(no subject)
*Waves Wildly!* Hi everybody!!! Miss me? Notice I was gone? Still reading Livejournal????
Whatever the case may be...I'm back in civilization. I'm back to school tomorrow for meetings, though fortunately it's only part time all week as I organize my classroom and work on planning. (Lots and lots of planning...I always think I'll do it in the summer and never do...) So here is a bit of an update first.
1) "Camp Sommerspass" was fantastic. Extremely draining, but invigorating at the same time. These are kids from 2nd-6th grade who in most cases speak better than my high schoolers. Fairfax County has pros and cons, and immersion education has pros and cons, but one pro is definitely cranking out a lot of kids with great confidence and ability to communicate. (Not always grammatically correct, but communicating nonetheless). There was not only a lot of German speaking, but most of the typical "camp" experiences-- swimming, crafts, hikes, talent night, etc. My kids had fun too-- they had 3 junior counselors hired to watch out for the children of the staff and volunteers, so they also got to go swimming and have a nice camping expereince. Haven't decided if I can go next year or not, but I'm hoping so-- working with the other teachers is very inspiring. The director, Maura, is hugely ADD (which meant that my colleague Haley and I were very much needed to keep the planning and schedule in control), but off the charts creative and with great energy for the immersion experience. I'm coming back with lots of good ideas for my own classes and belief in the concept of teaching in the target language. (I.e. speaking as little English as possible).
2) I was so excited to spend a bit of time in Delaware on the way back. Remember that Wayne's World scene where they pretend to be psyched about being in Delaware? My friend slitterst commented that my excitement about being in Delaware was entirely without satire. I'm very happy about my job in Maine and I love being here...but I will always feel torn that part of me wishes we were in Delaware. Wonder what the retirement prospects there are like? Anyway, I enjoyed my visit with slitterst, rlitterst, bobbinchick (and Mr. Chick) and bronwen_bento, and the kids all played together well, too. A big round of applause to the Hill family for hosting yet again. You have no idea how much it means to have a place to crash and visit. Next time I'll have to be more proactive about visiting a couple others in the area (Yes, looking at you Donna and Kathy).
3) Remember how I said "extremely draining"? I just woke up from a nap of nearly 2 hours and was so disoriented it took about three minutes to realize that I was in my own house and the only people here were my husband and kids (i.e. no counselors/teachers). So glad to have my own bed back. The cabin beds were decent, but next year I think I'll skip the sleeping bag and bring regular sheets and blanket. I might even get more sleep next year because my kids will be older and we will be able to re-use plans from last year and not be up so late configuring things. (The camp has been in operation about 7 years, but we're at a new site and also had many new staff).
4) Was having a talk with Jeff about finances and we agreed that we'd be continuing to avoid any frivolous purchases for a while. I thought for a minute and mentioned, "Right. Oh, I am just planning on picking up a ukulele..." Then I realized that in any other household, that would have been a joke. But no. I actually am looking to pick up a uke as soon as I can find one cheaply. I've been wanting to play a stringed instrument for forever, and had sort of settled on starting with the ukulele since it's quite simple and portable. My friend Casey, who will hopefully be teaching at camp next year, is a great accordion player, so the two of us will be leading all the camp singing. Believe it or not, there are actually a few youtube videos of uke/accordion duets. Do I qualify for "eccentric" yet, or am I still just "weird"?
5) Looking forward to doing "back to school" shopping this week. Most of the major sales are probably over, but I will do my best to keep the finances secure while getting what we need. Max has a substantial list of 1st grade items (mostly dry erase pens, pencils, tissues, etc.), and I have a lot of things I need for my class. Won't get much in the way of clothes for any of us, but I do want Max to have at least one new outfit (and maybe me too). Part of me dreads going back, but then there's that part that, for the last 35 years, has gotten little butterflies and excitement about the start of a new year. I'm nervous already but pretty confident it will be a good year.
Whatever the case may be...I'm back in civilization. I'm back to school tomorrow for meetings, though fortunately it's only part time all week as I organize my classroom and work on planning. (Lots and lots of planning...I always think I'll do it in the summer and never do...) So here is a bit of an update first.
1) "Camp Sommerspass" was fantastic. Extremely draining, but invigorating at the same time. These are kids from 2nd-6th grade who in most cases speak better than my high schoolers. Fairfax County has pros and cons, and immersion education has pros and cons, but one pro is definitely cranking out a lot of kids with great confidence and ability to communicate. (Not always grammatically correct, but communicating nonetheless). There was not only a lot of German speaking, but most of the typical "camp" experiences-- swimming, crafts, hikes, talent night, etc. My kids had fun too-- they had 3 junior counselors hired to watch out for the children of the staff and volunteers, so they also got to go swimming and have a nice camping expereince. Haven't decided if I can go next year or not, but I'm hoping so-- working with the other teachers is very inspiring. The director, Maura, is hugely ADD (which meant that my colleague Haley and I were very much needed to keep the planning and schedule in control), but off the charts creative and with great energy for the immersion experience. I'm coming back with lots of good ideas for my own classes and belief in the concept of teaching in the target language. (I.e. speaking as little English as possible).
2) I was so excited to spend a bit of time in Delaware on the way back. Remember that Wayne's World scene where they pretend to be psyched about being in Delaware? My friend slitterst commented that my excitement about being in Delaware was entirely without satire. I'm very happy about my job in Maine and I love being here...but I will always feel torn that part of me wishes we were in Delaware. Wonder what the retirement prospects there are like? Anyway, I enjoyed my visit with slitterst, rlitterst, bobbinchick (and Mr. Chick) and bronwen_bento, and the kids all played together well, too. A big round of applause to the Hill family for hosting yet again. You have no idea how much it means to have a place to crash and visit. Next time I'll have to be more proactive about visiting a couple others in the area (Yes, looking at you Donna and Kathy).
3) Remember how I said "extremely draining"? I just woke up from a nap of nearly 2 hours and was so disoriented it took about three minutes to realize that I was in my own house and the only people here were my husband and kids (i.e. no counselors/teachers). So glad to have my own bed back. The cabin beds were decent, but next year I think I'll skip the sleeping bag and bring regular sheets and blanket. I might even get more sleep next year because my kids will be older and we will be able to re-use plans from last year and not be up so late configuring things. (The camp has been in operation about 7 years, but we're at a new site and also had many new staff).
4) Was having a talk with Jeff about finances and we agreed that we'd be continuing to avoid any frivolous purchases for a while. I thought for a minute and mentioned, "Right. Oh, I am just planning on picking up a ukulele..." Then I realized that in any other household, that would have been a joke. But no. I actually am looking to pick up a uke as soon as I can find one cheaply. I've been wanting to play a stringed instrument for forever, and had sort of settled on starting with the ukulele since it's quite simple and portable. My friend Casey, who will hopefully be teaching at camp next year, is a great accordion player, so the two of us will be leading all the camp singing. Believe it or not, there are actually a few youtube videos of uke/accordion duets. Do I qualify for "eccentric" yet, or am I still just "weird"?
5) Looking forward to doing "back to school" shopping this week. Most of the major sales are probably over, but I will do my best to keep the finances secure while getting what we need. Max has a substantial list of 1st grade items (mostly dry erase pens, pencils, tissues, etc.), and I have a lot of things I need for my class. Won't get much in the way of clothes for any of us, but I do want Max to have at least one new outfit (and maybe me too). Part of me dreads going back, but then there's that part that, for the last 35 years, has gotten little butterflies and excitement about the start of a new year. I'm nervous already but pretty confident it will be a good year.