The Log Dog Blog: What A Year!

This school year was an excellent example of how things sometimes turn out very differently than you think they will! Back in mid-August of last year, I secured a GRA position in addition to being asked to teach a Math Methods class for pre-service teachers. I thought I was set and was happy with how things fell into place. Fast forward about seven weeks, and suddenly a teaching position was available at my former school and by November 1, I was standing in front of my fifth graders. In between learning of the opening and my first day – which was less than three weeks' time – our beloved Chelsea passed away, which has been the most devastating loss of my life. Talk about my life being turned completely upside down.

The only hiccup was that I already had plans to travel for both fun and work, so I was only part-time between November 1 and February 1. Although that was extremely stressful, I had amazingly skilled substitutes, and my three teammates did everything in their power to take care of my kids while I was away. I will never be able to thank them for being so fabulous!

Additionally, my principal and assistant principal were so incredibly accommodating during this time…I had conferences in Michigan in November and in California in January, and trips to Florida in November, Iceland in December, and Norway/France/Sweden in January. They willingly worked around all of that craziness! I was also fortunate to have a really great class of students. They just rolled with punches every day and handled the changes in routine with remarkable maturity. It was great when things finally settled into a sense of normalcy once I was there full-time beginning in February.

One thing that was challenging about starting in November was that I was moving into someone else's classroom. There was no sense of a fresh start that comes with the beginning of every school year. Obviously I did what I could to make it feel like mine, but it wasn't until the last weekend of the school year when C and I spent both Saturday and Sunday purging and cleaning that I really felt like it was my space. That might not seem like a big deal to some people, but it is a huge deal to me! I am already looking forward to starting next year off in a space that feels like me.

Tinker Bell hangs right above my desk <3

a light up crown from one of my favorite people

yes, my grade book features Rainbow Unicorn on it!

Disney

more Disney

and more Disney

Pascal keeping watch from my podium

When I think about all that my kids endured over the course of the year, I am seriously impressed! And when I read their names at our promotion ceremony on the last day of school and watched them come up to the stage, receive their diploma, and officially become middle schoolers, I had to mentally tell myself a hundred times to keep it together. I really love these kids and I am going to miss them. A lot.

from one of my sweet girls

constructing dodecahedrons in social studies

I am touched that this is what my students think of me - and so creative to list the attributes as a SB order!

In addition to teaching fifth grade, I taught three graduate courses…two Math Methods classes for elementary pre-service teachers and one Content Literacy class for secondary pre-service teachers. Again, I was incredibly fortunate to have marvelous students who helped me stretch and grow as a professor. I learned something from each and every class meeting, and I enjoyed getting to know the students because their passion about becoming teachers was inspiring. I certainly hope I have future opportunities to teach pre-service teachers again because I love doing it!

While I am putting a positive spin on all of this craziness, believe me when I tell you there were days when I did not think I was going to survive to see the end of the school year. There were also other writing and research responsibilities and presentations and conferences during this time that I haven't even mentioned. Exhaustion was my permanent state of being.

Thankfully I have the greatest support team around, including my sweet friends, my incredible teammates, and my awesome family – who all helped me make it to June 17 in one piece. In terms of my sanity, it was the unwavering love and devotion of my dogs that kept me going. They consistently made me feel like the greatest person on earth when in reality I constantly felt like I was letting everyone around me down.

However, no one did more than C. From the smallest kindness of making me coffee when I was up late grading at night to driving me to campus after his long work day so that I could sleep in the car, he was there at every turn doing any and everything to make my life easier. Of course, he also plans fabulous trips and makes me laugh nonstop. I seriously hit the jackpot when I married him.

So now it's the end of June and I am refocusing my efforts on my Ph.D. for a few months in hopes of making some serious progress – because the reality is that something had to give during all of this time!

What a year! I'll end with a few of my favorite memories from my fifth graders…

- As part of a reading assignment, I asked my students to identify three words that were unfamiliar to them and to use context clues to make a prediction about what each of the words means. One of my students wrote: “Catechism: I think it means it’s an annual event where you can pet cats.”

- This gem:

another hilarious student response

- I have a little bit of a competitive streak in me and there was a book contest among the four fifth grade classes, the winners of which would earn a pizza lunch with the librarians. I sweetened the pot by offering celebratory ice creams sundaes to my students if they won the contest, which they did! My teammate, who had been in the lead for much of the year, graciously came in to the library during the students' victory lunch and offered her congratulations, while jokingly adding that her class should have won. One of my students called out, "There's a new sheriff in town!" and it was a comical, yet embarrassingly proud moment for me. I think I better watch out next year because I have no doubt our two classes will hit the ground running in hopes of winning!