Back in the Saddle

Spent today at curriculum planning for the reading/writing program that the district has contracted with for the last 2-3 years. I participitated in it last summer, too, for three days. Luckily, it was only for today since it is a little monotonous. It was planning the first couple of weeks of units, mainly conventions for picking books, how to figure out a "just right" book, what's expected during reading conferances with the teacher. It's really nothing new to the kids, but it of course is aimed to start the year off right. I worked with two of the teachers from my school, one of whom I will be co-teaching with, a "old" pro with 40 years of teaching experience. I had a little trouble at first adding anything of value to the lesson templates we were using, but gradually, as usual, I caught on, and made some decent contributions. Whenever I do something like this, like participating in mentor training last week, it shows me that I have made a lot of progress, and am pulling things together. Joanie asked me if I wanted to meet her at school to help her set things up in the classroom, and of course I want to. It felt good to be asked, maybe I should have asked her?

Took out most of what I had in my credit union account to get me through until pay day. I was hoping I wouldn't have to touch it all, but oh well. That's why I put it aside all these months. Makes me feel good, almost like any pay day (although what I took out is less than half of what my pay check will be), knowing that there's sojme money in the bank, and that there's more money again in just two weeks. And it will be that way, barring any catastrophe, for the next ten months.

All in all a good day. It gave me a chance to see the first month of the reading units, helped Joanie see that I'm not a total idiot, got paid for the days work, and put money in the bank. I'm now at that point, I'm ready for school to begin.