The 2nd Full Week

We had a pretty good week around here.
Some awesome moments.  Some mom fails.
2 mom fails happened on Monday.  I thought I had a system all worked out.
The girls would both go home from school, do their homework and get ready for dance.  I would drop in at home at 4:30, pick them up and head to the dance studio. I alternate hanging out and feeding one girl while the other dances.
The fail part came in when BOTH GIRLS didn't finish their homework before dance.  So we took it.  And then they BOTH left their homework at the restaurants.  2 different restaurants in 2 different locations.  So while I insist at my students do their homework, I am having a hard time helping my own kids get theirs done.  And turned in.
I also almost forgot about running club for Libby on Tuesday, and I did forget about it on Wednesday.  (it is now in the calendar.)
I knew we were running out of milk, but I just somehow didn't manage to go to the store and buy some.
So 7-11 on a Friday  night to buy milk.
I let the kids watch Wonder Woman.  Yikes.  They got way too scared.
But, considering that Derek worked the Mariners games this week, so I was on my own, we handled it pretty well.  I mowed the lawn and did a little yard work on Thursday instead of making dinner.   I let Ivar's handle dinner. I did a massive laundry and cleaning day on Saturday.

I also got in my 600th mile in my Nike Run Club app.  I started in 2012, so it isn't like this is something amazing necessarily.  But it is amazing for me since I didn't run for almost 2 years. 

We picked up a clarinet for Libby from a friend.  She had been really wanting me to buy her one.  But when Gary told her that he had played it in the BYU marching band--she was sold!

I feel so out of my league with the whole instrument thing.  I am glad that I have a village around me who understands that.
The girls are LOVING being in the Seattle Children's Chorus. They come home singing and won't stop.
Ben is trying to decide about piano. I can't practice with him before school.  I am too anxious and it stresses him out.  We had great practices today and yesterday.


The only pictures I took this week were of my students' art work (before today).  I wrote a Gaudi Art Docent project this summer.  We tested it out on my students.  They did a great job!  It is going to be fun to have the whole school doing mosaic art.

This is my art! (Not quite done).  It is the ocean and the rocks in Mataro with a sunset in the sky. 

And thank goodness I end up with some gems like this on my phone:

There were some awesome moments in my classroom (working on their TED share project) and my grammar pretest went really well too.  Some less good moments (crying during our math games).  But I'm figuring it out!  I am happy to be back in the classroom.

Mrs. Norton is BACK!

I am a teacher again.  And I love it.  And I am exhausted.  Like need to go to bed at 8 pm or earlier exhausted.  But I love it.  And, I am a better teacher than I was before in so many ways because I took a break and had kids.  Now I know what it is like to be on the parent end of things.  And I understand the student perspective better too.  And I really do believe in the "Growth Mindset," that if students believe that they can, then they can!  

And I am full of questions!  Teaching elementary school is a whole different ball of wax than teaching high school!  Thank goodness our district has an "Instructional Coach."  I am bombarding her with questions about how to do all sorts of things.  This week I have to figure out how to do an elementary school gradebook.  I am in love with Google classroom and having a Chromebook for each student.  The possibilities are endless!

But don't worry, my former students will be happy to know that I have figured out how to make elementary school rubrics.  I have already given out at least 10 in the 8 days of teaching.

Their first debate is coming up this week (prep for the debate actually).  Debate in the week after.

The ideas are flowing.  I have 10 years of creative teaching pent up inside me.  I am trying not to be too overwhelming. 

I stopped my principal in the hall right before curriculum night and gave him a barrage of questions about the testing in the spring.  Like: "When will I see my students' scores from last year?"

"When is my training to start preparing them for this year?"

"How can we start working on the skills they need?"

He smiled and said, "this is why I hired you.  But you need to give me a little time."

HA!

So the question is, will my household keep functioning when I am not home to shop, cook, do laundry etc.

I am still working on this.  Here are the developments thus far:

Last Saturday I made a meal plan and shopped so we had meals for the week.  It worked out well.  Yesterday I ran out of time to do this.  So we will eat the random assortment of stuff that Derek bought for the party that we had on Friday that only 2 people came to so we have lots of leftovers.

(In my defense we were getting a new fridge on Thursday, so I couldn't buy too much last week).

For years I have done laundry 2x a week.  This started because of the septic tank in our old house, you had to spread it out.  This week I did all the laundry on Saturday and it worked out.  No one ran out of clothes.  

BUT, back to getting the new fridge on Thursday, Derek had  to take the day off from work because I couldn't be home to receive the fridge or let in the window cleaners. So that is the kind of problem we will run into.  He didn't mind in the least because he has worked so much this summer.  But this is an adjustment!

The kids also started their extra-curricular activities this week.

A sign that I am busy.  No pictures.  

So picture in your mind:  Libby back at the dance studio taking Jazz 1/2 and Acrobatics for Dancers.

Sarah taking Ballet 1/2 and Jazz 1/2.

Libby and Sarah starting to sing with Seattle Children's Chorus.

And Ben starting piano for the first time!

I also started my dance class (actually last week).  

Not a single photo.

Also, Derek was home after school every day this week so he came and took the kids home so I could work for a bit on Wed, Thurs & Fri.  Next week I am not as lucky, he has Mariners every day.  So it will be more of a dose of real life.  (And I'm subbing a Bodypump class on Thursday morning too!)

But here is the weird part.  I am parenting better.  I am putting on my teacher cap and looking at interactions with my kids as teaching moments.   I am more rational and less emotional.  So far.

I feel the Lord watching out for our family in this time of transition.

And did I mention that I love teaching?

I got teary during the Assembly singing the school song, saying the Pledge of Allegiance.  I really just love being back in school.

And it's still exhausting.   

Here are some pics of my classroom.  

Back To School 2017

I am so excited to send these kids back to school.  Although I am going to miss this summer.  It was a glorious summer where we enjoyed laughing, learning, and swimming....we are ready to spend a few hours apart each day.  

Today we went through their summer goals.  They all completed all but one goal.  (A different goal for each of them.)  But I am honestly so proud of my kiddos.  They worked hard this summer.  They are happy that now I can take out my teacher energy on other people's kids.  

Ben completed the Kinder Reading Challenge that I gave my students.  It was based on a reading challenge my mom was doing.  I let him use lots of the books we listened to in the car together, then we did the rest as his bedtime stories.  (Some of which we partner read).  He got a new backpack as his prize for finishing. 

He is so excited for school so that he can see his friends!

He wanted to do his pictures in the tree.

And I just love this adorable face!  He got new glasses for school.  Transformers frames.  

This face is probably my favorite.

Libby said, I wish we had Bryn and Brian to take our pictures again this year...Sorry to disappoint Libby!  She picked out this outfit when we school shopped.  She specifically wanted the white polo and blue jeans.  She really wishes she had a blazer to go with and some dark shoes.  She is into the "professional look."  Clearly she didn't get that from either of her parents.  I am dreading leaving the wardrobe of a personal trainer for the wardrobe of a teacher.    

The reading challenge was hard for her.  She has become a reluctant reader this summer.  We are going to do vision therapy with her this next year to see if that can help her.  She has real tracking issues, worse than Ben's.  But she persevered and read all of Ella Enchanted, as her "award winning book" because she really wanted to earn that backpack.  

My favorite picture.

I love this sparkly smile!  She is excited for 3rd grade.  She will be in a 3/4 split class.  The teacher is new to our school, but a good friend (whose opinion I really trust) knows the teacher professionally and says she is awesome.  When I met her I had to agree.  I'm really excited for Sarah.  

She earned her backpack as well.  She had 2 books left to go and every time I turned around she was reading Harry Potter or something that wasn't part of her reading challenge.  It made me almost crazy!  But she finally turned it on, read her Misty Copeland biography and 100 Dresses to finish.  (I did let her read a book to Ben for the "Book with a Number in the Title," 10 Little Ladybugs I think.)

So here goes nothing!  Back to school for everyone!

Back to School for Mom Too!

This week I went back to school.  As a full-time teacher.
In the spring, when I was praying for direction I had a clear impression that I needed to be prepared to teach 5th grade.  And I was excited about the idea because it looked like there would be a part-time fifth grade CSR (or classroom support something-or-other).  That would be perfect!  But only perfect for me.  It meant that there would be one 5th grade, one 6th grade, and a 5/6th split.  All with well over 30 kids.  Huge classes are terrible for kids.  And a split makes life so much more complicated for kids and teachers.
So, when the district agreed to give our school one more 5th grade class so that there would be 4 classes of 25 each, I cheered.  And cried a little inside.  That meant if I was going to follow the inspiration I received in the spring, I would be teaching full-time.
The call came last week.  I had the weekend to prepare a lesson plan for my interview.  I had been in kind of a fog that lifted as soon as I started prepping for my lesson.  I felt clear and focused.  I felt excited and energized by the idea of working with students again.
I felt some clarity.
I interviewed on Monday night at 5:00pm.  The biggest barrier was that I don't actually have an elementary education certification.  But in WA, my history and English certs are 5-12 (instead of 6-12 like they are in Utah).  And after my principal talked it over with the HR director, the school board can also approve people to teach out of certification.  So, at 7:15 pm, I got the job.
And I started the next day.
T/W/TH I had teacher meetings and prep time all day.  The kids spent afternoons at the school "helping" me.  (Sometimes they were helpful, sometimes not so much).  But it was nice because when they were done at school they would just walk home.  They spent the mornings at home supposedly working on their "to do" lists.  They were more or less successful with this.  Thankfully, I only have one more teacher work day on Tuesday and then school starts.  We will all be going to school together.
The Back to School BBQ on Thursday was really fun.  I have been in Libby's classroom often.  I know many of the parents and kids.  They were all really excited (or at least pretended to be) that I would be their teacher.  It feels great to be a part of this community.
I still have lots of questions.  But thankfully we have a great instructional coach who can (and is excited to) answer them.  Like how does one go about grading in elementary school?  I do have a rough schedule worked up.  But I am hoping to do a bunch of collaboration with Libby's teacher (yes, she is in the other 5th grade).  So much left to do before students enter the room on Wednesday.  But I feel like (with a lot of divine assistance) I've got this!