The Nights Before School..

This post originally appeared on another blog site but after some help from a friend and colleague (shout out to MArgaret!) i realized that my blog was in the wrong place for what i wanted.

THE NIGHTS BEFORE SCHOOL…

Here we are. Only two days (actually we are less than 48 hours from the first day of school) and I’m trying to figure out how to put together a blog. Here are my hopes for this year:

1. I hope that creating and maintaining this blog will be as easy as others have led me to believe.
2. I hope that this blog will help me grow as an educator.
3. I hope this venture will help me collaborate with other educators (both those in and out of my discipline- there is much to be learned from everyone and many lessons can be adapted for your subject area).
4. I hope that this blog will help me be more comfortable with technology and help me to use it productively.

This summer was probably one of the most unique for me. I am an organizational freak, often photocopying my life away in June for the following year. On the eve of August 1, I start to panic because it is the signal for me that school will begin soon and I must start to be more diligent about reading not just for pleasure but also professionally. I will often re-read through back issues of The Language Educator to make sure that I haven’t missed anything or in case some things have somehow become more relevant to me (like blogging and Twitter). I will start level by level mapping out my outline for the year and make lists upon lists of things to photocopy and projects to start. Then, when Labor Day rolls around, I am at ease and have already set up my classroom, made yet MORE photocopies and have planned the first two weeks of lessons.

That was every other year. For some reason, actually, I know the reason. I was lucky enough to spend 3 glorious weeks in Italy this summer with my family. We had an amazing trip. 
Something happened to me and I started to slow down (maybe it was the Italian influence). All I know, is I came home and I was still crazy about getting the house in order so I could have the most optimal setting for starting my work for school (after all, we had come home a week after my dreaded August 1 deadline) but for some reason, I wanted to sit by the pool and read for pleasure (even if the books were in Italian).

And here we are, 11:15 pm – 32 hours before my first class of the year begins and I have just finished putting together some lessons and outlines for the year. The pressure is amazing. On the one hand, I feel like a slacker. On the other, I feel like it’s going to be ok. Is it because I have 14 years under my belt? Is it because I needed to slow down for my own sanity? Who knows but, like this new venture into blogging, I feel that this academic year will be a success.