EducatingMe

I am a firm believer that teachers should continue to know and grow all the time. I challenge myself to read a minimum of six books every year. I have a lot of drive time with my job so using the Audible app makes this much easier. I was made to read Mojo, which you saw in my last blog post. The book made me want to vomit as much as I'm sure that post made you, my readers, want to vomit. It was OK, I'm just not into self-help books. The latest "made to read" is Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol. This book had me on a roller coaster of mood swings. I have gone from wanting to cure the social injustices of the education system in East St. Louis to screaming at the book to shut the hell up, as there's no way the writer could know all of the things that go into what he's talking about. (I'm sure he is a brilliant man, I do not mean to discount his work). When Kozol, in his early chapters, talks about East St Louis I held on to every word. I couldn't...

I am the mother of two girls. I am constantly flirting with the line of consistency and tweaking my parenting style to mold them into the best human beings ever. I know, my expectations are high. But they are seriously amazing kids. Recently, they were talking with daddy and my oldest told him that I work too much - that I am always working. This was hard to hear. I work from home and so does my hubs and we self school with Epic. The kids are literally with us all the time. She has noticed that I am on my computer a lot and to her that looks like I am working. Well, I am on my computer a lot. Much is work, but some, even though technically Epic will benefit from, is play. I have come to realize that I feel like I have done it in life. Sure, I have those days and sometimes even those weeks where going back to teaching feels like the best option in the world, I mean I loved it. I have come to realize lately that admin is just a different game. I thought I was playing the same game init...

As promised, and now also feels long overdue (you know, seeing as how the last 16 posts came at you quick and dirty). Here is the first of several posts that take all of the EducatingMe write-ups that happened to on the trail and tie them to education, according to me. I will take it one post at a time and milk the Colorado Trail blogs for all they are worth. ;-) This one seem most fitting as I see everyone heading back to classes this week. Hang on tight and Grammer Nazis turn your heads there are some run on sentences here, but the rant required it. In the post about Granola Ways - I had no clue what I didn't know. We were about to embark on an epic journey with wide eyes and starry visions of what the experience would be like. Days later we would find that reality would punch us in the face. But like I said, when I wrote the post we had no clue. Do you remember when you graduated college with that crisp piece of paper in your hands (which you don't actually get for 3 mo...

End of ol' Trav’s Trail…. I told Erin, if she is going to make a video or documentary out of this whole experience, it really needs to revolve around the perspective of the SAG team. For Joe and I, the story is mostly the same every day of the trip. We wake up, pack up camp, and start riding. We ride until we are nearly devastated all to be redeemed by some spectacular views or thrilling pristine downhill segment, then we find another camp spot and do it again the next day.  One campsite along the way We did come away with a few stories. Joe hiking his bike to the top of Ten Mile Range in his socks has to be one of the best. Everyone has great strengths that surface from time to time, I discovered Joe’s great strength is having the determination of samurai warrior. We both crashed once, Joe came away with some bruises, I came away with a good laugh. We met some interesting people on the trail, but their story was typically very similar to ours. So, overall, we will h...

Well, I have rather enjoyed making a pretty daily post and cluing you guys into what is happening here in Colorado. I typically add pics so you can have a little eye candy with your content. But as some of you now know through Facebook, my phone was stolen from the rec center last night. I did not have my belongings locked up, so shame on me, but I had a pretty good record going of luck in this department. I have NEVER taken a lock into the gym. Guess it was 'bout time. Anyhow, no pics from the pool last night. I also lost the pics and videos of the boys from that morning and the night before. This is frustrating on many levels. But because of the blog, I have been pulling the pics regularly and really only lost two days worth of pics. NOT THE END OF THE WORLD. I am trying hard to have a good attitude about this, because there is really nothing anyone can do...except to raise your kids to know how horrible stealing makes the victim feel. We should all steal something very near an...

I few lessons I would like to say I have learned.... Kids - I just bragged on them the other day to all of you. Yesterday, I could not keep them from bickering. For a while, I let the snake have it's head and chalked it up to the fact they are probably getting tired of the hustle and bustle. No matter how much I try to keep them busy, the girls are ready to be home. This trip was too long for them. And I, with little space on board, would not let them bring too many of home's amenities. They are missing their beds, their toys, their friends and their relatives. Tiny Houses - There are all sorts of shows and books and articles about living in tiny spaces. I wanted on that bandwagon. I loved the minimalist idea. I do not need a bunch of space, I lived in a 300 sq foot apt in college and LOVED it. The tiny house movement boasts less then 300ft and I always thought that I could do it. Well, I have done it for two weeks. Needless to say it was within 50 sq ft, but I can now ...

It was a great day today, even if I didn't see my husband. I am not a huge birthday person. I always forget until the week or two before that my kids have birthdays coming up. And I certinly do not go hog wild on my own birthday. Kristin, however, lives in a world with birth-months, lol. She was ready to do any and everything I wanted today to spoil the mess out of me. I however could care less. But, when in Rome... We did wake up this morning with one thing on the mind...the hot springs in Ouray Colorado. They opened at 10AM and we were in the pool by 10:15. Two years ago when our family was in Ouray, we came to the springs and within 30 mins it started raining with lightning. They gave us three passes (Jolene was free back then) to come back and said they would always be good. I kept those passes hidden away in my room for two years. We pulled them out this morning and the four of us got in for the price of 1 child. The springs here have different temperatures in th...