Sunday, May 23, 2021

May 16 - May 23

 My only picture from the week was a terrible one! Aaaah! I must do something about that. 

This was Bill's first week doing flooring estimates. It sounds interesting and kind of fun to go see people's spaces and talk to them about their flooring. He also got his first job which will be done this next Friday. Exciting times! He is still working at the dental group too, so he really has his hands full right now.

School is suddenly going to end and summer will be here. It seems like it can't be true. I have seen it in myself, my students at school and my own kids at home: everyone is a little dead from this year. Even Ivy says she has given up. (Which I think means that she has decided not to worry about it so much, but I still see her studying.)

Should teachers be honest with their students about how they are feeling or is it best to just "keep the show going"? I have had a couple of mentor teachers make comments to me like, "The students don't know how bad it is if you don't tell them," and, "time to go put on the show and pretend everything is great!" These are great teachers who I admire. However from a mental health standpoint I don't subscribe to their thinking at all! That's just crazy talk to me. I think students need to see that teachers are having a hard time too. How can we model coping skills and compassion if we don't give our students the opportunity to see us coping and showing ourselves (and the students!) compassion? Okay. Rant over.

Will had the hardest week of all. He had a molar extracted. It actually broke my heart to see how tough he was about it. He had gone through this before, so he knew what he was facing. Thankfully, the healing process has gone well and he is starting to eat regular foods again. He also got a girl's phone number this week, but has yet to use it.

 
Faith started her new job and seems to be having fun with it. They have her writing about a Donut store opening (she'll go to the store tomorrow to talk to the owners and eat donuts) and a writer formerly from Carson City. She was really impressed with the office supplies they provided her with: a MacBook, a very large desk, and a ginormous stack of pens. Perfect. Also, I loved it that her boss was really protective of her on her first day. People from marketing tried to come meet her and he said, "No, you can't meet her. Not today. It is her first day and I don't want her getting overwhelmed." 

Ivy's haircut remains adorable and low maintenance. Oh, the joys of having great hair! Unfortunately because she knows nothing else, she will never properly appreciate it. Even though she has "given up" on school, she still says things like, "can we have salad for lunch today? We have too many treats here." She helped me go grocery shopping so she saw when all the treats happened and could have stopped it at the grocery store. Just sayin'. She's a pretty good kid.

3 days of finals, one check-out of school morning for me and then I get to go see Heather! So excited!

6 comments:

HW said...

Good luck making it to the end! I want to know if you figure out the right way. Oh, poor Will. He is doing grown up things that take great bravery! And it is so much fun to hear about Faith's job! Ivy is so sweet and good. Bill is too. I'm hopeful he has good people to work for him. And I CANNOT WAIT to see you! Turning 50 is turning out to be a blast!

Kayci said...

What an eventful week you had. Poor Will. What a trooper. I hope the healing continues to go well. Ivy is so good! I am so glad the haircut is still a good thing and I like her giving up not really giving up. Sounds like Faith has a good job with good people to work for and with! How fortunate! It sounds like things are exciting for Bill and will only keep moving that way. I hope the flooring business is a great success!
I am jealous you are done with school a week earlier than us and you get a great prize for making it through the year. I hope you have a splendid weekend with Heather!
Maybe the teachers I know have taken a different approach. I think you are spot on. I think the kids can see through the show. It seems like the kids and teachers here are working together to make it to the end of this really hard year. If there is a show it is kind of a show that everyone has been putting in this year to get to the end of a really unique year.

Paige said...

It's so much better to have school to think about instead of having nothing to think about. The disjointed and interrupted and virtual parts of this school year are still better than nothing. The attitude you have is probably a little bit better then you're jaded compatriots but all of you keep showing up and that is the important part. I wonder if it will be possible for you and Heather to have a video conference with me and M'Li when you get together because those are totally fun. I'm so glad you have a v to keep every

Paige said...

I am still trying to figure out your picture. It looks like rawhide chew toys for dogs two tabasco chili peppers and bits of bone trimmed from horse's hooves along with part of a ruler. Where in the world does a person find a collection like that?

Paige said...

My incomplete comment above was about Ivy. She's a gem. Will suffers well, but I wish he didn't have to. I also hope Bill is better.

kirsta said...

The picture is of Will's molar that was ripped from his mouth sitting on the dental tray with gauze rolled up (those look like the chew toys.) Your interpretation was much better, Paige :)

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