everyone! I can't believe it has been a month, it seems like it should be more and also less than that at the same time. I love and miss you all!

More coming soon...

9-11

So I am a day late, but I wanted to use the anniversary of September 11th to post my pictures from the Pentagon Memorial. When we went around a week ago, we went at night. We thought that it might have been better to wait until the daytime, but the memorial was so beautiful at night that it can't be as near as powerful in the sunlight.

The memorial has a bench representing every person that died in the Pentagon and the plane that crashed into it. A bench that faces toward the Pentagon is someone that died in the plane, away from the Pentagon is someone that died in the building. The benches are seperated into rows representing the year the individuals were born. The soonest was 1998...so sad. The best part of the memorial is that beneath the benches is running water like a mini fountain. The look and sound of the waterbenches is so peaceful and respectful. I am amazed at whoever thoughtout the plan for this memorial. So touching. Here is a quick video of the memorial; sorry if it makes you motion sick but it's only 30 seconds long.

I hope everyone had a safe September 11th this year. What a great day to remember how much we love our country, how much gratitude we have for our belongings, and how much we take our loved ones and daily lives for granted! Love you all.

Check it out!

Check out this news coverage on Obama's speech to students today and how students at my school reacted! You can see what Wilson is like and what our dynamic is; you can also see my room roommate Leigh, twice in the video. I'm standing right behind her but you can only see the back half of me at like 1:13 haha! President Obama gave his speech in Arlington, VA which is where I live. Pretty cool.

http://www.globalnational.com/story.html?id=1973469

DC Adventures

Hey friends! Well, it looks like I have been in DC for a week, which is crazy considering the amount of stuff we have done in such a short amount of time. I'll update you on the last few days. First of all, school is going well so far. I love Wilson High, the students are so diverse, so funny, and the teachers so dynamic. There does seem to be, however, classroom management problems. On Thursday, my first day of observing, my mentor teacher Mrs. Thompson had control of the classroom for the most part. At one point Mrs. Thompson was talking to me and a little wad of paper hit her in the chest. She immediately jumped up, stuck her index finger in the air, and with a very concerned/angry tone she said "Someone hit me with a spit ball!" It really took all of my energy not to laugh. Anyway, besides some moments where her voice had to be raised etc, Thursday went well. I already have things assigned for me to teach!

On Friday, my teacher was absent and there was a subsitute. The substitute decided to turn the class over to me while she sat back, and in turn, the students decided to see how far they could push me. I didn't appreciate it. The classes were taking quizzes during the whole period, so I basically just had to hand papers out and keep people from cheating. It turned out to be a difficult task. I'm already learning that the way to go here is with tough love. There was a particularly obnoxious group of boys in one class; when I went to stand by them to make sure they knew of my presence and wouldn't cheat off of each other, one boy said "I can't read my own handwriting." (They could use their notes) Fed up, I said, "That's not my problem." That surprisingly got a good reaction. haha Anyway, I'm learning slowly but surely and I'm excited to get more into the student's minds.

Friday night we went to my BYU director's house and spent the night so that we could go to Harper's Ferry and Gettysburg the next day. Here are some awesome pictures:

Harper's Ferry. This is where John Brown led a riot and started big momentum towards the civil war, civil rights, etc. This is also where Storer College is, the first college to allow all races and genders.

This is at Harper's Ferry where the Potomac and the Shanendoah meet. These are the lovely ladies that make up BYU's DC student teaching. Jamie, Me, Chanel, Leigh, Naomi, Katie, Melanie, and Mindy.

Jefferson came here, stood on a nearby rock, and claimed that this was the most beautiful view he had ever seen. I can't say I don't agree.


Me, Leigh, and Naomi under Jefferson's rock.

Gettysburg! Let me explain something...Gettysburg is a lot of landscape and small monuments for soldiers and leaders everywhere. That being said, I'll just give you the gist.

View from Little Round Tope, the ultimate point of advantage.

The castle/fortress on which we stood to get that view.

Us with our war faces and these studly reenacters. As Mindy said, their uniforms (or something) smelled like they had been crapped on. The photographer claimed this pictures was going up on Facebook too. Sweet!
Picketts Charge, the scene of the end of the civil war!

Alrighty, on to Sunday. My ward boundaries are really small, everyone lives within 5 minutes of each other. The problem is that there are like 300 of us and the closest building to fit us all is 30 minutes away which requires a car. Well this Sunday, Tyler was nice enough to give us a ride to church in his Jeep. Not too great for the hair but we do have a nice scenic view of the Potomac all the way to church...

Nala and Polly Pocket enjoying the ride.

Sunday night there was a free symphony concert on the lawn of the capitol. It's still so surreal to be able to say I live here and can be a part of such unique experiences.

They played stuff from the 50s, the Star Wars theme, ET, and a cool piece about Abraham Lincoln. And then came the rain...

My roomates and I, and the boys we came with were just standing there getting soaked until our fellow student teachers found us and made thier way down the lawn like a Chinese dragon under a clear plastic tarp. (My hair was straight at the beginning of the evening) They covered us and saved us!

I hope you can see that I am having a blast and that the fun stories will keep coming. I miss all of you who are not here, and am constantly keeping you in my thoughts! Aren't you dieing in anticipation to know of what adventures Memorial day will bring?