6 weeks in....

my roommate just posted on her blog after several months of inactivity.......and it just wouldn't be right to let her win "the most recent blog" award.

so i suppose here's the snapshot of my life since initiatives.....

i'm a teacher. holy freaking cow.....i'm a teacher.


block periods of high school algebra I, geometry, algebra II.....
middle school remedial algebra I, pre algebra, and advanced algebra I.......

it's incredible......it's such a blast to invest in these students.......it's so aggravating to watch them settle for less.......they take pride in testing me......they want to involve me in their drama....... they want me to hand them a passing grade for free........some days they "get it".....other days i think they get dumber by spending more time with me...

it's so hard. i am completely exhausted.

i was warned about this first year of teaching......i spend about 10 hours at school every day, only to come home to more grading and lesson planning. some days, i don't know what i'm teaching until 20 minutes before class starts. i don't know that i could have a slogan more true than "eat. sleep. teach." (except the sleeping part.)

but i am happy here. i couldn't live in a better place. i rent from friends who feed me, clean for me, entertain me, and grade homework for me. it just can't get any better.

this is good. this is so good.

initiatives

being at camp.......i am falling in love with initiatives all over again.

initiatives: those activities specifically designed to promote communication, teamwork, and unity within a community. (from the puma's revised dictionary 2009)

we do initiatives as a staff during orientation week so that later, we can do them with the campers:

• flying v
• teepee shuffle
• spider web
• lava boots
• human knot
• shrinking circle
• magic carpet
• wire walk
• the wall

and my new favorite: pipe dreams.......


of course there's several more that i haven't mentioned....

during initiatives, we learn immeasurably more about each other than we could possibly learn during "hot seat" or "cabin talk." we watch people assume the leadership role while others sometimes fight to have their voice heard. we stretch people beyond their comfort zone. we force people to depend on others rather than themselves and we remind still others that they are worthy of being trusted. everyone has a role--which could change without warning--and everyone is important.

bring on the campers.......we're ready to discover what happens in this new community.

long time passing.......

i've been told that it's about time for me to start blogging again. it's been several months since the previous post and i do hope this one does a bit of justice for the absence.

a lot has happened in the past couple months:

• i graduated (just waiting for the diploma to prove it)
• i got hired
• i'm moving into a house (no more apartment!!)
• we hired a new female lead counselor for this summer
  

and there's a lot left to do:

• weddings
• camp
• summer school
• the actual packing/moving thing
  
• paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, paper......................

i've accumulated a lot of stuff in twenty-some-odd years. and just now, i'm realizing how insignificant (or important) that stuff is. it's like a slow-motion version of that old dilema: there's a fire in your house and you only have time to rescue three items.......

what am i going to bring?

what are those necessities that i just can't leave behind? what are those things that won't annoy my future roommates because they "take up too much space?" which of these items is most usefull? could this have a purpose in my future classroom? is there enough space in my car for this?

i spend so much time on these questions and then....when i've had it up to here with all the stress......i just have to laugh. these luxuries that i've treasured for so long aren't making my life any more luxurious than it was before.

it's all so silly and obvious.........i've heard this stuff about clutter a million times......

and yet here i am......an "educated person" and i still have to purge.....

the christmas letter

for the past several (i think 5 or 6) years, my christmas duty has been to write the "traditional" family christmas letter. that annual thing that goes out at the end of every year and recounts only family highlihts.....sound familiar?

well.....this year, the chrismas letter is available via email in a jpg format. if you're interested, send send me a location and i'll get it to you soon.

so as to not give the surprises in this year's letter away.......here's last year's edition.....