Back to School

Labor Day weekend is the end to a carefree summer of fun. On Sunday, the boys and I packed and prepped for our first day of school on Tuesday.

It is always a bittersweet time for our family. The transition back to school is tough on my family.  I move from stay-at-home mom to full-time working mom.  The boys have to adjust to a regimented schedule and schoolwork once again.

I love my work, both at home and school, but the burden of responsibility is often a weighty yoke.  I have vowed this year to better balance my work and home energies.  I want to influence my students positively but without the cost being my own young men.

My goal is lofty.  I will need several factors to improve to see the level of success I desire.  My first line of attack is to arrange a bi-monthly house cleaner.  I have struggled over having the energy and organizational talent necessary to uphold the quality of cleanliness that makes me feel comfortable. I live in a small farmhouse surrounded by dirt and dust.  It is a full time job beating back the impurities that mar my little home.  I decide to take action in asking for help.  God sent me to a fine lady who believes her mission is helping others by cleaning their homes.  She scrubs, changes sheets, vacuums and dusts.  Our home is a sanctuary after long hours away doing my own missions work at the public school.

The second arm of my plan is organization and planning at school.  I preach daily about the wise use of time.  I teach these of a daily planner, long-term goal calendar and the all-mighty Post-It note.  Now the teacher/preacher must DO.  I printed a year long calendar by months off my computer using WORD.  Then I checked my online IEP platform to list the due dates.  Placing them on my calendar a week in advance with phone numbers and emails if listed, would hopefully help me arrange meetings well in advance on the impending annual review dates.

Next, I created an email list of all my student's parents and guardians so I could send information out quickly.  I also created a list of just my senior students as they will need different emails forwarded or sent to them.

I also needed labels printed so I could send all my original paperwork to our local consortium for review and audit.  I again had to ask for help.  A sweet secretary in our office offered to simple print them for me when I asked her for guidance.  So armed with my labels, housekeeper, and calendar I am hopeful that I will be an effective teacher and a wise, sweet Momma as well.

My school district requires the use of a Moodle, which we received training on the last week of August.   I have yet to see how I might organize this tool to help me be more efficient in the classroom.  I am looking forward to learning this new format of curriculum delivery and curation.

I will let you know if my plan works...

Summer Reading Review 2013

Earlier this summer I read an autobiography written by Lyssa Chapman, Walking on Eggshells: Discovering Strength and Courage Amid Chaos. She is the 7th child of “Dog” the Bounty Hunter. It is a popular show about the family bounty hunting business on A & E. Her poignant retell of her lost childhood and the struggles of family addictions and narcissism was startling. She is an inspiration and a survivor. This book was a refreshing start to my summer reading. An unplanned read but nevertheless edifying and valuable.

 Next I sped through Irene Nemirovsky’s Suite Francaise. It is a compilation of two incomplete novels by Ms. Nemirovsky, who died in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp during the Nazi occupation of France (WWII). The journals and beginnings of the books are translated by Sandra Smith with integrity. I especially enjoyed the maps provided and the character development in book one, Storm in June, and book two, Dolce. This novel was a rare look into the sociology and psychology of the fleeing French during the early days of WWII. I was better for reading this book.

 Lastly, I read, or listened to, Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. Admittedly, I needed to read this book for my upcoming Senior English class. I was moved to tears, chastised by my own callousness and encouraged by the life lessons that I could impart to my students. This book is a necessity for anyone choosing to live instead of just exist. As a working mom, I exist, or survive, much of the time. Listening to this book during my “walking” workouts and then again in my kitchen canning beans with my husband brought me a sense of calm and purposeful enjoyment of my very full life.

 Next I might tackle something light and fun or Steinbeck’s The Pearl.