Dr. Seuss's Birthday

My colleague Linda and I celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday last Wednesday. We had so much fun. Our classes got together and paired up second graders and first graders. We had some stations, but for themost part they could work on their own. AND THEY DID! I can't imagine how much fun they had because Linda and I had a blast. The kids worked for almost two hours.

We downloaded this FANTASTIC unit from Rachelle Smith's whattheteacherwantsblogspot.com I highly recommend visiting her site.
They played with Oobleck, worked on goldfish patterns and graphs, made up some "new" animals, and so much more.We are planning on getting together at least once a month. It is hard to make time for fun learning. That is one of our goals this year.

"If you never did You should. These things are fun. and Fun is good."
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

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Just the beginning...

This is my first post. I am just beginning.
I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I have not run in three and a half months. It is hard to think that there weren't many days that I did not run before then.
For those of you that do not know about this: I herniated two discs in 2003. I have been functioning with them. I could do everything. Once in a while there would be a day when I would have to lay down for a while. But, I always knew when to stop.

November 19th of 2010 I went for a run with my friend, Josh. We ran over 6 miles. Our pace was around 9 minute miles (fast for me, slow for him). I felt great. So excited that my time was getting faster. (I was also recovering from a severe sprained ankle from September) Everything was going so well. I woke up the next morning to put wood on the fire and I felt that something wasn't right with my back. I laid down and my back went into spasms. UGH! My right leg went numb from the knee down. I stayed home from work that week to recover. After that week, I went back to school. I lasted three and a half days. On Thursday, the pain just kept getting worse and worse. By the time I called my principal, I was crying and could barely walk! My poor first graders. I drove home (I have no idea how) and was in bed for the next three weeks.

December 21st I had back surgery. A micro-discectomy. I am not a proponent for surgery, but this is the best thing that has happened to my physically. On January 1st I walked a mile in 30 minutes. January 19th, I went back to work. I was terrified that I was going to hurt myself and that I wouldn't be able to teach again. As my mother said it was the best thing for me.

I am less than three weeks away from getting to run again (my family is not in agreement with this). I am doing ZUMBA everyday and walking at a brisk pace. I am getting very excited to run again.

This is my journey....

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