2010 in Summary

Next blog prompt from Reverb 2010: December 15 – 5 Minutes. Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010. (Author: Patti Digh)


Here I we go: 2010 started out very bleak for me. The first three and half months were a dark time in my life. To this day, I am not entirely sure why. For some reason, my faith in myself and my places in my family and my social circle was shaken. Although I am not 100 percent clear on the cause of this dark moment in my life, I do know that the weather had something to do with it, and as the ground thawed, so did my attitude toward the world. In the spring, my energy and my enthusiasm slowly increased.

In April, my principal called me into his office. I was nervous. What had I or someone in my department done? I was surprised to hear that I was chosen as the CHS teacher of the year - surprised because as department chair, I had nominated three other teachers. I had hoped it would be one of them who had won. Shortly thereafter, I interviewed for and won the district Teacher of the Year.

One big decision I made this year was to step down as department chair. This gave me a lot more time this summer to enjoy summer. And so I started my master's program, which has been more work than I expected, but rewarding nonetheless.

In the fall, I finished my application for State Teacher of the Year, and I discovered in December that I had been chosen. That has been a whirlwind.

Meanwhile, the year was largely devoid of serious illness - no hospitalizations, knock on wood. We like Rosalind's 2nd grade teacher. Jason has also started his master's in liberal arts. Sawyer is starting to enjoy toys beyond trains, but we still love to read about, play with, and visit trains.

Time!

With that prompt over with, I have to say that thoroughly enjoying this weather.Spring in January.

I'd share what I am reading, but I am still reading about school finance. It's a lot more interesting that it sounds. This week we are discussing systemic challenges to school finance - vouchers and religious charter schools especially. I am also reading lots and lots (91to be exact) developing research papers. My favorite topics so far:

• What happened with the death of Benny Paret?
• Why should the federal Department of Education be eliminated?
• What is technology addiction?
• How do the recession and the Tahoe ski industry affect one another?
• What is behind the age controversy in the Olympics?
• What are Colic and Laminitis in horses and how can they be prevented and treated?

Sheesh! I love my job!

Most popular topics this year from my students:

• What is diabetes and how is it treated?
• What effect does music have on a person?
• What injuries are common in snowboarders and how can these be prevented?

Things are coming together with their papers. My seniors this year rock, in case I haven't mentioned that before. I better not get too used to it. Things could be very different next year, but for now, I am loving on my classes and closing with a picture from a year ago.