Holiday Recap
Thanksgiving: Our original Thanksgiving plans were to cook up a small turkey breast, make some potatoes and pie for two, and just have a nice, mellow meal. After our supplies were purchased, we were invited to a large family gathering on Sunday by some of my colleagues. On Thanksgiving morning, our landlords invited us down for dinner with their family. Phil especially has been adopted by the oldest son and his family, so we whipped up some dessert and trekked downstairs for dinner. We had our own dinner on Friday, leftovers on Saturday, and I spent Sunday puking.
Christmas: Because we missed driving across the country, we drove to Michigan for Christmas. We planned to leave on December 22 which turned out to be the day of blizzarding along our entire route home. The 23rd was much more conducive to travel, so off we went. We were able to see all of our parents, four out of five grandparents, two out of four sisters, and the latest addition to our collection of nieces and nephews. (Collection of course being three.) We celebrated Christmas five times over our six day visit, and at the Ainslie present exchange, I was informed that opening presents one person at a time was a Dutch tradition which is not always appreciated by others. I waited anyway.
New Years: We were still recovering from our travels and were in bed before midnight.
School Shift
I teach fourth grade now. On the last day of school before break, my principal informed me there would be an opening for a grade four teacher in January and asked if I would be interested. I had mentioned my interest in moving down earlier in the year and had had it up to here with my sixth graders, so I nervously agreed. The previous teacher had been teaching four 45 years and had a rough first semester with this class of 21. She decided the trouble was not worth her time and retired effective immediately. Knowing the history of this class made me a little wary, but I was informed that yes, there were some naughty students but they were not mean like some of my other students.
I went into school the Monday before we got back to organize some fourth grade materials before students came on Wednesday. Oh my goodness. All the student desks had been swapped (I was staying in my own classroom- the students were switching) and piles and piles of dusty teacher files had been deposited all over my room. Freaking out. I am very impressed with how many piles I sorted through in two days. I filled two large garbage bins with outdated materials, found science books from the 1970s, and rearranged all my student desks.
Both classes of students (4th and my 5/6 class) received letters over break informing them of the teacher switch. The fourth grade parents were nervous because they had no idea who I am. My 5/6 parents were furious their children were losing me as a teacher. Yay! I've talked with my old students, and most of them also were upset about not having me as a teacher. Double-yay! (The students who were not sad were the individuals who made me hate school. I will not miss them or their giant hormonal mood swings.)
In three days of fourth grade, we have not accomplished much academic work, but our classroom community is growing. Apparently, their first semester was horrible and included a lot of yelling and worksheets, so I am rocking their world right now. We've done Morning Meetings, group activities, SMART board lessons, an art project, and listened to rock and roll music about math. Several staff members have complimented me on the class atmosphere and the positive feedback they've received from my new students. I feel like I can be the teacher I'm supposed to be in my new position which makes me (and by extension Phil) very happy. Yesterday a staff member mentioned how nice it was to see me smile again.
My kids and I still have a long way to go, and I'm dragging parents along too. I'm going to end here so I can write a parent newsletter about labeling snowpants (we've already had several mix-ups) and not sending kids to school with toys. I've taken away Lego guys from half my boys and random hair extensions from some of my girls. Bizarre.
PS
New England winters are very cold and involve a ton of snow. They are very pretty though. Pictures to come later.
