What is most important before your first day of school? Getting a good nights rest, right? Well, last night the kids were playing Xbox, so Jack and I decided to watch the Olympics in our room. Little did I know that would be impossible. I was asleep in no time.
I awoke this morning at 5:28 a.m. (It was the best sleep I'd had since the Olympics started.) I was up and ready, drove carpool, enjoyed Josh's Play of the Day on GMA, ate breakfast and arrived early.
I awoke this morning at 5:28 a.m. (It was the best sleep I'd had since the Olympics started.) I was up and ready, drove carpool, enjoyed Josh's Play of the Day on GMA, ate breakfast and arrived early.
The morning was spent in a building meeting with our new Principal, Jennifer. She talked a lot about the importance of being like-minded and keeping student growth our objective. She showed us this video; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3hge6Bx-4w Working with children is a lot like building a plane in flight, a clever analogy.
I was the only one that remembered my cup,
an end of the year gift from our class.
We were asked to write something we did over the summer or about ourselves that no one knew on a note card. This was an opportunity for Jennifer to get to know us and us to challenge our colleagues. Mary, Katie and I joked that we couldn't write something the others didn't already know. All the cards were collected and Jennifer read about half of them. Mine was "I started writing a blog this summer." Many people made guesses. When I fessed up both Mary and Katie said "WHAT??" in unison. It was funny! My favorite was "I have been practicing being cheerful in the morning" written by my 1st grade teacher friend that will be teaching all day; after job sharing and working afternoons for the last four years. Personally, I would NOT have admitted that. ;-)
Katie's masterpiece.
Katie and I went on to para orientation. My friend Sherri sat with us. Stephanie was our speaker and she brought door prizes. She gave the first to the para that has been in the district the longest. Would you believe 24 years!? Stephanie apologized and said she wished she had more to offer her than a $5 Starbucks card. "Can you imagine sitting through this SAME orientation for 24 years?" Stephanie could be a comedian! She was very engaging and did a great job! We played Who Wants to be a Millionaire, instead of having just another review session. I came home empty handed but full of knowledge. (lol!)
This video does a great job of showing why I do what I do. I firmly believe in inclusion and that all kids have abilities that need to be embraced! Maybe it's just me, but I think life is so much better when you focus on abilities rather than disabilities. (This clip was just a preview. We are planning to watch the entire film soon.)
I am ready!
xo
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