Karma

I've been seeing a lot of people talk about karma lately.  I've been living in the land of karma myself since last November.  Now I've hit the jackpot of karma-ness.  I am working as a long-term substitute teacher.  I'm teaching Spanish. It's a Catholic high school.  And I love it.

Anyone who knows me from my Mexico days will probably not believe it.  I don't believe it myself.  All I can say is it different here in Iowa, a landlocked state no where near Mexico.  If I tried to be a Spanish teacher anywhere near the border with my gringa accent, I would be laughed out of town.  But here in Iowa, no problema. In fact, good luck finding a qualified Spanish teacher here more than 3/4 of the way through the school year.  Iowa is a little more strict on licensing substitute teachers with most districts requiring a degree and completion of a teacher's education program.  Texas only requires a high school diploma!

I have 120 Spanish II students. I can keep 2 steps ahead of them.  I also have the only Spanish AP class, all seniors and brilliant.  Keeping them challenged is my challenge. Also, a prayer is led at the beginning of each class.  Public schools should try it (nondenominational, of course). It gets the students settled and focused to begin the class.  And it is helping me too. Since my brother-in-law died, I have been too angry.  The anger is slowly deflating like a balloon leftover from a party. Soon I am going to throw the balloon out.