3 Things

1.  I miss blogging.  There have been many times since school started that I've wistfully thought about blogging.  Since I feel behind on just about everything these days though, the blogs continue to remain unwritten (with today's exception of course).  When it comes to writing, journaling is my "first love" and primary means of processing so I won't compromise there.  Sorry blogging, you get the back burner when there are only so many hours in a day.  Hoping to get back into it more soon though even it it's just little thoughts here and there.

2.  So obviously, my life has been quite busy the last few months.  Teaching full-time and also taking grad school classes at the same time is not for the faint of heart.  Throw in the fact that it's my first year in the position of the gifted education specialist, and no wonder my life's been crazy!  Something that is both a challenge and a perk to my new job is that I get to basically create my own curriculum.  There are no boring textbooks that I am required to use, but there is also nothing to fall back on if I haven't had time to fully plan.  Although it takes a lot of time, it's mostly fun to be able to choose what I teach.  For example, I got to teach my third-graders all about New York City, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and impressionism (all things I love) recently since we are reading From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, one of my favorite children's novels.  I was discussing a lesson plan idea with my teacher-mother-friend, and she had a great extended analogy for my job:  It's like I am planning three different dinner parties all at the same time, each one with complicated menus and guest lists.  I've got to check the soup for one, adjust the dessert for the other, and change the seating arrangement for the third one all at the same time.  Since I am trying to plan engaging, enriching units of study that incorporate various academic disciplines and do this for three different grades and 70+ students, her comparison seemed like a great way to describe my job. :)

3.  Finally, I would like to say that random acts of kindness really can make people's day.  Recently, I was running late to a large school event and needed to find a parking spot quickly.  The closest parking was $5, and I was only staying at this event for less than an hour.  I hated to pay the money but really didn't have time to park further away and walk.  When I pulled up to enter the lot, I asked the parking attendant if faculty got a discount.  He said, "Well, they're really not supposed to...but go on," and let me enter for free! Small as it may seem, this made my day.  One little act of kindness can go a long way especially after a long day.