SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2009

FEB 1st, yikes! well at the very least it has been a great winter of snow and cold. I can't remember when we had this much snow and it stayed this long. The cross country skiing is great and the snowshoeing is awesome and it is all from just going out my front door. My sister, daughter and I are in training for a half marathon (Shamrock Marathon, March 21) at Virginia Beach so the weather hasn't been the best for running in but it is forcing me to get out on those days that I wouldn't otherwise. School is school, we are over half way and coming up on 100th day! The word is there won't be any cuts in jobs for this year but next year .... "it looks BAD" Guess I should really work on keeping any options open I possibly can.

I just returned from local Veteran's Day parade,

brought tears to my eyes. God Bless all who have served our country.

God Bless our troops and God Bless the U.S.A

Halloween is behind us! It is always an exciting fun filled week in elementary school. No time in my schedule this year to get into school to set up my activity centers for Halloween fun. I went through lots of guilt but had to let it go and find new ways to involve the students. We danced our little hearts out with Little Richard's Itsy Bitsy spider and Lee Campbell's Skeleton Square Dance--tied it into our literacy initiative with books to go along with our dances, worked out well even with little ones in their costumes.

Had a meeting with administrators last week and we are still working on more equitable schedules among fellow P.E. teachers. Very interesting conclusion from the meeting. During the meeting it was stated that last year during budget time it was decided that I would go from .8 to full time by becoming the Adapted Physical Education teacher. Some point after that my kindergarten class load added four 45 minute and four 30 minute classes a week. When it came time to make my schedule this year I had a full case load of classes with just my kindergarten, first and second grade classes in two different schools, after classes had already started 3 Administrators got together to say I had to cover their Adapted classes and added 5 more classes to my schedule also adding a third school. I could not understand why I was being treated so unfairly until last week when I realized that there was little or NO communication between administrators! My schedule was created without anyone realizing it was 2 positions being carried by one teacher. Man, no wonder this year's beginning has been so hard and frustrating. The schedule won't change it has been 6 weeks and anyone who has ever worked in a school knows once it is in motion there is no way to make any major changes. At this point I need to make adjustments and find ways to get through it and educate administrators before next year's schedule starts being created.

<a href="http://www.encoreperforming.com/df.htm">Dave Finnigan </a> <a href="http://www.encoreperforming.com/df.htm"></a> came to Newburyport yesterday to present his program on Climate Change. I have had the pleasure of knowing Dave for many years as the ultimate juggling teaching professional in school program. Dave has written many books about juggling and is now incorporating the need for society to help the environment. This new in school presentation incorporates a variety of teaching styles so that students can learn this important information through different modalities. The program also has a family night component that brings families back at night so students can share what they learned and brainstorm how they can individually make a difference. Check it out.

Well today is THE day when our youngest son, Michael, heads over to Iraq for his third tour of duty with his fellow Marines. I spoke to Michael this noontime and he was waiting at the airfield on Miramar, the base in San Diego, CA. His first tour was in Afghanistan, then in Iraq and now back to Iraq. My thoughts and prayers are with him and ALL our troops over there. I am proud of his career and his choices but it doesn't make it any easier as a Marine Mom.

Arrived at school today for a Professional Day before the students start. After a district wide meeting with our Superintendent and Union President we went to our school building to receive information packets, including our teaching schedule, go through mandated training and meet new staff. Our schedules are always interesting but this year is exceptional. I was in awe of the places they had me and the times I was teaching over 30 classes some at the same time, some classes got over at 9:15 at one school and the next class started at another school (4 miles across town) at 9:15!! Last but not least I found out 2 of the classes were at a third school that I didn't even know was in the works...... of well I can teach whatever and wherever but I haven't figured out the same place at the same time or how to leave one class at one school and get to a different school within the same minute. I am sitting here at home tonight thinking it is not my problem  that's what administrators are for right? Wait a minute those administrators made this schedule in the first place......... Here we go, the year is off and running, I'll let you know how the schedule final irons out.

Great news I have been hired back full time at school (after 4 years of 4 days) I am excited to get started back. Lots of changes and tough times the last couple of years so going back with positive attitude and high hopes for better days ahead. We start after Labor Day so this week I see lots of others schools around us going back (in Massachusetts school districts set up individual calendars) Here's to a great year

I am off on my last hurrah for the summer. Gone to remote Maine where no phone, electric or running water for a week of quiet time on the lake in my kayak to help get my head together to come back charged up for a GREAT year of teaching......

I can't believe it has been almost ONE MONTH since I have had a chance to catch up on emails!!!! I have been away from my desk and computer and am now paying the price trying to catch up. YOU will not believe (or maybe you will) my summer. I went to Monterey Bay in CA. for 2 weeks to babysit our two grandchildren, Mackenzie & Killian for my son & daughter in law (the Marines)--while they went on a trip to Hawaii. Man, if you have to babysit that is one nice place to visit. I cam back from that and I went on the ALLAGASH!!! My friend from Bethel, Bonnie, (www.maineexplorations.com) who has done the Allagash solo a coupe of times, is a Maine Registered Guide and an Outward Bound instructor asked if I'd like to go along with her. What a great experience and the water level has NEVER been so high, the rapids were awesome and SHE knew what she was doing! What an incredible trip, one I have dreamed about for years and it all came true and out of the blue. I came back from that and then went on our annual family (car) camping reunion in Bridgeton for a week, two days after I got back from that my son flew out here with Mackenzie & Killian (the ones from Monterey, CA) for a week before he returns to another tour in Iraq! We had all 6 of our grandchildren here last weekend it was lots of fun but crazy. Mike and the kids flew out last night to go back to San Diego and I am just getting around to checking emails! I am home for the next two days and on Friday we are leaving for a week at C Pond in Andover, Maine for a week, this time I am going along with my husband so it will be nice to get a chance to spend some time with him this summer as well (although I think he has enjoyed having the house to himself most of the summer!) So that is about it then I will be back to work when school starts after Labor Day What a summer!!!

Thoughts of school are starting to come into focus as August days on the calendar slip by. I have started looking into various websites and searches to help update my curriculum ideas. This year I will again be teaching kindergarten classes at one of the two schools I will be at. I will have full day kindergarten students two 45 minute classes a week and half day kindergarten students will have one 30 minute class. I wish all kindergarten students had the same amount of P.E. time to help with their transition into first grade but as in most school districts the financial aspects far out way the educationally sound practices. I hope to have a list of the websites I use as resources soon posted here and on my profile page at We Are Teachers.

I am home after 2 and a half weeks on the water. I spent a week and a half family camping in Maine on Long Lake and the other week under the stars on the banks of the Allagash River. Family camping was a lot of fun as usual. It is a family reunion every year for the past 20 years or so and we have relatives from New York, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts. We rent 15 or so campsites and my 89 year old Mom is the leader of the fun. Seven of her eight children, 14 of her 15 grandchildren and 7 of her 9 great grandchildren were there along with several nieces and nephews and their children. In all the total was about 62 family members! Great fun.........

I have been "off the river" for a couple of days now and have some great visual memories of the northern Maine wilderness experience. The ones that come quickly to mind are the unbelievable rain storm we had "blow through", the incredible stars -layers and layers of them- at night, the silence -with only the sound from the flow of the river, the bear, the many moose- one set of small twin moose with their mom, the bald eagles and many osprey, the sun, wind, rain and rapids, the high water level, the fast moving current, the many non moving solid BIG and small rocks in our path, the bugs, the outhouses, the people and the learning experience.

I have decided to name my blog "In the Moment" to help remind me that I have so much to be grateful for and remind me to stay in the now. I always move on too fast and go on to the next thing before appreciating where I am now and what I am doing or have just done. Last week I was on a wilderness canoe/camping trip on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in northern Maine. It was an incredible trip and I have so many great memories to post and share. I was with a friend of mine, Bonnie Pooley, who owns a company with Mac Davis, called Maine Explorations. Bonnie has completed the Allagash trip several times including solo trips so it was a privilege and an honor that she asked me to go along with her on this trip. The two of us were know as the "two ladies" out there, whenever we met up with the mostly male groups that is what we would hear "Oh you are the two ladies out here". I had a fantastic week and learned so much from the expertise, knowledge, wisdom and experience that Bonnie brought with her and was so willing to share with me.

I am so glad to have Sandy "Spin" Slade join We Are Teachers. I, for one, so admire this individual; I have been a fan of hers for years. Sandy is an incredible role model for all of us and I had the great pleasure of having her presentation at my school on three different occasions when she was still performing her half time shows for Professional NBA games. Sandy's motivational message of living the life of your dreams and never giving up on finding a way to make a living at what you love to do was such an inspiration. Sandy is dedicated and hard working she has found a way to continue doing what she loves to do by creating a line of fun game boards called Skillastics. These large game boards are a great way to have a whole class involved at once practicing fitness, soccer and basketball skills. I use these games as instant activities to get the kids moving and involved right away. If you get a chance watch her documentary video "Beyond Basketball" by Lorre Fritchy, you WILL BE inspired.

I was just checking some of the additions to WAT and noticed that Bonnie's Fitware is listed. I have to put in a recommendation for her materials. I love her elementary task cards and use them a lot as a reference check for myself before a lesson and as station cards to post in class as a visual for students.

I recently returned from the annual national AAHPERD convention that was held this year in Fort Worth, Texas. Not only are these conventions a great opportunity to keep updated in our profession through incredibly informative & useful sessions conventions are also open us to great networking possibilities. This year I had the pleasure to meet and learn about WAT. I am very excited about the opportunities that the WAT site is opening up for me. I have been looking for a marketplace to sell some of my ideas, including Field Day binders and several map game ideas I have recently created. I had the great fortune to meet Sandy Fivecoat and John Costilla and I am totally inspired by their vision for the WAT community as a great way of helping teachers market their talent.