Slowing Down, Stepping Back

The life of a teacher revolves around the curriculum that needs to be taught in his/her district/state. In my district, we are given rough schedules of what should be taught at certain times of the year. It's not written in stone, rather it's a guideline to use while navigating through the year. Subjects like math and history follow a pretty straight line. Lessons are taught in succession and build on each other over time. Subjects like science and writing can be taught out of order and can fit around the more rigid schedules of the other subjects.

I teach a special reading class to a small group of fifth graders while the rest of my class goes to reading with the other two fifth-grade teachers. The format of this reading class is like math and history: there are certain things I must teach, in a certain order, and the schedule of the class follows a certain structure as well. There isn't a ton of room for creativity, which sometimes makes it hard to do day in and day out. I like to exercise my creative side every now and then. The flip side of this, though, is that this doesn't require a great amount of planning on my part because it's all laid out for me.

Because most of our schedules are pretty tight and somewhat disjointed with kids going here and there, there is a lack of continuity throughout our days and weeks. I can't say to the class, "Remember when we read about the Egyptians last week?" Only four of the kids would know what I was talking about. The district suggests that we do a lot of cross-curricular learning in part because the curriculum is so large and tight, which makes total sense and is what's best for learning. Yet in my case, it is nearly impossible.

This past week, we had a change in schedule when I was with my class for reading. We were able to use some of that time for writing. We were able to have a discussion during some of the time about an important topic. We were able to take our time, rather than rush to get things cleaned up so we could move to the next subject on the schedule. I felt more relaxed. The kids felt more at ease. Honestly, I felt like we all were more creative.

I want to say that I'm not complaining, nor am I saying that there is only one way to teach or learn. But I am saying that for the two days this week when I had some time to slow down, step back, and gain a new perspective, it just felt good. I'm thankful I had the opportunity.

A Labor of Love

Remember this picture? I took it in September after I spent hours with a group of friends canning tomatoes. It was a labor of love, for sure. Yet deep in tomato season, I didn't realize just how much of a labor of love it was.

Fast forward to this week: more than a foot of snow on the ground, temps in the single digits or below zero, and me having a bad case of cabin fever. My new obsession with snowshoeing has curbed the cabin fever a bit, but not all of it. If given the choice, I would gladly be on a beach right now, or in a backyard somewhere, I'm not going to be picky.

The tomatoes have been sitting on a shelf in the basement since I made them. I've been rationing them, in a way. I figure I need to spread the fresh tomato love throughout the winter and well into spring. Maybe one a month, and then it will be time for spring vegetables and fruits. Which will lead to summer fruits and vegetables. And more tomatoes.

So last night, in an effort to procrastinate doing some schoolwork, I made this bolognese sauce. As I popped the lid off the jar of tomatoes to add it to the sauce, I took a whiff of the freshness. They smelled so much different than canned tomatoes from the store. It was like I added some sunshine to the pot on the stove. (Remember when those cans of sunshine from Florida were really popular? Do they still sell those?) When I took a taste of the sauce once the flavors melded together, I said to myself, "Mmmm. Yes." It was perfect.

Perfect for a mid-winter's night. Perfect for procrastinating. Perfect for embracing cabin fever.

Birthday Week Begins

Happy Birthday week to Stein! In honor of the birthday boy, here is a list of some of the great memories that we have made together. And because I am feeling some cabin fever and in need of a vacation, this list has a vacation theme, too:

• Being in Seattle, afraid of heights (me) on the Space Needle.
• Drinking wine with Chris, Steve and Kate in Napa.
• Skiing in Colorado and eating lunch outside on the sunny mountainside at Winter Park.
• Sitting on the deck of the USS Missouri in Honolulu, eating dinner and listening to a big band play.
• Eating the best paella I've ever had and getting sunburned in April at an outside cafe in Madrid.
• Tromping around Gaudi Park in Barcelona.
• Walking on hardened lava cautiously (me) and watching flowing lava in Hawaii.
• Being the only people on a beach in Naples, FL because the temps were too low for the locals.
• Cubs spring training games in Arizona.
• A day in Sedona with a Pink Jeep tour, a drink at the Enchantment resort, and a beautiful sunset on the red rocks.
• Eating pancakes at Pamela's in Pittsburgh.
• Laughing with our friends while eating crab in Maryland.
• Watching a football game at Penn State. Twice. One time arriving in style in a metallic green Mustang.
• Sitting in adirondack chairs on the lawn of Mission Resort on Mackinac Island.
  
• Walking around the monuments of DC at night. On more than one occasion.
• Eating dinner on the grounds of the union at Marquette on a beautiful summer night.
  
• Watching sunsets for five consecutive days up north, each night different than the next.
• Sitting on the beach in Maui for hours reading, sleeping, sunning, swimming.
• Cruising down the mountain in Maui on bicycles, shedding layers of clothes as we went.
• Wandering around Quebec City with nowhere to go.
• Watching a game at Fenway Park in Boston.

And the list goes on and on...

Up North

About 2 hours into the drive up north on Friday I realized that my ski jacket and snow pants were resting nicely on the couch back home. D'oh! And me being me, I kept kicking myself (figuratively) about it that whole night and into the next morning.

What I didn't realize that morning was that the only thing I was missing at that point was a snow shoe hike through the woods. (And I was also able to borrow the clothes I needed).

I'm hooked on snowshoeing now. Stein and I rented snow shoes and went on a nice jaunt in the woods with our friends. The sun was shining a bit, as we made our way down a winding path through the trees. The concern that I had earlier in the week about not having time to get away quickly melted. We needed this.

Snowshoeing is a great workout, I quickly learned. I didn't need to worry about the twenty-degree temperature. What better way to get a workout in, instead of walking on a treadmill at the gym? We liked it so much that we did it again the next day. The eight-degree temperature didn't matter, either.

The rest of the weekend was fantastic. We were able to relax, read, eat good food, and get some sleep. Our friends were so hospitable by inviting us to stay with them in their beautiful house. A fire constantly roared in the fireplace, and a cup of tea or a bowl of hot soup staved off the cold.

For someone who generally loathes the cold and dreads the drawn-out time of winter, I had a wonderful time. Who knew that strapping some aluminum frames with webbing on my feet would do the job?

That Sunday Night Feeling

The clock on 60 Minutes tick, tick, ticks away in between commercials. I woke up this morning and heard that clock ticking the minute I got out of bed.

I go back to school tomorrow.

I know, I know, you're going to tell me that I had 2 weeks off and to quit my complaining. And I know once I'm back at school tomorrow in my routine, it won't seem that bad. But sitting here on the couch in the spot I have worn away in the last 2 weeks, I am not happy to be forced out of my vacation routine.

As I wrote in my last post, I really couldn't sit still during a lot of this break. Mickey tells me that this is what happens when you're on break, that it normally takes about 2 weeks to really fall into a relaxing routine. I guess I've hit that 2-week mark right now, and I'm ready for more. I got a lot of things done in the past 2 weeks and feel pretty productive, but now I'd like to get more productive in the area of relaxation.

I guess I can wait until the next break. Or a possible snow day. Or summer.

Random Randomness

This break has been wonderful. I have been catching up on my sleep, catching up with friends, and catching up on my TV. But I can't keep a thought for more than a second. I have the attention span of a gnat. I seriously have been comparing myself to some of the kids in my class who have some challenges with attention. Read a book? Ha! I can barely get through a short article in a magazine.

Yet in between these random thoughts and activities I have been enjoying the season. There was some shopping for Stein's Christmas presents, a trip to Greenfield Village for Holiday Nights, get-togethers at friends' houses, and a lazy, movie-indulgent Christmas Day.

I'm trying to figure out why I have this lack of attention lately. I was talking to a friend of mine who also teaches (Hi, Alissa!) and she is going through the same thing. I think it may be the curse of teaching. You get into a mode where you are constantly thinking about What Next? In a given day in the classroom, I switch gears at least 10 times and try to anticipate what may happen next. Not to mention fielding off the wall questions and requests that make you stop and think, Did you really just ask that question? I haven't been able to sit still. I am always thinking that something else needs to be done.

I think I'll quit while I'm ahead here. You're probably getting a feel for my randomness by just reading this post.

Happy Holidays, Everyone! I hope you're enjoying the season with family and friends.

I am. Randomly.

About a week ago, a friend of mine from high school recommended on Facebook that people read this blog. It was started by a friend of hers, and I was immediately drawn in when I saw it. The gist of it is that this father draws part of a picture and part of a caption on a post-it note and puts the note in his son's lunchbox. The son then completes the picture and caption and brings it back home. If it makes it back home (in one piece) then the father posts it on the blog. He was interviewed on this blog if you want to read more about it.

Brilliant.

I love this idea. I love the collaboration. I love the interaction. I love the fun this dad throws into the middle of his child's day.

There has been a lot of research done on how parental involvement is so important in a child's life. I could list all of the ways in which it is beneficial, but I know you know it's important. What better way, then, to build memories, build tradition, and do it in a fun way on a regular basis? LOVE this.

It reminded me of some correspondence I have had with one of the parents in my class. It is nowhere near the interaction that this father has with his son, but it does have a small element of surprise.

It all started when my student's father signed his daughter's planner and put a smiley face next to his signature. When I saw the smiley, instead of just putting the normal star that showed I checked the planner, I responded back with a smiley of my own. This led to another smiley from the father the next day. I responded again with another smiley of my own.

Eventually the smilies turned into faces with goofy grins, a pumpkin at Halloween, and a turkey at Thanksgiving. Every morning, I look at the signature and small picture and laugh. Then I stand there while my student stares at me, wondering just what I'll respond with.

This past week I've been stumped on occasion. The theme has been Christmas (even though I don't think they celebrate Christmas). He drew a Santa one day and I responded with a Christmas tree. He drew a candy cane the next day and I drew a strand of Christmas lights. Today there was an elf, and I was stumped. His daughter said, "How about a stocking?" "Yes," I thought, "That's it!" It's going to be a problem in a few days when I run out of ideas. Good thing it's almost time for break.

I love the daily connection I have with this parent. I have only seen him a handful of times, but his humor makes me feel like I've known him for a long time. I also love how the daughter feels like she's part of the process of laughing and collaborating with me on the pictures.

Who knows. Maybe by the end of the year we'll have a comic strip going.