Living the classes

I just took a nearly three-hour nap. I know this will probably not be a cure for the insomnia I seem to have after I finish big projects for school - last night, I finished at 1, but couldn't sleep until 2:30 - but I'm hoping it helps with the exhaustion I felt. Luckily, I'm in a class where all of us are teachers pushing 30, and we're all a bit overwhelmed, especially those of us taking two courses at once. So I'm not alone. This class finished up on July 3 or July 5 - the professor hasn't decided when she'll get through all the material she has to cover - and afterwards, I'll have earned the first three credits at Towson for my MAT. Then, I'll have 16 of 34 completed. After July 19, when my other class finished, I'll have 19 of 34 completed. After the fall, I'll have 25, then after the spring I'll have 28, and by next summer it'll be all done.

I'm still basically enjoying the course. I'm learning a lot, which I love, and the prof has eased up on some of the work. Today, the professor printed out a special article for me because of my passion for urban education, and I thought that was really sweet. Besides our discussion today on the achievement gap and mainstreaming kids, we had the added topical benefit of the Warren Buffet and Bill Gates money exchange. It's so inspiring to hear Buffet say he wants to make the world a better place with his billions rather than just leave it for his kids. He says that anyone who leaves this planet without making it a better place is a failure. This is certainly something that he's been afforded the luxury of saying since he's a billionaire, but it's still something that I ascribe to in how I live my life, and it made me happy to hear someone else say the same thing. It really bugs me to hear someone be cynical about this, which I've heard a lot today on the radio. He's doing something to make the world a better place. Yes, he's rich. But, still is that what you're doing with your life?

And Bill Gates does good things with his money, at least from a teacher in the BCPSS' perspective, including a 12 million dollar donation to Baltimore City Public Schools a few years back and a $187,000 contribution just last December.

In other fascinating news, I have one pair of underwear left and have been driving around with my laundry for about a week. Today's nap might have eaten up the lone free three hours that I need for laundry that I'll get. Unless I want to miss Roger Clemens' return tonight against my Tigers. Dilemmas, dilemmas.