what do cei's and the gingerbread man have in common?

ok, i know what you're thinking..just kidding, no i don't! i'm not a mind reader! but you're about to know what i'm thinking!
but what do they have in common? well...they both make sense only in some kind of fairytale land.

yesterday while i was administering the math TAKS test, i kept hearing a little squeaky sound and thought i saw something out of the corner of my eye. when i looked, i didn't see anything. except for one time. i sneaked a peak and saw the gingerbread warrior flailing his arms, then he froze as soon as he noticed me watching him.

and today, while they were taking their reading test, i was admiring the carpet/rug. it was very colorful and had designs and random letters and numbers everywhere. so, you know how i am about random letters, i started making words, because that's what i do! and then the designs started playing games- for example:

is it 4 flowers, or is it 2 circles beside each other with a diamond in the middle..or two circles on top of each other with diamonds in the middle...or is it just 4 diamonds..or is it on big diamond with a flower in the middle? hmm..and on and on...

but yes, i was actively monitoring the students.

and as i was monitoring, i was reminded that i had agreed to go to a focus group meeting this evening from 5 to 7. downtown.ugh. why do i agree to these things? i got there with no problem. the worse part was once we got inside (a little late), i had no idea what they were talking about besides pay-performance. hmm..well i didn't have much to say until we got to the end and they were talking about the ever elusive CEI (classroom effectiveness indexes-which no one can explain); i did have something to add after that because i don't always have a high CEI, but i know that i am an effective teacher, so i told them that: i sign up every year just for kicks because i know that i should get the performance pay because i perform my job well, but then at the end of the year even though there has been growth, i feel like they've put me in a dark gym and spun me around and said, "you get one shot to make the free throw, but we're not going to point you toward the basket..good luck!"

ok, enough of that, i would like you to know that today i did see something that made me smile. it was probably while the kids were having snack...

i mean, c'mon, tell me that doesn't make you smile!

it reminded me of when i lived in HONDURAS and there was this cage-like not really a zoo, but they had monkeys in a cage. i think it was in tela...anyhoo, we went and a girl got a little too close to the cage (maybe for a picture or something, or maybe to feed them?) but the monkey grabbed her hair and wouldn't let go. somewhat funny, somewhat frightening.

it also took me back to costa rica when we visited a family who lived in the mountains by a river. they had 3 monkeys. the baby was sweet and loved to climb up and be held, but when you tried to out him down and walk away, he would go ape (hehehe)...it was also the first time i saw a Jesus lizard running across the river. they also taught me about cashews. in case you were unaware, cashews have a toxin called urushiol, so they must be roasted (but that has to be done outdoors because they give off a toxic gas). all that from a stuffed animal.

 then one of the boys said he was going to get shoes like mine-the 5 finger vibrams i had on today. well, that got me looking around at their shoes. i was wondering where all their shoes had walked. and then i looked at mine and decided mine have not traveled nearly as much as i was hoping they would. i originally got them to go out and enjoy the wild-which as of yet they have not, so i am looking forward to getting them initiated.

do not let anyone measure your effectiveness by some black hole of malarkey, instead measure effectiveness by how much of a difference you make in the lives of others!
jules