Almost time...

Inservice starts on Monday. School starts the following Monday. I can scarcely wait!

It's been a long, wonderfully relaxing summer (I had an extra three weeks due to a disabling injury) but I am ever so ready to return.

My children attend schools in a different district from where I work. Their first day is this Monday (sort of worked out nice for me). This evening is open house for the elementary kids so we will meet the three smaller school-aged boys' teachers tonight. One is entering kindergarten, so this is a VERY exciting time for him. To help them count down the days until the first day of school, we made a paper chain that has the days of the week written on it along with a pictoral depiction of important events happening each day until the first day of school. We hung the chain in the hallway between the little one's bedrooms and each night before bed, a different kid gets to rip off a ring to symbolize the end of another day. They seem to think it's a really wonderful idea and I have a feeling they'll want to do it again next year.

I am eager to see my colleagues again. I have been able to see several of them once or twice during the summer months, but not all of them at the same time. It will be wonderful to catch up again. It's a little like a family reunion that lasts 10 months (with a slight change of cast each year)! I firmly believe this rebirth each year is perhaps the best part of teaching. If you made terrible mistakes, you get to start fresh each Autumn. If made wonderful leaps, you get to continue to build and traverse new territories. Throughout the journey, personal learning never ceases. I really don't know how corporate employees can survive the monotony over 30+ years. Perhaps that's why so many change jobs so often in life.

To all my fellow educators gearing up for yet another new year...

I hope your enthusiasm oozing from your pores so when your students arrive, they can't help but feel energized and ready for that grand adventure known as learning. May you inspire at least one more than you did last year. May you find the wrecking ball that will tear down the walls the students have encapsulated themselves in against real learning. May your internal rewards continue to fuel your fire (since your paycheck still doesn't ;) ).

Happy New Year, and here's hoping they fix those pesky calendars to reflect the "year" as we know it!