What about our RWKs?

Yeah, I know we teach a bunch who are, in general, a pretty priviledged group, but a lot of the facilities we have here don't necessarily match the demographic very well. I know that most of them have access to computers and the Internet at home, and they can get on-line here at school most of the time. However, there are plenty of kids around this country for whom it's a real challenge getting time on-line. Heck, it's even a problem for our RWKs!
What am I talking about here? I think it's GREAT to provide laptops for kids in remote and developing countries! What they'll be able to learn by having laptops provided to them will grow mindbogglingly. BUT, I would love to hear about very poor areas in the US that could benefit from this, like remotish rural areas and the inner city.

takin' 5

So.......
( I think this might be a long one...) 3 days into the semester, and JUST today am I feeling sort of "back in the swing of things." It's funny how you can feel totally rested - and even restless - and ready to get back to school, but after one day of mishaps that were compounded by an unnecessary rush imposed on us by a "redundant" morning commitment for the staff.....one can feel HORRIBLY stressed out after only one day. I think my perfectionism is starting to hurt me, really. I want to teach my 3 day a week classes so much better than I do, and I'm sure that there are many improvements I could make, but in general I think I must be doing, for the most part, as well as can be expected when I see them only 3 times a week. It's doubly frustrating when there's a group that makes my job more difficult. It's frustrating to have classes that I really connect with all day, but then I end the day on a more negative note. I hate that I let myself feel this way, but when I don't connect with a class, I feel like a bad teacher. I know my teaching isn't as effective in that situation, though, if the kids don't have any buy-in. BUT, I can't force them to have it. I just have to be patient and positive.....but DANG is it hard when they roll their eyes. We did have a little chat about it - frankly a pretty serious talk - and I don't think it was really effective. Oh well, just needed to vent. I hope that the people who read this actually know me and KNOW that I'm a pretty positive person, because all I really do is vent and complain big time in these blogs!