My PaysoN Boys

Teaching in Payson, UT is more of a cultural experience for me than I expected. I realized this while trying to memorize the names of my students. Here are the names of 15 of the 25 boys in 5th period:

Caiden
Cayden
Jaden
Hagen
Braiden
Jordan
Jorgan
Jansen
Devin
Ashton
Gatlan
Gaven
Ruben
Ryan
Aaron

Whew! Try to say that 10 times fast!

It's so bizarre. They all end in N.

Tangerine

I'm writing to recommend one of the best Young Adult novels I've read: Tangerine by Edward Bloor. It's about Paul Fisher, a soccer player whose eyesight was damaged when he was five years old. His older brother, Erik, says it's because he looked at a solar eclipse, but Paul can't remember that. Throughout the novel he remembers little pieces of what really happened and how his bully older brother played a part.

The book focuses on Paul making a place for himself as a soccer player and as a memeber of his family. The plot is really complex and includes a second degree murder and some other plot twists. I'm teaching it next semester and can't wait!

The Unbelievable Game

It's ironic that I want to blog about the game yesterday, because honestly I am speechless. The picture says it all. According to the LA Times, "The only worse drubbing in UCLA's football history took place in 1929, a 76-0 loss to USC" (http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-uclafyi14-2008sep14,0,7723931.story?page=2).

As a BYU fan who grew up in Bruin country (just south of Westwood Village) and cheers for UCLA when they play anyone else, I felt torn. I was a little embarrassed for UCLA and hoped they would at least score a field goal. But at the same time, I was right along with the rest of the BYU fans waiting and hoping to keep that zero on the scoreboard for a blowout victory.

I can definitely say though, I've never seen such disbelief from fans before. With each turnover and touchdown there was more of a sense of shock in the crowd than gloating. We couldn't believe it! (Especially when we scored three times in 5 minutes during the second quarter.) Of course later, some pulled out their keys to show how they felt; and yet the stadium stayed mostly full until the game officially ended. We all wanted to see if UCLA would score. To their surprise and ours, they didn't.

First Day of Fall

Today was the first day of school and autumn. The weather suddenly turned cold here to everyone's irritation, but it turned out to be a beautiful, sunny, cool day. The perfect kind. Today I also found out that I will be doing my praticum and student teaching at Mt. Nebo Jr. High in Payson, UT. I'm sure there will be lots of good stories to tell as soon as I start teaching.