The Mayest of Mays

 I don't even know where to start. I mean there's the regular end-of-year classroom stuff: standardized tests, calendar stuffed full of teaching interruptions, checklists, inventories, and order forms. But this May has held so much more...

I rolled into this May five months into a knee injury that just would not heal with two walking intensive trips on the calendar. This prompted me to begin pushing my doctor's office harder for an MRI and/or an appointment with an orthopedic doctor.

On the first weekend in May I saw my Columbian, Peruvian, American, Australian cousin (the countries where both her parents were born, she was born, and where her entire nuclear family now resides) for the first time since COVID. She's kind of a big deal in the Internet security world, and had been traveling to my area three or four times a year before the pandemic. But Australia's COVID protocols were stricter than most, and it wasn't until this month that she became an international traveler again. We spent time doing touristy things in downtown Seattle before taking her to the airport for the final leg of her international trip to San Francisco.

That same evening was my school's annual auction. I probably spent too much money, but I am happy with my purchases. The teacher experience my co-worker and I put together was only sold to one primary student family. We teach middle school. The family decided to donate the money to the school and not take the experience. While this resolved a conflict on my calendar, it was still kind of a bummer.

Following the talent show and the middle school play, I was slated to go on two trips with middle schoolers. From May 17-19 I went to Enviornmental Education camp with sixth and seventh graders. Eating lunch within minutes of our arrival on the first day, two naturalists came running and jumping up to me: "Mrs. Conrow! Mrs. Conrow! Do you remember us?" It was two sisters, former students of mine in a former school. I had taught fifth grade to one and half a year of eighth grade to the younger one as a long-term sub. They were so very excited to see me and both told me I had been their favorite teacher. That was the highlight of my month. Possibly the entire school year.

But recall the knee injury that would not heal. I had worked my way up to being okay after 7,000 steps each day. Perhaps I needed a bit of Aleve to sleep but could spend my teaching day doing most of what I needed to do, even if it wasn't all I wished to do. The first day of camp, I sat much more than any other adult on the trip. But I still took over 14,000 steps. 

The second day, I spent time on a car ride with another teacher driving a student back to school and returning to camp. He had broken a bone in his foot (ankle?) the night before, but we didn't know it yet. One of our parent chaperones is a doctor, and after her evaluation, she recommended x-rays. He wouldn't put weight on his foot, so her examination was inconclusive... We dropped him off at school where his mom was waiting to take him to urgent care. X-rays confirmed a broken bone, and he is now in a boot and on a scooter, awaiting further appointments to determine if he needs surgery.

Even with the long car ride and participation in the princess seat of the canoe class, I took over 13.000 steps on the second day. On Friday morning, our last day, my knee had a funky angular swelling on the outside and a persistent ache. The ache had started the night before, but had been bearable enough to allow me to sleep. The same doctor who had determined the student needed x-rays examined me and said the same thing my doctors and physical therapists had said: it's 99% for sure a meniscal tear. The adults relegated me to the lodge to elevate my knee and ice it. Except, I refused to ice it. The ice machine was broken at the camp. Our student who broke a bone had used a bag of peas the night before, which the kitchen asked to have back. I refused to use the same bag of peas to ice my knee, knowing someone might be eating said peas in the very near future.

The day after returning from camp I finally had my MRI. My younger child had scheduled service for his high school graduation on Saturday morning. My husband and he stepped into the garage to head out, but my husband rushed back in saying, "I need you to take him. We have a burst pipe!" as he shut off the water valve. We spent half of Saturday with the water off, and after picking up my son from his service, I was late to my MRI because I went to the store to buy water. (Turns out it was a leaky hot water heater, that left us without hot water until Sunday afternoon, and the "water mitigation" people hired by our insurance company are coming out soon to demolish the wall in the garage to determine and fix the extent of the water damage.)

Where was I? Ah... the MRI results say there is no evidence of a meniscal tear. But I have a deep fissure in my cartilage (which according to the Internet means I might need surgery), a tiny popliteal cyst, and a contusion on my femur. Today I had my last approved physical therapy appointment and a phone appointment with a doctor to discuss the results of my MRI. Both my PT and the doc on the phone suggested I look into renting a scooter for the most walking intensive trip on the itinerary for the trip to D.C. I will be heading to in one week.

Meanwhile, it feels like every day I find out about another eighth grade specific activity, assignment, or tradition that I didn't know about but need to organize before graduation on June 12. It IS the very Mayest of Mays.

Spring Break

 My spring break began on Good Friday. My students spent the half day presenting the Living Stations of the Cross to their schoolmates in three different grade bands. It was our entire day on Friday. I came home afterwards, ate lunch, and took a three-hour nap. I'm not sure why I was so tired, but I was. I slept another solid nine hours that night.

As I usually do when I am not traveling or receiving visitors during a break from school, I made myself lists of things to accomplish. This year's list was particularly long because I was out of town for the two weekends leading up to the break. My husband and I attended a board game convention in Oregon and followed it up with a weekend trip to Disneyland.

Since I got my playing done in advance of spring break, I was content to spend a lot of time over the break working on managing household chores and getting caught up on work. But I was also able to spend time with my friends and co-workers, filling up my calendar with brunch, happy hour, wine tasting, and a manicure.

I also took a peek at my very busy schedule between now and the end of the school year - possibly between now and August. I am heading to environmental education camp with the sixth and seventh graders in mid-May and to Washington D.C. with most of the eighth graders the first week of June. When school is out, I may or may not be going on a 12 day professional development experience from Canada to Oregon exploring the Columbia River Basin before heading back to Washington D.C. to attend a George Washington Teacher Institute summer residential program in July. I have also applied for a conservation science PD at the San Diego Zoo with the middle school science teacher in my building. If I get into both of the professional development opportunities I am waiting to hear back from, mid-May through early August is going to be quite busy for me!

The trip with students to D.C. has me a bit concerned since my knee is still giving me trouble from my fall on the ice the first Friday in December. I asked my physical therapist about it during my first appointment over my break. She suggested I ask my doctor's office for a medical grade brace to take with me on the trip. I did, and got a brace from my doctor and a referral to an orthopedic doctor for early May. I hope I get some imaging from them. Disneyland in a wheelchair was kind of fun for me, even though it was rough on my husband who had to push me around the park. But a wheelchair in D.C. with students seems like an impossibility.

The week both crept and sped by. I'm not sure how that's possible, but I feel like it's a common experience during any break from school. I accomplished a lot, but still left six items on my list incomplete. There's still a bit of time left tonight, but I left the board game convention three weeks ago ready to try to create my own board game. That seems like a more fun Sunday evening activity than cleaning out the fridge or picking up the dog poop from the back yard.

Late February Shenanigans

 I once went on a road trip with a friend, her two children, and my two children. The kids were all under ten years old, possibly younger... and both of our husbands were out of town for the same week during the summer, so we decided to drive down to California and visit my parents with our kids. About halfway through the first day, my friend told all four kids to stop their shenanigans. The kids promptly responded, "What's a shenanigan?" It became the refrain of the trip, and now, over a decade later, still runs through my head when things get especially silly. This was one of those weeks where I could NOT stop thinking, "What's a shenanigan?"

I don't actually feel at liberty to blog about the shenanigans of this week, but rest assured, it was an unusual week.  Of course Tuesday was a sugar-overload, with those who ordered hot lunch getting a heart shaped lollipop, a red velvet cupcake, and a package of fun dip. My classroom floor had colored sugar all over the place. Primary classrooms had colored sugar inside student desks. But Wednesday through Friday brought new and different experiences to teach through, even though I am over two decades into this career.

I almost never hand out behavior reflections, but I handed out two yesterday - not for the initial behavior (which was relatively minor), but for bald-faced lying about it in a way that commanded the entire class's attention for at least ten minutes even though some of the other students had witnessed the minor infraction for themselves. Wednesday was a non-uniform infraction (not adhering to the guidelines for a non-uniform day) that consumed over half of my day and caught the attention of the principal. Today I saw my principal aghast. Twice. Two events that happened without his knowledge had him gasping out loud and in instant damage control mode. Shenanigans indeed... and all a month too early.

In the midst of all of this, our school has partnered with the parish to support an apartment complex that houses formerly homeless college students. We sent over school supplies and grocery store gift cards, and had our students create Valentines. This was my absolute favorite Valentine that was created for the college students. I hope it was appreciated! 

Good work happened, even in the midst of all the shenanigans. Thankfully I have a three-day weekend to recuperate.

Catholic Schools Week Part 2

 Catholic Schools Week can range from an acknowledgement on Sunday during mass followed by a poorly advertised and therefore poorly attended open house, to a week full of activities planned well in advance with a distinct vibe throughout the building all week long. As a 23-year veteran on staff at four different Catholic schools I have seen both extremes. My current school goes all in. In my post on Tuesday night, I wrote about Sunday mass followed by a well-attended open house, parent and teacher appreciation days and previewed grandparents and grandfriends day.

Grandparents day was heartwarming (seriously, click on the link to see for yourself) even though I literally didn't teach at all. After attendance my students and I headed down to the auditorium to receive instructions about "serving" at the grandparent brunch. Really, the eighth graders were the flaggers - being the liaison between the grandparents at their table and the adults in the room who would bring whatever the table requested. Then we all headed to the church where 85% of the eighth graders practiced songs for the mass, and the remaining students were given instructions just in time to begin greeting and seating the grandparents. At times it was like herding cats to remind the student greeters and seaters of what to do, but it was amazing to see typically shy students asking grandparents to scoot in to make room for others and hand out parish registration cards to the visitors.

I did not get to see any of the performances during the brunch, but the grandparents who visited my classroom with their grandchildren afterwards were extremely moved by the entire experience. At least three grandmothers told me they were moved near to tears upon seeing the tables set for brunch and/or the student performances all in their honor. Every visitor I spoke with on Wednesday could not say enough good things about our school. 

Thursday was a normal day with cards student made last week being sent to donors and alumni, but today was student appreciation day. Staff were encouraged to dress up as students - as students had been encouraged to dress up as staff on Tuesday. Middle school students also got to bring their school supplies in "anything but a backpack" today.

We also had a BMX "Spokes of Hope" assembly during which a stunt bicyclist jumped over me and two of his co-workers on his bike. I don't know that anyone got a photo, but it was fun to be an assembly participant - especially in an assembly that was engaging for students aged 3-14. Students and teachers alike asked me if I was scared. Not at all - I was between two of the Stunt Masters and was 100% aware they would not put a volunteer in danger. Still, I wish someone had snapped a picture.

My principal called for a happy hour after school today, and it was much deserved. Although it was a fun-filled week with most of the behind-the-scenes efforts falling on the shoulders of the front office staff, it was a LONG week for all of us. It is FUN to be a part of a school where Catholic Schools Week is a big deal... but I'm still looking forward to a much quieter week next week.

Catholic Schools Week

 Sunday marked the start of Catholic Schools Week. All school staff attended the 9:00am mass where the middle school choir performed and two students spoke about the reasons they love our school. After that we hosted an open house between the 9:00am mass (which ran long) and the 11:00am mass. To entice people into the school building, coffee and donuts were moved into the school building. It was an easy open house with students showing off their work posted in the hallway, potential families walking through, former students stopping by to chat, and older people without school age kids enjoying the chance to peek in classrooms. When the 11:00am mass was well underway, teachers filtered out and many met up for a boozy brunch. It was the perfect start to the week ahead.

Yesterday was parent appreciation day. The students wrote cards or letters last week to their parents telling them why they like attending our school to take home yesterday. I told them to put in at least one sentence that would make their parents say, "awww!" - and many of them did. The school also sent home a gift for each family (a mini tape measure with the logo for this year's theme "Growing Together in Faith"). Staff even made thank you videos last week that were sent out to the parents.

Today was staff and teacher appreciation day. Students were encouraged to dress up as their teachers. I had a former fourth grader dress up as me. She asked if any of my current students, eighth graders, had dressed up as me. I told her they don't like me and she was aghast! I had to amend and remind her that I replaced a beloved teacher who had taught social studies to the current eighth graders last year, so they wouldn't have liked any teacher to take her place. Also, the older kids really enjoyed dressing up as the male teachers, girls included, so they could wear basketball shorts and create facial (and in one case, chest) hair. I would like to think that last year and next year both I would have had more students dressing as me.

Tomorrow is going to be a doozy of a day. It's grandparents' day, and there are over 220 confirmed grandparents coming for mass and brunch. The eighth graders will be practicing to sing as the choir for mass from the start of the day until mass. Then they will be serving the grandparents during the brunch, which will conclude as their lunch begins. As a result, I'm teaching exactly one class tomorrow. But I'm sure I'll be support for the performances during the grandparents' brunch, which include the band, a song from our upcoming musical, a speech team duo, and preschoolers singing.

It is a crazy week full of festivities and interrupted schedules. Two days in and three to go... I'm looking forward to it but am also glad there is a professional development day on the Archdiocesan calendar for next week, so we have to plan and teach for only four days.

Teaching in December

Teaching in December is hard. Really, really, really, really hard.  Between Thanksgiving and Christmas teachers are trying to wrap up units while navigating absences due to illness and trips with students who are so excited for the upcoming break they can hardly sit still. And in the Archdiocese of Seattle, it's also the end of the first trimester, so it's report card time. AND for teachers of eighth grade students applying to high schools, it's high school application time. Several hard deadlines and squirrely kids. Here is a sampling of memes that I have scrolled past on my various social media feeds since the start of December:

I am happy to say my report cards were ready on time with a minimum of fuss, and I completed my part in the high school application process today, stuffing envelopes and enlisting the help of the school secretary to scan and send application packets to the school that required digital versions. 

But on top of the typical December crazy, my fall on the ice last week tweaked my knee out in a delayed reaction. I fell on Friday, and a tiny bruise was visible on Saturday. The bruise got bigger, more colorful, and more swollen each day through last week. It didn't hurt at first, but it was strange to watch it increase in size without feeling it. On Tuesday, it exploded in pain. But the doctor's office couldn't schedule me until Thursday.

Diagnosis? Strain with possible small tears in a ligament. Prescription: Two weeks of keeping my weight off of it as much as possible and 800mg of ibuprofen three times of day (with food). I was told to brace it if I could tolerate a brace over the bruise and crutches would be useful if they helped me move around without putting weight on my knee. My friend and co-worker had an extra brace for serious injuries, and it's helping much better than any I could pick up at a drugstore. For one thing, I can tolerate it even with the colorful, swollen bruise. However, my favorite is one that holds three ice packs that I have been wrapping around my knee at the end of each day. It is very soothing.

But even within the chaos that has been the last week, there is a lot of work to complete before the break. My eighth graders are finishing up our unit on Washington state with a boardroom presentation designed to entice a fictitious global corporation to open their next manufacturing and distribution center in our area AND a Time Magazine project where they choose a famous Washingtonian to research, draw, and write an article about. Here is an exchange I had with a student at the start of the Time Magazine project:

Me: Pick a famous Washingtonian to research for your project. Remember that in your essay you will highlight their positive contribution to the local community, our state, the country, and hopefully the world.

Student A: Can I do VInnie Hacker?

Student B: He's not from here!

Me: He *is* from here. I taught him fifth grade in *this* school.

Student reactions run a funny range of shocked expressions, gasping, and "I told you so."

Student A: So, can I research him?

Me: Yes. But be sure you can meet the expectation of highlighting his positive contributions to the local community, our state, the country, and hopefully the world.

Student A: (excitedly) Okay!

Time passes as students work on the assignment.

Student A: (quietly) Um, can I do Dove Cameron instead?

In another class, I used animal cards to randomly pair students for a class period. This exchange ensued:

Me: (noticing best friends working together after the random pairing) Wait, you two got randomly placed together?

Student A: Yes.

Student B: (the partner of student A who claimed to be an atheist until a couple of weeks ago) Truly there is a God!

Meanwhile my oldest child flew to Wisconsin to pick up a car to drive to Massachusetts. It's a long story but suffice it to say that she would not be dissuaded from her perfect plan that sounded bat-crap crazy to everyone I explained it to. Then my husband flew to Las Vegas for a work conference. My house has generally been quiet since we stopped fostering, but it is weird to be home with just my 18-year-old and our myriad of pets.

Tomorrow most of the middle school is headed to sing at a senior living center and cap off their trimester of choir with ice skating. I was slated to attend, but with my knee injury, I've been benched. It will give me time to catch up on grading and write some reflection questions with my administrator for the staff book study to send with people on their winter break. They're going to love that... But our study of Grading for Equity has taken a back burner to other priorities this year. The break is a good time to re-kick start our look at how and what we grade our students on.

Wednesday is the Christmas Pageant. Preschool through grade 5 and the band are performing. I will be the point person in the building during the performance in the gym for the band kids and student government kids who will be runners for the performers. It's entirely possible Thursday is supposed to be a normal day. Or perhaps I've forgotten something. That's also entirely possible. Friday is a half day that begins with a prayer service and ends with a school wide caroling "competition" and indoor snowball fight.

It's really a fun week. But it is made easier knowing a two-week break starts at the end of it.

Snow!

Most of the teachers I know have a love/hate relationship with snow. We are just as excited as the kids to get a day off of school, but then we have to readjust our plans to account for the missed day(s). And don't even get me started on late starts. No one wants a late start - either a full day of school or a full day off, please. Except when it's icy and dangerous on the roads at 7:00am and bare and wet at 9:00am it doesn't exactly make sense to take the full day off. But making that prediction gets messy. At least the final decisions are above my pay grade.

It started to snow on Tuesday morning just as school was starting. It wasn't sticking to anything and did not for the duration of the school day, but I still had an eighth grader picked up during first period due to the snow. It snowed one me on my way home, but wasn't sticking to the roads or sidewalk, just the foliage. But as the temperature dropped, we got a few inches of snow. It sort of melted and compacted again before daybreak in my yard so I couldn't get an accurate measurement.

Wednesday was a snow day. 

Thursday, we had a late start. Even so, one of my coworkers fell on the ice in the parking lot on her way into the building.

On Friday, the district where my school resides called a late start, but my school did not. It snowed on me for most of my drive in. When I hit the county line, it stopped but by the time I got to my school's parking lot it had started to snow again. At least two more staff members (including me) fell in the parking lot trying to get into the building. It started to snow about 7:45am and literally looked like a snow globe when I looked out the classroom windows for a time between 8:00-8:15. As kids were arriving at my school, the surrounding district called a snow day. Most of the day was clear, but we did have indoor recesses for the second day in a row.

Friday night it began to snow again, fairly late. Before midnight it started sticking. This is when my husband and I were on our way home from a holiday party. My husband tried three routes into our neighborhood, sliding back down the first two hills. I kept telling him to park in the Safeway parking lot and we'd walk the two or three miles home from there. But he tried the third route, that took us past the aforementioned Safeway. This route was his last choice because it has the steepest hill, but it also has a downhill before the uphill to gain momentum. We know from previous experience it works well, as long as you don't stop at the stop sign at the bottom of the hill. We made it home and woke up to a winter wonderland on Saturday morning.

I just learned how to drive a stick shift in the past few months, and after our 20-year old's car died, our fun sporty stick shift car has become my primary mode of transportation. So far, I've been able to get to and from where I've needed and wanted to be. On Sunday a few of my coworkers and I had reservations for high tea at a shop owned by one of our school families. I scoped out a parking space in the lot as I was in the turn lane to enter. It looked like there were many spaces at the top of the hill, so I put the car in gear and gave myself the momentum on the flat part of the road to get myself up the hill. It would have worked too, but a car pulled out in front of me and I had to stop on my way up the hill. I could not move forward, so I put it in reverse and backed down the hill into another section of the parking lot. There were spaces over there too, but none that I could get into easily given I was driving backwards. I was on flat ground again and the car that had made me stop had exited the lot, so I decided to try for up the hill again. With no reason to stop on my way up, I made it! And I did not stall the car. I felt like an accomplished stick shift in the snow driver!

On a totally separate note, I had a fun/funny "teachable moment" interaction with a student this week. We were working on a worksheet from our social emotional curriculum created by Committee for Children. He was asking questions bordering on the argumentative about the questions the worksheet was asking. I looked at him and said, "It sounds like you'd rather argue about the questions than reflect a little more deeply to answer them." He was silent for a beat. "Yeah, that's probably true," he said before turning his focus back to the worksheet.