First days

Today was my first day back at school. Granted I have been back for two weeks setting up but, I never feel ready for students. Inservice day today and tomorrow is more inservice/supply drop off with real school starting on Wednesday. Every year I have the same panic of not being ready, is my room sufficient, too simulating, do I remember how to be a good teacher after some time of not thinking about students every day? Then the kids come and it all goes back into place and I am once again thrilled to do what I do. Teach.

A back to school inspired Friday Fill-Ins + status

1. It's fun to __buy new things for my classroom___.

2. __Someone is lying to you if they say that a cute bulletin board is ___ is easy to make.

3. I like to be __ready for my students___.

4. __How the kids find 40 year old pencils in my classroom___ I will never know!

5. Something I'm very much excited about __is trying my new seating arrangement___.

6. __Writing up that purchase order___ was well worth it.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to __recovering from possible food poisoning___, tomorrow my plans include ___helping out Grandma__ and Sunday, I want to __lay out all my clothes for the week and prepare for school to start___!

 Kyle and I went with friends to see the CSO play at Ravinia with the LOTR movie playing on a BIG screen. It was wonderful. I hope this happens again next year for movie number 2.
So, my classroom is nearly ready and I started the board outside my room. I am getting excited. I also got back a piece of technology that was taken away at the end of the year and I had been told would no longer be available for me to use. Unfortunately, I think that leftover chicken I had for lunch had been in the fridge for too long and I might not have nuked it  to a hot enough temperature. Thus, me thinking I have food poisoning and laying on my couch on a Friday night. UGH!

Workout

I took my husband to the gym last night.
I am used to exercising (it comes from a continuous struggle with my weight) and while I may not look like an exercise pro, I know what to do there. Well, my darling has never once in his life been to the gym. He also has not had PE since the 4th grade. This is due to his school letting you get out of PE if you were in band and choir or marching band and show choir in high school.
Needless to say, if you have never been on or seen someone using an elliptical machine, it is not so easy. Also, it just reinforces the fact that just because you are thin does not mean you are in shape/are healthy.
I hope he does not hate me for this and goes back later this week.

Friday Fill-Ins

Dear Blog, I am sorry I have neglected you. Here is a fill in to make you feel better.

1. The only question is _why must summer end?____.

2. __I wish I could set up my classroom___ in one day.

3. Three things on my desk: _papers, cds, sharpies____.

4. __Figure out where my class furniture is going___ is the one thing I HAVE to do today!

5. I love playing with __new instruments___.

6. _____ overwhelms the senses.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _____, tomorrow my plans include _____ and Sunday, I want to _____!

bugs

2 days of yard work means about 100 bug bites. Bites in places I did not know they could even get to. I did not spray my face with DEET so they bit my face. It looks like I have the worst case of acne ever. Must find a way to really keep the bugs off of me.

Repairing the self relationship

I have a new mantra. I am repairing the relationship I have with myself.
Why?
The relationships I have with others are not bad or a problem. My relationships did not make me put on a ton of weight, make me a workaholic, cause me to procrastinate. I realized that I was altering what I wanted to do and deciding to act in a manner I thought others in my life would prefer. First of all, how would I know what someone else would prefer me to do?
A week of vacation helped me see how much I work, even when I don't need to be working. Constant worry and stress is my downfall.
Time to keep myself honest to me. It is day 4 of this week of making sure I exercise my body. There is no reason to be overweight.
It is not selfish to want to be happy with who I am.

I do not have all the words that Matt Damon does. I get emotional and run out of coherent speaking when I think about my career, my choice to be a teacher, to be a fine arts teacher, that I am overwhelmingly upset when others speak to teachers being overpaid, lazy, stupid, etc. Thank you Matt Damon for standing up for teachers in the video I posted on facebook yesterday and then giving this speech that says what I needed to hear. 

“I flew overnight from Vancouver to be with you today. I landed in New York a few hours ago and caught a flight down here because I needed to tell you all in person that I think you’re awesome.
I was raised by a teacher. My mother is a professor of early childhood education. And from the time I went to kindergarten through my senior year in high school, I went to public schools. I wouldn’t trade that education and experience for anything.
I had incredible teachers. As I look at my life today, the things I value most about myself — my imagination, my love of acting, my passion for writing, my love of learning, my curiosity — all come from how I was parented and taught.
And none of these qualities that I’ve just mentioned — none of these qualities that I prize so deeply, that have brought me so much joy, that have brought me so much professional success — none of these qualities that make me who I am … can be tested.
I said before that I had incredible teachers. And that’s true. But it’s more than that. My teachers were EMPOWERED to teach me. Their time wasn’t taken up with a bunch of test prep — this silly drill and kill nonsense that any serious person knows doesn’t promote real learning. No, my teachers were free to approach me and every other kid in that classroom like an individual puzzle. They took so much care in figuring out who we were and how to best make the lessons resonate with each of us. They were empowered to unlock our potential. They were allowed to be teachers.
Now don’t get me wrong. I did have a brush with standardized tests at one point. I remember because my mom went to the principal’s office and said, ‘My kid ain’t taking that. It’s stupid, it won’t tell you anything and it’ll just make him nervous.’ That was in the ’70s when you could talk like that.
I shudder to think that these tests are being used today to control where funding goes.
I don’t know where I would be today if my teachers’ job security was based on how I performed on some standardized test. If their very survival as teachers was based on whether I actually fell in love with the process of learning but rather if I could fill in the right bubble on a test. If they had to spend most of their time desperately drilling us and less time encouraging creativity and original ideas; less time knowing who we were, seeing our strengths and helping us realize our talents.
I honestly don’t know where I’d be today if that was the type of education I had. I sure as hell wouldn’t be here. I do know that.
This has been a horrible decade for teachers. I can’t imagine how demoralized you must feel. But I came here today to deliver an important message to you: As I get older, I appreciate more and more the teachers that I had growing up. And I’m not alone. There are millions of people just like me.
So the next time you’re feeling down, or exhausted, or unappreciated, or at the end of your rope; the next time you turn on the TV and see yourself called “overpaid;” the next time you encounter some simple-minded, punitive policy that’s been driven into your life by some corporate reformer who has literally never taught anyone anything. … Please know that there are millions of us behind you. You have an army of regular people standing right behind you, and our appreciation for what you do is so deeply felt. We love you, we thank you and we will always have your back.” -Matt Damon


http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/entertainment/the_assistant/?p=5865