Chaos and Joy

Having no school on Saturday was such a blessing. I was in desperate need of some genuine "chill" time -- no social engagements, no work to do, no games to play -- just pure, boring and completely solitary free time. It does a body a good.

These past two days of school though, however, have been quite intense. I suspect that every day is going to be quite intense from now until Christmas break (or rather, "Winter Break" as I must remind myself to refer to the non-denominational vacation). There is so much teaching to be done, assignments to be created and lessons to be planned before I am allowed to pack my bags and sprint onto that airplane that will deliver me back to Boston and into the carefree land of love, family, snow, alcohol and freedom. There are so many things I am looking forward to -- driving, being with my family, going out to the bars, dancing, being silly and wild and ridiculous with my girls and doing absolutely whatever I feel like.

But I can't think about those things right now. They'll make me lose focus and I need to keep my mind sharp and committed to getting through these next four weeks. I can do it, I just need to stay determined and strong.

Here are some reasons why my life is so chaotic right now:

1. I have over 100 students that I am responsible for educating. Not only must I educate them but I must continuously challenge them and keep them inspired and motivated to succeed.

2. I have my first formal class observation this week. Our school has a rigorous evaluation process and this is a big observation. The principal stays in my class for the entire 90 minute block writing and observing every little tiny thing that I do or don't do.

3. I am in charge of the Prom Committee. I didn't want to be, I was "volun-told" (popular term in this school) that I was to be in charge of it. As much as I love the kids, I hate that I am responsible for planning this event. It is way too big and I feel like I'm over my head and what makes matters worse is...I genuinely don't care at all about prom. I wouldn't mind working so hard if it was for something I cared about, but I just really  really don't care about prom.

4. I have to organize our biggest Prom fundraiser in......get this.....just 10 days. I have to convince Saudi car dealerships to agree to pay several thousands of Riyals to showcase their cars at a Car Show at the school. Yes, you heard that correctly: I am a single woman who must convince Saudi car dealerships to let me use their cars to raise money for a Prom......I can't even begin to express how stressed I am about this. I honestly can barely write about it I am that anxious.

5. To be honest I think those four are enough for now.....

Here's some positive news though -- several weeks ago I conducted a professional development workshop at my school called "De-Mystifying Shakespeare". It was an hour long workshop I designed that was meant to instruct teachers on various strategies and techniques to get students engaged and interested in Shakespeare. I taught the basics of iambic pentameter, heightened verse, naturalistic prose and the ways in which to analyze soliloquies. It was such a wonderful workshop and though I would usually be extremely nervous teaching teachers much older and more experienced than myself (one of the women who attended my workshop was actually my sixth grade English teacher! talk about irony...) Shakespeare is what I know better than almost anything in the world. I felt calm, happy and extremely confident in myself.

Well, it turns out my joy was extremely evident to all those who attended my workshop and I ended up getting selected to present at this year's NESA Conference in Bangkok, Thailand! That's right, I am being sent to Thailand on my April vacation to present a workshop on Shakespeare. The school will take care of my flight and accommodations. I still can't believe this is real. I can't believe I got picked! This is a prestigious conference -- my parents presented workshops at it years ago, but they are experienced experts in their fields! My heart is just filled with glee and excitement over this incredible opportunity. I couldn't be happier.

It clearly is true then -- when your heart is truly and fully committed to something, anything is possible.

Pool at the Shangri-La Hotel in Bangkok (where I will be staying)

"Near East South Asia" Council of International Schools