Dude, I’ve had 12 straight weeks of school and I am ready for a break.  I am so physically exhausted.  All my students are pretty sick and tired of school, too.  Today in class when we were doing some practice tests for the IOWA (an Illinois standardized test)  every time they finished a test I told them to close their books to indicate to me they were done and waiting.  Well, they did that, and they also all put their heads down.  It was like they all decided collectively to have group nap time.   When we finished our practice tests, I told them that since there was just a bit of time left in class they could use it however they would like.  This usually leads to loud, chaotic conversations.  But this time?  They were all dead silent and sleeping.  I was so jealous!  I wanted to put my head down, too!

Even in the teacher’s lounge, during breaks I’ve noticed people are not quite as lively as they usually are.  Everyone kinda looks like a grumpy bear that needs to get out of the building and have their own fun.   When the words “spring” and “break” are mentioned everyone gets this weird twinkle in their eye.  It’s kinda sad that we’re all so dependent on a week off from school.

The good news is the 3rd quarter of school ended, and so we’re finally in our last quarter.  This quarter usually flies by, and I’m hoping that happens this year, too.  There’s always lots of end-of-the-year activities in and out of school that keep us occupied from week to week as we all start to countdown to the last day of school in June.  It cannot come a moment too soon!

Until then, I’m waiting for spring break.  When I can sleep everyday of the week and stay in pajamas until noon if I want, or not change at all!

The following is a list of questions that you should never ask anyone: 

1. What happened to your face?
2. How much do you weigh?
3. I haven’t seen your spouse in a while, where is (s)he these days?
4. Are you pregnant?
5. Did you find a job yet?
6. Weren’t you married?
7. Is all that food for you?
8. You’ve put on some pounds, huh?
9. Is that what you’re wearing to the party?
10. Did your parents mind that your spouse is from [insert region of the world here]?

By the way, all of these questions weren’t directed at me.  I’ve heard others being asked and it made my jaw drop.

Please feel free to add to this list.

During Hajj one of the girls in my group kept a check list of all the things she made du’aa for.  As she asked, she’d scribble it down, whether it was something small or big.  And as her du’aas were answered, she physically checked them off her list.  It was a way for her to truly appreciate that Allah is AlMujeeb and does in fact answer our call, whether they are for watermelon after a long day or walking around Mecca, riding on top of a bus, a bottle of clean water, or (hopefully) having all our sins forgiven.

Since I’ve come back I’ve tried to keep a mental checklist of the things I made du’aa for, in the past, during Hajj and up until now.  It is very satisfying to “check” some of my du’aas of my list   There are some major ones, and some minor ones, but the minor ones are not any less significant.

Anyway, try it out for yourself.  Keep a checklist and keep it updated.  Insha’Allah it will make you more grateful to Allah for all the things that He has given to you just because you asked

The first semester of the school year just ended a week ago.  Last week we had final exams, and the week before that was spent reviewing all the chapters we had covered thus far.  During that last week I had a lot of D and C students come and ask me what they could do at THIS time to fix their grade and bring it up to a C or a B, respectively.  They become hostile and a little frantic this time of year.

Meanwhile the A and B students are as cool as a cucumber.  They didn’t have any missing work to turn in.  They’d be consistently studying all quarter, so reviewing wasn’t such a task for them either.  And most of them had worked hard to earn a good grade all quarter that they had a pretty nice cushion to fall back on during finals–their grades weren’t going to be effected as easily by a bad midterm grade.

I really felt sorry for the C and D students.  They had spent the first  8 weeks ignoring warnings of missing assignments, low quizzes and tests, tutoring opportunities, extra credit, etc.  Because they were lazy and procrastinated they were completely helpless when it really mattered to them.  And sadly enough, I think they were hoping for a miracle to come and help them transform into an amazing student in the last 2 weeks and then pull their grades out of a big old mess they spent 8 weeks creating. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve sat down on numerous occasions and opened my wordpress and started typing out long stories about Hajj, but I can never finish.  Just now I started three separate posts about the lack of luxuries, going to Arafah, and Muzdalifah being my favorite part.  But each post ended with me pressing ctrl+A and then delete. I just can’t find the words to share my experiences with everyone.

Everytime I think about Hajj I just get sad.  Sad that I’m home again.  Sad that I don’t have the opportunities I had while I was there.  Sad that I can’t see my group mates on a bus at 4:00am going to the masjid to catch Fajr.  Sad that I can’t stand in a sea of honking busses, engrossed in fumes and smog.  Sad that my feet aren’t aching from all the walking.  Sad that the adhan is not blasting all around me reminding me that salah is the most important part of my day. Sad, sad, sad. Read the rest of this entry »