Day 9: About me.

Today's task is a long one. For Reflective Teaching Day 9, I need to:

1. Share five things about myself
2. Share four things on my bucket list
3. Share three things that I hope for this year (as a "person" or educator)
4. Share two things that have made me laugh or cry as an educator
5. Share one thing I wish more people knew about me

Here we go...

1. Five things about myself...

• I have 2 beautiful kids, Lily and Jackson. They are my motivation to be the best teacher that I can be. I want to be the educator that I would want them to have.
• I coach the varsity volleyball team. I coached for 3 years before I had Lily. I am in year 2 of my second stint as coach.
• I try to be a runner. I have gotten better about running as I have gotten older. I am going to be running in a team relay in October.
• I function best when I am on a schedule. This might be one of the reasons why I love teaching so much.
• I met my husband at work. I also met my wife there. (This is only sort of a joke.)

2. I don't even think I have a bucket list...but these are the things that I would like to do before I turn 100...

• Visit more states. I don't want to say all 50, but I just wanted to see more of the country.
• Travel to Europe. Specifically to England. Specifically to stalk literary sites.
• Be happy, always.
• Keep in touch with the people I love. (So, maybe the last two are a little lame and aren't really concrete things to go do, but as I was doing this I realized I don't have some long list of things I feel like I HAVE to do.)

3. Three things I hope for this year...

• That my learner centered classroom works beyond my expectations.
• That I stay balanced at home and at school.
• That I get Jackson fully potty trained and sleeping in his bed all night long.

4. Two things that have made me laugh or cry as an educator...

• One crying moment: I had a really tough co-teaching experience that just wore me down. I was carrying my load and the co-teacher's load and it was just a huge burden. I definitely broke down crying in my classroom when that was happening.
• One laughing moment: A lot of things make me laugh. One moment isn't particularly educational, but it is funny. When I was pregnant with Lily one of my students who was sitting in the front row of the room blurted out, "OH NO! I am in the splash zone!" I replied, "What do you mean, splash zone?" He replied, "If your water breaks! I AM IN THE FRONT ROW!" I told him I would get him a raincoat.

5. I wish more people knew that I work so hard at my job because I believe the students who I teach deserve a fair chance at a good, solid education. I also believe that each student who I teach needs an adult in his/her corner. Sometimes balancing my job and my home life means late nights and long days, or dragging my kids to school for another function, but I believe it's worth it. I don't believe I am sacrificing one thing for another by being involved at school. I love my work. I love my family. I am so lucky that I can make both worlds work.