January 17 - An Extra Helping of Time, Please

As I was walking down the hall of my school today, I saw a person that looked vaguely familiar. She had a much better memory than I and recognized me as the person who ran her school's Tribes TLC training a number of years ago. She is now herself a Tribes trainer as well as the Early Years / Full Time Kindergarten Support Personnel for our quadrant. (I've messed up her title, so I apologize.) I told her that I'd like to reconnect, so that we could chat about how inquiry as it appears in kindergarten classes can be adapted or married to library based inquiry (teacher-librarians and specialist teachers that deal with kindergarteners unfortunately do not get to attend the special PD for kindergarten teachers and ECEs).

When I got home from dinner (we went out for a second day of celebrating my daughter's birthday - she had her party on the 16th), I checked my email and received an invitation to talk about the Together for Learning document with some teacher-librarians in a different board. Naturally, I said yes - I find I learn as much from running those type of workshops as the participants.

Then I looked at my to-do list. I'm eager to read more so I can learn, discuss more so I can learn, plan more so I can learn, reflect and evaluate more so I can learn - but where am I going to find the time? I've got report card comments to write, and Superconference workshops to prepare for. I also have to ensure I don't neglect my family while I'm at it. On this past Saturday, I had an absolutely glorious time with them, sledding, watching "Avatar: The Last Air-Bender" on DVD, playing with our pet chinchillas and napping. I did nothing teaching related. I don't feel guilty about taking that day just with the husband and kids, but managing all the things I want to do within the hours of daylight can be a challenge. I've been very good so far at maintaining my exercise goals (I highly recommend the Wii's Just Dance game) but that cuts in on the amount of time available as well. Unless I can learn to live with less sleep (not the best option), I'll have to juggle and balance the best I can.