Author: Andrea

Join us in the Slice of Life story challenge. Every day for the month of March, bloggers all over the globe are writing their slices and sharing them on the Two Writing Teachers blog.

This week is MS Awareness Week and I thought I would take the time to share some of my story. You see, I have Multiple Sclerosis. As of right now, I have Relapsing/Remitting MS and it has been mostly in control.

My first post about it was a few weeks after the diagnosis in fall of 2013. It was a crazy time in my life and it took me some time to accept it. Since then, I have spent time researching and learning about this disease.

My symptoms are mostly just some fatigue and balance issues every once in a while. I sometimes also have some burning sensations in my shin (kind of like a carpet burn). These things usually come to be an issue after I have been sick for a little while. I have really not had a big flare-up and I am hoping I will not have any issues anytime soon.  What is really scary about MS is the uncertainty. The disease affects people in so many very different ways. All you can do is work to be healthy and hope that the disease will not progress.

I am taking my health into my own hands and working to be more powerful. Thanks to my barre classes, I am feeling more amazing by the day. I am eating cleaner than ever also and I feel energized and full of vitality. I have an injectable medicine that I use and with luck, this medicine will keep my body from forming more lesions or having any of those lesions become active.

I am stronger than MS. #WeAreStrongerThanMS  #liveyourbestlife #barreliferules

One of the things I love about working with kids is the way that they have of surprising you.

I have a really awesome group of students this year. They are friendly and accepting of each other, and we have a great community. However, lately a couple of these kiddos are driving me bonkers.

I am at my wit’s end with one particular student. He seems to contradict everything I say and do the opposite of everything he is asked to do. I know it is probably not every single time, but it sure feels like it. I was talking to a colleague before school this morning about how frustrated I am with this kid and asking what I should do.

Then, this morning we went on a field trip. The bus was filled to the brim with students and teachers. I had been counting heads and did not have a seat to sit in. When I turned around, there was this kiddo that has been frustrating me lately and his friend who has been almost as annoying lately. The two of them had squished together to create a space for me to sit in and were frantically waving me down so I would come sit with them. And as easy as that, I remembered why I love these kids.

I love the way the universe conspires to remind us about what is important. This small moment on the bus helped me to release some of the frustration I have been keeping in and to remember to appreciate each and every kiddo that enters my classroom every day.

Join us in the Slice of Life story challenge. Every day for the month of March, bloggers all over the globe are writing their slices and sharing them on the Two Writing Teachers blog.

I love my work. I love being able to get up every morning and know that what I do makes a difference. I love the relationships that I have with my kiddos. I enjoy the time I spend in my classroom. However, I don’t always feel motivated to get up and go.

This morning was a difficult one. I got up this morning at my early time to fit in my productivity routines. Then, after about a half hour, I went back to bed. That hardly ever happens, but I just wasn’t ready for the day to begin yet. And all day, I just haven’t been feeling it.

It may have something to do with the small cold I have, but I think it just is one of those days. Luckily, I had a doctor’s appointment and had to leave early today. One of my students also brought in food to share from her culture. It was a good activity for a day like this when I just didn’t want to be there.

I hope that I will wake up with better energy and a better outlook tomorrow morning.

Today, I got up and went to the gym. I do an intense workout class on Sunday mornings. Then, I came home and did almost nothing. I have done some reading and research on the internet. I have taken a nap. I have eaten lunch. But that is it. I have some work I probably should be doing, but I am choosing not to do it. I am taking the day off in many ways. I have a little bit of a cold and a hacking cough starting. I need to be able to get through a full week of school days with an open house on Thursday. I just needed to be lazy today. There is something to be said for this kind of day that most people do not allow themselves to have very often. I will be back to productivity bright and early tomorrow morning. Right now, I am going to cuddle with my dog and sink into the couch a little deeper.

Join us in the Slice of Life story challenge. Every day for the month of March, bloggers all over the globe are writing their slices and sharing them on the Two Writing Teachers blog.

Today I had the day off of school. In our school district, we get the day off after working the equivalent amount of hours for two evenings doing parent conferences. Usually, by the time the Friday that is the day off rolls along, we are all mentally and physically exhausted and ready for this free time.

I had mental plans about all the things I would take care of during this time off. Have you ever noticed how a DAY OFF seems to signify in your mind that you will have hundreds of hours in which to take care of every little thing on your to-do list? I always have this ridiculous list of things I want to do on my day off. I always think things will take way less time than they actually do take…or maybe I just think the day will somehow magically have more time to it than other days. It always seems that before I know it, the day has flown by and more than a few things that I wanted to get done are not done.  The free time blues are starting to creep in…

It is at this moment, when I have so many things left on the to-do list, that it is most especially crucial to take a step back and really take inventory. What did I get done today? Well, I scrubbed down the stovetop that sorely needed a scrubbing and ran the dishwasher so my kitchen is clean. I cleaned the bathroom. I sorted through a pile of papers that needed sorting in my office to clean off a shelf. I read books and worked on writing. I cuddled with my dog. I ate a healthy lunch at home and resisted the urge to go get something from a restaurant. I will be going to my barre class in a little bit. I watched an episode of Fixer Upper. I took care of my e-mail inbox in all of my accounts. Okay, maybe most of the day was spent reading, but there are quite a few things on this list. So in this moment when I could feel like I did not accomplish much, I now have reframed my attitude and realized that there were a lot of things that happened today. And, for a day off, I think that is enough.

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
― Edward Everett Hale

Remembering to take the time to reflect on what I DID accomplish rather than what I have not yet accomplished is such an important thing to remember to do. I am reminding myself right now that I need to also give myself a break in my classroom. I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to always be feeling like there is a lot of work to still be done with my students. I notice my shortcomings and the things that we haven’t yet accomplished much more readily than I notice the successes that we have had and the things I have been able to accomplish. I have to consciously make the decision to see the things we have done and to not always focus on what we should have done or what still remains to be done.

Taking the time to reframe your perspective can make all the difference. It doesn’t mean that there are not still a lot of things to get done, it just means we all give ourselves a break and understand that we must recognize what we have already done and be proud of it. Then, you can approach the to-do list with renewed vigor and possibly a more clear vision of what the priority items might be.

Every day when I pull into my parking spot behind my house, the neighbor dogs come running to the fence to say hello. I love that these dogs have learned that we are friendly people and that they want to say hello when we are around. It is so nice to come home to that greeting and then to get inside and have the doggy greeting from my dog. She is so excited to see us and there is nothing like the enthusiasm that a dog has when they love you and are happy you are home.

Wouldn’t this world be a better place if all the people in the world acted the same as most dogs do?

I woke up this morning and immediately looked out the window. There was a slight dusting of snow on the ground. Maybe an inch. Nothing like the 4-7 inches that were predicted for our area. I looked at the weather app on my phone. The Winter Storm Warning was cancelled, now we just have a Winter Weather Advisory. Snow totals of 1-3 inches. I am relieved. I didn’t want to deal with the headaches that a morning commute in 4-7 inches of snow would cause. Living in Wisconsin, I knew that those totals would not be anywhere near enough snow to close schools. It was just an unpleasant situation that I was anticipating. Now, I can go about my day in an almost regular way. We don’t even really need to shovel this morning. We can get out without doing it.

It is funny to me how the weather predictions usually seem to be inaccurate. It almost seems that the weather tends to do the opposite of what is said. If the meteorologists say there will be a lot of snow and to be prepared, there is only an inch of snow. If, on the other hand, they predict less than an inch, you better be ready for 5 inches. I love that we have all the modern technology, but nature still works to surprise us and to make the predictions almost impossible. It keeps us on our toes and makes us learn how to roll with the unexpected.

I can’t help but think about how a teacher’s job is so similar to a meteorologists job in some ways. We can predict how things will go on a given day, but it isn’t always a guarantee that we will be right. We have to be willing to accept the unexpected and adjust. Sometimes, that means being pleasantly surprised by the ease with which our students take on a task. Sometimes, it is really stormy in our classrooms and we have to shovel a lot of extra negativity out of the way. But despite the fact that we have an ability to predict the success or failure of an idea in our classroom, we really have to learn to roll with it and accept the unexpected. Whatever we have to deal with, I hope we can learn to be as natural with it as a Wisconsinite is with dealing with snow. No panic, just an appreciation of the beauty of nature and then getting down to the business of dealing with it.

Here’s hoping that I will be pleasantly surprised today in the classroom as I was this morning looking out the window.