Teri Parris Ford's Blog

Celebrate!

I had retirement parties on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Monday's party was my art show closing and it was by far most meaningful event I have had in years! All three girls and Jim attended as well as my teacher friends and other friends. Old and new students came by as well. A group of girls gave me a Stanley cup after I spent most of the year eyeballing all of their fancy cups. I got several plants including two beautiful orchids, lots of gift cards and tons of love!

I finished my grades last Friday so that I could focus this week on just extracting myself from the school. Taking down my show (see photos here) was by far the biggest thing I needed to attend to. Since the pandemic I have really had to keep my personal items at home, so my clean up wasn't too bad. Today I spent most of my morning connecting folks with my replacement via email and forwarding paperwork and files. Tomorrow is my last staff meeting and then I am all done! People keep asking how I am doing. I'm ready for summer. I won't feel weird or different until the fall when school starts.

Retirement Questionaire

Below is the expanded version of my Sword & Shield interview in the special senior June issue:

What's your name? Teri Parris Ford

How long have you been working at Memorial? 21 years at Memorial, 26 in MMSD

What is your role/position here at Memorial? Art Teacher, Yearbook & Newspaper Adviser. A long time ago I was the Junior class adviser and a student government adviser. 

What advice do you have for the students here at VPM? Don't take high school so seriously. Have fun, enjoy your family and friends, and being young. Make priorities, keep balance in your life. Exercise regularly and stop eating junk food!! Take good care of your body and build positive relationships in your life. Use your phone to assist you. Let it help you but understand that excessive phone internet use will only increase your isolation and make you more depressed (believe me, there is a ton of data about this).

Who is your favorite coworker and why? I love working with the art department peeps, they are all so wonderful but Joe Frontier gives the best hugs! I should share that Mr. Herman (retired 5 years ago) called and encouraged me to apply for the job here. I am so thankful that he did.

What is your most embarrassing moment at Memorial? I have few doozies that I do not want in print! I've been very lucky to live close to the school. I have had to run home to change clothing on more than one occasion. 

Our yearbook theme this year is "Capture The Moment," what are some of your favorite moments here at VPM?  Too many to share here-- I have had a lot of really great memories. I loved traveling with my colleagues and students! Going to Europe (twice) and to Chicago almost annually were among the most memorable. Anytime I am stuck in a small space with any of my colleagues, it’s a good time. 

What are your post retirement plans? I will be spending time with my family, writing and working on a lot of projects! I am looking forward to finally living full time with my spouse, who works in Minnesota. We have had to live in separate cities for 15 years because I had my dream job in Madison and he had his in Rochester. In a lot of ways I feel like I'm getting married again. It's very exciting. It will certainly be nice not to have to commute back and forth as much, although I am planning to visit a lot. I have several projects at Memorial I need to continue. While my role as art teacher is ending, I know I will continue on as artist and photographer.

 

8 class days left...

I walked into work slowly. I had a load of stuff to donate back to my classroom after cleaning out my garage workbench (mostly used office supplies). The yearbook will be delivered this week and the Senior issue of the school newspaper needs to get finished this week. I feel like I have everything under control but spent last week sick and doing very little at home. That's where all the work is, getting the condo cleaned up and ready for me to move out. I have accumulated quite a bit of stuff in the past years and have a hard time tossing it. Combining two households is no easy task -- since I'm moving in with Jim who's house is complete and in no need of any of my stuffs! I keep telling myself I have all time in the world to figure out the personal stuff and am just concentrating on the work load, which is quite manageable. 

Prom 2024

Everyone kept asking me how I felt because it was my last Prom. 11 years ago I had gone to prom for what I thought was my last time as the Prom advisor. I resigned my post before becoming the yearbook adviser. Little did I know I would end up in charge of prom photography as yearbook adviser. It's not nearly as stressful as being in charge of the whole prom. I dressed very casually this year and so glad I had a jacket on as it was very chilly. I took pictures with several favorites. The one here on the left is my educational grand daughter. I had Izzy's mother in Photo 1 18 years ago and then I had her in Photo 1 her freshman year. She is a pretty special student for me. I also got a photo (below) with a bunch of my yearbook girls. Yearbook is always such a special class for me since all the kids are seniors and they take on such a huge project and do it so well. I'm always so proud of them. 

I get emotional sometimes as my time teaching comes to an end... but I wasn't emotional at the prom! It is always so much work and a late night. I will be thrilled not to have to do it. But I did promise to volunteer if they needed me... so maybe it won't be my last prom afterall!

It's gonna be May!

I've been crazy busy finishing this school year and setting up my art show that opens on Friday! I have a field trip today to kick off the new month just to complicate my life even further! I am in this crazy limbo of being very eager to be done and loving what I am doing. I haven't really announced that I am retiring yet and trying to hold that off as much as possible because I know things will shift after. I have absolutely been loving teaching ceramics and am so glad I got the opportunity to do it once before ending my career, but I have to admit it keeps me busier than I ever have been especially when adding newspaper and yearbook to the mix. But everything wraps up and the last day of regular classes is May 31.

The Yearbook is done!

For the last week I have been finishing up the yearbook at work. Everything is smooth sailing into the finish line. The kids are doing all the work but I am around to supervise and help if needed. I'm not needed all that much. I feel like it took me 10 years to get to a place where I do almost nothing and the kids do everything! I used to have to do the staff and freshman section-- no more! It's really nice. I suppose it took me about 10 years to get the newspaper running with almost no work on my end as well -- I'm 15 years in as the newspaper advisor. Anyway, it's been a great year. Everyone always asks about what we do in yearbook class after the book is done. Well, we spend several days celebrating! Then we work on the Index, the June issue of the newspaper and plan distribution. There is plenty for kids to do. The reality is they are all seniors and many have severe bouts of senioritis. 

Last weekend I went up to Rochester and had a wonderful time with Jim. I have so much to do but it was nice to get away! Next week I am getting ready for my art show! There are only 44 days left of the school year and I have a loong list of things I still need to do!

Valentine's Mid February

Valentine's at school is always fun. I dressed up in red and pink and brought kisses for all the kids. I got a couple of valentines even! I made peanut butter blossom cookies for a meeting and gave little bags to art dept peeps. I think about what I will miss the most at VPM and the deep relationships of those I work with will be way up there (not that I'm leaving anytime too soon). 

All of my classes are going great but Drawing 1 and Ceramics classes are going particularly well. I realize it's more about the relationships in my class and offering deep thinking projects than having experience teaching that particular class. All of my students are so nice and I have absolutely no issues other than students who do not come in to class. In one of my classes of 30 students, I rarely have more than 20 show up at once. The days are busy and go by quickly. Everyday I feel like I have tons to do and everyday I feel like I'm getting things done, but never enough!

Half way there!

I start a new semester tomorrow. This time of year is always so busy because I have to finish up semester 1 and get ready for semester 2. Luckily there's finals week with shortened day schedules and time for grading and prep. I made myself an appointment for a massage on Thursday afternoon, to help ease the tension. I have a forearm issue that pretty painful and is progressively inhibiting me with small things like opening jars or lifting stacks of stuff. I fear it will end up being something permanent, like arthritis, not just an injury that can get better. We'll see. I have a doctors appoint in a couple of weeks.

I created a crazy schedule for myself-- and now I'm wondering why I would do something so nuts. I'm teaching 6 different classes in 5 hours, with 2 somewhat new classes-- Ceramics and Drawing. I taught Drawing 10 years ago, so it's been awhile. Ceramics is the only class we offer at Memorial that I have never taught, so it's a bit of big deal for me to check that box, but it's also a lot of extra work! I'm looking forward to getting my hands dirty.

It's cold out there...

It's been very cold this whole week, but luckily the only time I have to go out is to get to the car and back inside. I'm only spending time at home or at school. My hopes to get out to do some cross country skiing won't happen until we are comfortably closer to the 30's which should be next week. The last regular day of the first semester is Monday. We are having a finals week of sort-- they are calling DOL or the demonstration of learning week. On Tuesday, I stayed late after school for an open house for middle school families. It was very exciting to see how happy folks were to see our new classrooms. The art spaces are quite impressive and they are amazing places to work in. I've enjoyed an awesome semester and as excited as I am to see the semester end, I'm going to miss it as next semester is absolutely crazy. My painting students have created great work (see below). 

21st Annual Winter Sale

I survived! This year I was in charge of getting the sale up and running with a lot of help from Grace's notes from last year. We did record sales and had a great time but boy, was I glad when it was all over. It was great to have Geof hanging around working the sale. I worked my social media as much as I could doing a FB live video, creating a public event and sales on marketplace. Maybe next year I can figure out how to use TikTok? The sale was 3 full days, with a few days of set up and then take down days (which I still have to finish up on Monday). 

I'm very ready for winter vacation but have 2 more days of school and another PD day on Wednesday to go. I made tamales on Saturday afternoon for a department party on Wednesday. Sunday was a full recoup day, sleeping in, some shopping, working out and cleaning at home. 

December Happenings

It starts to get busy after Thanksgiving. And then right before the Winter Break it gets a little crazy. I am organizing the department holiday sale this year and trying to stay organized. Because I am constantly doing more than one thing at a time, I am constantly messing dates, times and information up. I make a lot of mistakes, BUT I get a lot of stuff done. I'm not sure how good that is. I know I have stressed to my yearbook kids that they cannot depend on me to fix their mistakes because I'm usually the one making mistakes!! They are a really smart group and excited to make the book look really unique this year. I've really been enjoying all of my classes this semester, but I am very ready for a break in one week! There's only 5 weeks left of the semester and 25 weeks left for the whole school year, but who's counting!!?

Field Trip to Milwaukee

On Friday I took 50 art students to the Milwaukee Art Museum on a field trip with Josh. It was our first field trip since before the pandemic, way back in fall of 2019. We had a remarkable time. The weather was cool and it snowed on the way home, but all went perfectly. A lot has changed since the last big coach bus field trip I planned. The past two trips I've planned we've stayed in Madison and used city busses in part because of the shortage in busses and the cost involved in renting them. We charged $40 per student for a $5 entry ticket but we will lose money on this trip. We offered 1/2 scholarships, we need to pay 2 subs (about a $500 cost) and the bus alone cost over $1500. I had a student tell me they had never been on a field trip in their whole school career. That was enough to get my planning. I have already begun planning a spring trip as well but to Chicago!

The first weekend of December got me prepping for the Winter Art Sale. Jim had Army duties and the girls all have projects they are working on. It is a busy time of year. I got 50 bags of chocolate covered pretzels ready and cards priced to sell. The sale starts on the 13th, so I don't have a lot of time.

Homecoming 23

It was homecoming in Saugus, California as well as Madison, Wisconsin and my high school was celebrating my 40 year reunion. I keep thinking it's only been 30 years, but no-- 40! Ouch. I would have liked to have made the trek to California but I could not miss out on the busy week of homecoming at Memorial. The weather was grand most of the week (until Friday). The pep rally was back in the gym for the first time since before the pandemic because of the cool down on Friday! Not one student had ever been to an indoor rally since we started back to school-- crazy. Below is a photo of my seniors in Yearbook class all in grey!

I also got back in the pool this week, swimming during my lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have gained about 10 pounds since last spring but I am exercising sometimes 3X a day. I obviously am eating more than 3X a day as well! After reading Peter Attia's book on longevity, I am keenly aware of having to build muscle mass as I age or at least keep from losing it. It seems to be one of the most important aspects of health I need to attend to as I age, that and getting good sleep, which is not a problem for me. I often think that all I will do when I retire is exercise, cook and clean! Outside of working, it's pretty much all I do now and I feel like I barely have enough time. 

Week #1 Done

It was a good week but exhausting. My whole body ached from all the work I did, but I am also working out with Tony Horton every morning. We had a visit from the secretary of education mid week that I had to prep a little extra for. He did not come to see the art department, but he used my painting classroom as an office and I was hoping he might venture over into other art rooms (he did not). My classes all started of with good vibes. I had such a great day on Thursday, I came home feeling like I loved my job so much I never wanted to retire! On Friday, I was so tired, I could not stay after to do any extra work knowing I had all weekend to catch up. I have almost exactly 9 months until school's out again, and the reality is I'm always counting-- about 55 work days until Thanksgiving break and 75 until Winter break! Every year goes a little faster, but gets a little harder. This year is special, as we are in a totally new space with so much that is just so shiny and new. I feel like the kids are excited to be in the spaces and are a little more respectful. Let's see how long that last? 

Monika spent the week up with Jim in Rochester as she had two concerts to shoot photos for. Erika got covid her first week with the little kids and is home sick for a few days. Jessi is enjoying being home, like Jim, already decorating for Fall and Halloween! We went from 90s to 50s this week like Autumn just zoomed in just in time for school. Summer was, and always is wonderful, but Fall is great too-- sweatshirts and fires. I started celebrating my birthday month as soon as the calendar changed to September. I replaced my watch and got a few back to school clothes. Only 2 weeks left of being 57!

Back to School

Here's what I wrote on Facebook last night with the picture here; "It's been one of the busiest starts for the new school year! While every year is crazy busy, this one has been nuts! Getting older means getting home a whole lot more tired and sore. We moved into 3 new rooms and a new office, moved out of 3 rooms and unpacked/tracked down a ton of stuff in storage. The "new" space is the same one we were in last year but totally gutted, remodeled and renumbered. I've helped to set up two new digital labs, problem-solving like crazy, and yes, there were quite a few problems solved and some still to be solved. While it's wonderful to be in a space that feels so bright and brand new, it's so hard to get everything working as good as the old space was and everything takes so much time. I am so proud of the work we are doing in the VPM art department and the spaces we are creating for our students. I can't wait until we can get to a place where we can put our feet up on our desks (figuratively and well, maybe literally), but that won't be for a while! While the work is hard, it's meaningful and enjoyable. The best part is that I'm not doing it alone. I'm working along side some of the best art teachers in the world! Joseph Frontier thanks for making our work collaborative and fun. I love working along side you & sharing a classroom with you!!"

The truth is while I am utterly exhausted, feel overwhelmed, totally sore, and have come home from work everyday disgustingly dirty, but I actually like the hard work. So much of it is physical. I'm getting over 15K steps in everyday! It's going to get old but that's what weekends are for. I went in on my Saturday hoping to catch up a bit and knock a few more lines off my to do list. I'll probably go in tomorrow and thankfully won't be able to go in on Labor Day, but that only means I'll spend the time at home on the computer prepping for my teaching week. Yahoo, it's back to work time! I already looked up when Winter and Spring Break are-- haha!

Mid May Moving

I got sick again last week. This is the 3rd time I've been sick this school year, more than any other year I have taught in 25 years. I'm not sure if it is because I'm older or if there is just so much more out there. I kicked off the school year with a bout of Covid and have gotten an aggressive cold (RSV?). I do not wear a mask and I should. Between the cold, age and it being the end of the year, I am weary and ready for a summer break. I'm starting to feel like I may be ready for retirement soon (next year or two?).

On Sunday Monika got us tickets to go see Lion King. I was able to invite my friends; Joe brought his family, Grace and Patty both brought their husbands. It was a very fun evening. I sat next to Joe's wife who also had a cold, so I did not feel bad not wearing a mask since both of us were blowing our noses.

At school, I am working on finishing up. The newspaper is working on a senior issue and the yearbook is fixing up a small mistake. We got our books delivered a week early which gave us plenty of time to fix a broken QR code. We used a free website to make the code and it expired. I made a new one with Adobe and purchased stickers. After printing 1000 off, the kids started working on sticking them all in. It is a very minor mistake. There are a few spelling mistakes, but so far, the book looks so good. The kids want me to tell them it is the best and I hate telling them I have to wait until it gets out there. I have to wait until I get complaints. That's the thing, I only hear the complaints. It's part my feeling a bit low at this time year-- I am afraid of those potential complaints. I haven't gotten them, but I know how horrible that feeling is when a mom emails complaining about how we left their kid or spelled their kid's name wrong. Mom's tend to think other kids did it on purpose and want heads to roll. Only once I got an email from a mom who thanked me for all the work but wanted to inform me of a minor mistake regarding her kid. I was so impressed with how sensitive this woman was with me. I wish everyone could be that kind, but they aren't.  I shared with my students, that no one ever contacts me to tell me how great the book is, so they needed to listen to what kids are saying and remember to share a few good comments my way. I could use a few nice words every so often.

Prom and Spring is here!

Prom used to be Mother's Day weekend but this year it came the week before. The weather warmed up just in time for a wonderful weekend. I still have photo duty-- which just means setting up lights and cameras, getting student volunteers and supervising them. It makes for an easy in and easy out, without much clean up. One camera ran out of batteries and another ran out of disc space, so it was a great excuse to leave early. I can barely stay up after 10pm these days. It's a fun evening, seeing all the kids dressed up and acting their best. 

With the yearbook done, my May is pretty open. I'm working on a lot of projects, but nothing pressing. I have the June issue of the newspaper which needs to be printed for graduation. I'm working on a highlight reel of animations featuring student work for film fest. I need to organize yearbook distribution with a viewing party featuring pies, a BBQ, a luncheon with cake and senior gifts. Plenty to keep me busy, but not too stressful. I'd like to paint my kitchen white when there's time at home when I have energy. I started but it's going pretty slowly since I'm in no hurry.

The yearbook is done!

My students finished the yearbook today and suddenly it feels like school is almost done! There are 44 days left until school is out; or 31 school days. Yes, I am now counting down! Prom tickets go on sale next week and an administrator told me once (when I was the Prom adviser) that once prom is over so are the students. Since the pandemic absences are kind of crazy, add spring weather, senioritis, AP exams, and field trips and it's just going to be nuts. 

I have to be honest, this year the stress of making the yearbook weighed a bit heavier than last. The older I get, the harder it is for me to jungle all the things I do at school. The kids always procrastinate but a few really left it until way last minute, like down to the very last minutes of class today. Spring sports are always difficult and as always, Baseball was the last page done along with Girls Soccer and some senior collage pages. But I walked out of school this evening at 5:29 pm (see picture) and took Monika out to dinner to celebrate. I'll bring in big treats tomorrow (I'm thinking some Dairy Queen Blizzards). On Friday I am taking a bunch of my students to see the Super Mario Bros on a field trip.

Yep, May is just going to fly by!

Holiday Weekend?

At what point did Easter become meaningless in our household? Monika asked yesterday. Jim came down for the weekend so we could celebrate his birthday. We went out to eat to a Jordanian restaurant for an early dinner with Erika & Mon, missing Jess ($120 for just the four of us). The food was amazing but the conversation and joy of being together was the best. I almost forgot it was easter and yes, it is completely meaningless in our household. 

I am just about finished with the fireplace. I hung the mantel on Friday. I need to finish cleaning the grout, add the trim and add a black finishing caulk around the box. I should probable by a fire retardant for under the mantel as I have a bad history of fires running amok. It all looks so nice, I am kind of afraid to have any fires at this point! Here's my Google photo album of before and after images.

I took Jim for a tour of the new art space yesterday and he was very impressed with our spaces. They are currently working on gutting the old space (room 508) which used to be an open studio and creating 3 separate classrooms; a drawing room, computer lab and photo lab, along with an office space and gallery. The days of an open shared studio is over. I am hoping to make the painting room as much my classroom as I can (see below) BUT shared spaces are not complete over. Josh is currently teaching drawing in the painting room since the drawing room is not complete, so he has a strong presence still. In the future, Grace will teach fashion design in that space as well, but I think I will eventually be the primary teacher using the space until I retire-- which I keep vacillating over-- next year or the year after? We shall see how things go next year before making that decision. Right now I am excited to be working and doing all the things I'm doing and I finally feel like I am in command. I have begun to add things to the walls of the painting room I want. I am still looking for a good Star Trek flag to add to the mix!

Heating Up

It is starting to feel like spring. There are still bits of snow here and there, so it's not too warm but relatively warm. Anything over 32 degrees feels balmy these days. I am eager for some warmth, so much so I am tempted to go tanning but I'm trying not to spend money. Spring Break is 3 weeks away but I'm not going anywhere warm. I had hoped to visit Jessi in Virginia but she got called up to go to the middle east at the last minute. Well, tanning is cheaper than going to a beach. We'll see.

Things are heating up at work with moving day being the week before spring break. There's just so much to do but I keep chipping away little by little, hoping it's enough. The yearbook is heating up as well. I included my photo here that is going on the yearbook staff page. Working on the yearbook is my favorite part of my job but it can be the most stressful as well. Deadlines are right before spring break, along with grades and the moving. The next few weeks are just going to be crazy.

On a more personal note, I met with my doctor and a specialist last week and it's looking like I will be having surgery over the summer-- a hysterectomy. I also signed up for summer school this summer since my retirement counts the 3 highest years income. This summer may end up being more interesting than I want it to be. As long as the pool is involved, it will be okay.

It's a Gift

I've been team teaching an art class for disabled students with Erika this semester. It is the first time I am working with so many disabled students in one class. I usually only have one or two in an art class at the most. I once taught a class that had nearly half of my students with IEP's (write ups for disabilities) and I was given a special ed teacher for the hour for support but most of the kids in that class had behavior issues, not developmental issues. Currently, I have 4 students in wheelchairs that have very little mobility. Many students are non verbal or are difficult for me to understand. A couple are deaf and I have a hard time understanding them. I should learn sign language. I have a couple of students who are Spanish speaker and it is great fun to hear Erika learning Spanish to speak to them. My mom would be so proud of her. The class is not easy, but it warms my heart every day to see Erika at work and watch her deal with issues that come up. She is kind and easy going, hugs kids comfortably and is constantly smiling. When I got my teacher's license I avoided getting a special certification to work with special needs children because I was so uncomfortable around them. I am not a huggy teacher, so when kids approach me for a hug, I am reluctant but I am learning many of these kids will not be turned away easily and I'm glad. 

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The Countdown to Summer started.

We had very hot weather this past week. It has felt very summer-like but I have felt like there is so much to do at work, that I haven't been feeling like summer is that close. Jim's summer starts next week. I've got about 18 work days still, only 14 with kids! I have a student teacher who will not be able to take things over, so my plan of having time to clean up the studio may or may not happen. Tomorrow I meet with senior editors to choose future editors who will make big changes next year. In Yearbook we start working on the senior edition of the newspaper, which always marks an end to the school year as well as run yearbook distribution. May is always such a whirlwind of activity. 

I had hoped with the heat would bring a better mood, and I guess it did and yet there's still some sadness hanging around. I miss my mom, and think about wanting to call her too often. I am trying not to worry about Jessi over in Europe doing work in the Baltic Sea (I sent her a big box of treats yesterday). I do enjoy having Erika at work with me and seeing her in the hall often as well as having Monika at home with me cooking, knowing both situations will come to an end in time. I think I have decided to push off retirement for several years now and that uncertainty has been a source of confusion for me. The economic downturn offers a bit more incentive to continue working (my retirement fund has lost tens of thousands this year). Becoming the art department head has me feeling some weight, as we are in this crazy transition time in education. And since I mentioned weight, I am constantly thinking about my actual weight, realizing more and more that the older I get, the less I can eat. By the time I'm 80, I'll be down to a small bowl of oatmeal a day-- haha. 

Here's a photo from the girls soccer game with two of my students who chose me as the teacher to be appreciated. It was wonderful to feel appreciated.

Prom Season

After two years off, we are back to a somewhat normal prom season. At my school every year during Mother's Day weekend is prom. Kids had to wear masks and there was no cake to eat. But what I found interesting was because we hadn't had a prom for 2 years, most kids had no idea what to expect. So many traditions are carried on year after year but when everything stopped for almost 2 years, traditions had a hard time carrying forward. Other than the masks and the lack of cake, I noticed the mismatch of shoes; combat boots with gowns, air jordans with a tux, slippers, sneakers, crocks, rubber sandals, etc. Oh sure, there were plenty of traditional formal shoes too but they were not the norm. I also noticed a lot more gender mixing outfits, boys in prom dresses and girls in suits. Some kids left early because they thought the dance was boring and I heard others exclaiming it was so fun they did not want it to be over. I did my best to make sure everyone got to capture the evening with a photo. I had a couple of underclassmen who had photo experience helping me out. It was a late night for me but luckily I got to sleep in this morning for Mother's day. Erika and Monika took me out for lunch downtown and then Monika and I enjoyed evening watching some tv. The day was cooler than I'd hoped but we are in for some heat later this week. I can't wait!

Overloaded

It's been 2 weeks since checking in on my blog and I had a student ask me about it yesterday! Oops. Without having my mom around to complain if I miss a post, I often procrastinate. My mom would call me if I missed a day, concerned about why. This semester I have an overload-- 6 classes instead of 5, so I'm feeling busier. I started swimming again at lunch twice a week to keep myself active. I actually posted my Professional Practice Goal as swimming 500 yards in 15 minutes twice a week. I know it's not really "professional" but it's about self care and staying healthy as a teacher during this difficult time. I'm overloaded, the pandemic is dragging on and I'm dealing with record numbers of students who are disengaged in my class. It's exhausting. BUT overall my classes are going well. Animation is the most time consuming class, not yearbook interestingly. The only discipline issues I seem to deal with is kids are are not engaged in class -- they stare at their phone, on Tik Tok or watching Netflix. They aren't disruptive. Kids are so rarely disruptive anymore, at least not in my classes. I have kids failing in all of my classes except Yearbook. They fail mostly because they rarely come to class and when they do, they don't work. I make rounds, after giving instruction to the class, asking kids who aren't working what they need. Students so rarely ask questions and seldom ask for help. If I sit back and work on other things, kids will sit back and just fail. There are a few kids who can't take the confrontation. They rarely push back, they just leave. There is a culture change and it scares me a bit. There are a lot of students who are avoiding life. What happens to those kids after high school? I try not worry about all that. I know I'm on my last few couple of years teaching. It makes for a nice balance in the scheme of things. 

I'm on VACATION!!

I came home from work today utterly exhausted and very ready to be on vacation. I don't think I'm busier, especially not as busy as when the girls were in high school. I'm just a lot more tired at the end of my day. There is not a lot of physicality to teaching, (unless you are coach or gym teacher maybe) but there is a busyness that ebbs and flows. For me when yearbook deadlines hit, newspaper layout happens and grades or projects need attending to, things heat up; especially when all of those things happen at once. This week was one of those weeks when there was a lot on the hopper and I am so glad the week is over. Better than just a weekend ahead, I have two full weeks off with no school work to think about. I have so much to prep for for next semester, but I'm not even going to think about it. Note; the photo is for the yearbook spread-- we are all taking staff photos from movie or tv show posters and mine is from "Bad Teacher" 

 

December Count Down

Once December hits, the days are short and the count down to winter break is on. This past week flew by and now we only have 2 left. The semester has been really great. After the craziness of last year, this year feels wonderful at times. I love being with the kids with the exception of one or two dumb ones. All of my difficult situations are with students who are not in my class-- kids who wonder in to avoid their own classes. There are record numbers of kids out in the halls, avoiding their classes. I guess after a year and a half of being able to do whatever, it's hard to have sit still for some. Having Erika at work makes life more fun too. This week admin had us pass out a survey to all of our students asking about our classes, how fun they were, if they felt mutual respect in the classroom with the teacher. I had one student comment that they could tell I really liked my job and another say how much they loved the vibe in my room. It was nice to read. Below, I got a photo of my yearbook class for the yearbook page. A lot of kids forgot to wear their sweatshirts but oh well. This year I have the most kids working on pages so we are easily making our deadlines. It may be the best book yet! 

What is your passion?

I had a student ask me today when I found my passion. I responded with that I am pretty sure I am still looking for it but then proceeded to talk about my journey through grade school to the present of my wanting to be a teacher but always being gravitated to art making for various reasons. I don't think I ever thought I could be an art teacher as a youngster. I did not have an art teacher until I was in 7th grade and I did not connect, but I had a lot of elementary teachers I dearly loved, so I remember wanting to be an elementary school teacher. At some point I recall wanting to be the kind of teacher I never had. -- someone who did not get upset, and rarely said no. I learned early on that did not make me a good teacher, just a nice one. 

I am really enjoying my schedule this year and absolutely love being in the classroom with students. At one point I had planned for this to be my last year of teaching which is no longer my plan. I am enjoying the work too much and am afraid retiring too soon will be a mistake. I have so much I think about doing but wonder about that passion-- maybe I'm still trying to figure it out. (note: the photo is of my practicum student teacher doing a demonstration).

HoCo 2021

We got to celebrate, what felt like an almost normal homecoming week! It was great fun having Erika here to experience it all too! 

First Day of School!

539 days after what seemed liked  a normal Friday we went home to find the United States declared a national emergency due to the COVID-19. I remember Joe telling me we would not be back and I said, "no way!" Boy, was I wrong-- and kind of oblivious. The last year and a half has been so odd but what become a new normal. I keep wondering when does it all go back to "normal" and today was that day, but with some significant changes. Obviously we are all in masks. Students are taking the mask mandate seriously. I did not have one student not wearing a mask or refusing or even not wearing it correctly. While lots of teachers start the school year with a seating chart, it's not something I normally do but I have to now for contact tracing reasons. I wonder if masks become something we begin to wear regularly in American society for mitigation. They do it in Japan? It's really hard to read student's faces with masks. I can't see who's talking and I often can hear what's being said. There have been some positive changes in education and I'm eager to see how this all plays out.

 

Graduation Times Two

For social distancing reasons, we had two graduations which allowed for twice the student speakers but meant spending most of the day helping out with ceremonies. Admin asked if I would create a photo booth for families to take photos. I needed to have a tent set up for shade and was able to use all the balloons from the senior party photo booth. It worked out great. I stood around letting parents know that I could take the photo with their phones or cameras so that the whole family could be in the photo. It was a great idea! I wasn't sure how it would turn out. Because of the heat, the district decided to make mask wearing optional so hardly anyone was wearing a mask. It was the first time I was able to get photos with kids without masks on and not get into any trouble (I posted a bunch on instagram!!). I came home from the day over heated and exhausted, eager to put my feet up and enjoy some air conditioning.