Weekly Update

I'm sitting here at parent/teacher conferences, and I actually have a little break. That's a total miracle. Tuesday I did not move my butt from my chair for 3 1/2 hours. That was a long night. For fall conferences at my school, all the teachers sit at tables in the commons, and parents move from table to table, visiting the teachers they need to see. I had a line waiting in front of my table for the whole night on Tuesday. It's been a steady stream tonight so far, but I've actually had some time to breathe in between conferences, so that's been refreshing.

This week has been completely crazy. Monday was our only normal day... well, as normal as you can get with middle school. It was an especially long day for me because I'd been up very late Sunday night finishing grades. I stayed at school until 1:30 a.m., and I don't mind doing that because it's quiet and I get a lot done, but it makes a very short night's sleep.

Tuesday was an early dismissal due to conferences. After school, I worked like mad getting ready for Wednesday staff development, which I was in charge of, along with my associate principal. I grabbed something to eat and quickly let the dog out before heading back to school for conferences. After conferences, I had rehearsal until 10:45, which would have been enough, right? Well... I had stuff to finish for the morning, so I went back to school after that. Another short night of sleep.

I was at school by 7 a.m. on Wednesday to prep for staff development (on a normal day, I'm not even up by that time), and even though I was tired, it was totally worth it. Kelly, my associate principal, and I had planned different learning stations for our colleagues to learn some new strategies for differentiating instruction for all learners. Our planning really paid off. Everything went so smoothly, and so many people came up to me afterward to say that they really got a lot out of the experience. Wednesday night I had choir, and then rehearsal after that until about 11.

Today, we had another early dismissal because of conferences. And now, here I am. I have rehearsal when I leave here, probably until 10:30 or 11. And then... drum roll please... I GET TO SLEEP LATE TOMORROW!!!! I can't tell you how I'm looking forward to that. Is it bad to look so forward to sleep??? Having Friday off is the best part of conference week.

Tomorrow I'm having a special rehearsal at 1:30, and then I'm meeting up with a friend of mine who is coming into town for the weekend. I hear about what Emily is up to through Facebook and through her mom who is in my Centering Prayer group, but I haven't actually seen her in a few years, so I'm looking forward to it.

Saturday is the big day at the Governor's mansion. Dad and Alice are going with me, and the other two teachers in my district who earned National Board Certification last year will be there with their families too. I don't really know what to expect, but I'm excited.

Choir sings on Sunday, but I don't have to teach Sunday school. That combined with turning the clocks back will hopefully catch me up on all the sleep I missed this week. I'm hoping!

Someone (Tracy maybe?) sent me a pretty funny website this week. If you're a Republican, don't bother, but it's so funny that I wish they'd actually do the same thing for all the candidates. Check it out at www.palinaspresident.com. I'm actually really looking forward to Election Day. It's that A.P. Government nerd in me. Whenever I vote, I think of Mr. Tobias. His class was a highlight of my junior year. That was the 1988-1989 school year, with the George Bush/Michael Dukakis campaign. Mr. T worked it out for our class to be at the courthouse on Election night. We got to tally and run totals to the newspapers and TV stations. It was a total blast. It also instilled in me a passion for voting and the whole election process. Thanks, Mr. T. I'll be thinking of you on Tuesday.