When I was in middle school, I was really into keeping a "quote book." I would look for and write down quotes and quotes and quotes that I found inspirational. One of the ones I remember loving (but not really understanding) at 12 was, "When God closes a door, he opens a window." It's from The Sound of Music. I think.
Anyway, as you know from my last post, I basically closed a door for myself. I resigned from my teaching job, determined to find something else that would work better for me and where I am right now. I've spent the past five weeks or so on various trips - to the mountains, home to New Orleans, and then three weeks in the UK and Sweden with my family. (Trip post to come soon.) As refreshing and much-needed as those trips were, I am so ready and glad to be back at home with Hubs. I am ready to begin to take really, really good care of myself for the first time in over a year. I'm detailing my plans below - somehow putting them on the internet makes me feel like I'm being held accountable for them.
kvh(d)'s getting-her-sh!t-together, life semi-makeover plan
1. Find a job I love that is less stressful than teaching (aka, any other job)
Status: in progress.
I have put out a few feelers and even had an interview yesterday. Basically, what I want to get into is arts integration - but more on that later. I'm planning to start a new blog with arts integration information and teaching ideas. Get excited!
2. Stop eating crap.
Status: barely in progress.
Last year, Hubs and I trained for a 10k, and between that and eating carefully (I <3 Weight Watchers), I dropped about 15 pounds for our wedding without trying too hard. It is the thinnest and best I have ever looked. I am by no means fat, but I've always had a few extra pounds. Unfortunately when I got to NC, I stopped watching what I ate, especially with Hubs working so much. Stress = no motivation to eat well = muffin top. I now find, quite suddenly over the past 2 months or so actually, that clothes are not fitting. This is entirely my own fault, and I make no excuses. No crazy diets or anything. I'm just going to stop eating crap. More on this later, too - I've been doing lots of research on not eating crap.
3. Get off my behind.
Status: ugh. In progress, but I ain't happy about it.
As I said above, Hubs and I did this 10k last year. Which is totally out of the ordinary for me. It ended up being such a great bonding experience for us, though - something we could do together while we were engaged. Here's the catch: I don't actually like running. I pretty much just did it because he made me (for the record, I asked him to make me), and because it feels good when you finish. Obviously, once Hubs went to work 80 hours a week, the running stopped happening. I mean, once in a blue moon I was like, "Hey! I'm gonna go run the Duke trail!" but honestly, that was like 5 times all year. I really want to look good and feel great. I'm gonna keep it simple, though - do some sort of exercise every day.
4. Make my house look slightly less like a tornado blew through.
Status: I'm sitting here blogging when I have a literal mountain of laundry to do. How do you think it's going?
I am a terrible housewife. Like, awful. Not at all good. As organized as my brain is, that's how messy my surroundings get. I have an amazingly understanding husband who has never once gotten upset at me about the deplorable state of our house... but now that I am not working for the moment, I feel like I have no excuse.
5. Feed my soul.
Status: working on it
Though I am a relatively religious/spiritual person, I am not generally public about it. Suffice it to say that I plan to make spirituality and faith more of a part of my life.
So there you have it. I closed the door on a significant part of my life. It's time to open a window and let a new breeze blow in.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Friday, June 8, 2012
It's Not You, It's Me.
Dear Teaching,
We've been in a relationship now for four years. We dated casually in college, and then I decided to commit when I took my job in New Orleans. You've been a major part of my adult life. Yesterday was the last day of the school year, and you know what?
We need a break.
Listen, teaching, it's been great. We've had some good times. You have given me the opportunity to work with over 150 third graders over the past four years. They - and you - have brought me more joy and fulfillment than I could have imagined. The adorably misspelled cards and awkwardly drawn pictures I have upstairs in my den are possessions I will cherish for eternity. I am grateful every day for having had the opportunity to mean something to such wonderful kids and their families.
Here's the thing though: our relationship has changed this year. My life has thrown me into a lot of "new"s - new state, new marriage, new school, new friends - and it's just not working out with you anymore. It's not you, it's me. I've got to get my head on straighter and re-prioritize.
Well... it's also a little bit you, though. Teaching, you are one of the most stressful occupations out there. You require me to spend almost all of my time and a good chunk of my money on you. That was cool for a while, but I'm pretty over dealing with paperwork, pacing guides, and testing. I'm a little burned out, and I just need a change for a while.
Another reason we need a break is that I'm really trying to focus on my career right now. Teaching is great, but I'm interested in expanding into other areas too. I'd really like to explore working in arts integration or museum education, and I can't do that if I'm stuck with you all the time. I would love to work at a school being the arts integration facilitator, or be an education curator for a museum, or work for a nonprofit that brings the arts into schools... there are so many possibilities, and I can't find them all out until I get some space.
Look, this isn't a permanent breakup. I know in my heart that you're the job I'm supposed to be with for the long haul. But some of the best information I got from a coworker this year was this: when I asked how he'd managed to stay so passionate about teaching for 30something years, he told me it was because he never taught for more than a few years at a time. When he got burned out, he went and did something else for a while. It's enabled him to stay enthusiastic, engaged, and excited about teaching for longer than I've been alive. I know that if I stick around a few more years feeling the way I've felt this year, that will be it for us. And I don't want that to happen.
Sure, I'm nervous about the future. This is the first time I'm ending one phase of my life without knowing what the next phase will hold. I'm more than nervous, actually. I'm flat-out scared.
But that fear is also sort of weirdly exhilarating. I know that if Hubs and I had stayed in New Orleans, I'd probably still be very happy with you at my old job. But I'm not there, I'm here - and the fact is I need something else right now, something you can't give me. I don't know what that is at the moment, but maybe the not knowing itself is it.
So take care of yourself, teaching. Don't let those budget cuts and state standards get you down. Until we meet again, in another classroom down the road, know that you're the love of my life.
Sincerely,
me
We've been in a relationship now for four years. We dated casually in college, and then I decided to commit when I took my job in New Orleans. You've been a major part of my adult life. Yesterday was the last day of the school year, and you know what?
We need a break.
Listen, teaching, it's been great. We've had some good times. You have given me the opportunity to work with over 150 third graders over the past four years. They - and you - have brought me more joy and fulfillment than I could have imagined. The adorably misspelled cards and awkwardly drawn pictures I have upstairs in my den are possessions I will cherish for eternity. I am grateful every day for having had the opportunity to mean something to such wonderful kids and their families.
Here's the thing though: our relationship has changed this year. My life has thrown me into a lot of "new"s - new state, new marriage, new school, new friends - and it's just not working out with you anymore. It's not you, it's me. I've got to get my head on straighter and re-prioritize.
Well... it's also a little bit you, though. Teaching, you are one of the most stressful occupations out there. You require me to spend almost all of my time and a good chunk of my money on you. That was cool for a while, but I'm pretty over dealing with paperwork, pacing guides, and testing. I'm a little burned out, and I just need a change for a while.
Another reason we need a break is that I'm really trying to focus on my career right now. Teaching is great, but I'm interested in expanding into other areas too. I'd really like to explore working in arts integration or museum education, and I can't do that if I'm stuck with you all the time. I would love to work at a school being the arts integration facilitator, or be an education curator for a museum, or work for a nonprofit that brings the arts into schools... there are so many possibilities, and I can't find them all out until I get some space.
Look, this isn't a permanent breakup. I know in my heart that you're the job I'm supposed to be with for the long haul. But some of the best information I got from a coworker this year was this: when I asked how he'd managed to stay so passionate about teaching for 30something years, he told me it was because he never taught for more than a few years at a time. When he got burned out, he went and did something else for a while. It's enabled him to stay enthusiastic, engaged, and excited about teaching for longer than I've been alive. I know that if I stick around a few more years feeling the way I've felt this year, that will be it for us. And I don't want that to happen.
Sure, I'm nervous about the future. This is the first time I'm ending one phase of my life without knowing what the next phase will hold. I'm more than nervous, actually. I'm flat-out scared.
But that fear is also sort of weirdly exhilarating. I know that if Hubs and I had stayed in New Orleans, I'd probably still be very happy with you at my old job. But I'm not there, I'm here - and the fact is I need something else right now, something you can't give me. I don't know what that is at the moment, but maybe the not knowing itself is it.
So take care of yourself, teaching. Don't let those budget cuts and state standards get you down. Until we meet again, in another classroom down the road, know that you're the love of my life.
Sincerely,
me
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Check out how professional I am!
I'm so excited to be journeying into the wide world of professional teacher-authors!
As any elementary teacher knows, you end up spending many a night culling through the crap on the internet looking for activities and materials for your lessons so you don't have to create everything yourself or buy expensive books. Enter teacherspayteachers.com, a website where teachers can buy and sell materials they've made directly to one another. It's great! You can find so many great resources without spending a ton of money... many items are even free!
My thought about it had been, "God love ya, teacher-authors on TpT - who the heck has time to make stuff that's cute enough to sell to other people?" But as I began to think about it, and look more at the things you can get on the site - I figured I might as well try it.
We are working on generalizing in reading right now, and I was having trouble finding good ideas and lessons for it. I came up with an idea and created my own generalization cards and lessons... so I figured why not put it up on the site as a free item, just to see?
I went ahead and posted it Sunday - and so far 23 people have downloaded it! It was so cool!
I had a little free time tonight (more on that later), so I jazzed up a math game I used today and JUST posted it. I'm starting low - $1 - but hopefully I can make some free money from it. I've read that teachers who really put a lot up, and do a great job, can make thousands of extra dollars a year. (I don't know that I'll be doing it to quite that level... but I make enough of my own stuff that it's worth posting it.)
Check out my "store"!!
On another note... I'm off to pack for my trip home to New Orleans tomorrow. It's been a long time since I took two days off of school in a row, and as always, prepping for the sub was a lot of work. Luckily, though, she was subbing for another teacher today and came by after school to meet me, see my classroom, and ask me questions. I hope my class doesn't eat her alive... she seemed pretty nice.
Honestly, though - at this point I don't care! I am going home for a wedding Hubs is in, and I could not be more excited. The part I'm possibly looking forward to the most is visiting my old school on Friday. It's hard being in a new school where none of the older kids know you. I miss my kiddos so much... I hope it's not overly disruptive when I barge in Friday morning. Luckily many of the 4th and 5th grade teachers are friends of mine :)
Have a great rest of your week - and if you're a teacher and working on geometry, check out my game! I'm super professional and awesome!
As any elementary teacher knows, you end up spending many a night culling through the crap on the internet looking for activities and materials for your lessons so you don't have to create everything yourself or buy expensive books. Enter teacherspayteachers.com, a website where teachers can buy and sell materials they've made directly to one another. It's great! You can find so many great resources without spending a ton of money... many items are even free!
My thought about it had been, "God love ya, teacher-authors on TpT - who the heck has time to make stuff that's cute enough to sell to other people?" But as I began to think about it, and look more at the things you can get on the site - I figured I might as well try it.
We are working on generalizing in reading right now, and I was having trouble finding good ideas and lessons for it. I came up with an idea and created my own generalization cards and lessons... so I figured why not put it up on the site as a free item, just to see?
I went ahead and posted it Sunday - and so far 23 people have downloaded it! It was so cool!
I had a little free time tonight (more on that later), so I jazzed up a math game I used today and JUST posted it. I'm starting low - $1 - but hopefully I can make some free money from it. I've read that teachers who really put a lot up, and do a great job, can make thousands of extra dollars a year. (I don't know that I'll be doing it to quite that level... but I make enough of my own stuff that it's worth posting it.)
Check out my "store"!!
On another note... I'm off to pack for my trip home to New Orleans tomorrow. It's been a long time since I took two days off of school in a row, and as always, prepping for the sub was a lot of work. Luckily, though, she was subbing for another teacher today and came by after school to meet me, see my classroom, and ask me questions. I hope my class doesn't eat her alive... she seemed pretty nice.
Honestly, though - at this point I don't care! I am going home for a wedding Hubs is in, and I could not be more excited. The part I'm possibly looking forward to the most is visiting my old school on Friday. It's hard being in a new school where none of the older kids know you. I miss my kiddos so much... I hope it's not overly disruptive when I barge in Friday morning. Luckily many of the 4th and 5th grade teachers are friends of mine :)
Have a great rest of your week - and if you're a teacher and working on geometry, check out my game! I'm super professional and awesome!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)