It was year 2 of our relationship, and Katherine and I were getting closer and closer. She was not like them other girls. Whereas other girls were extremely difficult, she was very easy to get along with. The relationship just flowed magically, with very few problems in the process. I am forever grateful to have someone so loving, so kind, and so gentle to me (most of the time when she’s not bullying or cyber-bullying me). This year we started meeting each other’s friends and families to fully intertwine ourselves in each other’s lives. My family liked her, whereas her family probably thought I was weird. But it’s okay, because they’re stuck with me now. My favorite memories of the year were going to Las Vegas, more paint nights, and spending Christmas together.
This year, I acquired my teaching credential at Cal State Fullerton. Once again, the program itself was nothing special, and I didn’t even learn about IEP’s (Individualized Education Plans) until the last month of school. The experience of course came from teaching at Hosler Middle School, in a virtual setting. I was teaching 8th grade math and science to SDC (Special Day Class) students through Google Meets. For about 80% of the students, things were going pretty well and they were learning for the most part. I modified the curriculum enough so that they could get it. For the other 20%, it was hard to get them to participate since they never responded, or never logged in the first place. Still, I got a taste of what IEP meetings entailed, and delivered them as best as possible.
What I did get out of the experience of course is that SDC students are just as teachable, even in a virtual setting. I wasn’t sarcastic with these students though, seeing as they probably would have misinterpreted this persona digitally. Also, they all had their cameras off so I couldn’t see their reactions to many of the things I said. The difficulty of teaching math came though, with many of these students’ deficit making it almost impossible to teach by the standards. When teaching the steps in solving extended mathematical problems, these steps were reminded to students each day so that they could remember.
I never once had to teach in this person this year, seeing as the pandemic extended into the rest of the school year. And yet I’m grateful to have been able to attend graduation in person.
Taylor Swift released two albums – Folklore and Evermore, most likely written during the pandemic. As slower albums they aren’t my favorites, but have some songs that are still unforgettable – my favorite being Exile featuring Bon Iver.
Our 2-year anniversary date was at Orange Hill Restaurant, not nearly as delicious of a setting as Parker’s lighthouse. I also didn’t like having to drive off that scary cliff.
