Summer is in Full Swing

One class down.  One district project down.  Two more of each  to go.  
Most of my list is done or scheduled to be done.   Now I thinking toward two weeks of movement.  Em and I will go on a canoe trip for the 7th graders in youth group.  We will come back to KC only to repack and head to an Iowa-based family reunion.  We will return to a short girls-trip somewhere (details not final).  I will then settle in to finishing my second specialist class and prepping for my new adventure at Harmon, while Emily heads off to her last year at camp with elementary kids.

So far this has been the most relaxing, pressure-free summer since I went back to the classroom.  The kids are hanging with friends.  Emily is playing softball.  Both are working on some keeping-the-brain-sharp summer lessons.  Emily also has the summer work for her advanced science and English classes.  Ashley, my beloved grown girl, is recovering slowly, but consistently, from her broken ankle.  She is also re-taking that terrible philosophy class.  I wonder if anyone likes their college philosophy class?

Worries?
__ Sam being at Merriam Park without Emily.
__ Emily beginning middle school.
__ Starting a completely new job with many unknowns.
__ Helping mom work through the grief of losing our dad.
__ Keeping my kids active in church when we are all going through a weird stage with that.

When you look at the world and all that humankind is forced to endure,  I have no true worries, but how to make a bigger dent in the problems and worries of those in so much suffering.  I should make that list.  That will have to be another post.  

Note: Blog needs more pics.  Working on that!

What Must Be Done

Ominous title for a general summer to-do list.   Ever get to that place where you have so many things to do and you know you are going to forget something important?  I'm there.  I eliminate, or at least reduce, that stress with lists.  I make daily, weekly, monthly, even seasonal lists. Yes, I admit I am an obsessive list maker.  One of those that puts little boxes in front of each item so I can see all the check-marked boxes at the end of the day.  Obsessive, but effective.  As I watch my son, I see that I passed him my own ADHD.  Instead of medication, I used my own types of behavior management (which I am teaching him to do, too).  My two most successful:  making lists and never procrastinating.  Today, I am making a list so I won't procrastinate.

 This is my summer list:

PERSONAL  (Sadly, there are no little boxes to check.)
Girl Scout day camp (check)
Garage Sale
Hair cuts: Em and Mom
Em and Mom to eye doctor
Sam/Emily/Mom to dentist (July)
Family Reunion
Trip to Branson
Em to 5-6th grade church camp
Emily needs tetanus shot b4 school
Raymond to vet
Locate piano teacher - double check Em still wants to start again
School clothes and supplies, school fees
Submit application for volunteering at Wayside Waifs
Walking/Biking training for events
Organize the basement covered in stuff from my NW classroom.

PROFESSIONAL
30 hours of iPad lesson development
15 hours of resource development for literacy
2  specialist classes finished by mid-July
Unit development for English (Harmon)
Tech idea development for high school English

Okay.  I already feel better just seeing this.  I looks a bit less overwhelming laid out like this.
I feel a more unsettled than usual this summer because I am transitioning from middle school literacy to high school English.  I don't yet know if I will be teaching just freshmen or both sophomores and juniors.  A few years ago the idea of teaching junior would have made me crazy anxious, but not now.  I am ready for whatever they offer.  I am ready to just get rocking through my first year in high school.  I know a lot of growth will be involved.

I didn't get that TL (teacher leader/instructional coach) position, but other than a little pride pain, I am so cool with staying in the classroom.  It is where I belong.  I don't read the politics well enough to be successful at that level, and I hope I never do.   Every time I thought about not teaching or I thought of a good idea I wouldn't be able to use as a TL, I would regret even applying for TL.  I am meant for the classroom.  This culture often makes you feel like you should be seeking bigger, higher, better positions of authority (power, if you will), but what's bigger or better than working with students.  I let myself get sucked into the thinking that teaching wasn't good enough.  I don't even know how it happened.  I used to know better, but I bought into the things people say about what I would be good at and what I should do.  It is all a lie.  I am ashamed of myself for not seeing it.  I am embarrassed that I thought I could fit into organization politics, when others could see I clearly can not.  Lesson learned.  A little humbling is essential sometimes.  Now that the process is passed, I am so excited about my next adventure with high schoolers.   One day I will make a fine instructional coach, but I am not called to it now.  Students still just jazz me too much and most adults just don't.  Enough said.

Okay...now on to conquering this list........