A New School Year!!

So excited about the new school year!  I met all my parents before the start of school.  Luckily the DC earthquake didn't sway my last two parent conferences.  I am ecstatic and more importantly, the new Tools of the Mind curriculum.  I am excited for parts of the curriculum but on the fence about other parts.  While keeping an open mind, I hope that there will be room for more creative expressions of teaching after the first year of training.

BTW, this year I tried making a tree for my classroom.  Okay fine, I didn't make the tree, I gave it to someone else to make and while it was a beautiful tree, it didn't last very long up so I may be making another tree later.  Oh the tree of life!!

End of the school year and summer school fun!

It's the end of the school year and I thought I was going crazy with all the cleaning and organizing I had to do.  WIth the help of my hubby and the classroom para-professional, it was all done in the nick of time, 4pm on the last day of school June 20th.  I cleaned for 2 weeks, getting rid of things I had too much of, reorganizing my books, dusting (yes classrooms get dusty) and whatever organizing I had to do.  Not only did I have to label everything, I had to separate my things and those that belong to school.  Boy was it done in the end.  Although unpacking it all in August will be my biggest challenge since I probably won't remember where I put everything.

Despite it being my first year with DC, I had an amazing time.  I got to know 17 amazing children and their respective families.  I got to know the children at my school and the local people who make up the community.  Best of all, I didn't have to sacrifice as much of my social life as I thought I would have.  I ran a half marathon, read a few books and travelled (both to my families home and to Peru).  On top of everything I did not take one single day off (sick days or leave) and I was the only teacher in the entire school who can say that. For next year, I have real competition for places in my class.  Parents are asking me left and right if their kid will be in my class.  For better or worse, the decision is not mine to make so I can honestly tell them I don't know.  Also, being appointed the grade level chair after my first year seems to be too good to be true but the work load is a little frightening.  Will I be able to juggle it all, while still maintaining a quality of life outside of school, who knows.  It's good to be in demand anyway.

If you couldn't tell already, I'm a bit of a work horse.  After my last day of school and bidding my school farewell, I welcomed myself to my summer school position I've held for three years.  I've met a few new faces and received many hugs from some familiar faces, including mommies and their children.  Summer school is fun so far, we've finished making out first project of clay and wire bugs on recycled painted materials.  We've had 5 more weeks to look forward to and so many possibilities.

I love teaching!!

Lesson Learned

So a few weeks ago I had a family get upset with me because their child got into it with another child and ended up with loose teeth.  They were upset with me and I couldn't do anything to make them feel better.  It was an accident between children and well it could really happen to anyone.  I did everything but apologize because why should I.

Anyways, two days ago during an open house event for current and prospective parents, the parent spoke wonderful things about me including the fact that her family loves me.  This means a lot to me because I thought they had somehow lost their trust in me because their child got into an accident.

I am learning to not take things so personally.

RELAX!!

Kids have accidents all the time, even adults do too. They skin their knees. They poke themselves with pencils, crayons, and markers. They sometimes hit other children.  They get paper cuts.  They put things in their mouths.  They say inappropriate things. They lie.  They sometimes take things home.  These are things that happen to kids and adults too.  It's all part of life.  Most of us don't live in padded rooms with strait-jackets so we're going to get bumps, scrapes, sometimes even broken bones.  RELAX!!

2010 Retrospect

It's been an amazing year of accomplishments and new adventures.  Getting the degree 10 years later, landing the almost dream job, and feeling eager about my academic future.  Looks like it's just working for now but I love what I do.  Going back to LA and feeling pretty accomplished, especially with my mother and father bragging about my J-O-B!  Seeing friends from high school, hanging out with my siblings and cousins and just about all the wonderful things that make being an adult worthwhile.  Thank you for the wonderful memories 2010!!!!

Things to look forward to in 2011: getting better at my job and what I love doing, maybe a trip to the UK, summer camp, prospective addition to the family, and maybe a couple of misadventures along the way.  Whatever it brings, it's looking bright and sunny already!