Summer ends

It's Sunday, and on this last day of August it is quite beautiful in Santa Barbara. What a glorious summer we've had! Sorry, dear family and friends in England! Two years of wet summers just ain't fair, I know. So the school year has started and now I'm relearning the routine as a regular working person in the real world. I've had a pretty decent first week of teaching. I think it's going to be a good year. My students, 3rd graders, are sweet, responsive, with a healthy level of motivation.

Today, Sunday, I made blueberry muffins for breakfast, then went to the pool for a swim. I dropped by at the farmer's market and bought organic produce. I felt good about life this morning. At the pool, while swimming, my mind was filled with pleasant memories of the last months. I thought about Fabian wanting to go up the Leaning Tower in Pisa and Kimi picking tomatoes from our garden and popping them in her mouth and Keayen teaching us the South African word for a zipline - a foo-fee. So I was smiling in the pool.

I think my good mood stems from the way the Democratic National Convention went. Obama electrified the country with his speech. The other speakers were great too. There is no way the RNC can match this. Hurricane Gustav is taking the wind out of their sails already! And jeez, isn't their VP choice hysterical?

Last night we went to see a play - Moliere's "The Imaginary Invalid" at the Solvang Open Air theatre. Our friends, Premi and Sri, went along. We had a terrific picnic dinner on the lawn before the performance. The play was OK, but not the best acting we've seen from PCPA. But, it was fun though. The stage and costumes were great and I enjoyed sitting under the stars listening to Moliere's jabs at society.

And now I've got to be bold and double click on my manuscript!!!

Back to School

Today was my first day back in the classroom after a year's leave of absence. The first day of a teaching year is always a bit weird. I'm always a bit nervous about hanging out with a bunch of strangers for the day. And I'm anxious to see what kind of class I have. I can pretty much tell from the way the kids behave on the first day what my year will be like. Well behaved kids make a huge difference. It can make the year an absolute dream.

Twenty one third graders walked into the room just before 8 o'clock and seemed bright eyed and eager to get the year rolling. By lunchtime I felt optimistic about the year. The kids all seemed motivated and worked pretty independently most of the time. The last time I taught 3rd grade was 8 years ago so I'd forgotten the importance of modeling instructions as much as possible. I remembered later in the day that I needed to show more examples, and it was then that I realized what a capable group of kids I had. Cool!I have a student from Taiwan who seems to be a math wiz. To my surprise he could read and write really well. But his oral language skills are definitely lacking. I think everyone else will be fine.

I'm not thrilled to be back in the classroom. For one thing I love summer. And the start of school signals the end of summer and the approach of fall. And for another, being a teacher is such a consuming job that I feel I'm only half living when I'm teaching. And then, there are two unfinished manuscripts that I'm anxious to polish up. I find it really difficult to switch from classroom mode to writing mode.

And on a completely different topic, what did you think of Michelle Obama's speech at the DNC? I thought it was fab. She sounded so damn sincere and boy, what a speaker she is!