Summer is on it's way out....

I head out to school tomorrow for something official - setting up summer school. I'm only going to be working for the first week, so I'm a little surprised that I'm actually going to working. The theme is Learning Around the World - emphasis on geography. This is a great way for me to really start thinking about my NEW high school class, renamed Modern Geography (the original title, Social Studies Through Technology, was too long to fit into the computerized system we use.) Just thinking about summer school gave me some new direction for my high school class - call it clarification. I have a better idea where I'm going with it, since I teach without a textbook and mostly paperless.

But I'm not ready for school to start! I still have things to knit and sew, before I get caught up in all of the things that happen once school starts. We have a trip to southern Utah to visit our son; I'm not sure I'm reading for the heat, but I am ready to see him!

So, I'll set the alarm, and get myself going. I just won't dress up...

1 more week!

It has to be almost spring vacation. I have not been enjoying the last couple of weeks, for a couple of reasons. I am mentally tired, which makes me sluggish. I am concerned about the upcoming math assessment, so am doing what I've never wanted to do - teaching to the test. I guess I need to get off my high horse and face reality; my students need specific and focused instruction on the targeted standards. I will admit, though, that I am concerned about them meeting the standard. I feel as though I can't leave anything to chance, yet I am nervous about how the kids will approach the test. Finally, the behavior of the kids has been just enough off to make things not-so-fun, and I hate the way they are treating my teaching partner. On the positive side, my high school class is making me happy to be a teacher, and I'm excited to be working with a distance-learning student using Moodle and Google Docs. That will be fun. I am participating in the Go Paperless on Earth Day challenge, and am figuring out how I can do that will all the students I work with. Still, I can't help but think I am not doing enough, and my attitude needs a revision. Head down, keep moving - right now that's all I can do.

Thinking about retirement

I probably shouldn't jump the gun, but too often thoughts of retirement are clogging up the brain. I spent yesterday at the Sewing Expo, in Puyallup, immersed in something other than school, and it was a breath of fresh air. Yes, it was crowded, and yes, it was noisy, but there was all the stuff I used to love to do; wonderful fabrics, cool patterns, lovely yarn, and tons of creativity. I split up from my traveling companions pretty early, and met up with a Facebook friend, and then I just wandered. My usual approach to the Sewing Expo is to take a quick walk around the buildings, and then head back to the booths I am most interested in. I didn't buy things just because I could; I bought them because they were things I will work with - once I get my creativity back! I bought two packs of kimono pieces and a cool button from Ah! Kimono, hand-painted silk and a scarf pattern from sweaterkits.com, three smaller pieces of fabric, a knit for a tee-shirt, a sheer for an shirt, and some plaid in a cotton for a vest from a shop called Billie's Designer Fabric in Chehalis, WA, and an Indygo Junction pattern called Floribunda - floral brooches in wools, which I just happen to have in my stash. What didn't I buy? No Park Bench Patterns, because even though I love them, I have yet to make one of the probably ten I own, no Petite Plus Patterns, because I have probably the same number of patterns, but I have sewn with those (even though I'll probably end up buying the jean jacket pattern from the website), and although I really wanted to buy the Sewing Workshop bag with the pattern and the delicious-looking fabric in the nifty zippered clear-plastic bag, I resisted. Oh, and no rayon batik because I have yards of it, all just waiting to be sewn.

I was totally beat when we left after 6+ hours, but it was the kind of tired that is not-so-bad. I mean, nobody argued with me, I had no problems whatsoever reading handwriting or text, and I didn't have to pick up kleenex, pencils, paper (insert other stuff that somehow always ends up on the floor when the children have vacated the place) - in other words, I had a great day with like-minded friends. Yes, the Moodle posts still have to be read and scored, and with mid-term on Monday, the comments will have to be made for my two classes. But, I have things to create, and a sewing room that needs to be hung out in every day, because retirement will be here in 200 workdays or so after this year is over on June 12 (no surprises that I know the last day of the year! Oh, and I know the rest of the holidays as well as the dates of the days I will be gone to meetings or whatever.)

Will I go to the Sewing Expo next year? Yes, I will. I might even take a personal day, and go on Friday, to get back into the groove of attending seminars the way I used to. Spend the night in a decent hotel, and go again on Saturday to spend the day shopping, fashion show-ing, and eating strawberry shortcake. Hang out with friends, or just the crowd of sewing folks - and know that in 2012, I won't have to worry about grading papers.

Vacation is over

Two weeks have gone by with little thought to school. Oh, I had a school dream about a week ago, this one about Vocabulary Development. I think it was about my Title I classes. I had no desire to head out to the place, not even to water my two plants. So, I didn't. Today I honestly figured I'd be scrambling most of the evening with math planning, but much to my amazement I was done with that by mid-afternoon. And the DVD I found that accompanies my math series actually goes with the 2010 edition that we are using, so I ran off a couple of worksheets, just because I could. Weird.

5th period - now that is a different ball game. I headed to my class Moodle page, added the 'Merry Christmas' and 'Happy New Year' greetings to the last two weeks, and even got the topic started: the wiki, or more specifically, creating a class wiki. Of course, once I started thinking about it, I stalled. Do I really want the kids to create a Civil Disobedience wiki for Mr. B.? Should we use the wiki link on the Moodle page? Google Docs? Wikispaces? Do *I* know how to create a wiki? What kind of lame teacher am I, anyway? Should I let the kids learn-as-they-go, in a constructivist-sort of fashion? I believe they need to learn how to collaborate (especially a couple of them), and I truly believe a wiki is a good place to start. So knowing that I have a bit of time before 5th period on Monday, I'm just going to let this simmer for awhile, and see what happens. I'm even thinking, let the kids pick the research topic, and then let's see what they can do. Learning target = collaboration in a controlled space.

5.5 months to go......10 school days 'til the next day off.....Vacation is definitely over.