Day 31I was texting with colleagues the other day. We were talking about our teaching and learning. I've been doing a tremendous amount of professional reading lately. Even though I'm actually only taking on one real book for PD purposes, I've been on Twitter reading articles with great regularity. I've also been catching up on some of my favorite edu-blogs that I wasn't able to keep up with during the chaos of the last couple of months of school. To say that my head has been spinning is not an exaggeration. In our text thread, feeling kind of overwhelmed, I asked my friends if it was possible that I needed a break from learning I think I needed a little break. I started today with a little writing (proofreading actually) but nothing crazy. I brought my son to work (it was POURING on the Cape this morning so he couldn't ride his bike to the fish market like he usually does.) He left his typical fish market shoes outside in the rain so I would need to deal with those later. He wore his better running shoes to work...there will need to be new running shoes soon. Anyway, I ran my car up to the shop for an inspection sticker. They were swamped and asked that I come back around 1:00 PM. I drove back to the cottage where I made breakfast for my daughter and me, cleaned up our dishes, vacuumed, dusted, cleaned the bathroom, ran a couple loads of laundry, and showered. I was just about to leave for the garage when my son texted that he was ready to be picked up. I grabbed my son and headed to get the inspection sticker. Once settled in the waiting room with my book, From Striving to Thriving, my eyes fell on a copy of "Navy Times". There was a headline on the cover that read, "Worst Uniform Ever?" My little brother is in the Navy and his wife was too. I read about terrible Navy uniforms instead. The car was ready. I grabbed an ice coffee at my favorite donut shop on the way home. My son was going to head out for a run and Caroline decided to go to the grocery store with me. The grocery store wasn't terribly crowded. Once we had everything we needed we returned to the cottage. Family friends were stopping by soon. We were heading out to dinner together. I got the groceries put away right before they arrived. We hung out and chatted for a while and our kids got caught up too. We fed the dog and drove to the next town over for burritos. I got a root vegetable burrito bowl. It was amazing. They stopped off for sweatshirts before heading back to our place. I rushed home to quickly grill the pork chops I had defrosted for dinner (before we decided to go out for dinner). I didn't want them to go bad. Maybe they'll be tomorrow's lunch. I roasted some carrots too. Our friends arrived. We built a fire in the patio fire pit and the kids made s'mores. We listened to 70s rock. It was bliss. But why in God's green earth am I sharing all of this? Who the hell cares about any of it.? The point is, today was a really busy day with a lot of running around. Heading out for dinner with these friends and then sitting around chatting it up was the most relaxed I've felt all summer. Not only was I physically relaxed, but I also feel like my brain took a little break today. I really think I needed the break. Sometimes we just do, right? What about kids? Does it make sense that sometimes they just need a little break too? I try to sprinkle in just enough learning disguised as fun so that my students feel like they're getting a break. I think that every once in a while, a day of fun or a day spent kicking back can help us more than putting our heads down and grinding it out. Tomorrow I'm heading to the beach with this same family. I'll bring my book. Maybe I'll read it for a bit. Maybe I won't. Maybe I'll write a post and maybe I won't. I feel like I'm running out of summer. While there is so much I need to do to get ready, I also feel an urgency to relax and refresh. Both kinds of preparation are important.
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Marie McManus BrighamA public school teacher who gets to wonder alongside fourth-graders. Archives
December 2018
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