Summer Surviving and Blog Blessings

Somehow, my summer has managed to feel as frenetic as the school year did. I spent the first three days of my "vacation" meeting with the other folks who teach the same course that I do. While the work was exhausting, it was also extremely productive. We are making huge strides by mapping our joint curriculum. I thoroughly enjoyed the time that we all spent together, and I have high hopes for the coming year.

I have also been preparing for the creative writing course that I have taught for the past eight summers. As I was mapping my regular academic course, I was also puttering with the syllabus, web site, and lesson plans for this summer course. My co-teacher and I got to spend some time together today. I also got to spend time with one of our former students (and chatted with another) who is now interning with the aspect of the program that enrolls my daughter. I love that this young man is still a part of the Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth, but I also am overjoyed that I will get to see him more frequently over the next two weeks. This year will be the first time in five years when this fellow is NOT in our classroom.

While I thought that I would never experience anything in my "regular" teaching career like MITY, I realized over the past two weeks that my current situation at school IS like MITY. The rigor and creativity are present in both places, and I get to team with marvelous co-worker in both situations. Thus, my excitement for MITY feels different this year. I am still elated that it is here again, but it is not my "salvation" as it has been in the past. I think that is a good sign.

Finally, I need to give a shout out to a fabulous new blog that also discusses narcolepsy. It is actually called Narcolepsy and is written by a person with narcolepsy in Florida. He is close to my age and has a markedly similar approach. He too simply wants to process (for himself and others) what it is like to live with this unnerving, facinating, awkward, and bizarre disease. I do hope that others will check out what he has to say. Best of all, he posts on a fairly regular basis - something I am hoping starts to happen here again (soon).