.

The end of week the first. I'm glad the first week is over. It's not been a bad week. I've really enjoyed it. But I'm tired now. 8am classes and I will continue to disagree throughout most of the semester, I'm fairly certain.

My 8am class is my favorite class (shh). They open their mouths, speak, and intelligent words (most of the time) issue forth. Watching them think through the issues and procedures brings joy to my teacherly heart. My 10am class needs to wake up. They like to stare at me and not speak. I will force them to talk. It's a goal.

Teaching two sections this semester provides a new set of challenges. Timing will become even more of a key issue. I say this because it took thirty minutes in the second class to accomplish more than was completed during the fifty minutes of the first class.

Another challenge will be teaching at 8am. Normally, I prefer to not even be awake at 8am. It's a time which, to me, should be allowed to pass by peacefully and without comment. It will be strange to be awake, not just physically but also intellectually. Hopefully, seasonal staff will have trained me well for this.

an end of a vacation

Heading back to WI this week. I'm thoroughly unexcited about it. In fact, today I can't muster up any desire to return. I know I'll be fine once I'm there and in the swing of things but voluntarily diving back into that stress-filled world feels insane.

I plan to make the drive on Wednesday, spend Thursday finishing my unit calendar, and then smile my way through the mandatory staff meeting Friday morning. No news yet on how genuine that smile will be.

The new year begins. With it comes a swirl of responsibilities I temporarily had shoved aside during the actual holidays. Now I'm immersed in building course documents, lesson plans, and class policies. I also need to squeeze in writing a conference paper.

Heading back to Litchfield tomorrow - the family claims to be over the flu, so it should be safe to return.

The End of a Year

It's been a year . . .

Seasonal staff and my time at Barakel - already fairly documented. 

I left Barakel. I miss it a lot. I miss the people a lot. I miss the forest.

I left Michigan. Never having lived outside of the state before has led to some moments of frustration and unexpected culture shock.

I moved to Milwaukee. Now I know why their sports team is called the Brewers. Lots of beer. I guess it goes with the cheese? Also, cheese curds are delicious and apparently an essential part of any party platter. There's a cheese castle about half an hour away from Milwaukee. I hope to journey there at some point in the upcoming year.

I started grad school. It's crazy, busy, and a mess of stress. I kind of love it. Most of the time. It's been challenging and different and unexpected.

I began teaching rhetoric and composition to freshmen. Freshmen are a frustrating breed. They're excited, nervous, and occasionally incoherent. I loved teaching them, even when they emailed me several times a day with questions. I'll miss that first class. I suspect that no group of students ever quite has the same impact as your first.

Coming up . . .

This next semester I will be teaching two sections of the second semester of rhetoric and composition. Grad school will continue. Being in Milwaukee will continue. Basically, more of the same. Does it ever stop being an adventure?

Christmas and grades

It's over. I've turned in their grades, ruined their GPAs (probably not as much as they thought I would), and fled the state. Technically I left the state before doing those other things. I'm home now and loving being able to watch small children dance around the room wearing antlers.

Yesterday Toby and I spent the day together in Ann Arbor. We went to two stores and then I was tired. His energy remained boundless, as did his commitment to singing Christmas carols. Deck the Halls was a particular favorite. Sadly for me, he only knows the fa la la bits.

During our drive home, we saw a deer in the road. 
Toby: "Where did the deer go?"
Me: "It ran off the road."
Toby: "But reindeer fly!"
Involved explanation about how there are actually different kinds of deer.

Later we passed a reindeer made out of Christmas lights and he exclaimed, "We'll call that one Rudolph!" It was a good day. I'm glad to be home.

One semester nearly over

I have one more class period with my students. It's odd to look back at how nervous we were with each other only a couple of months ago. Today, there was laughter and joking in the classroom that none of us would have been comfortable with. I hope that I can cultivate relaxed class atmospheres next semester as well.

I presented at my first poster conference this week. I hesitate to say that it was a complete waste of time since I at least gained a few free books. As an experience, however, it was underwhelming. The attendees had difficulties negotiating the limited space, so it was difficult for them to see the posters and engage individual presenters.

One more week and I'll be back in Michigan. That week contains many tasks. And at the end of that week, I'll still have a stack of portfolios to grade. But I'm still clinging to the thought of change being only a week away.