My dad...

My Mama and Papa

Tomorrow is Father's Day and I get the chance to write about my dad.

My dad is awesome...the best...funny, humorous, caring and entertaining. 

My dad was my coach for all of my ball playing days.  He hauled me off to practice after practice and ball game after ball game.  We played "fetch" in the park across the street when I would practice pitching.  He would spend countless hours at pitching clinics and batting practice.  We traveled all around Canada and the US to play ball.  We would wake up before it was light out, get an Egg McMuffin or some donuts on the way to a 7 AM game time with a 6 AM warm up time.  We talked and he taught me everything that he knew about the great game of baseball.

It was our thing.

We would watch Braves games on tv whenever they were on.  I learned how to keep score by watching the games on tv.  He taught me all about stats and what RBI's and OBP's were.  I can honestly say, I know the game better than most.  

Even though I stopped playing ball when I was 19 (I started to travel...met a boy...had kids), it is still our thing, although we root for a new team now...things have not changed much.

Princess' first Christmas present from Big Papa was a ball glove (a lefty...we hoped, but, that did not happen).  It is pink and black.  At not even four years old she can throw a ball better than most kids her age.  Being out here though it is using her foot that has developed a lot (my nemesis...soccer).

My dad is awesome.  He is always there.  He always has been.  He is there to play catch, to watch a game or to move a very heavy piano from one place to another.  My dad is awesome because he has a servant's heart and is always willing to lend a hand.  No matter how heavy something is, or how early you need to leave in the morning to get where you need to be.  He is simply the best.

Happy Father's Day Big Papa!  

Love, Kimo Perez, Hip Hop, Princess and Dimples.  You ROCK!

Our family

Grandpa and Dimples when he was only hours old.  

Dimples with Grandpa.  You cannot see it, but he has baseball shoes on.  Shedding baseball wisdom on his grandson.

Go Sox!  Big Papa with Princess...also sporting the team we represent!

A Bittersweet Ending...

This is my class...my wonderfully challenging and beautiful class...

I have done all I can do to teach my grade 7's.  Classes have ended and exams have come and gone.  The marking is finished and the report cards are done.  There is still one week of work left...cleaning up the class, dealing with textbooks and moving to my new classroom for next year.   I had been counting down the days to get this point.  I was excited to finish the year and enjoy my summer.  I looked forward to the end of the week...and when it came I was sad.

I had a spectacular year teaching here.  It was my first year and as I blogged previously, it was a year of ups and downs and teaching assignment changes.  I learned a lot of things about myself as a teacher, discovered my strengths as a teacher, and finally settled on a classroom set up I actually like...in May.

I have spent quite a bit of time reflecting on the past 10 months with the students.  Most of them came into grade 7 unaware of what the year would hold.  Many of them were still very naive and open to many new ideas and ways of doing things.  A lot of them had little to no organization skills and the world of Middle School, class changes and lots of teachers was overwhelming to them.  At the beginning they required a lot of guidance.

By the end, most of the students emerged from their shell.  They have grown into beautiful, intelligent young people, full of interesting and insightful questions and perspectives.  When I look at the topics we discussed in social studies, it is incredible to see a shift in their perspectives particularly as it pertains to human rights.  I gave them a self reflective evaluation of their levels of Global Citizenship the other day.  Their responses and comments were incredibly honest and reflective.  I was impressed.

Then it hit me.  I am going to miss these kids!  They will move on to grade 8 and encounter more new teachers and new ideas and I will stay in grade 7 and welcome the next batch of students to the world of middle school.  It is a job that I love...they require so much guidance in grade 7.  But, now that I have seen my first group come and go, I know that I have it in me to engage in facilitating the transition.

My students like to write me notes at the end of tests and assignments.  Some of them tell me the "test was too hard", or "wow, that was super easy".  But, at the end of the exams, the notes written were of a different nature.  They did not complain about the exam being tough or too easy, or too long...these comments were ones of gratitude.  "Thanks for a great year...I learned so much and it has been the best year of school EVER!", and, "Ms. K, you are the best", and, "Ms. K, thanks for being entertaining".

These comments were unexpected...and made me wish there was more time left in the year to spend with them.  Although they were challenging at times, (what 12-13 year old isn't), they were a blessing and they taught me many valuable lessons.  I sent them off to grade 8...and I know that they will be a blessing to whoever teaches them next year.

But, I am ready to return to Canada...that is my new countdown...T-13 days.  I cannot wait.

Musings on the elections

I am sure that some of you are surprised that I have not yet written about the historical event occurring in Egypt these days.  The truth is, I have been shying away from commenting on anything political so that I do not offend anyone.  But, I have still been following the events here very closely and drawing many conclusions based on conversations with Egyptians and balancing that with what I see, hear and read in the news.

The Egyptian political mentality baffles me.  The fall of Mubarak gave them the courage to stand up for what they perceive to be right.  That if they show up by the thousands and make their demands clear, that they will ultimately get what they want.  It appears that the fact that the greatest way of expressing your desires, through voting, was missed by many.  Only 50% of the Egyptian population turned out to vote in the historical election.

There were a lot of candidates to choose from.  Therefore, many ways for the votes to go.  There were suspected front runners as there always are.  Two of the front runners, were indeed the final two.  But, neither candidate accumulated more than 50% of the vote.  So, Egyptians head back to the poles in a run-off election between a candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood, and, a candidate that was once a part of Mubarak's group.

The Egyptians that were hoping for a moderate government were not particularly happy with the outcome.  This is the category that many of the people we know fall into.  This is the group of people that heads out with vigor to Tahrir when they are unhappy. When the results were announced.  They headed out to stand up for what they wanted.  Some set fires, some threw shoes, most were partaking in a peaceful sit-in.  I have to wonder, how many of them actually went out and voted?

For these people, the idea of going back to a Mubarak candidate or to the Brotherhood candidate are equally bad options.  But, in the end, most seem more fearful of a Brotherhood president.  We will have to wait and see what happens on the 16 - 17 of June.

Then in the midst of all of this...Mubarak was sentenced and the people were not happy with his sentence.  Life in prison.  Many were hoping for his execution.  Many of the others that were up for sentencing were acquitted They headed to Tahrir again.

Tahrir is a place of revolution, of drastic change and a demonstration of the power of the voice of the people.  At the same time, it represents the idea that we can get what we want when we stand in numbers.  This is not always the case.  But, it is refreshing to see people passionately stand up for what they believe in.

As the year is winding down, and exam reviews occur in class, I asked my grade 7's to fill out an evaluation of their level of global understanding.  It covered many ideas that were covered in class throughout the year in social studies.  The statements they needed to evaluate themselves on ranged from, "I understand the connection between people and the earth", to, "I understand Human Rights", to, "I solve conflicts without violence".  Some of their comments on these points solidifies the ideas I posted above.

I received numerous responses that involved Tahrir.  These are my grade 7's.  They cannot vote, but, they are more politically aware, and more politically involved than the majority of the students I have encountered in Canada.  One can only hope that this interest in politics carries with them as they get older and that they will always head out to vote.

The future of Egyptian politics is unknown.  It is a mystery that will begin to unfold in the coming weeks, months and years.