I've been seeking out mentors this year like a mad woman. I've literally turned myself into an octopus in order to know better, do better. One mentor came in a not so likely form. I flip through books, devouring random quotes, experiences, and tidbits like a wolf mother returning to her pack. Sotomayor was narrating her experience of when she learned to truly read and interact with the text. It was taught to her by another 5th grade student.
“But the more critical lesson I learned that day is still one too many kids never figure out: don’t be shy about making a teacher of any willing party who knows what he or she is doing. In retrospect, I can see how important that pattern would become for me: how readily I’ve sought out mentors, asking guidance from professors or colleagues, and in every friendship soaking up eagerly whatever that friend could teach me.” p. 72
What if that's the way we all lived our lives? Learning from each and every person we come in contact with, mind open ready to gain new understandings or turn old understandings into misconceptions and forge ahead. Being humble and gracious enough to realize that everyone has something to teach you.
This reminds me of a book by Max Lucado
So often I stomp through life more and more like a Wemmick and less and less like a Punchinello. Now that Spring has sprung it's time to take a deep breath and encourage ourselves and others to look around with an open mind and notice.
I sometimes find in my life there are times I push myself and others and times I want to pull others in. This week has been a pendulum of both. I'm pushing a new initiative and starting it in a 2nd grade classroom. I could not be more excited, this will up the ante for our teaching and our student's learning. Through this push, I am hoping to pull others in. This is a Glog that I will be using to launch the unit. I know it will evolve and change as we are able to capture video of the students using STEM in inquiry based learning. In order to start something new, you need to be comfortable with ambiguity and the possibility of failure.
In my personal life I've pushed myself in my marathon training. I have 3 weeks until the Kentucky Derby Half Marathon and let's just say that long runs have not been a favorite weekly event of mine. I've talked myself out of upping the ante the past 4 weeks, so I went from a 4 mile run last week, to a 10 mile run this week. While I was excited to finish, the after affects left me drained all day. But pushing myself yesterday changed me.
As a professional, triathlete, mother and wife there are times that I'm pushing harder in one area than in others. I'm okay with that- the discourse of life. I'm not a tap dancer. Never have been. I can't tap dance around controversial issues, or topics.I feel this burning to push the envelope. To effect positive change on myself and the circles that I work with. I am always looking for ways to make this happen. I am a stock holder in Theory Y. I know people essentially want to do good and meaningful work. They will do so under the right conditions. I'm not a "shoulder". I should...Should I... Maybe I should... Before I know it I'm knee deep in shoulds. I'm okay with being different, okay with knowing that the culture of my home, work and life is always changing and evolving.
Erin gobragh.Since I'm not able to run in the local St Paddy's Day Race due to Matt's study schedule, I will honor this national holiday anyway. I've decided to take Wear'n o the green to the extreme and cleanse the boys colons. Ha. We started the day with a green machine. They liked it but James saw the bottle so it no longer has a chance.
We also Shamrock Shakes made in my blender.
1 c almond milk
A few drops of mint extract
2 stevia packets
3 ice cubes
And greened up w spinach.
What they don't know won't hurt them. But it seems to me the green theme will continue w grilled chicken, spinach and feta burgers and this guy:
The boys love Chobani yogurt. I'll be adding a few drops of food coloring to add to the festivities today though. Most days I pop one of these in James lunch. He can squeeze it in his mouth and not deal with stirring it up and making a mess.
Larabars are my staple. Most days I don't have time for lunch so I grab one and go. I also eat one before a long run. They only have few ingredients, Like nuts and dried fruit and no added sugar. If only they'd make a wasabi flavor. They are $5.20 a box of 5 at Walmart right now, but come w a dollar off coupon.
Well, before they start chucking green grapes at me, I better do crowd control. Happy St. Patrick's Day to all and to all a safe night!
I admit I have a hard time even admitting that I need a little down time. I've found some time for that this week. It's been wonderful. I found a few minutes to create a list of things I need to find more time for. Here goes.
Naps. Naps are food for the soul. My version of a nap is the full body jerk that most get .3 seconds after falling asleep. But it's enough. Thank you for making me think I fell off a cliff. May I have another. Someone else in my life does not think they are that fantabulous:
Coloring and playdough. Nothing calms me down faster than a new box of crayons and a white sheet of paper- a one dimensional house and stick tree with 3 v- shaped birds get strewn across the sheet in no time.
Hot chocolate and PB2. It's the best creation ever. Made me smile when I noticed it was another cold, grey morning.
Music. I'm a sucker for anything off the beaten path: Lumineers, Alabama Shakes, Dada Life...Fill my ears and soothe the chaos of life and do it quickly. Aaaahhh!
Duck Dynasty. I'm seriously considering filling out an application for their company. Holy moly.Who doesn't need a show they can relate to- functional rednecks? I'll take 2.
Picture Books. Shamrock Shuffle your way into a Barnes and Nobel and make your way back tot he picture books,. Grab a stack and put your biscuits in a comfy chair. Sure your knees might hit your chin. You get used to it. Surround yourself with Llama Llama, Trixie, Mean Jean, whoever it is, there are messages between those covers that adults need to inhale.
Find some time for yourself this week- just a few hours to get a little more perspective on life.
4:40 am- I'm bundled up to go for my morning run. Notice my Santa hat turtle neck and expression of pure joy. Decided to put it off for a little bit and make cinnamon rolls for breakfast after the Kagillionth attempt to get him back to bed.
I get up early. Every. Morning. It's the how I get things done, including my runs. My runs are how I keep my inner psycho from rearing her ugly head. Someone has decided that he too is an early riser. If the weather were above 40, this would be no big deal. I'd plop him in the running stroller and grunt my way through a few miles. BUT- it is not.
It would also be no big deal if we woke up about the same time. BUT- we do not. Davy Crocket straps on his coonskin hat at all hours of the night to head out and explore the wild frontier. Some nights I am ripped out of REM at 12 am to a slamming bathroom door, a noise I think I heard, possibly a dropping car to find him sitting on the couch meditating. He has become nocturnal. We took him out of his crib 2 months ago and into his first big boy bed, a transition that went way to smooth now that I think about it. The blue race car bed was met with pure glee, and now I know it was the realization that he would have nocturnal freedom.
When he is discovered and led back to bed, he doesn't speak. You see friends, Beaver #2 is a smart beaver. He's wise beyond his years. Wise, sneaky and cat like- not good qualities to have in a 2 year-old. He's not sleep walking, he's trying not to make the situation worse. He has also learned that the less you say, the better.
We've tried blackout curtains in his room, adjusting the temperature, no food or drinks an hour before bed, no afternoon nap. Nothing is working. But this beaver is wise, sneaky and cat like so it's only a matter of time before he tries to expand his explorations beyond our home territory. I baby gated his bedroom door after we made cinnamon rolls this morning so at least he cannot claim new territory, like the backyard or the neighbors porch.
Beaver #2 is very different from Beaver #1. Beaver #1 would bellow from his car bed the second his eyes peeled open, "Mom, awake." He'd lay patiently in bed until I would open his door and lead his little biscuits over the side of the bed and into the freedom of the morning. Not #2. He's a whole new ballgame. Because as I sit here typing, I see him inspecting the new contraption that I've drilled into his doorway, and I hear the gears turning. He's squatting down and checking out how he can use this new piece of equipment to his advantage. Lord help me.
I had given him his breakfast, a banana and one without icing because he said it was gross. After my shower, I found him like this- on his 5th.
Here are a few videos from this past week. Last week I blogged about James' love/like/dislike relationship with reading. The first video is of Toby with his favorite book.
The second is when I overheard James reading to his brother, I had to tape it to remind myself to relax, take a deep breath and wait.
This is my weekend stack. The bound text I brought home with me, anyway. This doesn't count the websites, blogs and articles I read online and with my phone. 2 bags and a crate- that's how I carried it. I am taking a master's class for a new teaching certification, so some of these books are for reflections and case studies that are due Tuesday. All in all it will be synthesised in a total of 12 pages.
I compare this stack to my husbands:
Not very different. He is currently in school full time getting his RN.
What literacy skills will the boys need to make them lifelong, responsible members in our society? It has me thinking. My 8 year old is a great reader- by no means is he an avid reader. Anymore. He has lost a passion for it. I take him to the library weekly. He has 2 magazines that come to our house each month. I've given him my Kindle so he can experience digital text. He uses my account on Big Universe to read his required daily minutes.
Whenever it's reading time he always asks, "how long?" He never used to ask that. We would read for hours-book after book. Some books we made with pictures of our family at the zoo, on the farm, on vacation. Some books were favorites that we read to we both had memorized. I've introduced James to favorite characters like Ralph the mouse, Stuart Little, Gregor the Overlander. But now as a second grader- every time we read, he sets his timer takes his position at the table and waits for the minutes to pass. This is a shift for our family- required reading minutes and a 6 column reading log that needs to be completed nightly. Title, author, genre, pages read, minutes read- really? Why should an 8 year-old document his pleasure reading time like a 40 year-old women tracking her points on Weight Watchers. (No offense 40 year-old women on WW.) Tracking his reading outside of school will not allow my son to become a better reader, in fact this practice has had an opposite effect on him. So the reading log routine has gone to the wayside and is reflected in his report card with a check instead of a plus. But that's okay.
He'll come back, some day. For now his brother crawls in my lap with book after book, developing early reading skills. When James finds him holding a book upside down, or in the quiet early morning hours I overhear him saying, "no, you hold it like this." and "That's a favorite, can I read it to you?" For now, I will continue to feed his reading life and the book lover inside of him that's lost for a little while.
Here are a few photos of this week in pictures:
James spent his birthday money on a trampoline. Why yes, there are books in the background and a Christmas tree.
Toby and I had some one on one time so we walked to the University so he could buy me fro-yo!
Our first sledding expedition. One Beaver was complaining about going down the hill, the other Beaver did not want to come back up the hill and Dad Beaver was complaining because it was too cold to be standing on top of the hill. Lesson learned: leave the crabby Beavers at home and hit the slopes solo.
Presidents day at Deer Park- While the bread was for the deer, geese and llamas- as Beavers they took advantage and fed themselves.
Family Wellness Boot Camp- Toby the Wheel Barrow Champion. Made a fruit, cheese and ham kabob. Must have been the fuel he needed.
I have a few things that have been on my mind lately. Thoughts, ideas, wonders that I carry with me throughout my day. I bounce them around in my head on my runs. Lately, I have one little ping pong ball that has been kerchunking its way through the right and left sides of my temples.
As a parent, I am trying to do the best I can with what I know. What I know is this. Matt and I are in survival mode. One of us walks in the door while the other hurricanes their way out the door. Our days start at 6 am and we do not stop until baths are over at 730 pm. There have been days that have worn me down to the bone, so much that I am not present with my family. In retrospect, I've taken energy and money from my family in order to have that energy and money for work. Not many professionals can say that in order to do work, they pay for supplies and materials, maybe the self-employed do. Lately I haven't felt like a good parent. Lately, I've felt like I've failed the boys. Lately, I've felt like I'm driving this bus blindfolded.
I'm also having similair conversations with the staff in the building I work in. Many are feeling like they aren't doing enough...Our low is getting lower...I feel like a bad teacher...I've failed them because...But what is education to teachers today? What is parenting to those who parent? Why can't we shift our paradigm and change the way our model for education and parenting?
Our staff discussed this video by Sir Ken Robinson:
I watched it a few times. Once as and educator, once as a parent and once as a 80 year-old kermuggin. This shift can be done. The only way it can be done is together- together as a building, as a district, as a community, and as a nation.
The only way I can feel like a better parent is if I bring my team together for a little pep talk. An honest talk about what being in this family means. We are great thinkers, we will no longer put our heads down and be miserable. My parents taught me that hard work pays off in life. Hard work in here pays off "out there". I still believe that today. But as an educator I know my definition of work needs to change. As a parent my definition of work needs to change. The work that was done in classrooms 60 years ago should not and cannot be the work we give kids today. The work that was done in families should not and cannot be the work we do as a family today. A lot of times people don't know what they want until you show it to them. Steve Jobs
If life is a game, aren’t we on
the same team? I mean really, right? I’m on your team, be on my team.
So what now?Come together, collaborate, inquire, question. Let our kids learn to reason, but we must show them what that looks like. Stop saying they can't when they can. Stop thinking I can't when you can.But know that you aren't in this alone, that we are all in this together.
I'm a 34 year-old mom, teacher, wife. I am looking forward to running the Chicago Marathon again but I have my site set on a Wisconsin Ironman in2000never. Have to wait a few years for that, in the mean time, I am enjoying my 2 boys and loving my job.
