My Learning Curve...

Teaching middle school is a challenge. It's not because the kids are difficult, you just have such a variety of levels in ability and maturity. They don't communicate very well and I'm having some trouble with that. Today one of my little angels refused to work and then burst into tears. OMG! I'm so out of practice with emotion that isn't anger. And I'm constantly questioning how much of a response is genuine versus how much is an act to see how far they can push. It's no wonder I'm exhausted!

Race for the Cure - Portland

Today I took part in the Komen Race for the Cure with Erin as part of the Lou's Pirate Crew Team. (Lou was the mother of Erin's friend Mary, and every year Mary puts together a team for the race.) We had a great time. It's definitely a worthwhile cause since so many people I know have been affected by breast cancer and the exercise did me some good.

9/11....

It's been 10 years since that overwhelming Tuesday. Somethings about that day are very clear. I first heard about the towers on the radio while I was getting ready for work, but at that point it wasn't clear what was happening. I turned on the TV, and saw what everyone else was seeing.

My scheduled day was going to be busy. I was contracted to substitute teach that day, then I had planned to drive to Portland to pick up my sister. She'd been in Nevada for a friend's wedding that weekend. Before I got to work the airports had been closed, and all planes were grounded. I called my parents to see if they had heard from my sister.

School was a pretty non-productive day. We didn't have TV access, so everything we were hearing was from the radio. The internet had crashed, and we waited. I remember hoping that none of my East Coast friends had been flying that day, and that my college friend who lives in DC was nowhere near the Pentagon. My sister and other wedding guests arrived home very late that night after driving in from Nevada. Other than those details, the day is a blur.

The next few weeks are really blurry too. I think most people were in shock. Attacks like this were not supposed to happen in the US. In hindsight, that was an arrogant belief.

The terrorists who participated in the attacks on 9/11 had a goal to cause pain and weaken us. They achieved their first goal, but I do not believe they achieved the second. 9/11 made America stronger.

First Week

I survived the first week of school. Being a new position, I was a bit apprehensive about teaching middle schoolers since I've been away from that age group for awhile. I'm happy to report that the week went really well. I'm lucky that I'm working with a staff that has been extremely helpful. If things contiune along these lines, this year should be smooth. I hope so, anyway.