Magical

Neuschwanstein Castle was amazing! I took this picture as I stood on the very wobbly Mary's Bridge that was high over a little waterfall... It was a little scary, but the view was so worth it!

It was truly magical and it's amazing to me that a beautiful castle like this exists only 3 hours from where we live! We didn't get to ride in the horse drawn carriage because we were told that the wait was too long and we would not make our tour time if we waited, so we walked the forty minute (uphill) trail, which I think I actually liked better because we got some exercise in!

We were not allowed to take pictures inside the castle, but we got to take pictures of the view out the window. A-ma-zing! 

It was so picturesque, lush, and green!

We stayed the night in Austria (just over the border) in a cute little hotel and drove back today. We pulled over a couple of times as we drove out of Austria because the views were gorgeous! The water reminded me of Neverland. I only have a few more weekends with Mr. Sneaker before I pack up my sneakers and leave for OR, so it was wonderful to have such a glorious weekend together.

At the hotel I spent a good amount of time finishing up this book, which I will post some thoughts about tomorrow.

How was your weekend?

Visual Learning

Have I mentioned on this blog that I recently got the Rosetta Stone to help me learn German? I have only done 2 lessons so far, but I think it's great. It is based on the idea that complete immersion is the most effective way to learn language, therefore, the instruction starting with lesson one is entirely in German. The lessons are extremely visual and help the learner acquire language through visual input that is paired with audio words and phrases.

My husband and I have also been working with a German teacher who comes once a week (typically) to our home to work with us for about an hour and a half. I have to say that this learning situation has been tough. My husband and I are completely different kinds of learners. My husband is very verbal. He can listen and then talk about something and be an expert. I, on the other hand am very visual. If I hear a word, especially a word in German, I cannot repeat it unless I have seen it and written it myself.  Surely it is hard to teach 2 people when they don't learn the same way, right? Well, how about teaching 25 when they have several different styles of learning and learning strengths! A teacher needs to be able to meet the needs of different learners in the same room/group. I feel like our teacher is doing an okay job, but going back to my point, I really like the Rosetta Stone because of of the high level of visual input that I am getting. It works better for me than the discussion of language and words that comes with our at home class.

Another experience that has got me thinking about visual learning is a knife class that we took yesterday which was conducted in German. At first I thought we would not learn anything if we couldn't understand what the instructor was saying, but the techniques for cutting vegetables and other foods were all carefully demonstrated, so we learned a lot. No, we didn't get every single word he said, so surely we missed some good information, but we came away with a lot more because we got to see what he was teaching.

When I apply this to teaching students who are learning English as a second (or at my current school possibly a third or fourth) language, I realize the extreme significance of visual learning. I have always tried to learn a lot about appropriate teaching strategies for my students who are acquiring English and I have always known that visuals are important. It wasn't, however until I started having experiences in a language in which I know only a handful of words, that I realized the true importance of visual learning.

I feel like I can now put myself in the shoes of a student who is not getting anything from the words coming from the teacher's mouth. It doesn't matter how slowly and clearly you speak if the student is not familiar with the words you are saying right? Using visuals to compliment the lesson/idea/theme/instruction is a great way to enhance understanding for all students, but especially for students who are not getting as much from the auditory part of the lesson. I can see why it is so important to have words written in addition to being spoken and why images or even sketches to accompany words are helpful to increase understanding and comprehension. Just because students don't speak English as well as other grade level peers, does not mean that they lack knowledge as well. Visual learning can be a great way to bridge their native language content knowledge with new information that they are learning in English.

I think all of this is coming to mind as a result of being really excited at the thought of getting back into the classroom in a different role next year. Right now, I work with what the teacher has prepared because I am supporting his or her classroom. Sometimes, I will make support materials or modify materials the students are working with, but I don't get the opportunity to teach the lesson in the first place. I think the staff at my school is extremely competent and they do a fantastic job. I am not saying they don't teach in an appropriate way. I am just saying I am jealous it's not me. Yeah, this is the green-eyed-monster talking. I am starting to have this longing to get back in the classroom and have my own class. I have mentioned it before and I am mentioning it again because it's on my mind. There are so many things I am itching to try out as a result of my experience at an international school and I just can't wait to put some ideas and thoughts into action!

I often see fantastic ideas from other teacher bloggers and most often, I take note, but think that I can't try it until I have my own class again. Next year, I will be "borrowing" ideas from a lot of fantastic educators that I have "met" as a result of blogging. I'm excited for that chance!

Cocktail Anyone?!

Today was a rough day.

Remember when I shared that I was in the process of making a tough decision and have been under a lot of stress recently? Well today, that all came to a head.

As you may know, I have been working on my doctorate here in Germany. I have a wonderful advisor/professor who has been helping me to stay afloat in my program by means of skyping and completing the coursework as independent study. The program basically has three phases which consist of core work, electives/specialty courses, and the dissertation. I have been working somewhat out of order because I am supposed to be doing core courses this year, but I have been fulfilling the requirements for electives and my curriculum & instruction courses instead due to the fact that I am in Germany. I was really hopeful that based on the success of my remote work during my first year, that I would be able to complete the core courses from Germany as well. I was wrong.

There are 5 courses that I need to be in Portland to take and those courses need to be completed before I can move forward in the program. Do you see where this is going?

I am going back to Portland for a bit.

Not right away, but I will return in August to complete these courses beginning in the fall term of 2010. My husband is staying in Germany. Can you see why I have been so stressed out?! My husband is probably the most supportive person I will ever meet. He was the one who encouraged me to even apply for the program because I thought I would never get accepted. He is amazingly supportive of all the time I spend reading and writing papers and he continues to be supportive of this decision. We made it together and he is happy that I am going after what I want. Of course I will miss him, but we both know that this period of being away from one another is not forever and that we have many many more years to grow old together once I am Dr. T. :0)

The lucky part of this is that I am on a leave of absence from my job in Portland right now. If I return for next school year, I am guaranteed a full time teaching position, which is hard to come by these days in that area. I will not get to return to my same first grade position or at my same school necessarily, but I will be sure to have a position in the district. Knowing that I will have a job makes it a lot easier and makes it more pertinent that this hiatus from Germany takes place starting next year or else I would not have a job to go back to.

The hardest part about this was that I had to tell people here...administrators, co-workers, and the toughest--my friends. I love Germany. I am having a wonderful time living here and I am enjoying my job a lot. I feel like I just started and I had to share the news today that I will be leaving and won't be back next school year. Not only did I have to tell the director, but also the principal, my department head, and my closest friends. Not fun. And I had to do this in rapid succession because news travels fast in our school community and I couldn't bear the thought that people would get wind of it before I shared in person.  I have only ever been on the receiving end of a breakup, but I feel like today I was the "dumper" over and over. This decision came completely out of the blue--for them and for me. It is not something I planned on AT ALL. I could tell that each person I told was really surprised and also upset that I will be leaving. Even though I feel in my heart that this is the right thing to do for me, I feel a lot of guilt about leaving. My HOD was especially upset and it was not at all easy to see the emotions that came out at the thought of not having me around. She was very supportive and completely understood my desire to see this program through, but at the same time, she is not at all happy to see me go. It is a big relief that the news is out there now and I am glad to be sharing it with you all because I know my bloggy friends are always chock full of kind words and support.

I am excited at the idea of returning to Portland and seeing my co-workers and friends that I am missing a lot right now. It will be an exciting adventure and it will get me that much closer to my goal of obtaining my doctorate. I am also excited at the thought of having my own class again! It would be great to teach first grade again, yet my experience here in Germany has given me the confidence to teach any grade level and I would love to be placed with any age group at this point. I see the benefits of each grade level and now have experience with grades 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8.

I am also excited for the point at which I come back to Germany and rejoin my friends here and hopefully rejoin the staff at my current school. I am happy to feel the stress slip away because this big secret is out in the open and is no longer something completely eating away at me.

I am really surprised that no one has told me I am crazy so far. Everyone in my family and John's family has been really really supportive and excited for me. I guess I am really embracing this whole life is an adventure mentality. I feel like I have grown up a lot since John first mentioned the prospect of moving here because I know I am strong enough to handle the hard work and the difficulty of being apart from my husband that are headed my way. Instead of balking at this challenge, I am heading straight for it.

So, to conclude my day of stress, I had some chocolate and bought myself new markers.

Office supplies can always soothe my soul....

And I may need a cocktail!

boo-to-the-ya ya'll!

Enough said.

motivation, tests, and memorization

Remember how I failed my German driving test? Well on Tuesday, I have to give it another try. We have 60 different practice tests sitting on the table just waiting to be completed and studied. I absolutely, under no circumstances want to have to take this test a third time, which means on Tuesday I need to pass.

Now, given the fact that I don't drive much at all here in Germany because my daily life encompasses a  school, grocery store, and gym that are all within a very short distance from our apartment, I know that passing this test is just a matter of getting it done. For all intensive purposes I just need to memorize the answers to the questions and regurgitate them during the exam. Growing up, this was exactly how I learned. I am really good at memorizing and was always able to perform well on test day. The problem was...if you asked me about the information a few weeks..no, even a few days later,  I would probably not remember. I went through most of my schooling with this process of learning and realized too late in life that getting good grades was not equivalent with actually learning. Recently, I was at home and I came across some work I had done in high school and some papers I had written. I had absolutely no recollection of ever completing them or the information they pertained to! Jeez! I was pretty impressed with my writing skills--even back then, yet I had no connection to what I had learned at the time.

That is not good.

You would think that I would be pumped about the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge that does not require me to analyze, rethink, apply, synthesize, and masticate knowledge in order to formulate my own ideas and perspectives, like all the assignments I have been working on for my doctoral courses, but in recent years, I have completely changed my attitude regarding what it means to truly learn.

I hate that I missed out on so much authentic learning because I was complacent with just memorizing information in order to spit it back to the teacher and get the A's I so badly coveted. Now, I am not saying I don't still enjoy getting A's, quite the contrary, it is what I expect from myself, but the A's I earn now are worth a lot more to me because they are accompanied by a deeper understanding of what I am learning about. I care about the themes, topics, and discoveries that I make. I seek out additional information, and I am constantly driven to learn more. I know that everything I learn will have an impact on the person that I am and the super teacher that I am still working on becoming.

I no longer want to learn disconnected facts.

I am no longer happy to know a piece of information without having a solid understanding of the how and why.

I feel like memorizing robs me of true awareness and conern for what goes on in the world.

Because of this, I am absolutely, 100% unmotivated to study for this stinkin' driving test.When I leave the test, I will forget the answers and it will in no way make me a better or safer driver. This exercise does not have any meaning to me, therefore I am simply uninterested!

So, rather than just complaining, which makes for a Debbie Downer blog post, I am going to take this as a learning experience that helps me to connect with students and become a better teacher. I went through 13 years of schooling, succeeding and doing exceptionally well. I got mostly A's and I was number 7 in my graduating class of about 150 students. In spite of that, sometimes I feel like in the grand scheme of things I am not that smart.

I was just good at school.

I don't want my students to only be good at school. I want them to be good at learning and good at life. I want them to be invested and invigorated by learning and all the prospects life has to offer. Some students that are not "good at school" have a lot of perspective, knowledge, and experience that makes them smarter than I will ever be, so I hope to foster that rather than letting them feel like failures for not acing every test or being at "grade level" or beyond.

Getting all the correct answers on a multiple choice test does not make you smart.

I will keep this in mind as I continue in my career as a teacher, crafting assignments and learning tasks that reflect thinking and learning rather than memorizing. If students repeat back exactly what I have said, I will consider myself a failure because I want to encourage them to do their own thinking and formulate their own convictions. 

Maybe this is all just a huge pep talk for myself so that if I do fail again, I won't feel as defeated, but for me, learning has gone so far beyond memorizing that I feel like I won't beat myself up. Real life is not multiple choice and I think that is really important to keep in mind when this kind of testing is becoming more and more prevalent in the lives of students.

Nürnberger Christkindlesmarkt

Last night some friends and I went to the opening of the Christmas Market in Nürnberg. It was so fun! During the holiday season (last week in November through Christmas), each town/city has its own Christmas Market. The one is Nürnberg is quite big and was definitely jampacked with lots of people and holiday spirit. Not to mention half meter long sausages! Whew.

I took a lot of pics and posted them on my other blog, but I know you guys enjoy seeing bits of Germany as well. Here are a few highlights:

This was how big the crowd was watching the presentation of the Christkindle (Christ's child) angel that sets off the Christmas Market season.

drinking some Glühwein (special holiday wine)

lots of Lebkuchen (gingerbread)

handmade walnut people

The children's market had a few rides

We are going again next weekend! Can't wait.

German Blondie

Today not only did I drive by myself for the very first time since moving here three months ago, but I also got my first haircut and "blondening" since moving here as well. My friend gave me the name of her girl, so I made an appointment at her salon since I don't work on Fridays. I actually ended up subbing two periods today in the afternoon, but my appt. was at 9, so I was able to do both. Since we only have one car, I dropped my husband at work and then drove to the salon which is very close to his office. I was a nervous wreck to drive alone because the roads are very windy and narrow in some towns and there are many people out walking/biking. Fortunately, I made it home without getting lost.

Let's just take a moment to give thanks for the invention of GPS!

I had my previous hair stylist girl Cari write down the color formula she used so that I could bring it to my new stylist in Germany. Yvie, who I went to this morning, said their colors are very different, so I was a bit worried, but I am really happy with the results.

She was super sweet and she gave me her private number so I can call her at home and make an appointment for her to do my hair at her house next time which will be much cheaper than the salon. I had to pay 95 Euros which is a lot, but I am used to paying a ton in the US too, so I wasn't that flabbergasted when she told me the price. Apparently, it would only be 50 Euros if I went to her house. Next time I would like to do that for sure.

Got a little Photo Booth happy, but here are some pics.

Likey? No Likey?

It's finally here!

After being in Germany for three months, and living in our apartment for over a month with a "temporary" kitchen consisting of a mini fridge and two hot plates, I am proud to introduce my new

kitchen!

I had absolutely nothing to do with the selection of this kitchen. Our landlord picked everything out prior to our renting the apartment, so I am really happy that it came out looking as nice as it does! For some reason my husband thought it was going to be blue, and given some of the crazy kitchen colors at Ikea, and Germany's obsession with Ikea, I was a bit nervous. The kitchen actually did not come from Ikea, which is good because they came and went in one day and spent about 8 hours on the installation which would have been longer had it been from Ikea.

The one thing I am nervous about is that there is no backsplash and with me being the messy cook that I am, I guarantee there will be some tomato sauce splashage on the walls before I know it. We also don't have a freezer. The fridge is pretty small, but at least there are drawers underneath so it is elevated a bit higher. Crouching down to access the fridge for the past month was not fun. I am debating if we really need a freezer because we haven't used one for the past three months, but we have room for a free standing one if we decide we can't live without.

We still have to figure out what we doing with the other side of the kitchen because our table is in the other room. I would like to get another piece for storage because right now all those cabinets are full of dishes and bakeware and I need somewhere to put food! We had just put a nice new walk in pantry in our house in Portland and we also had a big cabinet in the kitchen with pull out drawers. It was fantastic. I need something like that again!

Hubby and I will probably hit up Ikea tonight to look into some storage solutions. I have gotten almost everything put away, but my tupperware still needs a home and so do all our bottles of wine and alcohol.

I can't wait to cook in this new bad boy, but I am too tired from a hard day of watching men install the kitchen, so I am thinking I will wait tomorrow and have my first baking debut in the kitchen with some of my girlfriends.

Downsizing

Since we moved to Germany, I feel like a lot of aspects of life have gotten smaller and simpler. I will start with our living space. We left a beautiful, recently partially renovated (basement & kitchen), house in OR that was about 2,300 square feet and have signed a lease on a 91 square meter apartment here, which is roughly 1,000 square feet. Because our space is limited, we had to be very selective in deciding what to bring with us and I have this vision that everything will be super organized since we were able to leave some of our things (**ahem, crap**) behind in storage.

We went from a brand new large stainless refrigerator with a huge freezer drawer, to a dorm sized fridge. Granted, our "real" kitchen will not be installed until October, so right now we are still living in the hotel where things are obviously on a smaller scale, but seriously people, the appliances in Germany are tiny. Many people do have dorm sized fridges in their homes. They shop more frequently so they do not need to stuff every crevice of the fridge with food for the entire week or more. The strange thing is, although I was so devastated to leave my newly renovated kitchen, I am not finding the small fridge situation to be that bad. I am not wasting as much food because I shop more carefully, planning only for a few days at a time. The ovens are pretty tiny as well, but we have not had one in our hotel, so I have not yet experienced the pleasures of the elf sized oven...

In OR I was driving a Saturn VUE which is a mid size SUV. I loved that car and was so sad to have to sell it, but that is beside the point. Since moving to Germany, I rely on two things to get me from point A to point B. Those two things would be foot #1 and foot #2. I do not have a car here. We are staying (and will live) close enough to my school that I can walk easily everyday. We also live in close proximity to the gym and the grocery store, so I actually went an entire month here without driving once. This past weekend I broke that streak because my husband enjoyed Oktoberfest and I needed to be the D.D. I absolutely LOVE walking everywhere. Not only is it good exercise, but it allows me to be more observant of the people and things I see that I would otherwise neglect if I were driving in a car. It is a great to start my day with a little time outside and I hope I feel the same way when the winter weather comes. Luckily our new apartment is only 3 minutes from my school, so even if it's really cold, the walk is not that long.

Another funny thing that has changed is the size of my purse. I had to include some photos to illustrate this. In the U.S. I happily toted this beauty...

It was a Christmas gift from my husband last year and I loved how its spatiousness allowed me to put my wallet, sunglasses, lip glosses, gum, and other various items inside. I also loved that it was so roomy, I could secretly carry snacks for just in case situations that merited some emergency noshing. In the U.S., when it comes to purses, it seems like the bigger, the better, right?

Now, onto my new "purse." Before we left for Germany, I went outlet shopping with my mom and I got this.

I intended to use it for holding all of my coins because in Germany, there are no single bills, there are 1 Euro and 2 Euro coins instead. Needless to say, I knew I was going to have to cart around a lot of coins, so I wanted a separate little change purse for that purpose. This little baby was $29.99 at the Coach outlet and I loved that it (somewhat) matched with my big Mama coach bag. Well, this has become my purse. It has room for my coins, my cards, and my keys and there is no reason to carry anything larger...especially at Oktoberfest because there are so many people having a huge bag just means you get bumped by every passing person and that makes me really crabby. Again, it's more simple, but it works.

I am finding that a lot of things that I thought I "had to have" or that seemed to be great because of their "larger than life-ness" are really not the best and the greatest. Or at the very least, I am finding that I can adapt to a new situation and find things that work. I never thought I could live without a dryer, and we are not planning to, but I have jumped on the bandwagon of hanging some clothes to dry. Some Germans do not own dryers at all and hang everything to dry. EVERYTHING. I have started with some of my nicer work tops and undergarments, but I am really starting to like it. I feel like I am taking better care of my clothes and that is a good thing.

I would have to say for certain things, I would probably tend to stay bigger is still better, but I am happy with my downsized life so far and am relishing in the simplicity of how we are now taking care of business in our daily lives. :0)

Guten Tag!

This is a traditional German dress called a dirndl. They are surprisingly colorful and somewhat (gasp!) sexy! Apparently they are meant to be very flattering on a woman's figure regardless of her size. Isn't that every woman's dream? I was trying this on at a department store, but I didn't get it. My friend and I just did a little photo montage to have some fun. There were so many options and they are not cheap. This one cost about 79 Euros, but the one I really liked was a little nicer quality and cost 130 Euros. Many people wear dirnels to Oktoberfest or other beer festivals. I am not sure yet if I actually want to buy one, but I have to admit it was really fun to try them on yesterday!

Back to School--German style

Yesterday was the first day of school for German children. I am working at an international school, so our schedule is different than the typical German school schedule and more like the schedule I experienced in the U.S. School began Aug. 24th and the last day is June 25th.

I could tell something was going on because on the typically empty streets that I walk on my way to work, I saw several families and children carrying enormous cones. I was a bit confused, but found out that they are a special German tradition for children on the first day of school.

I found out that these cones are called Schultütes which means school cones. They are traditionally given by parents or grandparents to students in Germany on their first day of school. These cones are filled with all sorts of treats, yummy sweets and school supplies.

Click *here* or *here* for some easy to follow directions for making your own!

I saw some pretty interesting designs on my way to work yesterday. These are typically hand made for children and are decorated according to what they like. I saw one with dolphins on it, cutout letters spelling the child's name, and various other decorations. I can only imagine how exciting it is to open a Schultüte on the first day of school knowing it was made especially for you! Children then proudly carry their Schultütes with them to school (and surely show them off to their friends).

Even though I don't have kids yet, this might be a fun tradition to start to honor our time in Germany. It could also be a fun first day of school activity. I can imagine having the kids make and decorate their own and then placing some fun treats or school supplies inside when they are at lunch so they could return to find some surprises!

Doing the Happy Dance!

I found out this morning that my work permit is official! That means I can stop worrying about moving to Germany only to find out that it didn't go through and I am unemployed in a new country with nothing to do.

Woo hoo!

The first goodbyes...

Today after class I met up with my first grade team for lunch to celebrate my birthday. They got me some great books about Germany and a beautiful hot pink leather journal ( a great tool for keeping track of my experiences...maybe some of the things I don't want to post online!). We had a terrific lunch at the Paradise Bakery complete with delicious cookies.

I passed out the letters that I wrote them and asked them to open them at home. I had important things I wanted to share, but I was afraid of getting really upset by saying them out loud..so I wrote them down.

It was tough to say goodbye because these are women that I see more often and spend more time with than my own family. They have been my moms, my friends, and my mentors for the past three years and I will miss them dearly.

After our hugs and goodbyes I went to my school and met up with the teacher who is taking over my room. I showed her all of the curriculum stuff in the cabinets and what stuff is where. We spent some time talking about how things work in first grade and about what she might do in the room when she sets it up. One of the other first grade teachers I had lunch with had come to the school as well to work on setting up her calendar for next school year. When she was finished, she came in to say goodbye. I knew this was going to be the toughest one....

Linda was the first person from the school to reach out to me during the summer after I got my job. She took on the role as my official mentor and coached me through everything as I embarked on my first real teaching job. All three of the teachers I worked with were phenomenal and taught me different things about being a good teacher, but since Linda was the first one that I met, there was always a special connection. We sat in my classroom for about 45 minutes just talking...about the changes that are taking place in my life, about how exciting it will be...a little bit of everything. It wasn't sad, it was just nice. A conversation with a good friend and a great teacher. When we both realized we had to get home, we walked out to the parking lot together and she gave me a big hug. She started to cry and I knew that I was about to. I can hold up okay until the other person starts crying and then I lose it. I told her not to cry because I will be back to visit and it's not like I won't ever see her again. That seemed to make her feel better. It is pretty amazing to see experienced teachers, women with families, children, grandchildren and many life experiences crying because I am leaving. It makes me feel pretty proud of the co-worker and friend that I have been to them. It is a true reciprocal relationship that was special to each of us.

I will miss those three ladies so much, I can't even express it!

The glory of craigslist

I began listing the furniture that we are not taking to Germany on craigslist today. We are probably going to have a garage sale at some point for the little stuff, but my husband prefers to sell the big stuff more privately ( I guess that way people don't know we are selling so much and won't feel they can take advantage of the fact that we really NEED to get rid of stuff quickly).

We are taking a few pieces of furniture with us (bed, couch, kitchen table and chairs, & day bed for a guest room) but we are attempting to sell the rest. That includes bedroom dressers and night tables, 3 desks, 4 bookshelves, a wardrobe in addition to my treadmill and car. (Karin remember the car I bought when I worked for you?....that one...) I am hoping we are successful in selling because we really don't want to/can't take this stuff with us considering we don't have a place picked out yet and we don't know what kind of space we are going to have.

I am in major sorting out mode and trying to get rid of everything that I don't need. You know how you accumulate stuff that you feel bad getting rid of, yet you don't ever use it, think about it, or look at it??? Those are the things I am trying to find and get rid of!

We are really good about sorting through clothes and making donation several times a year. We donate to the ARC (Association for Retarded Citizens) because it is a cause I feel connected with and they allow you to schedule a pickup and come take the bags/boxes right from your porch! You can't get more convenient than that! Despite our frequent donations of clothing, we still have a TON. That is what happens when your husband works for a sports apparel company. I have tons of cute tennis outfits and I don't even play tennis! We have sneakers galore and we need to be brutal in deciding what actually comes with us.

I was originally planning to leave my teaching materials and supplies behind in storage, but I am reconsidering that because I am concerned about leaving all of my children's books in storage for an undetermined amount of time. I read up on long term storage and found mixed warnings about how to store books and what to store them in to prevent damage from water, bugs, heat etc. I would be devastated to return in a few years to find ruined books! I am a TA for now, but what if I get my own classroom next year and I want to use my life cycle book sets or my Froggy stories?? I get so attached to my things this process may be difficult. When I really look at the amount of space all my school books take up, I think that it won't be so bad to just take them along. That way I won't feel like I have nothing if/when I get my own classroom at FIS.

I also don't want to put all of my professional development books in storage because I think we will still be in Germany when I am working on my dissertation so I want to have my books for reference. I refuse to sell them because when I am a professor and I get my own office in a university I want to have those huge bookshelves filled with all of my education books that tell the story of where I have been as an educator. If you look at my bookshelf I think it tells a story and shows what kind of teacher I am. Not to mention that books cost money and you can never sell them for what you paid. I have been loving the paperbackswap and have gotten some great books from trading my own, but I often have a hard time giving up books once I buy them, especially if they are related to teaching. I told you I was a book-a-holic!

Even though I have had luck with craigslist in the past, I kind of hate it. I would almost rather sit out in the yard with all the furniture and haggle with visiting shoppers rather than deal with people via email. We may get to that point, but I am hopeful we can get rid of stuff sooner rather than later. I would prefer to live in an almost empty house for a short time than to be stressing at the last minute over what has not sold.

Wish us luck!!!

New Beginnings

I officially filed my leave of absence today. It was recommended to me that I do that instead of outright resigning just in case for some reason we come back. I packed up my car with my teaching stuff and threw out a LOT of stuff.

When I dropped the form off at the district office, I spoke with the superintendent briefly to let him know that I am leaving and told him what a pleasure it was to work for the district and how much I would miss it. I am sure it is hard for the superintendent to know all of the teachers in the entire district, so I wanted to make sure he connected my face and name just in case I ever come back to the district in the future. He said he was sad to see me go because I have done a great job.

From the time I left the district office to the time I got home, they had already hired someone to fill my spot. It is a teacher from my school that got laid off this year, so I was thrilled to find out that she now has a job and will take over my classroom. I love my team, so it is very important to me that the person who gets to work with them is a great person--and she is. I am so excited for her and happy to pass the classroom (my second home) to someone who is an awesome teacher.

We are going to meet up next week at school so I can show her some of the curriculum materials I have made over time to see if she would like to have them. I already threw out a lot of stuff, but now that I know the person taking over, I am more aware of what she might want to keep.

It is very bittersweet to pack up my classroom. I am excited for what the future has to offer yet it is always sad to leave people who you care about. I will miss the students and staff at my school very much and lots of learning and happy memories took place in that classroom. There are certain students that I will remember for the rest of my life. I have one more car load to take home and then it will be time to turn in my badge, laptop and keys.

Some pictures from our trip

Job Offer

I received an offer from the school which guarantees me a TA position for the fall. The last email I got from the principal said it will most likely be in third grade, which makes me a very happy camper. I guess placements are not guaranteed until August, but I am hopeful that third grade will be my spot. One of the third grade teachers is actually also from Portland and taught at a district close to mine. It would be great to work with her because I am sure we have a lot in common. This is still all dependent on their ability to obtain a work permit for me.

I am now starting the process or wrapping my head around what the next 6 weeks will look like. I have lots of organizing to do both of my physical things and my thoughts. My husband does not want to officially make any announcements quite yet, so it is just our time to make sense of it all before we officially announce it to friends and colleagues. Given this process, I feel like nothing is 100% for sure until it is actually happening so even now, I can't say anything is "for sure."

Today is my first real day of summer vacation because ever since school let out we have been away. I woke up at 4:30 because of the 9 hour time difference, so I am trying to go full steam ahead with productivity until I crash later. I've got emails to send, friends to catch up with, cleaning, and lots of laundry to do. My poor husband has to go to work today which will be tough given the drastic schedule change. At least I know I can lay down at any point during the day when I need to. Being productive can be tiring!

Thanks for all the kind words in response to my most recent posts. This is quite a process and encouragement is always a great source of revival and support.

There's No Place Like Home

Tomorrow at 4:30 am we begin the trek home. I have had a great time in Germany and really enjoyed my first taste of Europe but I will be SO ELATED to sleep in my own bed and take a shower in my beautiful bathroom. The tiny shower in our hotel has been the bane of my existence here and I am looking forward to being home.

We are waiting to hear back on whether or not the school can get a work permit for me which is kind of the final factor in our consideration of relocating. If I can't work in Germany, that doesn't really work for us, so again...... we wait......

I believe the only TA position left is in the 3's class, but there is a chance a spot will become available in a third grade class if the numbers are high enough (22 kids in the class). If officially offered the position in Kinder 3's (given a work permit) I will accept it, with the hope that if the third grade position becomes available that maybe I could switch into that.

I am hopeful that we will know for sure within the next few days. I feel like I say that everyday.....

When I get home tomorrow I am heading to the bookstore at PSU to get my books for summer term and trying to figure out how to get a parking pass since I missed the deadline. I am usually SUCH an organized person that this whole life up in the air business has thrown me off my game. Hopefully I will be able to get a permit or else I might be riding to school on a bike that I don't yet have.

Is it dorky that I get so excited to buy my textbooks? I am such a book-aholic that I feel like it's Christmas any time I get new books. I know...it's weird. Although mostly teachers read this blog so maybe someone shares that sentiment!

I am looking forward to Mexican food and sushi and protein shakes all of which I have gone without in Germany. I have had my fair share of ice cream, chocolate, and nutella, so I think now it's time to get back in summer shape.