I purposely chose not to title this blog. I don't know what I would call it if I had.

I've gotten a new job, which is good, but can't seem to escape my old one, which is bad. I will be working in a much safer and more direction-orientated school. I'm truly excited for this. The school seems like a perfect fit. I'll let you know if it really isn't.

Finally finished with Minnesota Internship Center, I am grateful to get out of there. My lack of power and support and, especially, dealing with the incompetence among other employees left me feeling frustrated and useless towards my career and development as a teacher as well as utter remorse for the students in my classroom who did not receive what were, to me, obvious resources that would not have been difficult to provide had special education and administration took my advice seriously. It was a year of feeling as though I was capable of giving more to my students without actually being able to do so because of disorganization and a non-collaborative effort among departments and support services within the school.

This Thursday I found out a student of mine, who I had just seen last week, has been arrested and accused of murdering another teenager as an act of initiation within the Bloods. This has been very troubling to me as Leonard was a student of mine who, from the start, gave me warning signs. I advised lead teachers, security support staff, special education, social workers, mental health professionals and administration to evaluate and provide support for him. Nothing was done.

As I think about the last year, it makes me physically ill to know that one of my students is capable of such a horrific act. But what's worse, is that I knew he was, but was never heard.

Dogs and Houses

I have a new dog now. No, it's not Perry. He isn't new. She's really sweet and cuddly. She looks like a black lab puppy, but is fully grown. We think she's part wiener dog. She's mostly adorable. We got a new house, Perry and I. It's pretty awesome. We live in Eagan now. I'm glad to be back. I really like the area and quietness, but closeness to the cities. Lisa lives just down the road so it's even more awesomeness! I will send pictures later, but it's an end unit townhome. We both get garages (that's my favorite).

So Daria, my pup, has a few great qualities to her:

1. She likes to cuddle.
2. She's not a barker.
3. She's permanently stuck looking like a puppy.
4. She loves everyone and everything.
5. She is a great spider and moth hunter.

The only thing that concerns me is that once in a while she will over estimate the amount of space she has around her and accidentally hit her head on something. Like a wall. But whatever. It makes me laugh.