staycation!

what a great, great saturday it is! the day is warm and the sun is glorious! and what am i doing but sitting at home and blogging? but in my defense, i just ran back into the house and am taking a breaky cuz i was in my wee garden pulling up weeds for a bit and got a little too burnt and smelly for my tastes...and besides.....*drumroll please....* i'm going to be on a 6 week staycation! yes!! love it!!!! one of the mucho fabulous perks of being a teacher. so although this is a glorious saturday and i kinda "wasted it," i'll have like 41 more of them to go so day in, or day out, i have days to burn baby! even though i still have a lot of work to do for my 2nd to last semester of my masters classwork, i am playing the procrastinator for now and will enjoy a day of pure relaxation. perhaps my fiance and i can go catch alice in wonderland...FINALLY.

and of course, staycation means i can blog more. so yes, another lovely breaky and a wonderful creme brulee cheesecake to start it all off....forget what i said about trying to lose weight :)

so loverly

on the last day of school before our three day weekend, the whole school celebrated valentine's day on friday, 2 days before the actual love event. every year, i get some chocolates and flowers from my students.

but this year was especially sweet because my student sergio just plain stole my heart. he said, "ms. bagnatic, this is for you." it was a huge box of rocher chocolates (which my sister promptly demolished when i brought them home).

AND then he said/did possibly the sweetest and most thoughtful thing ever. he said, "and ms. bagnatic, this one is for charlie." omg, he got charlie a chew bone!! i was floored how thoughtful he was and i told him "charlie is such a lucky dog! he is going to take this bone and run to a corner and chew it and he only does that with his favorite things." i guess all the stories i told them about charlie when i used him as an example to teach my students about different concepts really "hooked" them in. i'm just amazed more than anything else. and yes, charlie demolished that bone.

another student who told me every day of the week that she will bring me something because she said she pestered her mom incessantly and her mom had agreed, ended up not bringing me anything. OF COURSE i didn't expect gifts, but it never ceases to amaze me the things parents tell their children just to shut them up. of course they forget their children are little human beings and will remember promises as much as the next person, if not more vividly. well, on that friday, she kept apologizing to me because she couldn't deliver and it just made me feel bad to see that SHE felt bad, kwim? i don't ever need anything from my students other than their effort and willingness to learn. throughout the year, she's given me that and that's all that matters to me. as they were putting away their backpacks, i see her digging into hers and she offers me her own gifts, erasers and a mini notebook that was probably for her own use. she insisted that i keep them because she really wanted to give me something.

now THAT is sweet. all these little things reminded me of my 3rd/4th grade teacher ms. tang. omg, i LOVED her so much and i always made my dad take me to kmart or a drugstore to get her gifts for the holidays because i just wanted to GIVE her something even though we didn't have much. at that time, that was the best way i knew how to show her my adoration. i'm not saying my students adore me, but it tickled me to no end remembering how hard it was at the beginning, and how far they've come along. my god they've blossomed so much, as learners and good little human beings!

it's not the presents but the thoughtfulness that my students show me that reminds me why teaching is an awesome profession. even with the threats of another slew of cuts in the budget, i know that for as long as i've taught, i've had a hand in churning out some amazing learners, and YES, i will take my share of the credit in that.

i hope you all have a lovely valentine's. love and peace! smooches, bagnatic ;)

kiss of death

born in hanoi, vietnam to my vietnamese mother and my chinese father, my bare naked bottom was meant to be kissed by the sun, my skin browned to a pre-cancerous glow, and my natural freckles encouraged to bloom across my face like the california poppies in april...without sunblock. what i'm saying is that i'm meant to bask in the sunshine, but instead, i'm SHIVERING in CALIFORNIA WINTER. yes, i'm a whiny bitch and don't talk to me about ridiculous cold weather on the east coast and how 43 degree temperature here ain't nothing, cuz i know nothing of it. all i know is that i'm cold. brrrr....

to add insult to injury, the cold weather produces the sickest bunch of kids ever to teach. snotty noses, soar throats, sneezes, and fevers. inevitably, i get a whiff of the tornado of germs that rampages through my classroom and eventually, i too, am snotty nosed, sneezing, with a disagreeable soar throat. i have the immune system of an 80 year old, that's whut. i don't care how whiney i sound right now. i can't breathe and i cough like a smoker.

i WILL NOT be teaching tomorrow. nope. i'm calling in sick, way too taxed from not calling in when i should have like 2 days ago because i wanted to meet a testing deadline. i am going to lay in bed and think warm thoughts while my heater blasts on, converting my cold little bedroom into a tropical getaway where there's no germs, or work, and i can breathe like a normal human being without wheezing. over and out, the nyquil is about to kick in.....

a big bag of stressssssssss

i must have pissed off god in the last year because this year, my new class of kids are especially hard to deal with. in fact, if i was told i wouldn't be found legally responsible for my actions, i would probably punch a few of their faces in. yes, teachers ARE human and we DO have emotions and some of us DO like to PUNCH faces. p0w!

i know the hood i teach in isn't the best, i know a lot of them come from broken homes, i know my students deal with a lot of issues outside of the classroom so i try not to shit on their already full plate by being harsh or cruel. i am strict though and maintain an environment of learning because it's important to me that they learn, it is important to me that they don't become another hoodie statistic, it is important that they know how to freakin' read, write, and do some goddamn math!

at school, i am known to be able to keep my shit together and my classroom management is not an issue. but for this particular year, my shit is a bit scattered and feels pretty loose like i just ate a bad meal at denny's and have extremely harsh diarrhea spurting from my ass. so with this new class of kids, their "inherited" free spirit from previous teachers that don't care about classroom management has reared its ugly head on me. i have movers and talkers and most that JUST DON'T PAY ATTENTION. being the nazi teacher that i am, i want you to listen, and practice, and TRY because i want you to GET IT goddamnit! PLEASE don't roam about when you feel like it, PLEASE don't talk to your neighbors instead of listening to my lesson, PLEASE don't play with your eraser in your desk. PLEASE. i said PLEASE! in previous years, i slowly but surely wittle my wiley class down and they settle in and become better learners. THEY begin to bend to my wind like little willow trees because eventually, they decide the howling wind isn't so bad after all and can be soothing, intriguing, perhaps charming at times and they become better learners.

this year, my wind has howled and howled and granted that i've only had 1 1/2 weeks with this new class, i feel beat. beat cuz on top of my usual pool of movers and shakers that have to learn how to LEARN, i have an autistic student who comes in with NO support. HE needs an extra adult to help him other than just me. i have already gone through two 30 minute tantrums, head banging against the wall outside of my classroom, table pounding, loud outbursts, and growls when he doesn't like what i do or say. perhaps if all the 20 kids around him were nice and kind, then i can concentrate my wind one this one child and i would not feel so beat, but alas, the rest of the kids are trouble makers in their own right with a few cute ones sprinkled in so i feel i'm constantly putting out fires left and right. eventually, does the forest just not burn down?

i know a lot of my fellow teacher friends are having a hard year themselves, but they are not blogging about it and i am. ha! so i ask that you pity me for another month at least and deal with my whining and bitching because i'm trying real hard to deal with the frustrations that well up inside me whenever i see my class of kids being disruptive, disorderly, or plain just bad learners. ahhh, and the autistic kid...man, i won't shit on your plate because god has already dealt you a heavy hand, but can you PLEASE decrease your tantrums to 15 minutes at the very least? i am a teacher after all and at the end of the day, i still feel guilty when i don't think my kids are learning and the outbursts and tantrums is making it real hard to learn.

so if you see me wielding this BAG around campus, i can assure you, it is NOT orange juice. anyways, i sit here, at home and totally sick, after 7 days of teaching this new class. phlegm and boogers galore. i can't teach with a pounding headache or a raspy throat so i'm revving up my energy for another go at it tomorrow (well rested and somewhat recovered i hope) even though i feel ashamed that i've already called in sick after only 7 days.

i would like to implement mandatory happy hours this year. who's in?

how about a piece of bag?

vakay. ahhh...it has graced my presence once again. typically, i'm working like a fiend during my vaykay time, but once in a while, other folks want to work like a fiend as well so i'm out of a job during my 6 weeks break. not a bad thing i guess since the last time i had too much free time on my hands, i got into yelp, bought my wee house, and now am a puppy mommy. dang i'm productive! life works out that way too, i suppose when what i should really do is catch my breath and breathe deeply when i'm suppose to. even if that means turnig into a sloth with an increase in pants size.

let's celebrate bagnatic's vaykay with a purse cake! i saw this while i was at diamond bakery in monterey park. it actually doesn't look delicious at all...perhaps it would be more scrumptious with double c's on it as oppose to this convict tag. it also looks like a granny version of the louis vuitton speedy style. who wants to eat?!

eld 1

my bag whore ways have been traded in for boring teaching days. i've been a school marm for the past 10 days now...ahhh....my soul has been sucked out of me once again. no, don't get me wrong. my kids are super cute and i like them a lot....i think it's just the hum drum of teaching and the same routine of feeling "stuck" in the classroom. i'm just getting bored i think...you know, the dreaded 5 year itch that teachers talk about. seriously, i think i need a new challenge and changing grade levels probably isn't the answer either. perhaps i need to really go on a vaykay next time instead of teaching intersession...but then again, how else will i support my bag whore ways AND my wee house? my priorities sure are screwed up :)

anyways, to commemorate me teaching once again....my REAL identity as oppose to this bag whore one, i would like to show you this fug tote that marc by marc jacobs actually tried to sell to his minions. it's called the "new standard supply tote." i think it's hilarious....reminds me of the scaffolding you would need to provide to second language learners when they access english...you know, label everything in the classroom. like a chair would have a card that says "chair," a clock would say "clock," and his tote says "tote." ugly right?

kawaii desu ka?

i was at nordie’s the other day and i visited their purse section (of course). i’ve been thinking of getting another teacher tote, not because i don’t “heart” my marc by marc jacobs tote in bourdeux anymore. actually, i LOVE that tote too much! it’s become a great mall bag, roomy enough to store all my shitz AND a cardigan when i feel a little chilly whilst shopping. because of its newfound convenience, i decided to keep it at home rather than abuse it as a teacher tote. that meant i had to find a teacher tote replacement. well, while walking about nordie’s, i saw a few of their reduced bags on their sales table. amongst all those not so cute sale bags were a few harajuku lovers totes on sale, too. i paused.

as a fashion icon and musician, i like gwen stefani. i think she has good style and i like her songs when she was in no doubt as well as when she embarked on her solo singing projects…as a designer though…not so much. i REALLY dislike her harajuku lovers line because i think there’s something FUNDAMENTALLY wrong with her whoring another culture as a white person (we need not get into a convo about racial dynamics and exploitation here)…and have you seen those japanese dancers that she has dressed up in interesting costumes that follows her around to all her press moments? THEY DON’T TALK! these japanese women are literally gwen stefani’s backdrop. i have issues with that too….

with all that being said, i ended up buying a harajuku lovers tote anyways! hypocrite or what right? i found this cuteish tote in brown and tan. i liked the fact that it has the letter “H” as oppose to “harajuku lovers” graffitied all over it (i would have preferred no lettering at all especially from this brand). if you don’t know the brand, the letter “H” can be mistaken to stand for many things such as:

“H”ope
“H”appiness
“H”amburger (hahahahaha)
oh, and “H”ahahahaha

the tote has these four leaf clover shapes on it which is lucky and cute AND best of all, it’s made of canvas and was relatively cheap for what it is. it serves a purpose and i didn’t care to go on a tote hunt anymore. i don’t mind dragging this sucker around school or flinging it on our dirty school carpet. it is still a step above the apple and rainbow teacher tote that i rocked from yesteryear…and i must admit, it’s “not ugly.”

(note: kawaii desu ka? means “it’s cute?” in japanese)

the best bag ever!

i've decided that the best bag EVER is the one that holds my orange wedges, water bottle, and tupperware full of rice and asian sides....it's MY LUNCH BAG! yay!! at about 11:30 p.m., my stomache starts grumbling and i start looking forward to having lunch and adult convo with my peers. although our convo may include venting, aimless chatter, and a side of bitching, it is NICE to just be myself for 40 minutes before i have to edit my mouth for my students. this week in particular has been tough...the kids are alright...i think i just need the 2 week break.

in? or out?

as i look at my worn out teacher tote (my main carrier of eld folders, alternative guides, and teacher’s manuals), a bag whorish thought drifted into my mind. is it time to retire this overworked tote for a more fashionable alternative?

obviously, a canvas bag like this one is more functional. i don’t mind setting it on my hardly vacuumed classroom carpet nor do i mind stuffing all kinds of crap into it. but the rainbow and apple graphic? i’m almost over that. maybe i can find a tote that serves all the aforementioned purposes WITHOUT making too much of a dent on my wallet…or is finding a good quality tote (or bag in general) on the cheaps an oxymoron?

i never thought that i would want to give up this functional tote that proclaims, “teaching…a gift that lasts a lifetime.” (how else would i be validated on a daily basis that i’m important?). hahhaha. but it’s nice to step away from the teacher image the longer that i remain in the profession. maybe it’s time for a new FASHIONABLE work tote…one that does not proclaim my profession so loudly but one which will still hold all of my shit while looking HOT.