God is so good.

i stayed out WAY too late last night...b-day celebrations even in the midst of finals are still fun where there's good friends, fun games, and of course: baskin robbins cookies n'cream ice cream cake! i think i only slept 4 hours. easy when you're in college but when you're dealing with crazy 12 to 13-year-olds all day long, it's rough to be so tired.

And today, thank you God!, half the kids are absent. literally like 15 in each class. why? because of the Latino protest against Arnold's repeal of the law to allow immigrants to attain driver's licenses. the form of protest they chose was to have all their kids boycott school for a day.

due to my credentialling program, i am much more of an advocate for social justice. not that i'm that active about issues outside my personal classroom (that's where i'm best able to practice social justice), but i am definitely more aware of things. I don't know where i stand on the immigrants' inability to get licenses, but i do know that i don't agree with the form of protest latinos chose in this scenario. First of all, the population who ends up enacting the protest are people who can't get licenses anyways - they're 12 or 13 years old! and 2nd, every absent kid means less dollars for the school. the school is one of the free public institutions that aid and benefit everyone including immigrants, so why take the protest out on something that is (at least in theory) fair and just? i think there are other ways to make the protest much more effective.

it's interesting, though, that my students are facing issues of ethnic identity so vividly. like, the ones who came to school were accused of abandoning their "family" b/c they were not in unison with the other latinos who are in protest. But those students mentioned that they were confused at how sitting in front of the tv all day could help those accusing them in any way.

but back to my original point, it's such a nice "coincidence" that today ended up being so nice and easy. having only 17-25 kids to deal with in each class is SO much more pleasant. everyone is in such a good mood (students and teachers)!