And then there were 10!

I have been tagged again. This time it came from Melissa, The Cooking Diva, who by the way is celebrating her birthday today! ¡Feliz Cumpleaños mujer!

Here goes...

10 things you may not know about me...

1) I have lived in four different countries:
U.S., Panamá, Argentina and Chile.

2) All about my name:
My name is Kelly Jeannette . Where did my names come from?
Kelly: This part of my name came from my parent's landlord, Mrs. Kelly. My parents thought I was going to be a boy and this was their name for a boy. Lo and behold to them a girl was born - still named Kelly. I guess I must have looked like a Kelly.

Jeannette: Jeannette was apparently some person that my parents went to college with. She was not such a pleasant person, from what I hear. She was however pretty and my mom liked her name and that is how I got my name.

In third grade, I wanted to change my name:
I decided that Kelly was absolutely the most disgusting name I ever heard of. I wanted to be called something different. I settled for being called by my middle name, Jeannette. I told my teacher, Mrs. Biedenwig, that I was no longer to be called Kelly, but rather Jeannette. She looked at me sternly and told me that would be fine as long as I stuck to it for the whole year. I told her no problem! Two weeks into that year I realized that Jeannette was even worse than Kelly. I was stuck for the rest of the year. That year was VERY long!

3) I attended many schools:
Elementary: (5)
Noble School (k-1) Bakersfield
Toulumne School (1) - Modesto
Beard School (2)- Modesto
Sonoma School (3-5)- Modesto
Associacion Escuelas Lincoln (5-6) - Buenos Aires, Argentina
Jr. High (3)
Nido De Aguilas (7) - Santiago, Chile
La Loma Jr. High (7) - Modesto
MarkTwain Jr. High (7-8) Modesto
High School (1)
Modesto High School
College:
CSU Stanislaus - BA
Credential Program:
Chapman University - Modesto Satellite

4) I've had a few terrible teachers in my academic career and a handful of fine teachers too. Here are the ones that come to mind right away in both categories:

The Bad:
My first grade teacher, Mrs. Hershberger, was pretty darn bad. I don't remember too much about that class except for the fact that she tried to teach addition, subtraction, multiplication and division all in the first grade. I was confused that year! I think Mrs. Hershberger retired after that year. I am sure it was not because of us though - she was ancient as I recall - it must have been her time. (probably long past time to retire, actually!)

My third grade teacher, Mrs. Biedenwig, (see #2 above) told my mom at parent conference time to not expect too much from me because I was only going to go so far. (I showed her!)

Mr. _______: he was so bad, I forgot his name! Mr. ? was my first math teacher in college. I was not so good in math. I went to every single class and every single office hour slot for extra help because I could not understand anything that Mr. ? taught me. I failed many of my exams. About 2/3 of the way through the class he told me to just drop the class and not show up for finals because it would make no difference toward my grade, I would flunk anyway. The one thing Mr. ? did teach me, which was very important, was how not to teach!!!!!

The Good:
I had to wait until my college years to get my two most excellent teachers. They were well worth the wait!

Dr. Bogus: (Yes, that was really her name) Dr. Bogus was my teacher for several literature courses. The first course I took from her was American Literature. She started out the class by saying something to the effect of "I am a short, black, female, lesbian, genius." She was all of those things. It was in Dr. Bogus' class that I really learned how to read for meaning and study to attain and retain knowledge. I had to STUDY and then STUDY some more to do well in that class. I was scared shitless to walk into class every day for the first month. I was afraid for her to call on me because I knew that if she did, I would have to be in the hot seat for a good 10-15 minutes of grilling and explaining. That was the best thing that ever happened to me. I grew to love coming to her class and being called upon. I took two more classes from her - I couldn't get enough of it! I was very sad when she was booted out of my college for her openness about her sexuality! What a loss for us all.

Mrs. Short: Mrs. Short was my math teacher for my teaching courses in college. After Mr?'s class, I was very nervous about math courses. I just figured that math wasn't my thing and I would have to figure out a way to scrape by. My first day in Mrs. Short's class, she introduced a concept and stopped to check for understanding. I, of course, did not understand what she was talking about but I was not about to raise my hand. Much to my surprise, Mrs. Short said, "you there, third row with the hat on." (that was me!) "What is your name?" I told her. She then said "Kelly, I can tell you don't understand a damn thing I that I just said right now." I was SO mortified! She then went on to tell me, and the rest of the class, that we needed to speak up and let her know when we didn't understand anything. She explained that her job was to make sure that we understood the material, not just that she presented it. Needless to say, I got it! I left that class feeling math smart - something that I had never felt before in my life. I made sure that the rest of the math courses I took were all from her. Mrs. Short changed the way that I looked at math. Like Mrs. Short, I try to do what I can to make sure that I too check to see if all of my students are grasping and internalizing what I have taught. I have gone back to visit Dr. Short several times to thank her for all that she did for me and my students.

5) I have never been a consistently good or bad student:
In elementary school I was an average to below average student. In Jr. High, when I returned from South America, I was tested for class placement and much to the surprise of my mom, (mine too!) I was placed in GATE. I stayed in GATE through high school and never worked hard and always did ok in school. In college, I barely made it through - I discovered the party scene! When I wanted to take my teaching courses after graduation, I had to take a special entrance exam because my college GPA was a 2.83! (I had to prove that I wasn't too stupid to teach!) As soon as I passed, and was accepted at Chapman University, I made top grades and had my work submitted to the main campus as exemplary student work.

6) I am a Jew by choice, not by birth:
I converted to Judaism when I was in college. I was a member of our synagogue though since I was in junior high school.

7) I am somewhat of a picky eater:
I don't like it if it is pickled or has any type of sauce on it. I like my salads with no dressing and I prefer my vegetables (at least most of them) to be raw, not cooked. As a Jew, I of course, eat no pork. (I have to admit though that every now and then - I do eat shrimp.)

8) I can fly by the seat of my pants!
Especially with teaching. I may not always get around to typing or writing out my lesson plans but I always know where I am going and what I need to do. I can walk into my room and be ready to roll at any given time (and do a pretty darn good job at it by the way!)

9) I have lots of jobs!
Right now, I teach elementary school and Religious School. I am also contracted by the local county office of education as a trainer for new teachers and also by the neighboring county office of education as an educational consultant. (I need all the $ I can get!!!!) :-)

10) I love Sesame Street!
Sesame Street came out either the year I was born or the year before. I have been hooked ever since. My good friend, Lisie, is also a Sesame Street nut! Her favorite character is Bert and mine is Ernie.

That is it! I am tagging no one. If you would like to do this meme though, do so and let me know so I can check it out!