Monday, September 29, 2014

What's new?

When school hits, the world stops in this house apparently.  Poor little blog.

A new year started for everyone.  

Ignatius begins year 13 of his schooling.  A senior.  


Max started year 5 of his schooling.  A fourth grader.


I started year 24 of teaching.  Currently, I spend my day with fourth graders for the seventh year in a row (I think that's a record for me).


Scott smiles and endures the start of another school year.  He's a trooper and has chilled out a lot about how much he dislikes September.


Ignatius' time is spent with school work (AP Calc and AP English Lit keep him on his toes), McDonalds (lots of good hours), and college applications.  Scott and I continue to marvel at his essays.  He plans to go solo to Homecoming this weekend as he learned that going with a date is quite a lot of work.

Max amazes me day-by-day.  He works so hard in school at things that come quite easily to other children.  We see growth for sure.  He is starting to dig in to chapter books, though not on his own.  Math continues to be a challenge, but we are actually seeing him retain facts with some automaticity.  Step-by-step.

I have 27 little bodies in my classroom each day.  Each has his own need.  As those who know me can attest, that is exhausting, as I want to solve their problems and help them grow, but there is 1 of me and 24 hours in a day.  Luckily, I work with some pretty funny and supportive people.  We are in a contract negotiation year in my district, and it does not always feel like we are supported (and I am not talking financially, but realistically), so my comrades help me continue in the profession.

So there you have it.  Onward to October!  Max has yet to decide on a Halloween outfit.  That's always fun!