Back to school...

This week is actually the fourth week of school. I know that because I stayed up until 6:00AM writing lesson plans for the coming week. There's a blank on the form that says: Week _____. I wrote a 4 in the blank because last week's had a 3 in that blank.

School is cranking. We are getting used to getting up at 5:45 and being out the door around 6:30. That's AM for all you who know me well. Stand in awe.

Going back to work has had quite the learning curve. I never really missed teaching. Missed the students, but not the teaching drill. The bottom line of the return to teaching is that I love working with the students. I'm not feeling quite so much love for the hoops, but it is what it is.

The first week of school I slept a total of fifteen hours over five days. Brutal. My friend, Holly the school nurse, appointed herself my accountability partner after that week. Every morning, I have to go in and tell her what time I went to bed. For that, I am grateful. I've gotten much better at screening the possibilities just because I'm skeert of Holly. :) Seriously... I love Holly. That's what friends do for you... help you find the boundaries when you aren't quite certain where they should be yourself. I am grateful for Holly.

I have no classroom. I have no office. I do have a rockin' cart that looks a little like an ice cream cart on wheels. The students ask me each day what I'm selling. So far, we've come up with ice cream, hot dogs, snow cones, coffee, vitamins, and smoothies. The other teachers have been gracious beyond measure, as I am literally the only full-time teacher with no classroom or office at all. I keep my rolling tote parked in the teachers' workroom and my cart lives in Gail's room overnight, since her room is where my homeroom meets. I could technically teach in a total of seven different rooms, but most of the time I visit only six.

For the first time ever, I'm teaching middle school. Much to my surprise, I really like it. They are sweet. Clueless sometimes, but sweet. I'm also teaching ninth grade. Here at the beginning of the year, they are teetering between middle school memories and the welcome-to-high-school-wake-up-call.

I'm also back with the journalism half of journalism/graphic design. We have 27ish students this year, which is a huge increase over last year. Most student publications have a staff of 12-15. We are so above average. :) I am excited about this crop of new writers. They are gifted. God has been good to us to send such talented kids to our class. And as good as our leadership was last year, this year's editorial team is already knocking it out of the park. They are every adviser's dream: they lead and we truly get to advise. This year is going to be a blast!

Jimmy has been my knight in shining armor. He has held together home as I have jumped in way over my head at school. As I begin to come up for air, he is there encouraging me to do what it takes and standing in the gap. I hope I honor the Lord most of all, but in a comfortable second, I hope I make Jimmy proud too.

Kelsey is playing volleyball, though some coaching changes have made this year a difficult one on many levels. It's her story, so I won't air it here on my blog, but let me put it in a nutshell: she has handled overwhelming adversity with grace well beyond her years. She's handled it better than I have. I am proud of the young woman of God she is becoming. She has a killer-intense schedule, with the crowning jewel being AP Biology. It is a college-level class in both theory and practice and takes a HUGE chunk of her time daily. She's got the most rigorous academic load she can possibly have with the exception of math. Even though she qualified for Honors Algebra II, she's opted for the regular class. We are not of the math tribe.

Zane is enjoying his final year of middle school and having a ton of fun on the football team. Once again, he is leading team devotions, and we are right there on the verge of starting a new middle school FCA that meets on Friday mornings. Still working out a few details, but it's been high on Zane's wish list for a while to get one going. He is doing great in school. His English teacher stopped me about a week ago to tell me he'd given a massively hard quiz that no one should have passed without taking extensive notes on the reading. Zane just read and forgot to take notes. He made a 95. :)

Zack LOVES second grade. We had a moment of hesitation before school started when he found out his best bud --- the one he's been with since preschool --- was in a different class. But his teacher is awesome and he's gotten to know some new friends too, so we're cruising right along. His birthday is next weekend, and we are STILL figuring out what the party will look like. I can't believe my baby is growing up so very fast. He's decided he wants to play football, but not by the rules. Basketball and soccer met the same fate. We're encouraging him to take up tennis next spring and we've even bought him a racket. We'll see what happens when he hits the courts for real.

The picture at the beginning of this post is from the first day of school. Jimmy took Zack for a haircut the day before. It didn't turn out so well. I gave them some more specific instructions and they went back for a fix-up appointment the evening of the first day of school. MUCH better the second time!

Well... that's about it. I still have about five journalism articles to evaluate, a short story to read and prepare to teach, and a quiz to make before I can call it a day... or night. And I most certainly don't want to have to tell Holly I stayed up too late again.

Thanks for your prayers!