A New Beginning

April 20, 2025 – Setting the Stage

Hooray… it’s the end of the winter term. I loved every one of my classes… EDUC 201 (Educational Theory and Practice), EDUC 376 (Numeracy Foundations in the Elementary Years), EDUC 421 (Assessment and Motivation), and EDUC 656 (Instructional Leadership). I loved the folks who were in the classes and I loved the subject matter of each class. I think what challenged me the most was the schedule. I had two 4-hour teacher education classes back-to-back on Mondays and 3-hours night classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I was also balancing meetings, service work, and research. With my schedule, It sounded like a strong start on Mondays and coast for the rest of the week. I would not disagree with that as a description of my workflow, but because I had such a full Monday, I spent a good chunk of the weekend working or thinking about work. Rest was not an easy task, and if I did, I spent the whole week catching up. I am not complaining by any means, but I am grateful that that schedule is now over, my marks are submitted, and I have a few more tasks to complete the Winter 2025 term. I feel like I am reaching “the top” of my teaching career, much like I did in 2010 in teaching high school mathematics. The difference is this time is, I’m not 100% stressed out and rest is part of my way of being. I am learning how to write about my work at the university such that it appears “dreamy” and “productive”… I am not one to brag, but it’s the nature of my work to show value in what I am doing. In order to do that, I need to learn about my own value and believe it’s important. Anyway, I am digressing… I am super happy with the conclusion of the Winter 2025 term I have learned a lot with and from my students as well. I LOVE MY JOB and I love what I do. I wish I could just say that about my work, but I believe they want evidence of this “love” and a means to evaluate this feeling through some metrics to make a fair judgement. Nonetheless, I am so grateful to take a few days off this long weekend to REST and do things for myself because it makes me happy. I finally bought a small desk that a built last night to got in front of my window (it was on sale for $89), and I bought a leather chair from the Bay (which was also on sale for $64). Oh my gosh, am I happy. Cheap, but not cheap… and I’m blogging as we speak facing out of my window. I love the natural light shining on my face as I type, but I also like to people watch. There’s just enough distraction to keep me focused. It’s much like being in a coffee shop, without the barista. I did not write in my blog last week. I was cognitively paralyzed by the marking I had to do. Strangely, when I got to my marking, I loved every minute of it. As soon as I stepped away from the mindset of evaluating and grading to LEARNING (what am I learning and what did they learn), the marking process was a joy. So, I’m setting the stage… first, with a big blog ramble… and second, with my desk oriented in my room to promote creativity, joy, and writing.