Terrifying? Wonderful.

A week ago I had more anxiety than I knew what to do with. I was going to be going on a plane for the first time ever, navigating an airport for the first time ever and attending/presenting at NCTE for the first time ever. It was a bit overwhelming. I wasn't too worried about the presentation, but excited. I was, however, terrified of flying. I knew it would be better than I expected. Boy was I right! Airports have this thing down to a science. I was able to figure it all out with the help of very nice people. I got on the plane and felt calm. Sitting near the window I wondered how that would go, seeing everything. We were delayed! Really delayed. There was snow and ice on the plane and four people had to leave because the plane was too heavy. Oh boy! I was amazed that people actually volunteered to leave. They de-iced the plane twice and then it sounded like we were ready. I was ready. I sat there ready to brace myself and then we started to take off. It was exciting! I looked out the window at the blowing snow wondering if we would get above it. Slowly we went higher and higher. All I could think was, "I'm in the air!" I may have even said it out loud. Because of the delay I was going to have to really truck to my next plane to make it on time. We landed, I got my bag and ran. I ran and ran and ran through the Detroit Metro Airport. It was almost a mile of running. I found the gate and was amazed to see a short line still waiting to board. Lucky me they were running a bit behind. I was out of breath and sweating, hands trembling, but I had made it. Once again in the air, there wasn't a flake in the sky and we were up without a problem. As we got closer to Washington D.C., my destination, I saw all the monuments. It was amazing. I was also reminded what autumn is suppose to look like. We landed and I was elated and relieved. Found my bag in baggage claim without missing a beat and boarded my shuttle to the hotel. What an amazing experience. I was so proud of myself for doing something completely out of my comfort zone.

The Magic of Silver

I remember the day. I got my first set of 64 crayola crayons. I remember looking over all the colors and being in awe of the silver and gold.
Today I had a student ask me for a gray. Needless to say, I couldn't find one anywhere. I do have a stash of a few silver and gold crayons tucked away in one of my cupboards, so I brought out a silver. You should have seen the sparkle in his eyes.
"A silver? Gage, Gage, we've got a silver!?"

Catching Up!

This week my student teacher is taking the week for teaching. She has made great progress and handing over the reigns, though difficult, has been wonderful. I have been getting caught up on so many things, one being the heaping piles following the aftermath of report cards from last week. After today I was doing a happy dance at all that I had accomplished. Got some assessment done to recheck a few things. Made some books for my students. Created a new chart for our stations that should help things go much smoother. Re-configured my schedule to adjust to a new schedule for our para-professional staff. They are taking away support time from my classroom, but a new schedule should help. I even got intervention plans done for several weeks. I am hoping they will get me all the way to winter break. I am feeling good, relieved and a little guilty. Why the guilt? Well, I know a lot of teachers who would love a week to do what I am doing. I wish it was possible to give teachers a break just to get ahead and get organized when it begins to all get overwhelming.

Mark Your Mind

Marking your mind
speaking
no fear
shedding some light
on rights we hold dear


I voted today. I voted late, but I made sure I got there before it closed. My kids were interested in the process. I explained it as best I could. Maybe next time I will bring them with me. It's important to show our little ones the importance of this right. I hope they will mark their minds when the time comes.

One Word

So, today is one of those days where I'm just going to type words and see what happens. I am so tired, sinus headached, and spaced out. It seems like every day comes with a bit of stress but today was particularly overwhelming. I am beginning to sense a pattern that maybe Tuesday's are not great days for me. I feel like my slices have been a bit on the down side. So, to deal with my stress I will write a little passage that expresses the way I feel right at this moment.

You took my words and threw them into the air, out of context, out of order. They fell into piles. Words that didn't belong to one another now lay next to each other. Standing over them like a giant I take my enormous hands and try to piece them back together but I fumble with the tiny strips of paper. Winds begin to blow and the little bits begin to scatter in even different directions. I try to step on them but they get stuck under my toes and flap around, eventually tearing leaving some without letters. I grab at the scraps as they fly like confetti into the clouds. I listen to the skitter of dead leaves on the blacktop and watch the remaining words swirl in a furry like a storm. I look to the leafless tree that hovers over them, wondering, waiting for new words to bud as my hair blows over my eyes. I squint through the wind noticing one speck of white flattened on the trunk. I step slowly forward, pushing the hair out of my eyes as the gray wind threatens to take the white speck. Reaching out I peal the tiny strip of white paper from the trunk. It has three letters on it, Y, O, U. You. I hold the word to my heart as my hair lays flat against my back and I stand in the silent shadow of the tree limbs. You, it's all you need.

Long Day

Today was the day that wouldn't end.

• Four meetings eating every moment that I might have been able to breathe.
• One meeting that had to be rescheduled because I completely forgot about it, probably because I had four others!
• One grant, finally done and signed.
• Items my son forgot to take to school delivered on my lunch break.
• One student who went down a wet slide whose parents needed to be reassured it wasn't his fault for fear of him getting into trouble.
• One student who never got off the bus today because she went to the gym instead by mistake and was missing for over an hour. We finally realized she was still in the building, THANK GOODNESS!
• OH, and I had to teach of course!

Ah, done! I am now sitting here folding laundry starting a load of whites and getting ready to do it all over again. Hopefully with fewer people needing my attention tomorrow. One can dream. 

It Warms My Heart

It seems that I always have a conference night this time of year and it falls on a Slice of Life Tuesday. Thinking back, each year is different. I can say that this year brings new challenges, new families and great conferences. I am happy to hear that so many of my families are shocked by the progress their children are making. It warms my heart. I had a lovely conversation with a colleague prior to one conference and she was so complimentary. It warms my heart. I sat across from a mother tonight who is concerned for her child but eager to help her in any way she can. She listened as three of us talked about the struggles and accomplishments. She was happy in what could have been a very difficult conference. It warms my heart. I had a funny conversation with a colleague tonight, we laughed, hard and it was a nice break during a tiring night. It warms my heart.
It warms my heart to know I am surrounded by happy children.
It warms my heart to know that families are happy.
It warms my heart to know that colleagues appreciate my work
It warms my heart to be in the place I am right now.