It has been such a long time that I scarcely know where to begin. This is the first time that I have used my new word processor. Wait, backing up. Sorry. I got a new computer for Christmas from my parents. Yes, a new one. Possibly the first computer I have had that’s not more than 5 years old. It was a great present. I will be sure to fill the hard disk with meaningless internet drivel and downloads. 
But I digress.
I’ve been making excellent use of my Christmas vacation, especially because I’ve been sick for the past week or so. I’ve balanced my time between sleeping, drinking tea, and playing with the new computer. Next week I’ll have to go get some work done in my classroom, but for now I’m just vegging. I have big plans for the coming semester. We are involved in a program called Marsville, and my students will be researching mars and building mars rovers. I have everyone I know collecting styrofoam egg cartons, pieces of cardboard, toilet paper tubes… We’ll be working on that for most of January and February. We’ll also be working on fractions. I fully intend to do such a good job teaching fractions that the middle school teacher will come upstairs and congratulate me next year. So far she’s only mentioned that my kids don’t know their addition facts well enough. Obviously she and I have different ideas about what mathematics instruction should entail. I am not a big fan of rote memorization (the only exceptions are multiplication facts and spelling, those are things that really do need to be memorized.) Math is not a memorization skill. Kids that memorize logarithms no more know how to solve problems than I know how to rebuild the Taj Mahal. I’m evidently not a good fit in the Catholic system.
Despite all this I like my students and my job, and for the most part I like my school. I know it doesn’t always sound like it. But even on my vacation my head has been full of ideas for next semester, which proves it means something to me. Even if that something is to show some of the more conservative teachers at my school that memorization is not the same thing as learning.
Oops. I didn’t intend for this to become some rant about teaching. I was just going to tell you about all of the excitement I’ve seen in the past month and a half. Well, that will have to wait. Now I’m going to go read a book and drink some tea.
