Worth Effort? Time? Money? Pain?

 How do you determine an object's worth? What factors prompt you to accept or decline an activity?

The above two photos (of me using a barbell IRL at my CrossFit gym and online in my Animal Crossing New Horizons video game) might suggest that this post is going to be about physical activity. It isn't. As much as I gripe about going to the gym, I know that it's necessary for me to be active. However, it's a good visual for effort (physical effort in lifting a heavy weight), time (we go three times a week and it's still taking a long time to see the kind of results I want), money (it's not cheap for this type of gym membership) and pain (because I'm super-sore after a workout).

I asked myself about whether things are worth it in 2016 while working on the Spring Concert and in 2014 about the Red Maple Marketing Campaign. I ask this again in 2021 because of a few events this week.

Eye Surgery

On December 2, my husband had eye surgery to remove a stye that had formed. He was quite anxious about the procedure because he says he feels "squicky" about anything dealing with his eyes. The operation didn't require an overnight stay or general anesthesia. I picked him up from the medical building and other than being irritated at the large patch he was required to wear, which made wearing his regular glasses (and normal sight) mostly impossible, he was mostly okay. He wasn't eager to provide a lot of details about what occurred with the doctor, other than stating that it lasted fifteen minutes and was painful and uncomfortable. 

"Was it worth it? Would you do it again?", I asked him as I wrote this post.

"We'll see" was his reply. 

His eye had been bothering him for over a year and had been misdiagnosed at least once before the cause of the soreness, leaking, and sticky residue was discovered. Will it be a case of "short-term pain for long-term gain"? Only he will be able to make that conclusion.

Christmas Cards

Two of my December traditions (one old and one new-ish) are to write Christmas cards and make garlic pork. Those photos we had taken last week are inserts for the cards; finding cards that would fit them was another matter entirely. The usual store I buy my cards from only sells individual cards, not packs. I searched other stores. I found some in bulk but they were petite, square cards that could not fit a photo. I nearly purchased cardstock, holiday paper, stamps, and envelopes to make cards the right size, but my husband and daughter correctly pointed out that this solution would be costly in terms of time AND money. I finally found packs of twelve cards and cleared the store out of a particular cover style. (I'm particular - I like my cards I sent out each year to be identical.) I told myself I'd have to mention this to Doug Peterson to add to his "Whatever Happened To" blog theme; it seems as if mass-card-giving is falling out of style. 

"I don't want to launch you into a rant, Mom", said my daughter, when I asked for ideas on what to write this week, "But maybe you can write about how hard it was for you to get those cards. Was it worth your time, the effort, and the money to do it?"

"Good question", I answered. 

Like my blog, I create my Christmas cards for me just as much as for others. When I see my card posted on someone's door, or that my card prompts a reply, then I feel happy that I can share my pleasure in the process.

Garlic Pork

My parents are no longer able to properly cook extensive multi-step meals for themselves. I've prepared this traditional meal before, but this year, I realized I'm missing wiri-wiri peppers. Driving to two local Caribbean stores yielded no results. I'm going to need to take time and effort to search for the right size and kind of peppers. I even had to buy more mason jars to store all the pork I bought. If it turns out tasty, then the answer to "Was it worth it?" will be a resounding YES.

Possible New Student-Teacher

While at the TDSB TL Facilitator Day, I spoke to a wonderful fellow TL who also works part-time at the Faculty of Education for a major university. She said she was looking for host teachers for her teacher candidates and even though they aren't often placed with teacher-librarians, she'd be eager to offer placements if anyone was interested. I immediately told her to add my name to the list. Why'd I do this? After all, 2022 looks like it is going to be very busy. I will be juggling multiple AQs, hosting TL network meetings, and working with a student-teacher involves many responsibilities and lots of paperwork. However, I learn so much from the two teacher-candidates I had, in 2020 and 2021, that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to grow more as an educator.

Extra Reading

I talk about Jen Cadavez a LOT on this blog and that's because she helps me so much to do better and be better for our youngest students. I asked Jen if she'd be my "accountability buddy" because I had stalled in my reading of Zaretta Hammond's book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. She agreed and we set ourselves an ambitious timeline. We have to read three chapters a week and be prepared to talk about those chapters every Monday. We aren't required to do this for our jobs. We chose to do this. It means a lot of extra reading (and now that we are about to relaunch our school's participation in the Forest of Reading program, I've got a pile of books I have to read before January). Is it worth it? I say yes. I love how Jen will text me or make a comment as we pass in the hall about how a particular section of the book made her think hard. 

This naturally leads into education in general. Are the things we do in school worth the time, effort, money and pain that go into them? Someone tweeted - to my regret, I failed to save it to share it here - that the problem in education is that we keep adding things on our plates when we need to make it more balanced. Next week, when we continue our SIP Team professional discourse and planning time, we are going to talk about, instead of a "stop/start/continue", a "remove/rethink/repeat" series of considerations (related to equity). We have to remember that even if something is "fun", if it is not contributing to the positive growth of many students that maybe it isn't worth the effort. We can't keeping saying yes to everything, can we?