TIme After Time...

WOW! It's been more than 3 months since I've posted a blog! Epic.Fail. I guess time really does fly when you're having fun.

I am hoping to get back into the blogging world now that we have survived the first 9 weeks of school! Life finally feels like it is slowing down a bit (for now)!!!

"Just keep moving, just keep moving..." This was my mantra for my FIRST half marathon ever this past October. The Chosen Marathon is a fabulous organization that helps families trying to adopt ad bringing awareness to the fatherless. My goal this time last year was to run a 10k. Not only did I meet that goal, I kick that goal's butt! 13.1 miles. Do not let anyone fool you that 13.1 miles is easy; especially this course. I swear I was running uphill the entire time. I can't WAIT to do it again next year. :)

At school, my class has pushed me to try new things and to constantly reevaluate what we are doing and how we can make it better.

One of the things I am the MOST proud of this year, is our interactions for the Global Read Aloud. Our entire 4th grade read One for the Murphy's along with thousands of other learners around the world. If you haven't read it, it is a MUST READ, but make sure you have a box of Kleenex with you!

 For 6 weeks, everything we did revolved around this book. We Skyped with a social worker, a foster parent, and are currently working on a challenge to "Be Someone's Hero." Check out our class website to see a sample of some of our work. At our school, we are not with other 4th graders, so having a common experience allowed them to connect with their peers even without seeing them everyday.

I can''t wait to get back to school tomorrow after a week off! It was much needed, but I miss my babies!

See you soon blogger world!

We are FamiLEE- New Dreams

I haven't blogged a lot over the summer mainly because I didn't feel that I had much to say! My days were routinely normal, and had little to do with school/education. Now that I'm back? WATCH OUT BLOGGING WORLD! :)

Today was the first day for the staff of Lee Elementary to come together as whole and GET TO WORK! We got a lot of things finished, but the best part of today? TEAM BONDING! And what better way to bond then (than? I swear I'll figure it out one day) with a scavenger hunt!?

If you want to check out our adventure as a house, click the following: Purple House Hunt!

It was the perfect way to get to know each other, and really see how we work together as a cohesive group! We think a lot alike in many ways, but have unique differences that I believe will allow us to push ourselves in ways we never thought possible. 

To me, Lee elementary is the embodiment of this quote. We are redefining what education should/could be. Are we going to make mistakes? I HOPE SO. Mistakes means we are trying things we haven't done before. 

We ended our day by taking a tour of our ALMOST FINISHED building! 

We have been told over and over how many visitors we are going to have, and I hope that if they take away anything from our school, it's that we are a group of LEEders who are willing to take risks, fail/succeed, and try again. For admin that come? I hope they go back to their schools/districts ready to let their staff try things without the fear of, "I'm going to get in trouble if I fail." Can't visit our school? Follow our journey on Twitter- @netzerolee and #rjlyear1

It's time education sets new goals, new dreams, and starts putting those goals and dreams into ACTION. 


Here's to making our dreams a reality with our famiLEE!!

The More I Run...

... the more I love myself.

This 2013-2014 school year, my mantra was the word BALANCE.

My first year of teaching (2012-2013) was hard. The kind of hard where I called my mom in April and asked if she would be ashamed of me if I left the education field. The kind of hard where if you found my LinkedIn profile (for your sake and mine... don't), it has my butchered attempt of making an education resume more "business-ified." The kind of hard where I applied to several different secretarial positions, fashion industry positions, and even considered becoming a full-time waitress.

Before those of you reading this who have never felt this way get all self-righteous on me.... it wasn't because of the kids. I was working 12-14 hours every day, seven days a week. I wasn't eating, I was barely sleeping, and I lost contact with a majority of my friends. My only saving grace was the fact that I adored my learners, and I had a roommate and a boyfriend that listened to me and encouraged me as best as they could. They kept me going during my first year.

Thankfully, my mom convinced me to take the summer to breathe and get away from it all, and still see if I felt that way come August. As always (don't get a big head, Mom), she was right, and I promised her I would give it one more year before making a  final decision.

August '13 came around and I knew I had to do something different. I gave myself a schedule. I was allowed to work as much as I wanted Sunday-Thursday... but Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday morning/afternoon were mine for FUN.

In December, I decided to make real goals for 2014. I'm not one for goal-making, so it took me a long time to come up with goals that I knew I could achieve.

If you notice, I have "Run a 10K." Why did I put that? I have no idea; probably because it sounded healthy, and that's what you do for the new year, right?! Before I started running though, I wanted to make sure I was consistent with my workouts.

I signed up at Rob's Fitness to work with a personal trainer and made it a goal to workout 2 times per week. Minus a few crazy, hectic weeks (you ALL know the kind of weeks I'm talking about), I managed to keep this time frame. Having set appointments with an actual person has helped hold me accountable for working out... I even ENJOY it now! Go figure.

I started running (slow jogging with a LOT of walking) in April; barely two months ago. I ran 1.24 miles, and by the end of it, I swore that I was going to collapse onto the ground and never get up.

On 6/16/14 I ran my first 10K. It wasn't a race and, let me tell you, it HURT... but I did it, and I will probably do it again. and again. and again.

I am so glad that I didn't jump out of this crazy, roller coaster of education... but I am glad that I found other things to help me with my keyword- BALANCE. I can't wait for this next school year to come around. :)

I am going to be running a half at the Chosen Marathon in October with my sweet friend, Katti. You want to read a beautiful and heart-breaking story? Check out her blog HERE. I am blessed to have her as a friend (AND SHE RUNS!).

Cassie