Running with my niece

My 8 year-old niece, Madeline, has been part of a group called Girls on the Run.  From what I know, it's a 12-week program where girls grades 3-8 can not only run together, but learn about life skills, character education, etc.  The last hoo-rah is participating in a 5K.  So, my sister invited us as well as my parents to come and support Madeline in this race.  I decided to run it, too (outsiders were welcome!).

So, this morning was the race.  It was pretty chilly at first, but it quickly warmed up.  We participated in Zumba ahead of time, did a little pre-race stretching (though apparently not enough, based on how sore I am now!), did a last-minute restroom trip, and headed for the starting line.  Madeline was already up at the front, and I was racing to just get there when they were counting down from 30. 

The race was fun, despite having to dodge little kids, forgetting my ipod, forgetting my stopwatch, and my pants falling down the entire time.  I carried my phone with me in case I really needed some tunes, and I was hiking my pants up every 20 seconds with my other hand.  l-o-v-e-l-y. 

Anyways, about 1.5 miles in, I see Madeline ahead of me!  I catch up to her, and she grabs my hand and we are off.  We held hands the entire rest of the race... it was so sweet.  We had great aunt/niece bonding time.  We talked about school, her friends, music... we laughed a good bit... she filled me in on this Girls on the Run program... it was awesome.

We made it to the finish line!  Here are some pics from the race:

More Wedding Pics

Here are some more pictures from Erica's wedding...

a.maz.ing.

Leaving the classroom...

Yes, that's right.  After 6+ years of teaching, I will no longer actually be teaching any students!

Long story short, I was offered this position, really out of the blue, to be a Lead Teacher of Compliance (also known as a consultant) in Special Education in my current county.  I will be working with a couple of elementary schools and will be in charge of a lot of paperwork, attending lots of IEP meetings, making sure the special education teachers are getting the help they need, making sure they are turning in paperwork on time, etc. 

I was supposed to start a couple of weeks ago, but my principal hadn't found a replacement for me yet, so she wanted me to stay until they found a new teacher.  Now that they have, I finally feel like it's official.  I start on Thursday!!

I was thinking back about my crazy teaching career... let me give you a little snapshot:

• First 2 years- teaching special education on a provisional certificate while going to grad school to get my Master's/certification.
• Year 3- began teaching in special education, but a month into school I was moved to regular education 8th grade math to replace a teacher who moved positions.  I taught the rest of the year in this position.  Also, I worked on my Specialist's degree this year.
• Year 4- knowing I was going to have a baby this year, I asked to go back to special education (I thought it would be better to have a long-term sub in smaller classes).  I was out for 16 weeks, from mid-September to January, then finished the year in special education.
• Year 5- I taught half the year in special education, and was moved to regular education 8th grade math (again!) after Christmas break.  Finished the year in this position.
• Year 6- I had sat next to a principal and AP from an elementary school the previous fall at a wedding, and they called me up out of nowhere that next spring, offering me a position in Rockdale.  I was very content where I was, but this was so out of the blue that I took it as fate.  For year 6, I drove back and forth between two elementary schools every day, working as a half-time special education teacher at each school.  Oh, and I was off for 12 weeks of maternity leave.  (whew!  What a year!)
• Year 7- this year, I went full-time at one of my schools from last year, and taught the first almost 3 months in this position.  Now, my new adventure...

So, I can truly say that I have never gotten bored in any of my teaching positions.  I am all about being comfortable, but I think all of these experiences have really helped me grow so much in my teaching career.  I have learned to be flexible, to work with so many different types of people, and I have learned and taught all subjects and every grade from K-8.  And, let's face it... I've learned to wing it.  I don't think I've had a choice not to. 

So, cross your fingers for me... I know there will be another (huge) learning curve, but hopefully I can manage it, just like all my other changes.  Here's to the next chapter of my career!

Nashville

We headed up to Nashville this weekend to visit my brother and his family!  His little girl, Olivia, is only 2-1/2 months older than Sydney.  Every time they get together, the more fun it is to watch them.  Here are a bunch of pics from the weekend!

We had a great weekend!!!