Smart butt students haha love them still

"The funnest thing that ever happened was nothing because this class is too loud to hear anything but I did the extra credit so you gotta give me the points" (The extra credit #2 on this particular quiz was "What is the most fun thing we've done in class this year?") 

The everyday things students don't know

Today in class we learned what suede is.

"Mrs. Fitz I like your heels!"
"Thanks! I was feelin the suede this morning!"
"Su-what?"
"This material is called suede."
"Oh... I just always called it soft fabric."
Random other kid across the room: "I thought it was felt. My mom uses that for crafts." 

Hahaha... the things my students don't know always surprise me! Love them. We learnin life lessons in physics class, like what is suede! 

It's great to be back on this blog--my lovely laptop died for awhile there. Here's just a few fun things that have been going on at school.

Me being proud of my Ohio State door for college week!

Physics Club did the Pringles ring challenge and SUCCEEDED!

When you've had a long day and you end up eating all the candy you keep for the kids... lol

Highschoolers, man... haha (But seriously, why is there a sock on my floor? And just one sock?!)

Stay upbeat, fellow educators! Enjoy every day until winter break! Until next time. 😊

Student presentations

Half of my students came to school today jokingly telling me they were going to be deported. Haha. "Goodbye Mrs. Fitz! Now I am going to have to go back to Mexico!" Haha. smh.

Project presentations were today! I love project presentations! Because inevitably I have that one group that spent way too much time making their transitions "hard" instead of checking all the typos in their bullet points. (cough, 8th p today, cough) And inevitably their hilarious personalities come out in their projects. 

Haha after stumbling over the first bullet on this slide, mumbling, "I think I messed up there," then the way he said "Another con is your neck gets hurt because the car goes so fast super quick" had the whole class crying. Ah, I love my physicists!

Let the love of physics seep into all aspects of life!

When your student creates a gmail account for the first time and she makes her password "Physics Rocks" and you know every time she logs in for the rest of her life she'll think of you/your class!!!!

And let's document my outfit today for good measure! I tried out a new faculty bathroom today for this selfie! Haha.

Classy af

At lunch the other day my shoe collection came up, because, you know, I'm kind of known for my heels at school. :-D They were asking how many I had... Oh, approximately 75 pairs of heels... (They are my passion! My favorite collection of art! When I'm too old to wear them I'm just going to look at them and admire their beauty!!) And I was also explaining my standards for heels: only stilettos, only 4" or higher. And one of the other teachers said, "You're classy af, aren't you?" Haha! 

I would definitely describe my style as classic. I was wearing pencils skirts and blouses to church in middle school. So here are a few pictures of some of my heels and outfits... 

Me and my "lil sis" at prom last year!

Accidentally matching one of my favorite colleagues at work!

Trying to document my heels in the downstairs faculty bathroom haha

My second favorite pair of shoes! (Second only to my Benjamin Adams Swarovski crystal wedding heels, of course.)

Me and one particularly amazing young woman at graduation last year!

All in a day's work

I just have to ask... does anyone else get the most random work emails? I'm in first period and I get an email from the teacher in charge of yearbook, and word-for-word it says, "The yearbook students have found a picture on your Instagram post that has you dressed as a storm trooper they want to use. Before we use it we wanted to get your permission." Bahaha--what--wait, what?--where do I start?! (Of course I said yes, and actually sent him the original picture that would be much better quality.) Hahaha. Oh. my. goodness!!

Today my students remembered what I was wearing when they were in a different class period, and that made me incredibly happy that they pay attention to my outfits [almost] as much as I do!!! I was in the teacher's workroom making copies and then cutting them with the paper-slicer-of-death during my planning period. Apparently a kid "went to the bathroom" and was trying to go in the teacher's lounge to buy a "real drink." 

(No, not that kind of drink! Explanation: Students are not allowed to leave class to purchase a drink from the machines, they have to do that in between classes, but lots of students "go to the bathroom" and mysteriously return with a cold drink in their backpacks. Furthermore, our school is only allowed to sell diet/zero and other "healthy" drinks to students in the pop machines in the halls, BUT the teachers' lounges have the only machines that sell normal Coke, etc. So it is not uncommon for students to try to sneak in there to buy a "real drink.") 

Apparently the kid went back to his class, and told his friends he was drink-blocked by a teacher who was in the workroom, and then he wondered aloud if it might have been Mrs. Fitz because it had dark hair and a dress on... "Mrs. Fitz is wearing a black and white dress today!" one of my students said, and evidently multiple others confirmed. "Then that must have been her!" Hehe. Yas. Goals. 

Additionally today was a good day because none of my students wanted to leave my class! At the end of class they were doing my "rollercoaster challenge," which is simply groups trying to create as many loops in a cut-open foam insulation tube as possible for a marble to successfully go through without falling out. They were having so much fun, and trying to beat each other, that they ignored my two and one-minute-until-the-bell warnings, and even when the bell rang they were still trying to win! 

A girl from next door was removed to my classroom because she was giving the sub a hard time, and although she sulked in the back of my room for most of class, when we did this she was interested enough to put in her two cents to the group that was working nearest to her! "Nah, you gotta start higher! Put that loop farther down!" Ha. Made me smile. She learned some physics today.

Oh and I accidentally mixed up hockey and football in 1st period and by 6th period my students had all heard about it, and were lovingly making fun of me all class period...

All in a day's work... I could write a post like this every day, filled with the random happenings of a day teaching high school physics. This is the life.

This is the dress I wore today that my students remembered. This picture was taken with my phone by a sweet student who saw my phone sitting out, and after she shot this proceeded to fill my phone with selfies of herself... haha oh, the books I could fill with student selfies secretly taken on my phone when I wasn't looking. Btw in this picture I am teaching my students how to whip and nae nae. Hahaha.
All in a day's work.

Halloween!

Happy Halloween!! (A day late, but y'all know, the busy teacher life...)

I love building up holidays at school. Any excuse to celebrate, to have something to look forward to, to have a special day, is important. I had hanging glitter pumpkins waiting for my students when they returned from fall break.

I lived up to my nerd queen expectations by dressing up as Obi Wan Kenobi yesterday. My first period helped me make a light saber out of a meter stick, because they are awesome. And I quoted Star Wars all day. These aren't the droids you're looking for.

May the F=ma be with you!

 One of my favorite aspects of Halloween is getting to do fun makeup! I used Halloween as an excuse for extra dark eye makeup at school, balanced with nude lips. (I explained all of this to my physicists, and how black eye shadow only goes in the creases and bountiful mascara is key to not looking like you have a black eye.) My all black outfit was polished off with skeleton hand earrings, a gift from one of my previous students. At the end of every class period I turned on Michael Jackson's Thriller (with no explanation--always keep 'em on their toes!) and proceeded to do the Thriller dance.

The rocker side of me loves wearing black as often as possible ;-)

See I told you she's smiling

Yesterday I was a minute late getting into the hallway in between classes. (I always greet my students at the door by their names.) We're in the middle of building our toothpick bridges so I had to make sure the last class had cleaned up. And as I hurried into the hallway with my clipboard and pen to take attendance as students entered, one of my physicists was almost to my door, talking to another student as he came. "See! I told you she's always smiling." (Apparently he had said, Watch, Mrs. Fitz gonna be smiling. Ha.) "She's always happy. Hi Mrs. Fitz!" And that of course made me smile bigger!

One of the greatest compliments I ever received was during the valedictorian speech my second year of teaching. I didn't have him as a student. I hadn't ever even noticed him, and the kid was like 6'7" or something ridiculous. But apparently he had a class down the hall from me, and he mentioned me in his speech at graduation. While he was listing aspects of our school they would all remember, he said, "And I don't think I ever saw someone leaving Ms. Potter's room who wasn't happy!" (Oh, back when I was Ms. Potter!)

Wow. So honored. Just... wow. If I had a goal for how my classroom was perceived, that would be it. Enter here, leave happy. 

Today I was again a minute late getting into the hallway, 'cause, you know, bridges bein' built. A student walked into my classroom before I had made it into the hallway and he said, "Mrs. Fitz you didn't greet me! I'm coming in again!" And walked back into the hallway so that I could take my position outside my door and say, "Good afternoon! Welcome to physics class!" And he smiled the whole time.

I love fashion, and don't you know that you're never fully dressed without a smile!

Smiles are contagious. 

School should be full of them.

The most wonderful compliment I could receive.

Most Likely to Succeed

My school's yearbook is doing a page on teachers who won superlatives when they were in high school, and they wanted us to pose with a prop that represented our old superlative. So my students, since they are the best students in the entire universe, photo-shopped my last year's yearbook picture on a Time magazine cover!! It's a piece of paper taped to a Seventeen magazine. And I am going to keep it forever!!!

Just taking a selfie with my Time magazine!

I remember feeling so honored that I got a superlative at my high school, because my high school was so large and I was never "popular;" I was never on any kind of homecoming or prom court. But I was very smart. I ended up being valedictorian and was president of a bunch of different clubs my senior year, (NHS, FCA, Band, etc.)

Most likely to succeed. That's a good one. I'm proud to have gotten that one. I'm honored my peers thought that I would make something of myself. What does it mean to succeed? To make a lot of money? To be popular/a celebrity on social media by having thousands of followers? How about to be fulfilling your life purpose? (Or just identifying your life purpose! Can I hear an Amen!?) To be in the most wonderful marriage I could imagine? To be proud of the person I've become? To be enriching the brains of precious adolescents so that they may succeed in their own lives? Yes. By these standards I have succeeded far more than my wildest dreams. 

Reflecting back on my high school self, I can barely believe it... How content I am with myself and my life. More than content. I am ecstatic about who I am, what I am doing, and who I am doing it with. If I could go back in time I would tell my high school self, just keep at it. Keep working hard. You are going to do it. You are going to be happier than you ever imaged you could, and you are going to be so good at what you do! It was a hard road to get here, and of course it's still hard, but it has always paid off. So keep at it, young ones! You will reap the benefits of your hard work soon. 

Rant: Teachers are superheros and don't you dare belittle them!

My dear cousin and fellow blog writer Bea (Radpunzel Check it out. It will change your life if you're brave enough to be introspective.) shared the following link, and of course I just have to add my two cents!

Manda Carpenter: A Public Letter to the Guys I Heard Talking About Their "Teacher Friend."

This post is SO TRUE! I get so many comments about being "off" in the summers and the other "breaks" I get during the school year. And I normally patiently try to explain to people how much work I do on these "breaks" and how much more work I do than most of them during the week, but sometimes I'm just so exhausted from my intense occupation that I just laugh it off. It honestly doesn't bother me though, because I know I've chosen this profession (and could never do anything else in the world!!!), and I know that most people couldn't handle my job. ;-)  I've chosen a busy life, so it doesn't get under my skin when I hear people complain they have one thing to do at home on a given night, when the only downtime I have all week is the half hour it will take me to eat dinner. (That is presently false though, I've gotten better at scheduling Q-time and me-time.) I know I've chosen a career that requires constant attention for 7 hours and then hours more of work at home; I know I've chosen a career where I spend around $800 a year on supplies for my classroom and materials for projects trying to make learning fun for my kiddos. And it's so worth it, because I am grinning from ear to ear every moment of my hectic job, and I'm making a damn difference in the world!

I just want to send a huge shout out to all my supportive friends who understand my job, who understand how important it is to me and why I can never hang out on weeknights, and don't mind if I grade papers while we hang out all Saturday watching football.

And she mentioned the toll on her marriage. You guys, I know SO MANY fellow teachers whose marriages have been strained because of the extensive toll teaching requires. So. many. Teaching easily consumes one's life. I have had to consciously make sure Q is always my first priority, and make sure I spend quality time with him. I am also very blessed that he understands how vital teaching like a super woman is to me, and supports me so much in that endeavor.

So to my fellow educators, be proud! Because you are doing the most noble job there is on this planet.

(I'm not biased or anything.)

Supermodel status (ha)

Today started out rough. It was Monday. Normally I don't succumb to the Monday blues. I love my job, and I've figured out how to beat the trend by planning a weekly fun event on Mondays: every Monday night is Girls' Night!!! Woohoo! Now I actually look forward to Mondays instead of dreading them!

But today started out rough. I was exhausted in the morning, struggling to be my normal peppy self for my students. I spilled my hot coffee on myself in the hallway during my planning period, (luckily most of it was on my hand and arm, and the few drops that did land on my dress were able to be banished by my trusty tide to-go pen,) and I ducked into my friend's classroom exclaiming "I need an adult!" Much to my dismay my friend did not have any tissues or paper towels. (How does she mother--I mean teach--without tissues and papertowels?!) But a quiet girl I didn't know got a tissue out of her purse for me! Bless that child! Also, now one of my arms is hairier than the other. Thank you, scorching coffee. Haha just kidding :-P

My day got better though! My students really liked the dress I wore today. One student told me I looked like a supermodel! Ha! Yas! Slaying in my A-line knee-length teacher dress! Haha. My students always make me smile. They are seriously the best.

After the supermodel comment another student asked if I could buy a dress with watermelons on it. Eye roll. Smh. Haha. There are no babies like my big-almost-adult-physics babies.

Today's supermodel dress deserved a supermodel photo shoot in the faculty bathroom

The higher the heels, the closer to heaven

^I have a mug that says that at school. I drink coffee out of it and the students love it.

I am obsessed with heels. I own approximately 75 of them... And of course at school I am known for them! Which makes me incredibly happy. But I am not, by any means, a masochist. I always have a pair of cute flip flops with me because I don't drive in heels anymore, (after wearing a hole in my floor mat from dragging heels across it from the brake to the gas every time I drove. This hole proved to be very dangerous because then my heel would get stuck in it when I was trying to go from gas to brake... Anyway, now I drive in flip flops and pack my high heels.) So if at any point during the school day my feet start to hurt I switch into my still-very-stylish flip flops.

Well this afternoon I was teaching, and I had switched into my flip flops, and one of my students raises their hand during notes, (not during a normal part where students ask questions, so I brace myself, wondering what random comment this student is about to share.) "Mrs. Fitz, I can't concentrate when you're not in heels."

"Wha-What?" I asked, incredulously.

"I'm just used to seeing you in heels."

I was amused at this point so I went over and put my heels back on. "Ooh! Aah! Yes!" They all exclaimed, since they had not seen this particular pair before haha. "Much better. Now we can focus." Ha. They make me laugh every day, these kids. :-)

Mmm... love these beauties!

Priorities

I find it hilarious that my last post was the first day of school... Ha! How appropriate! School started and WHAM--too busy to blog! The beginning of the school year is always the busiest, whether you are a first year or twenty-fifth year teacher. I've thought about writing many times, and of course many good stories have happened with this new batch of physicists, but at the end of the exhausted day my top two priorities have always been my husband and my physics classes, and although I wished many a night I had an extra hour to sit up in bed and write a post, extra hours do not exist and spending time with my patient husband and preparing out-of-this-world physics lessons must take precedence.

Well the first quarter has already come and gone, last week was fall break, and this week is the first week of second quarter. I am really going to try to write posts regularly, because I genuinely enjoy writing. So! Here's to busy teachers making time for the hobbies we love!

The Fitzcharleses at a wedding we attended over fall break

New school year, new outfit!

New dress and heels! Believe it or not I didn't used to have any red heels! Don't worry, crisis averted, ('bout time...) hah

Students' observation superpower

At the high school level though, they definitely just want an excuse to get out of work for a few minutes haha. Oh you lost your pen? Let me be the best student ever while devoting the rest of this class period trying to find it!!! Ha. But normally they know exactly where your stuff is. "Where is my coffee?!" "You left it over here Mrs. Fitz." Best little stinkers ever.

Students are always paying attention to details. Not the academic details of course, those are no fun. But personal details. I mentioned I liked turtles my first year of teaching and the next day a student brought me a live turtle (carried it into school in his backpack, all between his books and notes,) and that is how our class pet Pyro came about 6 years ago!

"Pyro is the G.O.A.T." -student

I worked orientations at my school last week, and I had my phone sitting on the table and I was so surprised how many students commented about how I had gotten a new phone over summer break! Ha. One student told me once that my nail polish didn't match my outfit. Students are extremely observant. It's like a superpower that they have.

Now if only we could get them to use that superpower for the academic content of our lessons...

I'M EXCITED FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR, OKAY? GET OVER IT!
Btw, those heels are my students' favorites.

Adulting is hard

Today I am very proud of myself because I adulted very well. This entire week has been filled with more adulting than I feel is my fair share. I've technically been an adult for almost a decade now, but there are still many instances where I'm looking for guidance from an older, wiser, adultier adult.

Insurance, medical, and monetary issues... why can't all of these things run smoothly? After my adult triumph with my insurance company this morning, I treated myself to a celebratory lunch of homemade chocolate-covered strawberries, 2 cans of Coke, and a $5 Little Caesar's pizza, of which I ate 5 out of the 8 slices. That's over half of a large pizza, my not-math-whizzy-people, (it's ok, I'm a physicist, math is my second cousin. ...Really, more like a big brother.) The comfort of food is real. And I have no regrets. Not even one slice!

Guess what? As a teacher, YOU are the only adult in the room. (I know, it's a horrifying thought, feel free to pause to lower your heart to an acceptable rate. Every day I am amazed someone let me be in charge of 25+ young teenagers...) 

I remember the first time there was a spider in my classroom. The first time a girl came to me frantic because her pants button had popped off so her pants wouldn't stay closed. Or the first time a kid came to me with half of his bloody fingernail hanging off. 

These are the times I had to woman up, keep my face calm, and handle the situation like a boss. I smashed that monster of an insect with my best heels, when on the inside I was more terrified than my students. I supplied that precious girl with a few safety pins and pinned her pants together myself, (at first I sent her to my gigantic walk-in closet on her own, but she was struggling so I was summoned.) And I clipped the rest of that bloody fingernail off like a mother who wasn't squeamish of her own child's blood, (kids, don't try that at home. Funny story... it was during my planning period and my student came to me, [because your babies will come to you for anything and everything.] So I walked him to the nurse. He had split his fingernail horizontally about halfway down his nail, hence the blood, and the nail obviously needed to be cut the rest of the way off because it was long and every time it bent it hurt and squirted more blood. [You're welcome for that visual.] And the nurse was too squeamish to do it!!!! So yours truly, who herself hates all things dirty/gross, [have I mentioned the Hand Paint Incident Of 1993? Scarred for life. But I digress!] made two surgical snips to relieve my poor physicist. Whew! Then lots of disinfectant...)

Suffice it to say as a teacher you wear many hats, but as the fearless leader of your adorable troop of minions, you must always wear the adult hat. You are responsible for your babies. For the minutes/hours they are in your care, their well being is in your hands. Good luck to us all!

Bumming it brings balance

I'm either dressed to the nines, or completely bumming it. That's how I roll and that's how I like it. No one should be wearing a full face of makeup and dressed presentably all of the time. It's unnatural! For me, I live in a land of extremes. If I'm going to look good, I'm gonna bring it with everything I've got. But I can't half-a$$ it. During the school year, as soon as I get home I change from my fabulous, completely put-together outfits into pajamas. Hair up. Let my makeup smear. I like to think it brings balance to the universe. So, just so no one is led astray by my perfectly-poised outfits (ha), here are a few pics of me just bumming it. And I go out and about while bumming it too! It builds character. I have many of these bumming it days during summer break, naturally. I think I'm going on 2 weeks without having worn makeup or heels right now... Sacre bleu I need a night out! (Just kidding. Totally enjoying recharging my batteries.)

Side rant. How come in movies, people with curly hair never get frizzy, out-of-control crazy curls? When I put my hair up I have all kinds of awkward, refusing-to-be-tamed rebel strands that curl out of my scalp at the oddest, most unflattering angles. All I'm sayin is curly-haired people are not being accurately represented in movies/tv, and I take offense to that because now people have unrealistic expectations for how curly hair should look. S'all I'm sayin. End rant.

Note: many of these are "exhausted teacher pics" that I've posted on Instagram over the last school year... Aspiring teachers, in case anyone hasn't warned you yet... this is an absolutely exhausting profession. (But totally worth it, of course!!) If you're doing it right, you will be exhausted (and happy!! and fulfilled!!) at the end of every long day.

First I would like to thank SnapChat's "pretty" filter for making my face somehow still presentable in this stereotypical bumming it picture

This was one of those aforementioned "exhausted after a day of planning, teaching, grading papers, and running a household" posts. My husband Q likes to nap in my lap. These little breaks while he naps are always prime picture-taking opportunities because I  always play on my phone while he naps on me.

One should always bum it with nature. Because nature bums it with us.

#ExhaustedTeacherLife Frazzled hair, expression, and all

See. Another nap in lap picture. I told ya, it's our thing.
P.S. Feel free to not tell Q I've been posting pictures of him napping... He has a bada$$ image to maintain.

What is this picture doing in here?! This was taken Thanksgiving morning, in my coffee pajama pants, surrounded by various stuffed animals Q has given me. ...You can bum it in the morning too.

So this is all to say, that just because you love fashion, that doesn't mean you have to be perfectly polished and fashionable every day of every week! Be comfortable! Be natural. Let loose a little, it's healthy for the soul.

I believe in Education

(Side-note: Wow I started this blog last year, and then life got busy, but I'm going to try again to make it work!)

I believe in Education. I capitalize it because it is so important to me. It is a proper noun in my book for sure. Education puts food on my table. Education is my greatest talent. Education is my passion. Education leads to all other things. Education is my professional calling. Education is life!!!

Everyone deserves to discover what they are best at, (and I do firmly believe that everyone is the best at something, because at the very least you are the best at being you.) I'm [one of] the best at school. I love ballet, but I was never the best in my class. I loved playing oboe, and even though I was very good, others were better. I had fun playing softball, but heaven knows I'm not really aggressive or competitive enough to excel at sports. But in school, I was the best. I received perfect grades since kindergarten. I was valedictorian of my high school. I actually didn't get straight A's in college, (I was a physics major who took graduate level math courses for fun. That sh!t is HARD!! And failing every now and then builds character. Note: I never actually failed a class. But you get what I mean!) Got back on the perfection bus in grad school though and blazed through my degree with all A's.

Me, giving a speech at my high school graduation

Me, posing in my friend Jana's graduation cap and gown in my apt, since I didn't actually go to my bachelor's graduation haha

Me, rockin the hood and the heels at my master's graduation ceremony last May!

School is my thing. I am good at it. I LOVE it. I love every aspect of school. I love the social aspect of it. All of these people stuck together, forced to cram their brains with knowledge. I love extra-curriculars. I tell my students that I became a teacher so that I never had to leave school because I love it so much, and that is absolutely true. I get to go to high school football games for the rest of my life. Those are so much fun! I get to go to PROM every year! I LOVE an excuse to dress up! I get to go to graduation every year. And cry, as my big heart bursts with pride at what my babies have accomplished. Just walking through the halls of a school and sniffing the air like a lunatic gets me high, thinking of all the blood, sweat, and tears that have occurred in those magical places called classrooms where unbelievable personal growth has taken place in thousands of minds.

Me, now in the teacher role, with one of my beautiful physicists who was on Homecoming Court last year

Education isn't everyone's "thing," and I get that. It took me awhile to get that through my thick, education-loving skull though, because I'm thinking it's so easy to do assignments perfectly, and why not always sign up for the highest level of class offered, so that I can learn the most of every random subject offered?! My mother always pushed us in school. Anything less than an A was unacceptable, and we were always expected to take the highest level of any class.

My older brother told me once that he wished our mom didn't pressure us so much in school. He wished he was allowed to take more elective classes instead of having to take all AP classes so that he could have discovered his passion and talent for technology sooner. (Although Mark may not have loved school, he was certainly good at it! He excelled in every class and ended up being salutatorian in high school. [My little sister ended up being salutatorian too. My mother is very proud.] Mark is one of the most intelligent people I know. He majored in trombone performance in college. Now he does really techy awesome code-writing stuff that he taught himself and he's in charge of other techy people and honestly I have no idea 'cause computers are complex and my students teach me everything I need to know about technology like Instagram and SnapChat. End gigantic parenthetical thought.)

This comment from my brother came as news to me, because I didn't remember feeling pressured at all. My mom didn't have to keep up with my grades, because I was an A+ machine on my own. Without consulting my mother I filled my schedule with every AP class I could squeeze in because I genuinely found challenging classes fun. I was very competitive academically, (because I was so good at it,) and I couldn't stand the thought of someone in my high school learning something I didn't also know.

Education is not my husband's "thing" as well and that took me awhile to understand and respect. My husband is just as intelligent as I am; I don't think we would be as happily married if we couldn't keep up with each other's brains, but Q is intellectual in a very non-schooly way. (I like to make up words. You'll get used to it. I think I'm creative.) He's extremely mechanically-minded, having been raised around motorcycles and cars. He could build one from the ground up, and explain the purpose (and physics!) behind every tiny component. It's in his blood. Both his father and grandfather are bona fide geniuses. I say that with no exaggeration. Here are the geniuses I have come across in my life: Laura Hughes, my ballet teacher/artistic director of my ballet company, Q's father, and Q's grandfather. End list. But I digress...

Never would I have thought I'd marry someone without a college degree. I was almost sure I'd marry someone with a doctorate, maybe a professor, because I value Education so much and for a long time it was a very important indicator to me of someone's worth. Luckily I have grown and learned a lot since the time I held those opinions.

This is all to say that I understand that Education isn't everyone's "thing," and it shouldn't be everyone's "thing," because one of the most beautiful things about people is how different we all are. We all learn things differently, but to me that is what Education means. It means learning. Learning is so important, it is how we all move forward in life. I believe everyone can learn anything. I can teach anyone to dance. You think you have two left feet? I promise I've dealt with worse. I can teach you to dance. I can teach anyone physics. When I worked at a preschool I taught my precious babies about the moon, and colors, and they eagerly absorbed every scrap of knowledge I gave them. (Side rant: where do we lose our love of learning? All children love to learn, yet by the time they are teenagers in my high school they view it as a chore. It is one of my personal goals to reinstate that love of learning into my students' hearts, for that is something that will truly get them further in life.) Not everyone needs to go to college, (there is this awful, debilitating thing called student loan debt that will haunt you and hold you back from living comfortably for decades of your life,) and degrees are not a measure of someone's intelligence or successfulness, (there I go making up words again.)

That being said, I believe in our public Education system. People are not perfect. Thus no government, no church, no educational system is perfect. But that doesn't mean it doesn't work. There are good people out there giving everything they have, and there are enough to make a difference. I believe in Education, for it has so much good to offer. That is why I've created this blog. Education is my "thing" and so that is what I shall write about! I'm not trying to shove Education down anyone's throat, but maybe just to open some eyes and enlighten some hearts to the idea of this beautiful, complex organ.

I hope to restore trust in the public education system, and to encourage my fellow teaching comrades who fight this exhausting battle on the front lines with me. It is my biased opinion that we hold the most noblest role that ever existed. Now go back to Netflix and continue enjoying your well earned summer break!