The Bow Tie Teacher

The mother of all updates

Change, change, change, change. We here so much about change that I think we just ignore it's existence. It's the pink unicorn that every kid talks about, but no one REALLY believes it exists. Well, I'm a believer. 

Currently I'm in a new school

New batch of kids

New...new...new...new...

New EVERYTHING 

No Smartboard!

Yeah, I told you I was a believer in change. So much has happened in the last couple of weeks that it's kind of overwhelming. I don't know where to begin and most of it I'm not supposed to talk about. I will go into detail in my next post about what I think really causes a school to succeed. Most of what I went through will be in there. 

Team teaching round 2

*I'm sure that sometime this year I'll delve in to the fullness of what's been my most disconcerting year ever. I'm doing my best to get my feet up under me as I now work through a new grade, new students and a new team teacher. To say this year has been a lot to bear is to really over simplify the matter. The only breath of fresh air is my team mate is a top shelf teacher. She knows her business and it's all about teaching. I'm learning a lot and I have to put more effort into asking better questions to get better results. 

Crossfit challenge in a few days. I feel good, but I know I'm going to get another kick in the gut come game day. 

 *This is an old post that I didn't get around to sending. I'm posting it even though as of today everything has changed. More later. 

Superman flies no more

Everyone knows I was really proud of my Superhero themed classroom. My goal was to have a place that was really fun and relaxed. Though we worked hard I wanted everyone to know this was their space. Imagine my dismay that I had to take it all down this week. No more Superman flying over the class. I'm supposed to move to a 5th grade class to team teach with a teacher in hopes to glean from her and to help prepare for the 5th grade assessments coming later this year.  

I'm not keen on the move at all. Though the 5th graders are different in their own way I really liked my class. They were younger and had their hangups, but we were really learning and having a great time. Oh well Supes is in a box in my garage right now and I'm ok with that. 

Spending this weekend getting my heart and mind right. Come Monday I'm going to have to kick it into another gear. I haven't had anytime to prepare or plan. #Neverstressed

My meditation is that God has me here for the betterment of a group of kids. I work/serve Him not Atlanta Public or even my principal. I work at His pleasure. He's put me there for this time and season and where ever I go in that building I'm there to represent Christ. Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[i] have been called according to his purpose. 

The only thing for sure is change

I was informed this week that I'll be moving to 5th grade to take a 5th grade class. Starting Monday I'll be a 5th grade teacher. 

Knowing that God has me here in this school for a purpose and a reason I take delight that I'm doing work that is meaningful and will result in someone's life being better. I'm still sad that I have to take down all my decor in that 2nd grade classroom. *That stuff will be up on ebay this weekend if you're interested let me know. 

This year has been interesting. And to say it started off rocky is to understand a lot. There is something missing in my teammies and with the staff in general. It's sad to see so  many people who were excited about our jobs be so deflated and blah now. This was truly a different school and sadly now it's just a school. I need to pray more for that something extra to come back so we can get back to having fun doing what we liked doing. I'm over the Spirit Committee, not sure how that happened, but it is what it is. Thinking of some new team buildings that can help us get over this "7 week blah". #ITSONLYBEEN7WEEKS! 

Besides that Crossfit has been doing me well. I feel MUCH lighter and stronger after starting fish oil as a supplement. My busted ankle and knee feel better. I can see the real value in mobility work. I'm not the guy who likes warm ups, but I can see what they're for much better than before. 2012 is going to end as my year I smash a lot of my PRs for sure. 

 

First week recap of sorts

Team teaching isn't as easy as I thought it would be. It's a lot of work. This week was rough to put it in simple terms. It was  a4 day week, but it felt every bit of 9 days and 2 hours. The really sad part is this is only week 6. We have a lot more ahead of us than behind.

I'm very happy I have a good Crossfit WOD planned tomorrow cause I have full intention of throwing some weights around. 

Good night. 

First few days of team teaching

Not 100% sure of the motives that brought me and my teamie together, but let me tell you, she's the business! I couldn't have asked for a better, insightful teacher to glean from. We have our new class on lock and learning is happening. It's so much fun. Can't wait for a full review, but I got to get some sleep. 

Crossfit Team WOD and Team Teaching

Today's WOD at Crossfit South Cobb was a team workout. Not sure why exactly, but I haven't done many of these. Anyway you and a partner work on a movement/exercise for a certain amount of time. Only one is working at a time while the other catches their breath. Seems pretty easy. It's not. 

I didn't know the guy I was partnered up with, but we worked on a plan. I'm pretty good at Dead lifts and I'm getting better with Thursters after some coaching. I'm fantastic with Burpees. I don't like box jumps and I'd much rather not do Burpees followed by Thursters. So the bell goes off and we're off to the races. The first round was good. 10 sets plus a few extra dead lifts for round 11. The 2nd round didn't go as planned. Both of us were hurting and now it was showing. The box jumps didn't work at all. So started alternating 1 jump per person. That stunk, but it kept my team moving and I was really getting the thrusters! If my partner was off on them I just stepped in and did them while he did the box jumps. Round 3 was more the same hate fest. Thursters were on, but found myself wanting to stay on the ground and nap with each burpee. Over all we did really well. 

Round 1     10 rounds with 3 Dead lifts

Round 2     6 rounds even

Round 3     6 rounds with 4 Thrusters

Ok, this is a teaching blog, Jason. What's up with all this Crossfit talk this week? I'm about to be paired up with another teacher starting this week. Being that this week was hectic we talked on the phone and chit chatted for 30 minutes at school, but come Tuesday it's all going to be new and different. We did flesh out what we're good at doing and what we'd like to champion. Seems like a good mix. Now we just have to add kids, lessons and stir. I'm not even worried about getting along with her. By everything I've seen and heard she's a great teacher. I'm confident that she wouldn't even be here if she wasn't a good teacher. So the real test is simply doing it. Working a plan for what she'll teach, what I'll teach, what where we'll jump in an help, what does help look like for all subjects.

It's going to be fun no matter what.