Spring Break Part 2 - Week 1 Recap and Looking Ahead to Week 2

It is so nice to have a two week Spring Break. I’ve gotten to the point where I have to think about what day it is, I’m sleeping more, and I’m in a much more relaxed rhythm. Week 1 was just really nice. 

Monday and Tuesday I did do some lesson planning, but it was nice to have big chunks of uninterrupted time, and I spent a lot of it with my grade level colleague getting ahead. We have the rest of the year mapped out, and I’m excited about what we’re doing. For math we will keep plugging along with the self paced work using Eureka Squared as our based. For our humanities block we are going to do an SEL based mini-unit on communication followed by a short health that our school counselor co-leads with us, and finally we will wrap up the year with a unit on neurodiversity. Through all of it, we are really focusing on writing skills and development using Writing Revolution 2.0 and self-pacing as our anchors. I’ve been a fan of Judith Hochman for some time but haven’t dived into teaching writing in this way, so I’m very excited.

Wednesday and Thursday I did some decluttering and tidying, including our family room / playroom which had gotten to a pretty wild place. I also spent a bunch of time getting ready to travel to Tennessee with my 5 year old daughter to visit family. M and I flew out yesterday morning, and we had the easiest travel day. We made it to my mom’s house by lunchtime and the weather was perfect - 72 and sunny. We played outside, went swimming, and had a really nice time, and I headed to check into my hotel around 6:30. I have found that it actually works really nicely for M to stay with my mom and her husband and for me to stay in a hotel so that they get quality time without me interfering and I get a chance to fully unplug each day which I absolutely benefit from.

Today the weather was much less cooperative with lots of rain and some thunder and lightning too. There’s currently a tornado warning, but I haven’t heard anything about actual tornadoes on the ground so hopefully we won’t be hanging out in the bathroom waiting out a tornado watch! We did take M to Sky Zone which I hadn’t heard of but is a huge trampoline park with foam pits, swings, zip lines … everything. Those places make me a bit nervous but Maya had a blast and was appropriately alert and cautious, and I was grateful that she had a chance to get some energy out. My sister and her family have been traveling for Spring Break, but they are set to return this evening (really hoping their flight isn’t canceled!) and we will get some quality time tomorrow and Monday. 

Next week my plan is to be quite unplugged. Maya and I return home on Wednesday, and then on Thursday I’m heading back out for a meditation retreat until Sunday afternoon. The retreat is centered on themes of attachment and nurturing, and I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll be interested to reflect on how the first week back after break goes given that I’ll be coming off retreat around noon on Sunday, getting home around 3PM, and then back at school with kids at 8AM the next day. I did a bunch of planning and prep for the week after break already so that I can hopefully be as relaxed as possible as we return.

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