Saturday, August 31, 2013

Fun, Fun, Fun

I'm up early for a Saturday collecting my things for what promises to be 36 hours of fun.  First I get to take a road trip with two of the funniest gals I know.  We've been friends for about 30 years so there is sure to be a lot of reminiscing and laughter as we make our way down Route 29 to the small town of Tryo.

Once we arrive at our destination we'll meet up with a few more friends from way back-meaning more laughs, smiles and hugs.

Let the games begin!

Friday, August 30, 2013

A Cold Break

Pre-Service week has come to a close and my classroom is ready.  Sure I'll be taking care of a few more things over the weekend but I can walk into room 86 on Tuesday knowing that my materials are organized and ready to go.

I stopped for a pedicure on the way home, a nice treat for my tired, aching feet.  Later on I'll make a tortellini salad to bring to a birthday party tomorrow. Later.  Right now, I'm all about a cold Corona Light and a handful of peanuts and chocolate chips.

Yup, it is good...real good.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Today's Happy Moment

After four days of meetings, classroom set up and a bunch more meetings I finally got to meet a few of the students I'll be spending time with over the next nine months.  There were nervous parents, excited kids and smiles abounding in all directions.  Even with all the nerves I'd have to say that happiness took up the most space in my classroom this afternoon, and that was a wonderful thing.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

What the?

I put in a 10-hour workday today.  For the most part I was on my feet.  There was classroom arranging to be done and a good deal of walking the building in search of materials, people or answers.  I'm not complaining though because when I walked out the door into the humid evening air I had a little bit of spring left in my step and a smile on my face.

One might think that the $50 parking ticket I got 15 minutes later would be enough to wipe that silly smile right off my face...but it didn't. 

What the hell?

I dunno, all I can say is I'm feeling real good these days.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Redirecting

Sitting through meetings, especially those that occur at the beginning of the school year can be tough.  With so many other things to think about- planning, organizing, room set-up and the like- it's doesn't take much for the mind to wander. 

So, on day 1 of the new school year I sat, with all those lists, questions and work-related stresses ricocheting through my brain, while trying my best to listen to a presenter educate me on the Kagan way of engaging all students.  It was a fine presentation, and even though I went in with the best intentions it didn't take long for me to feel a twinge of negativity creeping in to my thought processes.  To be clear, the negativity wasn't about the workshop itself, it was more along the lines of "Really?  Is this the best use of my time on the first day back?"

And then I stopped.  I stopped with all the unnecessary negativity and grabbed my pen.  With three quick strokes I fashioned my own smiley face on the end of my finger.  I moved my new, happy finger from side to side in front of me.  Just seeing that simple face- made of nothing more than two dots and one curved line- brought a smile to my face.  All those other thoughts bouncing around my brain faded and I turned my full attention back to present where it stayed for the rest of the day.

As my finger art faded throughout the day I found myself pulling out the black pen and going over my original marks.  Whenever I felt a need to find my happy place it was right there on my left index finger.

Oh, happy day.  :)

Monday, August 26, 2013

It's All Good

It would be easy to go on and on with negativity and wishful thinking about this first day back to work, but really what's good about that?  I mean really when I dissect my work down to it's bare bones- teaching and learning with the young minds of today- I can only think of how much I enjoy my work.  Sure it's hard to say goodbye to the lazy days of the last nine weeks, but the unknown of the next nine months holds its own sort of thrill. 

Last week I stepped back into my classroom for a little cleaning and organizing. Task number one was to rip off the faded yellow paper from one bulletin board and replace it with a nice, crisp orange. I smoothed out the edges and stapled the boarder in place, smiling as I stepped back to admire my work.  In front of me was a clean slate- reminding me that this school year is full of possibilities.  Thanks to those lazy days of summer I'm feeling well rested and ready to take on all the good stuff that is bound to come my way this year.