Heavenly

Someone recently posted this photo on facebook and I snagged it:

Does it look like heaven to you? 

Yeah, me too.

First Week Finished

What a beautiful week for the first week of school. Temps were in the 80s and the sun shone constantly. September is that kind of month for the Northwest. Even though the trees begin to change color, it's warm and sunny. Makes it difficult to stay in class and teach! Oh well... I love the cool mornings, sunny days, and beautiful evenings in our back yard.

The first week would have been perfect if Ms. Senior Class Officer hadn't come to me on Wednesday afternoon to tell me she was leaving next week for ten days. I was so irritated! Of course she wanted her work and expected me to have it ready for her by Monday. So instead of enjoying this beautiful weather, I spent my evenings preparing lessons. I usually work a week ahead but not the first couple of weeks of school. I need to get a feel for my students, a sense of their abilities, establish a pace. Friday morning Ms. SCO brought me flowers... nice touch. 

Another nice touch was having the Back to School Bash on Friday. Instead of working on that beautiful 85* day, we started with chapel then went to a local lakeside park. Unfortunately students couldn't swim because of a supposed bacterial rating, something that was quickly proven to be isolated and no longer existent, but the lake had to have two clean ratings in a row to be approved for swimming. I guess we should be glad as that meant we didn't have to deal with skimpy suits and raging hormones! Everyone had a great time, playing games, swinging, just hanging out. And because I had worked like a fool on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, I didn't have to work late Friday night, so we barbecued chicken and just relaxed at home. 

All in all, a good start to school. Hopefully it will continue; we will grow in knowledge, relationships, and numbers! I'm praying for that.

First Day

Yes, school has started at ye old high school. I'm actually sitting in first period - study hall. I've gone over my expectation sheet and chatted briefly with each student. Now we all just sit here... they have nothing to study and I am ready to teach next period, Brit Lit. This is rather boring. Hopefully these students will have more excitement as the day progresses.

Already?

How can September have started already? I'm not prepared for summer to be finished. In the NW, our summer begins sometime after the 4th of July and closes near the end of September so it is rather insulting to spent lovely weather days in the classroom. But there's no question, it's time to go back to school. Mornings are cool and crisp; the leaves are starting to change color. Some stores have started putting Christmas stuff on their shelves. That's ridiculous, but it's the way the commercial markets function. There are a lot of things I need to do, but the one thing I would love to do more than any other thing is cuddle with these three children. I have yet to hold little Nora; oh how wish I could change that!