BulgingButtons

Not bad for a fat girl


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Hello Zambia

Zambia-Map1--e1390823349139It’s always such a nice surprise to peek at the blog stats page and find that a visitor from some unexpected place has stopped by. Today that place is Zambia. Now I’m fully aware that it doesn’t mean that some wonderful person from Zambia has actually read this blog, it might be that someone with an IP address from there is phishing, but I like to imagine otherwise. I know that real people in many parts of the world have actually read my words, and I find that remarkable.

The world has definitely shrunk since I was a kid. I remember having a pen pal in elementary school, and we would write about once a month. I lived in the Northeast U.S. and she lived in Puerto Rico. It seemed so far away, and so exotic. The thing that struck me, though, was how similar our lives were. We both wrote about school and family and friends. I imagine most of our readers in “exotic” locales have the same interests and concerns as the rest of us.

Right now one of those concerns is trying to follow my nutritionist’s advice. Yes, I’m at it again. Now the focus is on lean protein and healthy fats, with many vegetables and few carbs. So far, so good, but it’s only been a couple of days. Still, I feel like I’m hitting a reset button somewhere inside my body, so I’m not craving as much garbage food. I wonder if people in Zambia have food addictions? Do they have Hot Tamales candy? Probably not, but I’m sure there are other things they deal with.


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I’m Afraid of the Honeymoon Ending

i-love-my-jobI’m talking about school again, of course. We teachers do this. We obsess over school for the first few weeks, and then we remember how boring we are to the general public, so we go kind of quiet with our obsession for several months. After the summer break, though, we forget and start right back up again. Circle of life and all that.

So yes, the honeymoon period. That can last from twelve seconds to almost an entire school year, depending on the class. This year I’m so lucky. So far it’s been an entire week. This is a new world record for me. I’ve had thirty-one children in my room each day this week, and it’s been blissful. They have been hard-working, kind, and funny.They are learning about weather and character traits and autobiographies, while they are simultaneously learning what I expect of them and how fourth grade works. They are doing a great job on all counts.love-my-students

I’m just a little scared by all of this goodness. I’m kind of waiting for the honeymoon to end and the shenanigans to begin. Still, I’m working my butt off to build a collaborative community of learners, and I’m hopeful that those efforts are paying off. Positive reinforcement is my friend, and the children are thriving. They’ve been encouraging each other and putting a lot of effort into their schoolwork. They work very hard for praise and the opportunity to take home a positive note to parents. So far, so good.

This may be the class. It may be the one for the ages. I hope so, because I’m falling a little in love with them already.