School break is finally here after a long semester of weather interrupted (and elongated school days) learning. It's funny but every year the collapse into Christmas break is so anticlimactic as life suddenly slows and exhaustion catches up with me. However, unlike in years past, with Helena now, my vacation is her vacation, so there isn't really any vacation. I'll enjoy getting to hang out with her more, especially as she's a lot more interactive now. On the other hand though, I have a lot of things I'd like to accomplish over the break and that will not be so easy as Maya is also trying to get a big grant done.
Overall the past semester was fun and probably my best at Dunwoody yet. Having only one prep, my own classroom, no hallway lunch duty, and first period planning made for a winning combination. I also didn't have any truly "bad" troublemaker kids, which is something I am more worried about for next semester. I still had my daily heartbreaks and moments of clarity about what I am doing and how I make a difference.
Long-term I still have no idea what I am doing. Listening to all of the business-related podcasts (How I Built This, Start-Up, the Pitch, etc. is interesting but I don't know how much it's helped). I really can't see teaching my whole life but I also can't see going back to school right now without more of a future vision. There's a lot of things I am interested in but nothing that's pushing me so much as to do something different and I like teaching and I like Dunwoody. I could go for a different commute though, that still kills me.
Being a dad has been fun and I think we truly got lucky with Helena. She's remarkbly easy, although as the photos below at times I lack concentration and revert to being on my phone rather than engaging with her. I am working on it but at times, especially on a weekend where I am in charge without help for long periods of time it can get a bit tedious. Sometimes I wonder about what to do with her and when I play with her how much is just her playing on her own vs. interacting with me.
I'll post again sometime during this break. Off to Florida for some (hopefully) warmer weather!
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| Southern, GA road trip Halloween weekend |
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| Titus visit and all day long bike adventure through back alleys and all around ATL |
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| Jimmy Carter Sunday School |
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| Jon Ossof visit to Dunwoody |
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| Maya annual holiday work party w/spread |
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| Selfie at train yard on ATL bike adventure |
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| Southern road trip cotton fields |
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| Marcos, Titus, Jeremy and co. at Cabbagetown annual's Chomp & Stomp weekend |
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| Andersonville Prison |
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| Farm de Tour bike ride w/Marcos |
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| Southern Road trip stop over at the Pasaquan art complex |
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| Maya taking a picture of me not at my finest - "negligent parenting" |
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| Backgammon w/Havi |
