Ms. Terry's Blog

 Is it just me, or has October been incredibly busy? At the end of September, I went to Atlanta for a school thing. Then came Fall Break and Panama. Then the Vols beat Bama. Then we did a quick weekend in Disney World for my parents' anniversary. And now we have reached Halloween.  As far as Panama goes, it was very nice. I was sick most of the trip with the usual end of quarter crud, but my dad and I still had a lovely time. The canal was a marvel. Even 100+ years on, the engineering is spectacular and it was quite interesting to learn about its history, as well as how the canal has affected Panama culturally and economically and in terms of Panama/US relations. And Old Town Panama had a very New Orleans feel. The Canal at work! Old Town Panama with its New Orleans vibes Our beach/ocean excursion in Bocas del Toro was also great. I particularly enjoyed the sloths and Hollywood Beach, where you can see all your favorite stars! (As in starfish, love it.) Beautiful beaches! Patr...

 So, it's been a month. School started, I booked a trip to Asia for next summer, and I have a TikTok with over a million views. School is honestly going just fine (knock on wood!). I like my kiddos. I like teaching math again. And I really like designing and teaching my world cultures class! The students especially like snack days. American snack day had goldfish, marshmallows, Doritos, and M&Ms. African snack day featured pineapple, bananas, hummus/pita chips (to represent North Africa and the Mediterranean influence), and Fanta. I drew inspiration from my years in Rwanda. Below you will see how 7th graders eat marshmallows in 2022. I also booked my summer 2023 adventure! I will start in Korea with my brother, then join a tour that goes to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam! I'm so excited! Please send recommendations for things to do! And in random news, I have a TikTok that has over 1 million views! I confiscated this kid's mister thing, and made a TikTok about it...

Unfortunately, summer is almost over. In service starts tomorrow, and I'll be back my real life job. As you may know, I spent my summer working at the zoo as a camp counselor, so it was pretty wild. I made animal puns all the time, and the campers LOVED IT (I think). But really, it was a wonderful summer job and I will miss all of my co-workers (animal and human). It was all the fun parts of teaching, plus animals! I'm not sure what I'll do when I don't get to visit the snapping turtle or meet a new animal visitor every day. Our Australian friends! My snapping turtle friend! I also traveled to tropical Hawaii with my grandmother. Neither of us are big beach people, but we both really enjoyed the tours we did of Pearl Harbor, the island of Oahu, Iolani Palace, and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The history of Hawaii is fascinating, as it is home to people from all over. America itself is a melting pot, and Hawaii exemplifies that as it has been explored and inhabited by...

Listen, it's still summer. I don't want to think about school. However, recent events and remarks have made me think more about school than I really want to in July. No, I'm not talking about the back to school sections that are already up in stores. I'm talking about the comments of Dr. Larry Arnn and Governor Bill Lee regarding public school teachers. In case you haven't heard, Dr. Arnn, who was hired by Tennessee's Governor Bill Lee as a charter school adviser, had these gems to say about public education:      "teachers are trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges"     "education destroys generations of people" In response, Governor Lee clarified that Dr. Arnn was not talking about Tennessee teachers, and he quickly turned a conversation about the remarks into a rant against the "left-wing agenda." It should be noted that neither Dr. Arnn nor Governor Lee have degrees in education, though Lee's wife does. Neither...

 I think most educators can agree that this has been just about the longest school year ever. I even switched schools mid-year, and it was still dragged on. Between on and off COVID restrictions, increasing bureaucracy, and student behavior spiraling out of control (in some cases), it's been a doozy. And then we essentially ended the year with a school shooting in Texas. A shooting in which 19 children and 2 teachers died because our government (or parts of it) won't stand up and ban assault weapons.  I hope we can all take the summer to reflect and decide how we want to move forward. For me personally, national news aside, the school year came to a solid conclusion. My team won field day (yay!), I read two good books, and I went to the Immersive Van Gogh exhibition, which was really fun. I've always been a fan of Van Gogh, and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has always been one of my favorites. This summer I will be working part-time at the zoo and tutoring. I have also m...

It has been another 30 days. We have made it through Easter, and we are well into standardized testing. There are 25 days of school left. Over the past month, I have continued to go to yoga and other workout classes. I almost met my goals for both good eating and physical activity, and I was feeling pretty good about myself until I had to go shopping for a dress to wear to a wedding. Does everyone feel fat and ugly when they have to go shopping? But anyway, in more academically minded news, I read a book called Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can's Stop Talking by Susan Cain. As Cain says, anywhere to 1/3 to 1/2 of the world's population are introverts, but we in Western cultures promote the "extrovert ideal." If you are not extroverted, you're weird. And Cain does a really good job of bringing her ideas and arguments into the classroom. It makes me think. Are students incapable of doing independent work because we've been encouraged to assign ...

I meant to write this over Spring Break, but I got distracted. I cleaned. And also napped. But anyway, Spring Break marked the end of my first quarter at my new school, and it has been a complete change. I am calmer, more focused on my health, and happier to go to work. I have taken more time to read and write, and I actually met my goal for days of physical activity. And I was only one day off for my days of good eating! More reading on executive functioning skills. The children are less than organized. A book about Indian princess. Very interesting. In these days of the so called "Great Resignation," switching jobs really has shown me how much work environment matters. It's not that I, or most people, don't want to work. I like teaching and working with kids. I don't like being bullied by supervisors. There are many reasons we have a teacher shortage. And those reasons are similar to the reasons many establishments are facing labor shortages. People want to be t...

In addition to starting to a new year, I also recently started at a new school. I have combined this new school start with attempts to change my diet and workout routines. Those goals are going okay (I've actually been cooking and trying different workouts), but let me tell you, changing schools has been a huge change. I enjoy going to work now. I actually get to teach! It's exciting, and fun. But also calm. My admin and co-workers have been very supportive so far, and I have had mostly positive interactions with students and parents/guardians. Knock on wood. I swear I can feel my blood pressure going down, and people have commented that I look calmer and happier. Work environment can have a huge effect on your overall well-being, and I can only hope that my work experiences stay positive.  With my new found calm, I've been able to do some reading and writing, and I been able to spend time on activities outside of school. I've had lunch/breakfast with people, started pl...

 Happy New Year! It is officially 2022 and the entire Terry family has officially returned from their Egyptian expedition (plus Jordan). It was a wonderful trip, and a wonderful way to ring in the New Year. 2021 was a difficult year for the Terry family, and so being able to go on such an adventure was a way to focus on the future and the good we hope it brings. Plus, it was really fun and incredibly educational. Now, most people don’t go on vacation to learn, but we’re kind of a nerdy family, so it worked for us. Our guides could be university professors and they offered such a breadth and depth of knowledge about Egypt past and present. I was in awe. But, anyway, a few thoughts from my voyage to countries number 31 and 32. 1. This tour was a Viking tour, which is a higher end cruise company. And we did cruise the Nile for several nights in a lovely ship that had a 2 to 1 ratio of staff to guests. We were incredibly well taken care of, from the excellent food, to the attentive sta...