LIFE MOVES FAST

You guys. I am using my New York Minute of free time to write this post. Perhaps I should be using this small window of time to do yoga or go on a run, but I don't have time to shower and clean up before I'm off again to save the world. And by save the world I mean eat dinner with some extended family. There are no breaks for Natalie!

I started out today behind schedule and I have been playing catch up ever since. It has been one thing after another, I tell you what. Shoot.

This last weekend I was in the greater Seattle area to visit that brother of mine and his extra lovely fiancé. They are the bee's knees. I got to have my whole family around for Saturday - I'm talking the whole fam damily, you guys. The Boyfriend, the LoveBirds, the Sibs, the Rents and Rylie's mom and sister to boot. For a girl who loves family get togethers, I was basically in heaven.

There was plenty of wedding talk and excited hugs. And also elephant ears, barbecue, and more teasing than may have been necessary. The only downside was that I have been so incredibly exhausted that I haven't really had a chance to forget the world and sleep everything off.

School is keeping me more busy than I'd like to admit. I have grading that I'm a little behind on, but not bad. And prep work for upcoming lessons. I mean, this teaching thing is no walk in the park. Sure I can stand in front of a group of students and explain in thorough detail five different ways of creating value, but that my friends is the easy part. What people outside of the profession don't necessarily realize is all the behind the scenes work that goes into teaching.

There is grading, for one. So much grading. Like drowning in grading. And then prepping for classes. Creating rubrics. Making power-points. How many handouts do you need to copy, when do you need them by, etc. What materials do you need and how much of them do you need and when do you need to have them? And the paperwork. Charting data. Making sure your students are meeting their standards sufficiently - and not only the department power standards, but also the common core ones too. Oh, right, and are you following all the 504s and IEPs too? Are you compensating for your special needs students? Are you tailoring the lessons so you can most effectively reach every student?

Let me just stop and say that I love my job. I love my students. I love teaching art. I love creating art. I love my school and the staff members that I work with. There are WAY more upsides than downsides, and that is what keeps me plugging away. That is what makes the endless project grading and prepping worth it.

Because who else gets a chance to influence 100 kids a day? Who can instill creative thinking and critical problem solving skills in a somewhat upbeat fun happy way? Who lets them play with colored pencils and sharpies for an hour a day? Oh right. That would be me. I am so lucky.

This life is so crazy, so full of one adventure after the next. It's insane how fast life moves. One minute you're a student with a three hour painting studio and your biggest worry is having your frames finished for your upcoming critique. And then all of a sudden you're a high school art teacher with over 100 students to look after each day. Everything happens in the blink of an eye, really. So don't take where you are for granted because tomorrow you might miss it.

ON BEING NON TRADITIONAL

Sometimes I like to think I don't fit the "traditional" mold for teaching. I try to think back and remember how my teachers were when I was in high school and what about them made me like them. What did they teach me while I was there? How did they relate to me?

And I realized something. I realized that my favorite teachers weren't the ones who did the traditional crap. The teachers that made an impact on my life were the ones who shared real parts of themselves with me and taught from a passionate place. My favorite teachers were people who turned out to be more of a mentor and less of a lecturer. A friend, if you will, while still maintaining good boundaries.

Take my German teacher, for instance. Frau would share stories of her life, she invited us over to her house, she involved us in her thoughts. She was never overly organized and probably the least professional (in only the best ways) and she did her best to lift us up and make us feel smart.

I had an English teacher that I also really enjoyed, and he treated us in a similar fashion. He was a little more organized and professional on the business end of things, but he taught us in a fun and relevant way. He used youtube videos and humor all the time.

My history teacher junior year was a young teacher, like me, in maybe her second or third year. She was knowledgeable about her subject, but she kept history interesting. We would start out the day with "On this day in history" and if there wasn't anything good she'd pick a student's birthday during the summer or a school year break that we wouldn't get to and read that one instead. It was always a fun environment to be in, and when kids are able to have fun and still learn then that is when you've hit the magic mark.

So sometimes I get a little worried that maybe I share too much or I'm not professional enough and I don't conduct myself in necessarily the right manner, but then I realize that's completely stupid. I have to be myself or i'm not going to be good at what I do. My art teacher in high school was very strict, she kept her classroom quiet, she marked you down for talking, she made sure that you did the assignments to her specific outlines - no deviating.

And I hated it.

I hated her.

My goal is to create a learning environment where students are free to express themselves. Where they feel like their teacher not only knows what she's talking about, but allows her students to learn from her in a non-stuffy environment. I want my classes to be fun and entertaining as well as educational. You do your best work in a place where you feel comfortable, and if you can't be comfortable in an art classroom then something is gravely wrong with the world.

You don't have to be good at drawing or painting to be an artist, you just have to be willing to open up the creative side of your brain and let it spill all over your page. And that is what I want for my students. A comfortable environment with a passionate teacher and an end goal to become the most creative they can be.

So far, I think I have a real good start on that.

FREE WRITE

We sit on the couch, each on our respective laptops pinning away and playing dumb online games. It's simple and quiet, we don't talk. Just the nearness is fine with me, because when you're gone all I want is for you to come back. Or perhaps for me, since I feel like I'm the one always leaving.

The basement door opens and closes. Your brother walks in his room and then back out again and up the stairs. It's this little dance you both do, i've noticed. Up the stairs to pick on Mom and then back down again to retreat from the heat. Sometimes I follow you and sometimes I stay.

But my computer screen today is pretty boring. I've done all the things I wanted to do, so I look over at you. your face is concentrating on the task at hand. Take the tower. Spawn the minions. Beat the other team. I've seen you do it over and over again, and always I watch but not always understanding. The game is still a little foreign to me.

i poke your side because i know you hate it, but I want your attention. Your game is over now and in my boredom i pester you like a little sister would. I just want your arms around me. i just want to be close to you, but I don't know how to say it. So i poke and I prod and I tickle because i like you. Because i love you. Because it's the small moments like this where my heart swells and i never want to leave your side. you are my best friend. you care about me in a crazy world where often i feel over looked. you are my safe place.

So i'm sorry that i tickle your ribs when it's something you hate. i just want you to hold me and i don't know how to tell you.

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i've never participated in a free write link up before, but i saw on Suki's blog and thought it sounded fun. so here i am playing along.

THE WEEKEND HAPPENINGS

Well you guys, it's Monday. I feel like Monday...if Monday was a feeling. And I may or may not have hit the snooze button two or three times more than I should have this morning...you'll never know. However, I don't feel like I stayed up abundantly late last night, just that I'm more exhausted than normal like, all the time these days.

It should be mandatory for schools to require nap times. Or to make weekends three days long and the weekdays only four. Mondays should be transition days, that one extra day between the weekend and the start of the week. Right?

But anyway, this weekend. Yes. Big things happened this weekend. My sweet grandmother turned 80 (what. up!), I spent time with Nathan (he is my faaaavorite!) and my little brother got engaged to the sweetest girl on the planet (woop woop!).


Nathan bought me copic markers for my birthday and I subsequently spent the next half hour testing them out. Nerrrrrrrrrrd. But seriously, I don't know the last time I was that truly excited over a present. (Thanks babe! I love you!) 


They are adorable, right? Right. SO EXCITED for them. And a wee bit jealous in obligatory unmarried old sister fashions. But mostly just so excited!

And now today we're entering into the third week of school. We are starting to settle into routines. We are starting to turn out some really cool projects. I know almost all of my students' names. It's so weird being the teacher and not the student. I mean, I get paid to show up at school everyday - who does that? Oh right. Me. I do that. And it's awesome.


these are some examples of student works. Zentangles have been such a freaking fun project to do with them all! What great results!

SOME LESSER KNOWN THINGS ABOUT NATALIE

Well because, shoot. Why not?

1. I love waking up and finding unread text messages on my phone. Ones that say "love you!" are probably my favorite.

2. I like to sit in my classroom with the lights off so students won't come in and bug me in the mornings. Sometimes I just need to be alone so I can focus before school. And sometimes I need more time to be functional that early in the day.

3. I love to learn more about myself. Especially when there are those online tests you can take with paragraphs about how you react to things and why you react that way and I just sit there nodding my head like an idiot thinking "Ohmygosh that's me!" (like the fact that I'm an ISFJ).

4. I have a hard time coming right out and saying exactly how I feel about something. Now before you recoil and speak to the contrary, let me explain. I am perfectly capable of blathering on and on telling you how I feel about things that maybe don't matter very much or are possibly things that my opinion holds no weight over so it doesn't matter what I think - but when it comes to telling someone exactly how I feel about them (like, for example, telling another person really how much i love or care about them or just how upset your actions made me earlier) those words get caught in my throat and for some reason it takes a lot of effort to force them out. I get nervous about being that vulnerable to another person, so I mostly just don't.

5. A student asked me the other day what my obsession with birds and feathers is. So I'll tell you because it's really quite simple. I like to be free and wild and birds are both. Okay, good talk.

Now I guess it's time to get back to work. My prep period is winding down to an end. Boo.

A GOOD REMINDER

My first week of classes went as good as can be expected I suppose. With all the switching class periods and new students in my room every day, and also learning to deal with my special needs students, by Friday I couldn't have been more stoked for the weekend. I went home and collapsed on the couch, too exhausted to really do anything. And I promise you I tried to pay attention during Friday night church, but it was a battle to even keep my eyes open.

Saturday didn't really offer much rest either. But what is life if not constantly busy? I went to lunch with a very good friend and then attended a barbecue that evening.

Mimi and I made chocolate jalapeño cupcakes with a vegan lime cream cheese glaze. They were, to say the least, delicious. I was a little worried that maybe the cupcakes turned out too spicy, but the lime cream cheese balanced out the hotness of the jalapeños. Really, you should try them.

Over a dinner of perfectly grilled tri-tip steak, the best potato salad and macaroni salad in the world, amazing cilantro pasta salad and a variety of chips, we sat and talked and reminisced about Honduras with our wonderful team. The barbecue was the three month anniversary of our departure. It is almost unbelievable that it has been that long and that short at the same time.

We are such a close knit team that once we were all together again it sort of felt like we hadn't been apart at all. Missions trips bond people for life, I'm telling you. We are already starting to plan our trip for next October, in 2014.

It is an interesting thing to spend time in a third world country. After so long you get to come home and go back to your 'normal' life. You get to sleep in your normal bed and wear your normal clothes and go to your normal job. But the people you meet and the workers you sweat along side with every day are still down there. That is their "normal." And doesn't that just blow your mind?

Having memories and pictures and friends from that trip really puts into perspective just how blessed I am to live where I do, to be who I am. With all the crazy things I have done this summer it is important to remember that I am lucky to have all these things. To have two silly puppies and a full time job. To be surrounded by family and friends.

As I begin the second week of the school year, learning to navigate new situations and ask tough questions about whether some things I'm facing are too difficult for a first year teacher to deal with on her own, I'm going to remind myself that this is a giant blessing in my life. This job, with all it's challenges, is going to help me grow. It is the best thing I could ask for, even though it's probably one of the toughest things I've ever attempted.

But you know what, I'm not worried. This is going to be the best year yet.

FIRST DAY. NAILED IT.

Well guys, I survived my first day of classes. To say that it was an interesting experience would be maybe the understatement of the century. My students so far have been all over the board. Some are thrilled to be in art class beyond all reason and others are merely checking off their humanities credit boxes in order to complete all their graduation requirements, which honestly is exactly what I expected.

So I tried to motivate them by making them sit through this video:

Whether or not it worked remains to be seen, it is only the first day after all. Sheesh.

If I can tell you one thing though, it's that I am not at all a big fan of the first week of school. Too much setting up the classroom and organizing and syllabus reading and monotony. I am ready to launch into projects and establish some routines already.

But then that Nathan guy said something that made me reconsider a little bit. It'll be winter break before you know it so you should enjoy it all while it's here babe. And he's right. I will only have one first week to my first year of teaching and that will never happen again.

My advanced art class is my last class of the day. I already know a lot of the students in that class and it's basically a giant flash mob. There was rapping and singing and more swag than I knew what to do with. Plus one of my students asked me when I was going to get married and then he tried to guess my boyfriend's name. I was too busy laughing at the ridiculousness to answer his question. It's going to be a fantastic year, or at least I hope so.

nobody likes you when you're 23

This weekend my house was filled to the brim with dogs and people. I like to think they were all in town for my birthday on Saturday. I turned 23 and I spent the day up on top of Schweitzer at Fall Fest with my favorite boy, our friend, my aunt and uncle who were in from out of town, and my family - minus Jim because he was too cool to drive over from Seattle (insert winky face).

The view from the top of the mountain was gorgeous and the hard cider and elephant ears weren't bad either. Plus, I'm pretty easy to please so I was just happy that everyone was here and that I didn't have to work. 

Birthday weekend celebration was in full swing yesterday too on the lake in a tube behind the boat. Every wave is a personal challenge and it takes quite a bit to throw me off into the water. The only downside I have found to this comes the next day when my shoulders and forearms scream at me every time I try to move them. Worth it.

And come tomorrow I will be walking into a classroom full of sarcastic teenagers who aren't ready to say goodbye to summer and hello to homework. It's so crazy that this time last year I was a student teacher and now I'm the one who's large and in charge. The world is not ready for me yet! I'm taking the education world by surprise. I will warp values! I will twist minds! All in the name art! Muahahahaha!

All in all though, as I look back through all of the things I have done this summer, it has been a good one. I started out in Honduras and then I spent time with Nathan. I went camping, I went to Silverwood and Boulder Beach. I went fishing. I went tubing. I cliff dived and jumped off a rope swing. I worked in a restaurant. I made new friends and caught up with old ones. I herded cattle in a truck. I took Daniel's senior pictures. I soaked in a hot tub underneath a sky full of stars. I went to the fair and ate elephant ears and jumped on a trampoline. I fell asleep to thunder and lightning. There were adventures galore. I'm not ready to see this summer off just yet, but I am excited to walk into my classroom tomorrow and start my first year of teaching.

I don't know what this school year is going to bring and I can't predict the challenges that will come my way, but I do know that this is going to be one of the greatest life adventures I will ever embark on. I am so happy that I have the family I do, that I have Nathan, that I have God watching out for me, and that I'm in the position I am in now.

I remember I used to wonder what it would be like to be 23. I wondered where I would be, what I would be doing, where I would live. I would have never imagined that I would be in a full time salaried position living in the same town where I grew up. God is so good and I am so blessed.