Departures and Arrivals II

Departing is such sweet sorrow.... Unless you're dealing with the airlines!

Seriously, though. Despite the airlines messing up our reservations AGAIN, we had a smooth flight from Tel Aviv to Paris.  I happily slept through what smelled like a fairly unappetizing breakfast before succumbing to the fact that two hours of sleep was all I'd be getting.  The Paris macaroons were gorgeous!  I mean, the Paris croissants were amazing!  The Paris airport was beautiful!  They had these living walls throughout the terminal that were filled with lush green foliage. And did I mention the croissants?!  (My body is so stoked that it will once again be gluten free now that I'm home!)

There were these really neat pods for listening to music, several different video game kiosks, two adorable kids play areas, and tons of high end shopping. We spent the first three hours of our layover relaxing in these funky chairs and lounge couches before heading to the gate.  I wanted to sleep, but I couldn't. I was way too excited about the fact that I'd be home with Sparky in 14 hours or less.  It has was a WonderFULL trip, but a long time to be gone. 

The Paris to Detroit flight was l-o-n-g, but at least there were good movies and I had an outlet to plug my devices into. Lunch was interesting.  Curried chicken.  Thankfully, I brought a croissant with me!  I watched some more episodes of the Goldbergs, the Minons movie, The Pianist, and Pitch Perfect Two.  I played Minecraft most of the way home since for some reason, even being awake that long, naps were hard to come by.

Baggage, customs, all that crud went fine, and surprisingly quick!  Our driver was prompt and we loaded into hiss warm car. I literally dragged my bags upstairs, took the quickest shower of my life (yep, felt that gross from 22 hours of travel) and went straight to pick up Sparky and see my niece. My original goal was to make it till 7:30, but considering it's 6:20 and I can hardly keep my eyes open?  Good night world!

Learning vs Sleep

I just finished Student-Parent-Teacher conferences.  As in, got home about an hour ago.  I had 19 conferences to do, and 18 of them were absolutely wonderful.  I count that as a successful conference season!

Interestingly, there was a theme this time around.  It had something to do with motivation.  And learning.  And desire to accomplish something.  And though 2/3 of the conferences were finished on Friday, the theme still held strong.

Third graders are just learning how to push through challenges to achieve no matter what.  Or at least most of them are.  Some come into the year wanting to work hard and learn, and will do so at any expense (staying in the realm of positive, of course.)  They work hard to tackle challenges, they celebrate victories, and they trudge on even when the road is tough.

However, there are a few, there are always a few, that want to find the shortest path with the least road blocks.  Which is where my story comes to play.

Last week was one of those insane education weeks with more 12 hour days than not.  I love sleep just as much as I love learning, and last week, sleep was running short.  However.  I still dragged myself out of bed at 6:30 on Saturday morning so I could get in the car and on the road to EdCamp Lake Orion with a 7:30 kick off time.

I would have really preferred to be in bed.  I really, really, REALLY needed sleep.  Especially considering Saturday was going to be another long day and late night.   But I went anyway.  I would have preferred to not have an alarm screaming at me before the sun rose.  I would have preferred to stay in my warm bed, snuggled up with my puppy.  Cause I love sleep.

But I love to learn, too.  So I went.  And I learned.  And I loved it.

And in sharing that story with my students tonight, I hope that gives them one more example of how and why we put things we love ahead of other things sometimes.  Even if we don't want to.  Even if we'd prefer to sleep in on a Saturday.  It's worth it to keep our fire burning.

This group of Thinkers is full of fire.  They are burning bright.  I hope that they continue to do so, despite the mornings where sleep sounds better, because they are going to change the world...... they already have begun......

Brought to You by the Letter S...

... and the Number 3

It's a lovely Sunday evening.  The sky was blue all day, and despite the rather cold temps, the sky was shining proudly.  Now I sit here and watch the sunset as I reflect on this past week.  I mean, I ask my students to reflect all. the. time.  I guess I should set the example, too?

Anyway.  This Sunday Summary is brought to you by the letter S, and the number 3.  S?  3?  Please tell me you've seen Sesame Street?!?

On to the summaries.....

First S = Support. I realized this week how lucky I am to be a part of a very supportive union.  All the political commercials on TV right now make me sick to my stomach.  I just can't handle the blatantly misleading information that permeates the screen these days.  Thanks to the support of the Michigan Education Association, along with my district union, the BHEA, I know where my votes will be going.  I leaned on my union for support in the past, and appreciate that I have them to lean into.  I'm grateful they sent a simple postcard with their recommendations as to who would be best for Michigan.  It's going to make a very stressful election day a whole lot easier!

Second S = Spontaneity.  Have you ever had one of those times where someone asks a "thought grenade" (thank you Nick Allen) during a lesson?  The best thought grenades this week were thanks to our Really Good Stuff calendar.  It has facts listed for each day of the month, along with any other useful, month-long factoids.  And currently on my board, is a math problem derived from one of the facts from this week.  Best part?  These spontaneous side-tracks often lead to mini-inquires into the topic of the moment!  For example, do you know how many times a hummingbird's heart beats in a minute?  In an hour?  In a week?  My Thinkers do!

Third S = Sleep.  I finally, FINALLY got two really good nights of sleep this week.  My best friend's husband exists happily on 5 hours a night.  So does another friend.  Not me.  I'm not that lucky.  I need a solid 8 each night.  Except, that never seems to happen during the beginning of the school year.  I guess we're no longer in the beginning of the school year?  Whatever it was, I function SO much better when I get enough sleep!  That, and I actually am able to stay awake long enough to get schoolwork done when I get home from school!

Until next time..... Here's one more S.......