A monk, an assassin, a professor and a high school teacher go into a bar ...

We had a great break! Over the holidays we celebrated, visited friends and family, exchanged some wonderful gifts, and got nearly caught up with our three-month backlog of errands and household chores. It never ceases to amaze me how little I can get done in my "real life" while teaching, and how busy I am every day of any break from school. Andrew experienced this first hand over the break and really did need another week off to catch up.

The weeks off were still rejuvenating, despite staying very busy, and we did at least get a lot of sleep in.

We enjoyed our now-annual trip to Citrico's with friends. Evan and Joe were there. Joe will be going into the brotherhood of St. Leo's - monkhood (or whatever you call it)! Personally, I wasn't particularly shocked by the news and I think it'll be a wonderful thing for him. Evan is on his way to being hired for the government where he will probably see a lot of excitement and be killed in a far off country well before he reaches a ripe old age of any kind. I probably shouldn't say anything more about that.

So it seems like that will probably be our last Citrico's celebration, maybe ever, at least in the current form. We ate pricey food in a hoity toity atmosphere - things I adore. Then we went to the bar and hung out for a bit before retiring for the evening. Evan and the two of us stayed overnight in one of the Disney resorts, so we got up the next day and had breakfast before heading out.

Christmas break highlights included getting a nice lateral file with a bookcase hutch from my in-laws. I put it together for the den, which Andrew finally had some time to clean out (it had been piled up with tons of boxes since we moved in in April!), so now we have a much nicer, neater den in which I can actually work. That was a huge relief. Dad got us a color printer/photo printer/scanner/copier that I asked for. A lovely thing and very handy for me as sometimes I get a copy of a handout I was to use. This way I don't have to retype it and can still have a digital copy. There are lots of other nice gifts, those just come to mind.

The first week of school was exhausting. We got Monday to plan, then had four days with the students. I have all new students because my school is on block scheduling, so they only take "full year" courses for half of the year. Andrew's school is on block as well, but his AP classes are an exception and year-round, so he only got one new class (and lots of maneuvering of students in his AP courses). I'm still learning my kids' names, but so far things are good.

My students seem to enjoy my class and I'm liking the way I'm introducing things this term. I'll try to remember it for next term. My focus is, as usual, on building a classroom community - a place where students feel safe and comfortable - but this term I've also made a big push that students have to do that themselves. I've told them that if they will trust me, leave their hangups and prejudices at the door, and really throw themselves in with both feet, they'll LOVE my class and want to come every day. In fact, the class will fly by and they'll even learn stuff. This is absolutely true, and has happened many times in my class, but when they get all self-conscious and cliquey, it doesn't pan out that way and the class gets dull or just "off." So far, so good - they seem receptive.

I miss my American Studies students. What a class that was! Fortunately, a bunch of them have come by to say hello.

I guess I'm just rambling now, so I will end this entry.