As the Year Begins

It was so nice to have 4 days before school started to get ready for the year without kids. Granted, two of those days were in meetings and mandatory trainings, but compared to the chaos of last year, it's a noticeable improvement.

I had a sense of that teacher I want to be on Saturday after the last day of school this summer. I had ideas about a classroom theme (Monsters and Superheroes, will write about that later); I got inspired to write a grant (for science, and got it in before the deadline).  During the summer,  I went to see Parker Palmer, one of my author heroes, who wrote Courage to Teach, and was re-invigorated to be true to myself, and the teacher I want to be. My hope is to maintain that summer optimism and idealism as much as possible.

 I spent a few hours in my classroom on this weekend before the kids return. Some may wonder whether or not I have a life, and my answer is yes - this is my life. Life should be synonymous with joy, as much as possible. I actually enjoy being in the classroom planning and prepping. It is like my summer brain. I have ideas, I have hopes, I am optimistic. The challenge is to take that summer brain, that empty classroom brain, and make it come to life when it's show time. That's an apt metaphor for me. As a playwright, the big thrill is seeing your ideas come to life on stage. Here's to that!

By the way, I do have balance in my life. I also went to the beach, went to a graduation party, made potato salad, wrote a story, read half of a graphic novel, fished for guppies in the anchialine pond for my class aquarium, and did some chores. Oh, and started this blog.