The Bow Tie Teacher

So how's it going, Jason?

Let's see how's my week been? 

I didn't win the Crossfit Challenge. Didn't even get the Cupie Prize. I am pretty slim though. 

My wanna be garden took a major hit during the hail storm Monday. Major like all of it is DOA. 

I've been teaching like a Beast this week. 

Had a lot of tough decisions dropped on my lap in the last 48 hours. 

My kids keep going back and forth with this sickness thing. Every now and then I jump in just for laughs. 

I had a phenominal observation this week. 

That's the summary of my week so far, but the final word is It's been a lot of fun. My wife and I have been super diliberate about talking about stuff going on, so neither of us are working with 1/2 a brain. Even though her 1/2 is better than mine.  Knowing that I'm connecting with some of my students is a great feeling. Listening to my girls just warms my heart. I'm so excited about their future. I hope the World is ready for the rise of the Whitaker girls. 

This is post 248. I've decided that at #300 I'll end this blog. It's been so much fun, but I think it's run it's course. If I had something to sell I'd have a guy standing on the corner waving a sign "Store Closing! Everything must go!" So I think I can make it through the Summer or right to the beginning of the new school year. We'll see. 

Alright, let's get at it. 3,2,1...Go! 

Observation time

I'm sure all teachers know about Formal Observations. For all the rest of you it's the time when your administration stops by your room for 30-60 minutes and evaluates your teaching. For some it's pretty stressful. For others it's just another day in the classroom. 

No matter how you deal with the evaluation there is a factor you can't control, students. They may do exactly like they do any other day OR they may do exactly as they do any other day. As a teacher there is no worse feeling as watching your evaluation start to fade away as little Johnny and Sally stage a coup. 

So here's my question; how do you prepare your class for the observation? There seems to be 3 schools of thought. 

1) Tell them that this is an observation for THEM and that they administration wants to see that each of them is ready for X grade next year. Point out that they need to be on their very best behavior to show Mr./Ms. Principal that they're ready for the next grade. 

2) Tell them that this observation is for you the teacher and it could bode well or bad for you if the kids don't do their best. 

3) Just let the chips fall where they will. Don't make a big deal out of it. Act as if this is a surprise to you and pray the shock will remain through the entire session.

 I can see the merit and the ill with all three of these tactics. I'll tell you what I did when I see how it goes tomorrow. 

In the mean time let me go workout so I can relax and be ready for show time. 

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This week was so draining. I don't want to drone on and on about how this week was a BEAST. You don't want to hear that. 

What I will say is this, no question this week built my faith. I have been working on building margin in my life. Even with this week beating me up I didn't get to my limits.  I know this week coming, I'm going to be pushed more than last week. Thankfully, I've already planned for it and I feel grace to do it. I can see that consistent on going improvement will yield huge results. 

To give balance I've found it really tough to plan/think LONG term about my lessons and class learning. I talked about in in my Avengers post aout making the lessons catchy to get the kids excited about the next lesson. I've had some success in my re-growing veggies lessons in science, but not so much in my other lessons. Just need to work on this for sure. 

I have an evaluation this week and I feel good about it. I picked up some great skills at a workshop a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully, I've been kicking it hard so Monday will be the best teaching anyone has seen cause I've been doling out the best daily. 

Crossfit this week was strong. I didn't make it to Crossfit South Cobb everyday, but I was able to sneak into Basement Crossfit and keep my goals in line. I've been juicing well. It's not hard now at all. I'm down nearly 13 pounds. I hope to be able to plant our garden next week or the following week. 

Let's get at it. 

Crossfit challenge is done!

    Today marks the end of the Crossfit South Cobb winter challenge. I'm not sure who won, but I can say that there was some strong competition. Of all the challenges I've done this one I stuck to the most faithfully. I'm very proud of my results and can't wait to hear that I won. No matter what I'm ready to keep up the healthy eating I started. I can see the results clearly. 

Here's what I gained during the challenge

A new wardrobe! After dropping and toning so much I've now been able to wear my slacks that I've had in my closet for over a year! And my shirts fit so much better now. 

I sleep so well now. 8 good hrs and I'm so good for the day. Now I'm sure if I wake up in the middle of the night it's the Lord calling me. 

Energy! Juicing has become my BFF. When I get that mid day lul I can grab a fresh juice and I'm back at if for the rest of the day. I still drink my coffee and iced coffee, but it's more of a habit than anything else. 

I just feel good.  I feel lighter. I don't creak or ache anything like I used to. 

My cooking skills have gone up another notch.  Even with juicing a lot of my meals I'm still finding new ways to make my plated meals pop. 

Portion control.  I don't think I eat nearly as much as I used to. I'm excited about that, because I think I just overate just out of habit and nothing else. 

What I'm going to give to keep this momentum going. This is what I'm willing to give up or embrace to keep chipping away at my waistline and improving my overall health. Notice not all are related, but they are relative. 

• Sweet tea and any sugary drinks (can't promise coffee, but I've cut back)
• More margin in my life. I get to stressed and I need to just chill sometimes. It's not that bad. 
• 3-4 crossfit WODs a week. (Push my workouts more. I can do more than I do.) 
• No more cherry picking workouts.
• Daily prayer time with my family.
• Saturday prayer time with the men at church. 
• Planning my meals out better. 
• Gardening. I think I can get all my juicing veggies from my yard by May. Next year I could easily get most of our household veggies from a garden. 
• I'm going to just let go of some of my time wasters. I found I don't nearly watch as much TV as I thought I did. I want to, but I don't have time and when I do I know I'm wasting time. There are a couple other time wasters as well. 

    This week has been tough, but I'm so glad tomorrow is Sabbath. I need a good nap and some quiet time. Next week is busy, but nothing special. 

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If you need wisdom

This week was tough. It was very draining. To call it what it was, I was at my Whit's End by this afternoon. Thankfully that's where I'm supposed to be. 

Honestly, I think I rely on my own insight/wisdom to much. James 1:5 gives very clear directions on what to do when you need wisdom. Sadly, we "try" to long and never actually ask God for wisdom on a matter. We think we are supposed to have the solution and that asking is somehow not good. 

All this week I've been coming to grips with the fact that I don't know what to do to help these students get excited about learning. Yes, I have a lot of ideas and I have access to some great thinkers, but if James 1:5 is to be trusted I need to ask God a lot more than I have been doing.  

Yesterday I started asking God and expecting to receive some insight on Room 157's residents. I certainly made some inroads and next week I'll see more. I know that I made some major changes to make this last 9-10 weeks of school better and more powerful than those before.

Like I said in another post, the House must work in order for other things to work. I do believe that. However, I'm charged with the task of helping these kids. If God's word is true then I have the access to the Resource to make a difference even with no support at home. Ok, off to enjoy my weekend. You do the same. 

The Crossfit challenge ends next week and I certainly think I'm on track. I have 6 more days of my green juice fast. Overall I'm down quite a bit of weight and I'm certainly doing well in my workouts. Can't wait to report back on my win in the challenge.