Ella Graduates Preschool

Last spring I began looking for a preschool program to enroll the girls in - one that would take Ella and Anne so baby Mary and I could have a little one-on-one. I quickly discovered I was a little late to the draw ... some four years too late ... and children have been on waiting lists since birth! Not to mention tuition is more than my college tuition (I guess the cost of glue and crayons has really sky rocketed?), and no one would take Ella and Anne at the same time (older kids and younger kids meet at different hours).

Then I stumbled upon the Capuchino High School lab preschool.

The good: close by (literally right down the hill), they had openings for both girls (at the same time! - though after the third day Anne refused to go, so this ended up being a non-issue), one-on-one ratio (if high schoolers count as teachers), and a reasonable preschool cost.

The bad: CA high schoolers in direct contact with our most precious assets ...

Well, we took the risk - and I am thrilled to report it was a wonderful experience! I would absolutely recommend it to any and everyone.

Excellent instruction. Excellent care.

Excellent friendships. Excellent experience. Excellent graduation.

Mary and Anne hanging out in some much needed shade under the tables:

Gardening

I've been trying to find the perfect preschool - close, interactive, educational, affordable ...

Millbrae Montessori and Glen Oaks Montessori both tried to sell me on the fact that they have planter boxes and the kids are able to grow little gardens - for $550 a month (MWF 9-12) once a week the kids tend little gardens. Wow. Maybe Ella deserves an allowance raise?

Graduation

Whew! We made it, and I am officially done with school. The Broadcast Electronic Communications and Arts (BECA) school graduation was Saturday, May 22.

This is the graduating class - professors are on the front row: .

The family even braved the two-hour ceremony, and made it through without much assistance. It was a very relaxed event - each professor was able to say a few words, and then there was a receiving line where we said good-bye. I'll introduce you - Betsy Blosser, and Hamid Khani, two of my graduate committee members; Miriam Smith, a fellow BYU alumni who I did an independent study course with; Hun Yul Lee the Professor I taught for one semester, and Elliot my T.A. who basically ran the class ; my BECA BF Michelle Kennedy; my supportive family; and of course my amazing husband (though that sounds trite, I mean it sincerely) who not only supports my ambitions and goals, but gives me the resources to pursue them, takes care of all the details, and never takes the credit he deserves. Thank you. I am actually really excited to have a diploma from after marriage because it has his name (Becker) on it too - and he certainly earned it! (In truth, he earned his name on my BYU diploma too).

There were several events leading up to the final school graduation that are documented bellow (we opted out of attending the University graduation - for obvious reasons of disinterest, length and over crowding).

First up on the list of celebrations was the Graduate Expo - a science fair for SFSU Grad students. I started the program with Michelle Kennedy, and we've been BECA BF ever since. She was a reporter (most recently for KRON4) and wants to go into teaching. Here we are with Nancy "Sami" Reist, our graduate coordinator, and Marty Gonzalez, my committee chair (he's also the weekend morning anchor for KRON).

Then there was BECA Bash. This is Scott Patterson, the Department Chair, getting the party started. I was nominated for, and won (happy grin after the award) the Stewart Hyde writing award. Here's my BECA BF again:.

Next up was BECA Fest - the "academy award" for Beca students. I didn't have my camera, but Michelle took this picture of me by the poster with my writing sample on her phone.

Then there was The Hood Ceremony - each department nominates a graduate student to attend.

Ella and Anne bidding me farewell .

Walking in carrying my hood, being read in, hooded by the university president, and walking out wearing my hood.

There were a couple of awards given to the "outstanding" graduates among the different colleges (of which I did not receive) for research in areas like burlesque dancing (the woman who won actually choreographed a burlesque dance exposing the racial inequality of the art form, from the department of Ethnic Studies), creating a Web page for transgender/bi-sexual families who feel discriminated against with health care coverage, and other "social justice" fighters. I guess the BayAreaBabyBeat.com just doesn't measure up:)

"Welcome to San Francisco State," is all I can say.

ABC School Graduation

The thrilled graduate and proud supporters, present the graduating class of ABC School, May 2009 ... .

We completed what we set out to do ... made it through the alphabet and it took an entire school year!

Ella receiving her graduation medal and reading her graduation book.

Like any good graduation, it's all about the after party! Thanks Ambyr for a great year and gathering.

Speaking of graduating, I am officially done with the semester and only have 3 more classes left. This was my first semester teaching and I just submitted grades - sort of a cool experience. I've been floored at the complaints and emails I've received from students throughout the semester - they forget when things are due, forget to turn in papers, forget to come to class, etc. A student emailed after grades were posted to complain about the grade they earned;

"I was writing you because I had a question about my final grade for the semester. I noticed when looking at my grades for the semester that you gave me a C+ in the class however, Im quite confused as to how I got a C+ in the class especially since the c+ has brought down my GPA drastically. I'm confused about to grade because after reviewing my grades for the semester I did not present to you C+ material. I got an A and B on Industry report 1 & 2 and the presentation I got an A. The Final exam was not reported on here but I know I got 100 percent. And the extra credit assignment I completed and got a B as well. My particpation grade I do not see how that could hinder my final grade to a C+ simply because I have not missed an abundance of classes. Lastly, I know I missed 2 quizzes however with the extra credit I only missed one quiz. So, I wasnt expecting to get an A in the class but I definetly was not expecting to get a C+. If the C+ was what I am supposed to get in the class please let me know if there is by any chance anything that I can do perhaps one more industry report because I did notice you had a second industry report 3 on ilearn. I will complete it and turn it into to you. However, I do not like bad grades especially when I'm confused at to why it is so low. "

Wow- enough said right? If you can't proof read an email, a C+ shouldn't be that big of a surprise. I suppose it would be appropriate to explain that there were 1,000 points total a student could earn during the semester (plus an extra credit assignment) ... and each quiz counted for 100 points. This is basic math, even if you got 100% on everything, missing 2 quizzes means you can't get more than 800 total points (a B-, barely).

I think every student should teach a class at some point - and vice versa - you learn a lot being on the other side of the desk.