Slice of Life Day 6- Basketball Awards

My husband is the varsity girls' basketball coach at the high school where he teaches.  It also happens to be the high school from which he graduated.  This was his 5th season in that position.

Let me start by saying this was by far my favorite team to watch.  They had a very successful season because they were a TEAM.  They had a few girls who were very good, but nobody was trying to be an all-star.  They encouraged each other and supported each other.  The four seniors this year were great role models for the underclassmen.

Last night we attended the conference banquet.  The team won their division in the conference.  Nate had a player make First Team All Conference.  He also won Coach of the Year. (He says his team this year made him look good!) His girl who made First Team is actually an exchange student to the school this year.  What an all-around wonderful girl.  Her host family is going to have a hard time letting her go.  Her team is going to have a hard time letting her go.

I did learn a few things watching and observing these girls this year.
1. Never give up.  There were times when it looked like they may lose a game but they fought until the very last second and won.
2. Being a team takes work, it doesn't just happen.
3. When things are going well, you celebrate together.
4.  When things are going bad, you don't point fingers, you lift the team up.
5.  Always include everyone.  It doesn't matter how much time someone plays.  You are all a team and you all contribute in your own way.  Everyone has a role.

I think the things I learned from observing this team can be carried over into a professional school setting.  Too often in schools I don't see the teachers working together as they should.  I see pockets working very well together, but not necessarily the whole school.  So now I need to reflect to see what I can do to get my school to be more like a team.  If your school has been successful with this, what did you do?

I mentioned how those seniors were such great role models for the underclassmen.  That whole team is a role model for me.

Slice of Life Day 5- Reevaluation

Today marks the beginning of Lent. Today is a time for me to reevaluate some things in my life. Are there some things  in my life I can do without or maybe some gaps I need to fill?

One thing I am giving up are those stupid games on my iPad that I sometimes can't seem to pull myself away from. They don't do anything other than take me away from more productive things I could be doing. I am going to fill that time instead with reading professional books and literature. My TBR professional reads pile keeps getting taller and I need a plan of attack.  This will be my first step in that plan.

I am also looking at my health today. Are there some things I'm consuming that I don't need?  Sometimes, after a hard day, I like to unwind with a glass of wine. I don't think I really need it. They are just empty calories and I can do something else to unwind. Maybe I could go for a quick walk if the weather is nice. Or maybe I could find a 15 minute workout to complete.

I don't like to change a lot for Lent. I want it to be manageable so I feel as if I can be successful.

If you celebrate Lent, what are you changing?

Slice of Life Day 4- New Directions

Around Christmas, my school district decided to change directions with literacy instruction in our six elementary buildings.  Currently, we really have nothing.  We have maps, but I think they are often ignored.  Starting next year, we will be going to Literacy Collaborative, start Reading Recovery, and some teachers will be trained in Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI).  We will have two literacy coaches per building: one primary, the other intermediate.  Right now we have an instructional coach in each building.  Currently I am one of those instructional coaches.

I am thrilled to be switching over to Literacy Collaborative!  Having classroom experience in 5th grade, I applied for one of the intermediate coaching positions and was offered one.  Our primary coaches started their training with the Ohio State University in January.  They are on a fast track so they can begin coaching next year.  The program requires you to go through a year of training before you can begin to coach teachers.

The intermediate coaches will begin their training next school-year. I just received my schedule and Wow!  I can't believe the amount of professional development I will receive!  I have four 5-day weeks of face-to-face PD starting in August and spread out until May.  Then there are 13 days of online PD.  When I interviewed for this position I was told 12 days of training.  This new schedule is a little bit different than what I was told.

At first, I was shocked at the difference.  I immediately thought of how much time away from my family this would entail and how much evening time would be consumed.  My husband is the varsity girls' basketball coach in the district where he teaches and I also thought of what juggling a family would be like during basketball season with all this training.  Thank goodness I have wonderful in-laws in town who will be more than happy to help.

While I can't wait for all this new learning, I am not looking forward to spending time away from my family.  I do hope that I am being a role model for my son on what being a professional entails: you can never know too much, look for opportunities to improve yourself, deal with stress in a positive manner, and learn how to balance family and work.

Slice of Life Day 3

The alarm goes off at 4:40 a.m.  Do I lay here in my cozy, warm flannel sheets?  Do I get up and go to the gym for a workout? A few minutes pass, I hear the cold wind.  Warm bed seems to be winning this morning.  I lay there for a few more minutes realizing I'm awake and probably won't be able to go back to sleep.  May as well get up and go workout.

Brave the cold as I walk to the gym.  Doesn't take long to get hot and sweaty.  An hour passes and I'm ready to go home.

I hate getting up in the morning to workout, but I love the feeling afterwards.  I feel very productive so early in the morning and that just sets my day off right.

Get my son up and off to school.  Get myself off to school.  I'm able to get a lot of things done today.  Preparation for a few meetings.  Submitting 2 professional development requests.  Researching some activities for volume in 5th grade.

Now I'm ready to continue my professional read for the month: Falling in Love with Close Reading by Chris Lehman and Kate Roberts.

I love these days that feel so productive.  Days when I can check things off my list.  These are days that relax me.

Slice of Life- Day 2

Yesterday, my family and I went to the Home and Garden Show in Columbus. I love this event! I would love it even more if I could afford most of the things I saw! 

 

The patios they had with the landscaping were just beautiful! I would have taken any of them. I also loved all the outdoor kitchens.  I must have one of those when we redo our patio sometime in the future. Below is a picture of some landscaping. 

 

 

My husband, Nate, has been wanting to get a new shed and there were several companies there with some sheds on display.  Nate enjoyed walking through the sheds envisioning where he could put everything and if there would be enough room to walk around when everything was in its place. 

Dr. Insecta was also there for the kids. Below is a picture of Jacob with him. And yes, those tarantulas are real. Jacob, my budding entomologist, was thrilled to get to hold one of those tarantulas later.  Better him than me!



And now as I look out the window it is snowing. After seeing all the green and bright flowers yesterday, I am even more ready for spring. Ready to get my fingers in the dirt and feel a warm breeze on my face. 

Enjoy your Sunday!

Slice of Life- Day 1

One of my resolutions this year was to run 500 miles in 2014.  I joined the #500in2014 group on Twitter.  I even enlisted two friends to help keep me on track and focused during this journey. January went well.  I ran a little more than I needed to average for the month.  Then February hit.  I developed a stress fracture in my tibia.  Talk about disappointment.  6 weeks minimum of no running.  I was told I could bike and swim.  I'm not a swimmer so that was out.  I have biked, but because I was bummed about not being able to run, I didn't bike either.  I think I was in a little bit of a work-out depression.  Maybe I was just being stubborn because I couldn't do what I really wanted to be doing.

But today is a new month.  I have decided that I am going to get out of that rut.  I went to the gym this morning and biked for 35 minutes. 

I am also going to participate in the Ultimate Upper Body 30 Day Challenge.  I am not an upper body person.  In fact, I hate upper body workouts because I know I am weak in that area.  However, I did complete the first day of the challenge after biking this morning and I survived. 

So while February was not a good fitness month for me, I will not let March become a fitness flop.  I am going in like a lion and I intend to end like a lion!

Celebrate! 1/4/14

Thanks to Ruth Ayres at DiscoverPlayBuild for this Saturday tradition.

I am really beginning to enjoy looking back through the week at the different things to celebrate in my life!

1. Once again I made some New Year's resolutions which you can view here.  A few people commented how they use one little word as a resolution.  I really liked that idea and after much thought decided I would choose healthy as my word.  I feel this will still cover my original resolutions and then some.

2. I committed to be part of the #500in2014 group!  So far I have either hit the road, treadmill, or inside track 4 times this week!  My legs can feel it today!

3. I am on Day 10 of the plank-a-day challenge.  I am up to 1 minute of planks and I can feel it!  Looking forward to the day of rest in a few days!  By the end of the 30 days I should be able to plank for 5 minutes!  Yikes!

4. One of the things I love about break is having the time to read!  I feel as if I have been in a slump lately and being able to actually have time to read has helped.  I even had one of those nights where I couldn't put down a book and stayed up until 1 a.m. to finish it. I haven't had one of those nights in awhile!  Good thing it came over break so I didn't pay for it the next day!

 

5.  Even though my beloved Buckeyes lost in the Orange Bowl last night, I certainly can't complain about our 12-2 season.  It was a great season!