another turn of the cycle

August marks the beginning of another year for Matt and I and teachers around the country. It is always full of promise, especially at our school, where changes for the better do happen. My little victories were bringing in real dishes and silverware into the teacher workspace, banning sodas in my classroom, and involving parents by requiring their feedback on various assignments.

(But I feel a little jaded when I see again the things that frustrated me last year: staff members that won't play on the team, more shooting from the hip, our principal cooking again, students in PE not moving, catering to students instead of teaching them discipline and resilience, setting policies but always making an exception, turning down opportunities to set the bar higher.)

I can tell Matt is starting to believe he's the good teacher that many of us knew he was. He's our main science teacher now, teaching both Physical Science and Earth Science, while I teach Biology (and Seminar). He's also the driver of the 9th grade seminar team. So far, I've enjoyed creating the 10th and 11th grade seminar curriculum. All those ideas I've had and written down on scraps of paper now have a formal outlet, and I've already noticed that what we teach is improving students.

Last weekend, we met the Kirks at the Blueberry Cottage/Mountain Farm in Celo where we married, marking another turn of a different cycle. It's been real good so far.