Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work I go!

Actually....it's off to work I went...but that doesn't rhyme. After 16 1/2 days off, it was back to work for me--a teacher workday, while everyone else played slug-a-bed. I, of course, as always on the night before going back to work, slept soundly from 10:30-3:30 and then contemplated the worries of the world--how will I fit the new reading program into my schedule? Did I put that last phonics test in the computer? Should I do my book talks on Tuesday or Wednesday? How can I plan my wardrobe so that I can wear my tennis shoes every day (doctor's note...thank you!) without looking like an old lady?

Luckily, it was a work day. Now it used to be that ELCA defined work day as follows: a day you work on school stuff--where you work on it, and what you work on...up to you. Then my little private school went all big and SACS accredited and stuff, and so now we have work days just like everyone else. The first inservice training was all about differentiated instruction. Decent speaker, but as usual, I left the meeting with great ideas that I had neither the time nor space to implement. The second training was the requisite technology meeting, where I learned the oh so essential skill of creating my own podcast. That's what I can do in all myspare time...create a podcast. After the catered lunch from Chick Fil A--ok...so tomorrow, I'll start my diet....-we settled in for what was the most productive hour of the day, the grade level meeting. Good to be back with my teacher friends, and good to be starting fresh.

Tomorrow the kiddos come back. I'd be lying if I said I was excited about it. But I'd be lying if I said I was dreading it too. I'm looking forward to getting back to routine. Looking forward to seeing my kids and hearing all about their Christmas breaks and seeing how much they've grown (yes...they really do seem like they grow over the break!). Looking forward to my first workout session in two weeks. And most of all, looking forward being home again, hearing all about everyone's first day back, snuggling with Charlotte, and getting ready to do it all over again...