New School Year

I am exhausted.

I have been back to work for one week, and my poor old body is having a hard time adjusting to the 5 a.m. wake-up call. But more than the lack of sleep (compared to 2.5 months of 8 to 9 hours of sleep), my mind is tired.

For five straight days, I have had meeting after meeting after meeting. I have talked about reading scores, writing scores, how to improve those scores, how to reach those who need reached, how to reach both the high and low level students, how to get my high-risk students to graduate, how to teach low students, and on and on the list goes.

I took on a new responsibility of leading the 10th grade English team, and I have already been yelled at and looked down upon for making a decision that wasn't popular with a few in the group (my department manager backed me 100 percent).

I have made hundreds of copies of "How to write a thesis statement", syllabi, and many other worksheets my students need this first week. I have planned. I have plotted. I have prepared the next four months.

But today I met my students, and all my stress and tiredness left. I was re-energized. I was excited. I was happy to be in front of the students. I was filled with joy when I heard students yell my name in the hallway.

"Hey Ms. Nichols, how was your summer?" All my worries slipped away when I saw my students today.

The stress came back as the students left the room for the day, but I know it will get easier (and then harder) and then easier again. I will grade 150 essays times three (450 essays) this semester alone. If I spend only 10 minutes per essay (and I'm not going to lie, some take 20 and some take 5), I will spend over 4,500 minutes of my personal time grading essays. That equals 75 hours, for those who wonder.

But then I hear, "Ms. N, we missed you this summer. I'll stop by during my off hour to catch up," and I forget about the grading and remember why I teach.

For my kiddos: May God bless you this semester. May God keep you safe from harm. May God protect your heart from pain.

My Summer

What an incredible, great, relaxing summer I had! I can't believe my two and a half months is already over, but at the same time, I am ready to head back to work. There is nothing quite like the first few weeks of school. The kids are excited, and it's so much fun getting to know my new students. This year has quite a few promising surprises, so I am ready to take on the year.

I report back to work tomorrow, but I wanted to reflect on my fun summer.

Here's what I did these last three months:

*Had pool day every Thursday with great friends Josh, Liz, Britt, Sarah, Amanda, and Sam.
*Watched Case every Tuesday, which involved playing Go Fish, swimming, movies, and firecrackers.
*Went camping twice.
*Went to the Museum of Nature and Science.
*Went to a Rockies game.
*Went to Lakeside with Case.
*Read so many (great) books.
*Rode over 750 miles on my bike.
*Went mountain biking and survived.
*SAW A BEAR!
*Learned to like Sully, the dog.
*Got a massage.
*Went to Weight Watchers every Tuesday evening with Alicia.
*Saw my very good friend Abby.
*Exercised nearly every day.
*Went to Black Hawk and lost over $100 (well, Josh's money).
*Helped my very good friend April plan her wedding and organized her shower and bachelorette party.
*Went to the Demolition Derby and Adams County Fair and had funnel cake.
*Traveled to Greeley.
*Rode down Vail Pass and then enjoyed lunch and beer with the family.
*Sat on Liz's patio while enjoying cold beer and great conversation.
*Lost multiple games of UNO and Scattegories.
*Saw my friend Hayli, whom I haven't seen in year.
*Celebrated Siahna turning 2 and Case turning 5.
*Rode 150 miles in two hot, grueling days for the MS150.
*Took Siahna to music and watched her play with the other kids.
*Saw my friend Holly.
*Celebrated Josh's 30th birthday.
*Had book club with some school ladies every other Tuesday.
*Had lunch with my friend Katie several times.
*Went to several BBQ's.
*Had two crowns done on my teeth (ouch!).
*Saved money.
*Spent money.
*Got all my doctor check-ups done for the year.
*Had my Nebraska girls visit for Michelle's 30th birthday, and they saw me cross the finish line for the MS150.
*Celebrated Shannon's 36th birthday.
*Had a small reunion with some high school friends.
*Slept in (never later than 8 a.m.).
*Watched hours upon hours of the Olympics.
*Watched the Tour de France every morning for two weeks.
*Cooked and baked.
*Went out to eat.
*Swam with all five of my nieces and nephews.
*Visited Nebraska for April's 30th birthday and witnessed her engagement.
*Asked to be Maid of Honor for April's upcoming October wedding.
*Tried growing cucumbers, tomatoes, and flowers but ended up watering weeds most of the summer.

I'm sure there's more, but there's my summer in a nutshell. I couldn't have fit in more if I tried.

Goodbye, summer. Hello, work.

Lost Respect

Somewhere over the course of history, people have lost respect for the American flag. Specially, teenagers have lost respect for the American flag. It burns my insides, and I can't even imagine what it does to those serving our country, both past and present.

I see this disrespect often in the high school. I think back to the first day of school last year for the freshman class. They start one day earlier than the others so they can find their way around the school before 1,500 other students join them. It is a morning filled with games and fun, and then the afternoon is spent going from class to class to meet their teachers. A small assembly is held first, where all 500 teens learn their freshman chant and all 120 teachers stand before them and wave and cheer and welcome them to the school.

To begin this assembly, "The Star Spangled Banner" is sung by the choir. A teacher came to the microphone and said, "Please stand and remove your hats for the signing of our national anthem." We teachers stood before this freshman class and watched in horror as the students stood (but some remained seated) and screamed, laughed, shouted, kept their hats on, and showed blatant disrespect to this cherished tradition. The choir director, along with the choir, stood and waited. And waited. And waited. For a silence that never came.

The same teacher who asked them to stand was outraged. He grabbed the microphone and in a voice not to be messed with said, "This is unacceptable in this school." The students started to quiet down. They could hear the anger in his voice. He continued, "When we ask you to remove your hats for the national anthem, it means remove your hats. When we ask you to stand, you stand. When we ask you to be quiet, you be quiet. And when we say we are going to sing the national anthem, you stand with the utmost respect for our flag and our country. This is not something to mess with, and it will do you well to learn to respect our flag and our country." At this point, it was utter silence in the gym.

The choir was then able to sing the national anthem.

This year, I spoke to the principal about saying the Pledge of Allegiance at our school. In the three years I have taught at Chatfield, I have always been bothered by the fact that we don't say the Pledge. It is a choice per principal and per school. Our principal was new last year, so I certainly don't blame her for our lack of the Pledge, but I really felt a strong pull to talk to her about it. She was fully supportive of the idea, and starting this year, Chatfield will say the Pledge of Allegiance every Monday morning, led by student leaders over the announcement system. I am so excited for this "new" tradition, and I am excited to teach my students how to respect the flag once more.

Last night at the Demolition Derby, the flag was driven by a truck out into the middle of the stands. As the flag  passed by Josh and me, Josh immediately stood up. I stood with him, but everyone around us stayed seated. Some teenagers in front of us cussed and yelled, and no one else seemed to notice the flag was even out there until the announcer asked everyone to stand. Even during the signing of the anthem, the teenagers laughed and talked. They swung their hats about their heads, and they showed that they just didn't care.

Josh, an ex-marine, someone who served overseas and understands what it means to serve our country, someone who saw others die for our country, someone who knows firsthand the sacrifices soldiers make for our freedom said, "You always stand when the flag goes past you. Always."

I am proud to be an American. I am proud when USA wins gold and our anthem is played for the world to hear. I am proud to stand for my flag, and I hope to teach my students that same respect.

Thank you to those who have served our country. I couldn't be more proud to be a part of such an amazing country.

Camping 2.0 and a Bear

I must really be getting into this camping thing! Twice in one summer.

Josh, my friend Liz, and I headed off to Red Feather Lakes, CO, for four days of adventure. Liz has only been camping three times in her life, and Sully (her dog I spoke of previously) had never been camping, so Josh was ready to show them some fun.

Our campsite was 20 miles outside of the town of Red Feather Lakes, and we were so close to the big fire that we could see the devestation all around us. Very sad. It rained on us EVERY. SINGLE. DAY, which was not fun because we still couldn't start a fire. It was cold and wet our entire trip, but we didn't let that slow us down.

We just spent a lot of time in the tent.

 Sully had fun cuddling with all of us. Yes, even me.

 We played a lot of UNO and Scattegories, and we all read a lot, too.

 Since we couldn't start a fire, we had to improvise and roast our marshmellows on the stove. It worked well enough. Then we wrapped our chocolate, graham crackers and marshmellow in tin foil and let them cook a bit on the stove. They came out warm and delish!

 Liz enjoying her S'more.

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On our second day of camping, Josh found an "easy" mountain bike trail for Liz and me to ride. Yes, on the website it said "easy," but Liz and I quickly found out it wasn't easy for someone like her who hasn't ridden her bike in years or someone like me who has five years of road bike experience but little to no experience in the world of mountain biking.

The trail was less than a foot wide, it was full of giant rocks and roots, and it was very hilly. Nonetheless, we made the best of our bike ride and had a blast. We saw two deer on the trail, and even ran into some cows.

We encountered a stream, and luckily I had my Teva's on, so I carried the bikes through the stream and then helped Liz cross over on the rocks.

Hello, cows!

 I think we did more picture taking than riding!

I had a minor accident, but I turned out OK, and Liz's bottom hurt so badly the next day she could barely sit. But we made it to the end of the trail and back and had stories for Josh, who was fishing at the lake.

After fishing and riding, we met up with a friend of Josh's. Rick, a teacher in Greeley (whom Josh met through his observations at the high school), has a cabin in Red Feather Lakes. He met us for lunch, and then he kindly invited us to his cabin. He asked if we wanted to go for a ride on his 4-wheelers.

Liz, as you can see below, had never been 4-wheeling, so she was excited for the adventure.

 Liz even got to drive! This hour long ride took us on a tour of the town and the lakes. It was gorgeous, and we saw a few more deer along the way. It even stormed on us while we were out, and each one of us got pelted on the head with hail (definitely hurts when you're going 30 mph). It was a blast!

 Rick then invited us back to his cabin for a few adult beverages. We spent several hours at his cabin before heading back to our tent (and the downpour of rain). What a fun day!

Rick has hummingbird feeders all around his deck, and we saw close to 20 hummingbirds all fighting to get some food (all at the same time). You can see one in this picture if you look close enough. He also had deer out in the woods we were watching, and he says he has a moose that comes out everyone in a while, but we never saw the moose.
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The next day, the three of us headed to a fire overlook tower, but it was closed so we couldn't climb to the top. We did, however, see a bear! It was running through the woods, and I was the first to see it. All three of us got a glimpse before he disappeared. It was a dream come true for me (really, it was. I've always wanted to see a bear out in the woods). It totally completed my trip. We knew bears were close because we had bear crap all over our campsite, but we didn't realize they were THAT close until we actually saw one. But don't worry, we were safe and sound!

We ended up coming home a day early because of the rain. It was just too cold and rainy for our likes, and we had done everything we wanted to do. We packed up our wet gear and came home.

The best part of the trip?:

Liz-The mountain bike ride, even though she was in pain.

Shiloh-Hands down, seeing the bear. And meeting Rick and spending a fun day at his cabin.

Josh-Going to the fire tower even though it was closed. He also enjoyed our day at Rick's.

Such a fun trip!