TSS: Broken Record.....

I feel like I am sounding like a broken record - and even I am tired of hearing it.  Being the ever impatient person that I am, I just want to develop this new back-to-school routine and get on with life.  But alas, adjusting to anything new takes time and no amount of kvetching is going to change that.

I did manage to survive this first week of school.  I was, however, totally exhausted by Friday evening to where the only thing I managed to do was sit on the couch, put my feet up, and mindlessly watch television until 9:30 when I finally decided to go to bed.  I did not wake up until the dogs barked out at 7:00AM Saturday morning.  My legs have almost grown accustomed to standing 6-7 hours a day, and my voice no longer sounds like a frog at 3:00pm.  We are making progress.

This is my 7th year teaching at this particular school and I have finally learned how to start the year gradually -- allowing myself and the students time to acclimate to a rather rigorous work schedule.  Very little homework was assigned this week, and I had no papers to grade.  Next week a few worksheets will need to be reviewed, but I have two terrific Teacher Assistants who can be my first set of eyes.  It will not be until the week after Labor Day that tests and essays will need my undivided attention.  I am hopeful that between now and then I can find the time to do them justice, while allowing myself personal time to rejuvenate.

I have not had time to read much these past couple of weeks, but I have found a terrific YA novel that is quite similar to my personal writing project.  I plan to start reading this a little each night and hopefully make copious notes to which I can refer.  The name of the book is Marie, Dancing by Carolyn Meyer.  While our two stories are quite different, they do take place in the same time period and involve several of the same characters:  Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, and Marie van Goethem.  It should be a wonderful way to rest and relax at the end of each school day.

I have not worked on my novel since July, but I have done quite a bit of research and have tried to maintain a daily journal, which I find enormously satisfying and often quite practical in working through the issues of life.  In the college level English Comp class this year, as well as the Creative Writing class, I have had the opportunity to teach students the value of becoming keen observers in order to be effective writers.  I have encouraged all these students to keep a journal to record these daily observations.  For now my journal entries focus on morning meditations, but I soon hope to begin to take time for walks and begin to observe the world outside the four walls of my home.  

The Creative Writing class is rather small, only four students, and I am hoping that we can take advantage of this and perhaps go on a few field trips to local coffee houses or shopping malls and use our powers of observation to jot down memorable conversations (to help with dialog skills) or interesting people (to inspire believable characters).  This is one class in which I know I will learn far more from my students than they will learn from me.  I am very much looking forward to this year with them.

I apologize for the repetition of subject matter on this blog lately.  I hope to soon rectify that; at the very least I want to carve out enough free time to participate in Carl's RIP challenge.  I already have several books put aside for that event!  AND....bestill my heart....I want to set aside the weekend of October 9th for the annual Fall Dewey Read-athon!!

Until then I hope to start visiting your blogs on a more frequent basis, and hopefully find the time to write a few blog posts of my own.