i'm headed for bed after a very long day, but as i rode the bus home from book club tonight i found myself looking back at my whirlwind of a day with a smile. i'm headed to my brother's graduation from college tomorrow. 5 years ago i was graduating from the same school. if i'd described what i'd be doing 5 years after graduation i think i would have described something like today.
after kiss and ride duty (ok, not my cup of tea) i ran to my first grade classroom so i could get in a fast reading group on the book Love That Dog (possibly one of my favorite books to read with kids ever). then i sat in on a morning meeting across the hall in kindergarten, followed by another guided reading lesson with first graders who have learning disabilities. we giggled our way through the silly book and i rejoiced when one of my kids said, "i read back" when he re-read to fix his mistakes. (not only did he fix his mistakes, he knew what strategy he used! so smart!)
when guided reading ended i went to another kindergarten room and got to read books and play clock games with more of the kids on my caseload. we tried to "trick each other" for about 10 minutes by showing each other times on the toy clock and getting the other person to guess.
back to first grade for writing workshop (i heart writing workshop) where (after coaxing a kiddo to come out from sulking) we wrote a book with skills i was excited he could use. a story with a beginning, middle, and end! hooray!
over to kindergarten again for another writing workshop where we introduced how to write 'how to' books. an hour of exciting writing conferences and helping kiddos stretch out their words, i was off to a very fast lunch and 2 meetings on the children with other fabulous educators where we looked at in depth studies of their academic, psychological, and social performances.
the day ended with an announcement about a tornado warning and we spent the next hour in the main hallway of the school calming the children in after school care who were scared of the storm. i have incredible coworkers who all flooded to help calm the kids even though it was after school hours.
eventually i made my way out of the building and caught a bus into the city for my book club. on the way home, as i waited for the bus (now that i no longer live a few blocks from the train) i watched the incredible lightning criss-cross across the sky over the city skyline.
it sounds silly that i look back at the day and feel like i'm doing exactly what i wanted to with my life. i spent today reading with kids, teaching kids with learning disabilities, analyzing how we can better meet the needs of kids, and then helping entertain kids when they needed a distraction. it's not my 2nd year in a high-powered law firm, a day on wall street, reporting for cnn, or finishing up a phd program at an ivy league school like some of my classmates from 5 years ago. but it is exactly what i wanted from a career when i graduated 5 years ago.
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