Tuesday, July 18, 2006

The End of Summer Vacation

I don't usually relate much about my career in this particular blog, but today my work life and personal life were at the summer crossroads.

I've learned that many teachers spend their summer vacations doing many of the same things that I have done...home improvement, professional development and serious family time. My children tease that as we visit the local home improvement store that I'll run into one of my teacher friends and we always do. Sometimes we see more than one!

We all set some summer time goals, so that the time didn't slip away. We planted a garden that's doing pretty well. I finished a few major projects. There are more to go, but I'm happy that many were accomplished. Life is much more peaceful with the day to day household things more organized and under control. I'm not sure if I'll ever have every drawer organized and labelled like Sheila, but it's much better than a year ago.

Today was the official end of my summer vacation. I spent the morning with a team helping to put a computer lab back together after recarpeting. (We think the carpet was original to the 1977 building, so it was long overdue.) The carpeting is so beautiful, that after the machines were set up and ready to go, I spent the rest of the day making sure that everything in the lab was in tip top shape. I cleaned out the closet. Sorted through the miscellaneous tech stuff that gathers in the corners and under the tables and put aside the stuff that needs to be surplused to the district. All in all things got done to help get the new school year started off on the right foot. Of course there are always those projects that are important, yet never quite urgent enough to get done when school is in session, so I'd better find a few more hours before the faculty returns and get things all done up right. For instance updating the machine images, reimaging the lab computers, and reimaging the computers for the new teachers. Of course I'm sure that the first few weeks will be spent helping to get all of the equipment set up properly after the new carpet install.

It's been a shorter summer than usual for me this year, but I feel excited to get to work with students again. I've been taking an online basic PowerPoint course through the Utah Education Network this summer and it's sparked some ideas of things I'm looking forward to doing.

Tomorrow morning is an opening faculty meeting and I have the new school year excitement butterflies! I always try to find a way to support my schools goals and hope that this year I might actually do it.

And as I've finally learned to do, when I leave school tomorrow afternoon, I leave teacher at school and return home as Mom.

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