I am nearing the end of my third full day back at school. It's 3:48 p.m. and I probably have about two more hours of work to accomplish before I'm really satisfied with the day, but somehow I don't think that's going to happen. Like most teachers, I had a day full of meetings yesterday. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. Many of my non-teacher friends won't let me complain about things like that because hey, at least I get summers off. Regardless, I am exhausted.
Anyway, it never seems like there are enough hours in the day! I am currently making 50 copies of my presentation handout for the English inservice tomorrow. This will be the first time I've given my presentation to a group of strangers - ACK! I'm nervous, but not really. I just hope my equipment works. If not, yikes. But, as Tim Gunn always says, I"ll make it work!
I have barely made any headway with the new IB class I'm teaching. I would like to actually do the summer assignment myself so they can't pull the wool over my eyes, but it seems like I always have a million more pressing things to do with my life. Isn't that always the case? All summer I wondered why I stopped writing for myself. Now I know - there's no time! Fortunately, I plan on writing with my kids this year, and I have writing group to spur me on.
We just got laptops at school which is great. In fact, the wireless access allows me to write this blog from my copy room. Wouldn't it be hysterical to have a blog called "The Copy Room Diaries" or something like that. Funny stuff always happens in the copy room anyway. Perhaps it will become my writing sanctuary...
I wish I had my To Do list with me. Maybe it's better that I don't.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
Visualizing Success
I've been thinking a lot about a fantastic presentation given at the Summer Institute this year about visualizing your own success. There are so many areas of my life that I'm trying to succeed in at the moment, I don't really know where to begin. I'm not going to write about them all here, but I thought if I wrote a list and made it public, the whole world would see my "To Do List of Success" and I would be held to it. Of course, I don't think there is anyone out there reading this, and I can always edit the list after I publish the post, but that's beside the point (or is it "besides the point"?).
So, without further ado, here are the "successes" I'm going to visualize. Many of them will be visualized in my journal, but I hope to chronicle the the educational visualizations here at some point in time.
So, without further ado, here are the "successes" I'm going to visualize. Many of them will be visualized in my journal, but I hope to chronicle the the educational visualizations here at some point in time.
- My best friend has informed me that if I visualize the man that I will eventually marry, he will find me. She found this in The Secret - so far all I'm 100% certain of is that he will be a writer. And that I'm in no rush.
- My writing career. Where do I see my success? I'd like a career like David Sedaris's, but I would also give my right arm to be a novelist, even if it's just once. Ironically, I almost wrote that I'd "give my write arm to be a novelist", but I caught the pun before saving the post. Irony is my favorite literary element after all.
- My school year. I'll be teaching all seniors. I'll be teaching a class for which I wrote the curriculum. I want to do more writing with my kids and make it meaningful. It will mean getting rid of some of the literature, but I will do it. But what to take out? Whatever it is, it will be a successful deletion, because isn't that the point of this exercise?
- This blog. I slacked off - my idea of a successful blogger is one that posts once a week. I haven't posted in almost three. Shame on me. Now that I've put it in writing, visualized my success, it will come true!
Thursday, August 2, 2007
I Hope It's Not All Over...
Lord, I don't even know where to begin. Driving home from Fat Tuesday's, it was all I could do not to cry. I knew that this summer would be a great experience, but nothing prepared me for the NVWP Summer Institute. Yeah, yeah, I know that's cliche, but honestly, cliches came into existence for a reason. They were used to describe some universal truth, then people caught on and started using the phrase over and over and over again. All I can say is that right now, this particular cliche is 100% accurate.
What I already knew about writing was reinforced this summer. Authentic voice, writing across the curriculum, writing all the time, student choice: I decided to embrace these things after finishing my 695 class. That's the problem. I knew that these were things I wanted to strive for in my classroom, but God, how to actually implement them? Learning about these things is one thing. Trying to actually live the lessons? Holy CRAP!
The Summer Institute filled my head with more ways to implement these practices than I ever thought possible. Sometimes I think my brain will explode with all of the ideas playing bumper cars in my cerebral cortex. I hope it's not dangerous... But unlike the days following 695, something is different now about having all of these ideas; I know that my fellow 2007 TC's will be there for me when I have questions. They are the experts, but they are also my friends.
As far as working on my own writing is concerned, I don't think I really knew what was in store for me. I knew I would be writing, but I had no idea that it would be the only thing I wanted to do (besides teach, of course!). The encouragement I received on my writing was, to be honest, like crystal meth. Many apologies if this simile is offensive, but crystal meth has the ability to make an ordinary person an addict after one trip (and no, I do not know from experience, just from Dr. Phil). I became addicted to writing for an audience of writers after the very first writing group. I know that I will never need drugs as long as I have a pen, some kind of paper product (even a napkin will do), and someone that will humor me and let me share.
The Summer Institute has prompted me to go back to school and get my Masters in English. For some, this may not be all that "earth-shattering", but for me, it is tremendous. For years, I've told anyone that would listen that I had no desire to go back to school. To all those that heard me utter that phrase, I lied. Hopefully I'll be able to finagle my way into a graduate class in the fall and enroll in the Teaching of Writing and Literature program in the Spring.
I still feel like words cannot possibly begin to express how I'm feeling at this moment. I hope that all of my fellow TC's know how much I value them as teachers and as people. You are the ones that made this summer what it was: a life-changing experience.
Okay, I figured it out. Now that the Summer Institute is over, I feel exactly the same way I did when i finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I can always revisit the book (the series, for that matter), but it will never be the same. Perhaps that's a little dramatic, but who cares.
Don was right; I am ecstatic, yet full of sorrow at the same time. I know that we're not really saying "goodbye", but this quote from Annie sums up the end of the institute for me: "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."
Thank God for my cat :)
What I already knew about writing was reinforced this summer. Authentic voice, writing across the curriculum, writing all the time, student choice: I decided to embrace these things after finishing my 695 class. That's the problem. I knew that these were things I wanted to strive for in my classroom, but God, how to actually implement them? Learning about these things is one thing. Trying to actually live the lessons? Holy CRAP!
The Summer Institute filled my head with more ways to implement these practices than I ever thought possible. Sometimes I think my brain will explode with all of the ideas playing bumper cars in my cerebral cortex. I hope it's not dangerous... But unlike the days following 695, something is different now about having all of these ideas; I know that my fellow 2007 TC's will be there for me when I have questions. They are the experts, but they are also my friends.
As far as working on my own writing is concerned, I don't think I really knew what was in store for me. I knew I would be writing, but I had no idea that it would be the only thing I wanted to do (besides teach, of course!). The encouragement I received on my writing was, to be honest, like crystal meth. Many apologies if this simile is offensive, but crystal meth has the ability to make an ordinary person an addict after one trip (and no, I do not know from experience, just from Dr. Phil). I became addicted to writing for an audience of writers after the very first writing group. I know that I will never need drugs as long as I have a pen, some kind of paper product (even a napkin will do), and someone that will humor me and let me share.
The Summer Institute has prompted me to go back to school and get my Masters in English. For some, this may not be all that "earth-shattering", but for me, it is tremendous. For years, I've told anyone that would listen that I had no desire to go back to school. To all those that heard me utter that phrase, I lied. Hopefully I'll be able to finagle my way into a graduate class in the fall and enroll in the Teaching of Writing and Literature program in the Spring.
I still feel like words cannot possibly begin to express how I'm feeling at this moment. I hope that all of my fellow TC's know how much I value them as teachers and as people. You are the ones that made this summer what it was: a life-changing experience.
Okay, I figured it out. Now that the Summer Institute is over, I feel exactly the same way I did when i finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I can always revisit the book (the series, for that matter), but it will never be the same. Perhaps that's a little dramatic, but who cares.
Don was right; I am ecstatic, yet full of sorrow at the same time. I know that we're not really saying "goodbye", but this quote from Annie sums up the end of the institute for me: "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."
Thank God for my cat :)
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