End of School 09

Three days left and I still don't know if Sharon will be back with me. I looked over my last year's post about our classes and realized we did exactly what we said we would. Same rules, same classrooms. It worked out great. Now we are sitting on a sea of uncertainty. I hate LAUSD for being so stupid in the way they have run the district these last years. Now we are all paying the price. Our school will not be the same for a long time. We have worked so hard for so long to get us where we are and it will probably not stick. There is too much division and uncertainty among the staff. I have been trusting in God to either make sure she stays or give us the direction he wants us to go. I have to let him lead me, even if it means losing Sharon to something else.

Reef Check CA

Well I got myself into another mess. I had to learn 77 flash cards of fish and seaweed. I thought I would never get it done and wanted to quit even before I started. It seemed as though I would never get it done. Connie of course wouldn't let me quit, "suck it up buttercup and start studying". I am so glad she did that because I really enjoyed the class and the diving. I have a whole new world opened up to me because of it. I'm the one who wanted to do it and then I almost wimped out. Should teach me to always lead with an open mind and who knows where it will take me. I almost passed all of the tests to be able to do the fish counts and I will with a little more practice. Now I want all my friends to do it with me. I guess I can't have everything at once.

Looking back on 2008/2009

It is interesting to me that I am looking back on the year with some regrets. I am not sure why, but I have not been able to do as much with this group of kids as I have done in past years. I think one of the reasons is that my coordinator told me I did too many field trips with last year's kids. Instead of appreciating the fact that I gave them a chance to do things for free she wanted me to do less. All of the trips I took the kids on were paid for by someone other than the school. When I was able to get a $25 price for Science Camp and she told me I couldn't take the kids on Oct, I think I gave up and allowed myself to not have the energy to continue this year. If indeed this is the case I need to take a hard look at my outlook on why I do what I do. Is it for me, or for the kids. If I didn't do as much this year for my own reasons I need to figure it out. I'm sure there is more than one reason for it and I need to pay attention to all of them.

NBC Teacher

Tomorrow I go home from Maui and start my next educational journey. I am doing my National Boards. I have a feeling it is going to be a lot more work than I want to do, but how much harder can it be than what I've done so far. We'll see. I expect I got myself in a real mess this time.

Thacher 2008

After the dive class I was too tired to get up here for breakfast. I made it by break though. So far it appears they have taken off out of the starting gate at a gallop. We were exposed to a lot today, some of which might have stuck. Softchalk and the moodle shell and a bunch of stuff in Janet's class. They always make it exciting. But I am still so tired from the weekend that I am going to bed. I think I'm glad I'm here, even though I am not getting paid.

Day 2 Advanced Dive Class

This past weekend Connie, Sylvia and I took our advanced diving class. Shannon and Aaron came along because the class was a graduation class from the two of them and Bob and Jan. I knew I was going to have to work hard, but even I didn't think I would get this tired.
It started Sat. night with a navigation dive and I got thrown and tossed in the surf and lost a fin and couldn't hardly move to crawl out. Aaron and another guy helped me just as I was getting to Connie. I was so mad at myself. I did do the night dive, but the dive masters helped me get my fins on. The visibility was 2 ft.
Sunday 6am we are at the boat. We did four dives and we all got the skills done and passed the class, but I was slap wore out. Not only did Brian have to help me get my fins off on the dive platform but the weights and BCD also. Then it was all I could do to drag my tired body up the ladder.
I am proud and happy we all finished, I had no doubt about Connie and Sylvia but I did doubt myself.
I was scared after the pool work, but I figured I'd live through it and I did. I am happy that I stuck it out and now have the advanced diver name tag.

Advanced Scuba Class

Well what a trip and an eye-opener. I did my pool lesson for my advanced dive class. I was so anxious about the whole experience that there was no part of the class I enjoyed. As a learner it reminded me of many pitfalls I can fall into. I got anxious because my new super-stretch wet suit didn't go on easy at all. I spent $350 so I could avoid this, but the same size in a 3mm is NOT the same as a 7mm. And I couldn't see the compass and swam into the wall. With one contact and a cataract I don't see to well in low light. Now I'm worried about jumping into the cold water, getting out past the surf and so forth, and so forth, and so forth. I am anxious and scared. I'll let you know how it works out after Sunday.