First of all, this four-day weekend was very necessary. I have finally hit the first year teacher downward slope. I won't go so far as to say it's a spiral (let's not be dramatic), but the honeymoon period is over. When they yap in class, I don't say something sweet like, "Let's remember to be respectful." Well, okay, I do, because respect is important, but I WANT to say "Shut your yap". I tend not to, but the urge is so much stronger. Likewise, the urge to not grade things is also very strong. That's the beauty of a 4-day break, though. You recover your strength just long enough to keep grading and going.
Having said that, everything is still moving by at a pretty fast clip. Just yesterday school was starting, and in the blink of an eye it will be halfway over. October is a busy month for me. I have a whole bunch of stuff to do, from grading an ungodly amount of reading questions, quizzes, and essays, to working on prepping my kids even more for AIMS, to going to Oak Creek next weekend and to going to California two weekends after that. Plus, we have to plan for Halloween. That, in and of itself, is going to take some time. I really need to think about it.
Once October's over, November and December literally fly by. There's hardly any time before Thanksgiving, then no time at all before Winter Break, then it's back to the grind. But the grind is so much better because there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, it's stressful, but in April once the AIMS are over, it's basically fun times and smoooooooth sailing.
Currently, I'm just trying to enjoy a book and fix my garden up a bit. I basically killed my tomato plant, in between forgetting to water it as much as it needs and then the frosts and the onset of real fall. I have a new set of sprouts in a baby pot I need to bring inside so it doesn't die in the next week, but I at least made a try of everything this year. Next year will be better because I'll be able to get a real start, in the spring. Maybe I can even try squash or cucumbers!
I have two books I'm reading right now: Under Wildwood, by lead singer and songwriter of the Decemberists, Colin Meloy, and The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart. The illustrator for both those books is Carson Ellis, Colin Meloy's wife. Naturally, they are sort of two peas in a pod type books. So far, too, Under Wildwood is much better than the first book in the series. It's much more exciting and the action starts much more quickly. It took 300 pages for me to get interested in the first book. I'm only 120 pages into this one and I'm really enjoying it. I know I said I wanted to do some more adult reading, but I take it back. I want more fun reading. I haven't been having fun with the adult books I've been reading, though I really really need to work on Bleak House. I want to actually finish it by the end of the year, and since I am part of the ensemble in a local production of A Christmas Carol, I figure I should probably be reading that, too. Then, there's the bit of Welsh history I'd like to read, the Mabinogion, which the book we're reading in class right now is based on, in large part (The Book of Three, by Lloyd Alexander).
With all this reading to do, I really shouldn't be sitting here blogging and watching sleepy British murder mysteries.
But I like blogging.
Can I go live in England for a bit? The greenery is really lovely.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Little Habits
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."
-- Artistotle
Although I'm not a big fan of classical antiquity, I think he's got this one pegged. I can do something well, but for me to really be excellent at something I do, I need to do it over and over again and perfect it. Additionally, when I get in the habit of small routines, it enhances my overall performance.
It always takes me a while to settle into a routine. For example, it's taken me over a month to get into a comfortable routine with my job. I still need to tweak it (clearly), but I'm kind of proud of what I've established so far. I managed to get up and out of the house by 7 AM or a little earlier.
That's my big accomplishment. Wooooot.
When I get out of the house that early, I have way more time in which to start my day and I have a little bit of solitary leisure time to rewrite my whiteboards, reorganize my papers, put in some grades, and help any student who might decide to stop by for tutoring.
This routine has helped me so much this past week. I sent out progress reports on Friday and then this week there was a test on Tuesday. Thus, this week has been crazy! I've had a bunch of parent meetings, staff meetings, and plenty of homework that I have been dutifully ignoring, mostly because I knew that this weekend we had no plans and no houseguests. I kind of saved all my major work for this weekend, but I'm still pretty caught up with everything.
This week has also been a big week for seeing my students and their parents outside of school. I saw one of my kids' mother at our nearby Starbucks (inside Safeway -- we're so cool here in Flagstaff). I saw one of my kids playing in Heritage Square last night, and when I went to the library yesterday afternoon I not only saw another one of my kids and her dad, but her dad and I sat down because he had some things he wanted to speak with me about and believe you me, it was much easier than scheduling a conference, if not as kosher. All these experiences this week have reinforced the idea that I am pretty free to do what I want (I don't do anything really risque to begin with), but I have begun being careful of what music I play when I have the windows down and what I say whilst in traffic altercations. It occurs to me that they're everywhere and I need to set a good example everywhere. This is excellent practice for parenthood. Lawsy that sounds so dorky and boring. But it's true!
And speaking of the library, it was HOPPING on Friday. Despite that, I could only find one book I really, really wanted. And even then, not sure if I'm going to actually get around to reading it or not. However, I did just finish a grown-up novel for my newly-joined grown-up book club (yay!) and have plans for several others. I have checked out several ebooks by Tony Hillerman (Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn, anyone?) and am genuinely thinking about starting and chipping away at Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville.
Because I'm just that nerdy. Oh yeah. Honestly, reading every day or every week is a habit as well. I've been getting in bad habits at home of coming home, changing into something comfy, and then sitting in front of the TV until bedtime. That's bad. I mean, yes, we have discovered Parks and Recreation and it's AWESOME, but at the same time, I really need to be doing something productive with my time instead of rotting my brain away every night. Hence the books. If I can sit down and read for half an hour every night and get in the habit, I would feel so much better about myself and my life. Plus, my cousin bought me a gift certificate to Bookman's, so I've been getting way too excited about buying fun books recently.
All in all, good habits actually are important! Who knew!
Okay, Aristotle knew, BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT.
-- Artistotle
Although I'm not a big fan of classical antiquity, I think he's got this one pegged. I can do something well, but for me to really be excellent at something I do, I need to do it over and over again and perfect it. Additionally, when I get in the habit of small routines, it enhances my overall performance.
It always takes me a while to settle into a routine. For example, it's taken me over a month to get into a comfortable routine with my job. I still need to tweak it (clearly), but I'm kind of proud of what I've established so far. I managed to get up and out of the house by 7 AM or a little earlier.
That's my big accomplishment. Wooooot.
When I get out of the house that early, I have way more time in which to start my day and I have a little bit of solitary leisure time to rewrite my whiteboards, reorganize my papers, put in some grades, and help any student who might decide to stop by for tutoring.
This routine has helped me so much this past week. I sent out progress reports on Friday and then this week there was a test on Tuesday. Thus, this week has been crazy! I've had a bunch of parent meetings, staff meetings, and plenty of homework that I have been dutifully ignoring, mostly because I knew that this weekend we had no plans and no houseguests. I kind of saved all my major work for this weekend, but I'm still pretty caught up with everything.
This week has also been a big week for seeing my students and their parents outside of school. I saw one of my kids' mother at our nearby Starbucks (inside Safeway -- we're so cool here in Flagstaff). I saw one of my kids playing in Heritage Square last night, and when I went to the library yesterday afternoon I not only saw another one of my kids and her dad, but her dad and I sat down because he had some things he wanted to speak with me about and believe you me, it was much easier than scheduling a conference, if not as kosher. All these experiences this week have reinforced the idea that I am pretty free to do what I want (I don't do anything really risque to begin with), but I have begun being careful of what music I play when I have the windows down and what I say whilst in traffic altercations. It occurs to me that they're everywhere and I need to set a good example everywhere. This is excellent practice for parenthood. Lawsy that sounds so dorky and boring. But it's true!
And speaking of the library, it was HOPPING on Friday. Despite that, I could only find one book I really, really wanted. And even then, not sure if I'm going to actually get around to reading it or not. However, I did just finish a grown-up novel for my newly-joined grown-up book club (yay!) and have plans for several others. I have checked out several ebooks by Tony Hillerman (Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn, anyone?) and am genuinely thinking about starting and chipping away at Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville.
Because I'm just that nerdy. Oh yeah. Honestly, reading every day or every week is a habit as well. I've been getting in bad habits at home of coming home, changing into something comfy, and then sitting in front of the TV until bedtime. That's bad. I mean, yes, we have discovered Parks and Recreation and it's AWESOME, but at the same time, I really need to be doing something productive with my time instead of rotting my brain away every night. Hence the books. If I can sit down and read for half an hour every night and get in the habit, I would feel so much better about myself and my life. Plus, my cousin bought me a gift certificate to Bookman's, so I've been getting way too excited about buying fun books recently.
All in all, good habits actually are important! Who knew!
Okay, Aristotle knew, BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
It's September Already!
I have a feeling this is how many of these blogs posts are going to go for the rest of this year. Time is literally flying by. I am very grateful. The week doesn't seem that long when it speeds along like it has been. I am wonderfully busy, but not so busy I feel like I can't take a breath.
Well, okay, maybe not always. I got sick toward the end of last week (right when my laptop got a wee bit fried and my students turned in a BUNCH of stuff), so basically I've been playing catch-up all week. However, because I've been sort of lax on them because of that this week, so I only have some basic worksheets to grade this weekend, plus it was a 3-day weekend.
With all that in mind, I decided to finally sit down and read a fun book this weekend. Either it was an easy book or I was really excited to be reading it (I'm gonna go with really easy) because I finished it in only two sittings. You won't be surprised anymore when you hear what it was: How to Train Your Dragon.
When I finished it, I decided to write down all the rest of the books I've been reading this summer. I have a little book where I make sure I keep a record of all of them. So far, this year, I've read 49 books. This is only ONE book away from my goal for the year! Last year, I struggled to make my goal. I was still burnt out on school and I just couldn't seem to get my head in the game. This year, I'm really trying to make up for lost time and learning and really read read read read.
And, extra good news, I got invited to participate in a book club! I've only ever been in one book club before, and I must confess that I didn't actually read those books. We read all Jane Austen, all the time, and I'd read them all before, so since I had a really tough semester, I sort of fudged a little. Not this time, baby. I am way too excited for this book club.
In other news, Board Game Club has it's second week this upcoming Thursday. I am in charge of word games, and this week I am bringing Scrabble, Scrabble Slam, Apples to Apples, and Bananagrams. That means that fun is definitely in store for this week!
So keep hanging cool.
Well, okay, maybe not always. I got sick toward the end of last week (right when my laptop got a wee bit fried and my students turned in a BUNCH of stuff), so basically I've been playing catch-up all week. However, because I've been sort of lax on them because of that this week, so I only have some basic worksheets to grade this weekend, plus it was a 3-day weekend.
With all that in mind, I decided to finally sit down and read a fun book this weekend. Either it was an easy book or I was really excited to be reading it (I'm gonna go with really easy) because I finished it in only two sittings. You won't be surprised anymore when you hear what it was: How to Train Your Dragon.
When I finished it, I decided to write down all the rest of the books I've been reading this summer. I have a little book where I make sure I keep a record of all of them. So far, this year, I've read 49 books. This is only ONE book away from my goal for the year! Last year, I struggled to make my goal. I was still burnt out on school and I just couldn't seem to get my head in the game. This year, I'm really trying to make up for lost time and learning and really read read read read.
And, extra good news, I got invited to participate in a book club! I've only ever been in one book club before, and I must confess that I didn't actually read those books. We read all Jane Austen, all the time, and I'd read them all before, so since I had a really tough semester, I sort of fudged a little. Not this time, baby. I am way too excited for this book club.
In other news, Board Game Club has it's second week this upcoming Thursday. I am in charge of word games, and this week I am bringing Scrabble, Scrabble Slam, Apples to Apples, and Bananagrams. That means that fun is definitely in store for this week!
So keep hanging cool.
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