Beginnings

One does not always think of the beginning of September as a month of beginning things. I start my 11th year of teaching for the Waupaca School District. I am ready for this year. I have a new schedule which includes teaching 27 classes each week for either 30 or 40 minutes. I have updated my website with new activities that I begin teaching tomorrow. I have a positive attitude and am hopeful that this will be a fabulous school year. The beginning of the school year is a whirlwind of new faces and new routines. It is a wondrous time for teachers and students alike.
I hope that other things will soon be forthcoming in my life. I am ready for a new challenge outside of the classroom. I am someone who rather than letting things happen, I try and look for new opportunities and work for what I desire. Time will tell whether my efforts pay off. Until then I will be working towards the goal of empowering those around me to become life long lovers of learning.

Kindness

I have been feeling a gamut of emotions these past weeks. I like many teachers am thinking and planning for the beginning of the school year. In many ways it is a time of excitement, hope and a chance to begin anew. Each year I am asked to write out my goals and how I plan to achieve them. At the end of the school year I am asked to reflect on whether I reached my goal. I take seriously this task and revisit it throughout the year. Last year's goal was for me to assist my students to try their best at whatever their learning objectives were. It was something that was easy yet hard to attain. It was easy to encourage them and call them out when it was obvious that they could do better. It was hard to measure and also difficult to sustain. The thing is that only each person knows whether they have tried their hardest or not.

I have thought about what makes my day a good one or not. The interesting thing about this is that the answer is really pretty simple. A good day for me is one in which I show and am shown kindness. It sounds simple but it is not something that happens as often as it should. I live my life day to day like most people do. Waking up, going about my routine, doing a good job at what I do (teaching) and generally interacting with the world in a positive manner. I'm going to make a goal for myself this year (not necessarily related to the educational goals for my students) to show kindness to others every single day. It certainly cannot hurt and who knows? Maybe the kindness that is shown to others will come back to me.

An Amazing Trip

Our trip to Costa Rica was truly a fabulous experience. It was both educational, active, fun, relaxing and filled my head and heart with joy. The group that we met meshed very well together. We were from all over the United States. We were families, couples, professionals, retirees, older and younger people. Truly there was nothing that I would have changed about the whole trip.

There is much to learn about when visiting any country and we were given a great education in 10 days. There was something for everyone on this vacation. We had chances to relax and sit by the ocean, listen to the sounds of the forest from a hammock, do hikes of all different levels through the forests, shop for souvenirs, dance, take pictures, learn many things about the culture and visit and soak in 23 hot springs. Something that I will never forget is my daughter and I ziplined on the 2nd to last day. There were 11 platforms of very long and very high lengths. I don't think that there will be many other ziplines in the world that can compare!!

We visited and learned so much about the many food exports including coffee, bananas, pineapples and beef. We hiked many places and were guided on boat tours and saw 2 active volcanoes, hot springs, rain forests, the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, wild rivers, suspension bridges, a butterfly garden, sea turtles, monkeys, sloths, birds of so many kinds, red eyed tree frogs, poison dart frogs, caiman, crocodiles, rhinoceros beetles and too many other things to mention.

The weather was cloudy and in the 80's most days. It rained for less than an hour each day but we expected this as we went during the rainy season. The rain never spoiled any activity or day for us. The tour director Christopher, did a terrific job with our group. We learned so much from him and his sense of humor made the bus travel easy. The places we stayed were beautiful and treated us royally. I must admit that being pampered at a hotel is something I find very appealing. The food was delicious! We had such a variety every day that all of us felt that we ate like kings and queens.

I have a desire to do more travelling and hope to begin planning a trip for our 25th wedding anniversary. We were married February 14th, 1987! The time has flown by :D

Adventure

I have been doing a bit of pondering these last few weeks. I am enjoying summer. I have been going on lots of walks and bike rides. I am balancing the active body with the active mind. I am online quite a bit mostly just with social networking, email correspondence, bill paying and occasionally for fun. I have been reading books for pleasure as well as to learn about things that are new to me. In a month, I have a class on iPad's and using them in the classroom. The stores will be full of back to school supplies and my mind will once again be planning computer activities that are integrating the curriculum into my students learning.

In just over a week I will be visiting Costa Rica. I have preconceived ideas about the trip and the country, as many of us would. I am very much looking forward to the food (tropical fruits) and the rainforest plants and animals that we will be seeing. I am normally not a thrill seeker and I am unnerved by heights. This is a little out of my comfort zone but I am going to zip line across the forest canopy! It will probably be the best part of the trip :D The actual travel and being together with my daughter and mom is something else that I am honored to share.

I realize that one does not need to leave your home, state or country in order to have this excitement. An excellent book often will leave me with the feeling that I have traveled somewhere outside of my every day existence. I still get very giddy though with the idea of a "real trip". It is similar to going on a field trip with our students. There is something extraordinary about leaving home on an adventure. I will hope that you too have the opportunity this summer for a "real trip".

Coming and Going

Another school year has come and gone. Summer is a time of reflection, learning and renewal. It was a year of teaching that had challenges that were beyond my control and which I think surprisingly I dealt with pretty well. For the first time in my adult life, my job, my livelihood was in jeopardy. Although there are many people that are around giving support, showing concern, offering advice and boosting your confidence- they do not walk in your shoes. I think that the waiting to find out the status of your position, is the hardest part. We had 26 retirements in our school district, which ended up saving my position and those of my fellow teachers given layoff notices. Some of these teachers were not ready to retire yet but due to the political upheaval they thought it best for their financial future to retire now. I am most grateful to them. This next year our school district and others all across the United States will be faced with slashing teacher positions again. I don't kid myself in thinking that my position is safe. It is not, and until the economic downturn and the tide of funding education changes, teaching as a profession is a risky profession to be in.

We became "empty nesters" June 1st. The boys graduated from UW La Crosse with degrees in Computer Science. One son has another year left of graduate school for Software Engineering. The other son, we look forward to visiting in Minneapolis. He started his first post college job at a company called ImageTrend in Lakeville, MN. He is a web application designer/developer. It is quite exciting to think that he has grown into a man, works professionally doing something that he loves with a company that recognizes his talent. Our daughter has moved to La Crosse taking her brother's room and is working at Culver's. She starts as a freshman at UW La Crosse this fall. It is quite quiet in our house. Life does not revolve around our kids and their activities anymore. I am letting go and doing pretty well with it all I would say.

Some other news that I will pass on, I have an incredible trip that I am looking forward to taking with my mom and daughter. My mom's generosity has given us the chance to be adventure travelling in Costa Rica for 10 days in July. I have not been out of the States since 1985 and this is the first time for our daughter. It will be 3 generations together. We will have this trip to always remember with each other.

Upon my return I have a two day iPad class that I am signed up for. I will be teaching with iPads this upcoming school year. I would love more resources for kindergarten-2nd grade students that will integrate with our curriculum. Please post a comment/resource if you would be so kind.

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