Making Practice Public

1. Took an art class on drawing at the Indianapolis Art Center
2. Documented my creative process
3. Took a tennis lesson
4. Took a swim lesson
5. Created little paintings with oil paints and really liked it
6. Saw Hidden Figures in the movie theater at 10:00 in the morning all by myself on a Monday morning
7. Wrote a book chapter about teaching middle schoolers in an online environment
8. Read about 20 books
9. Got a tattoo
10. Got a massage
11. Saw a nutritionist
12. Wrote weekly at CTS and had several wonderful lunches in the cafe there
13. Attended a Writing Workshop on Flash Memoir
14. Learned about Scandinavia’s healthcare and education systems
15. Met new Journey Fellow friends at Waycross in Bloomington, IN
16. Canoed at Sugar Creek
17. Hiked at Turkey Run with those Journey Fellow friends
18. Contra danced in a barn near a historic covered bridge
19. Made a story stick to walk with
20. Spent 9 days in Florida with my boys and in-laws for Spring Break
21. Went to Universal Studios to explore the expanded Harry Potter World
22. Took a glass bottom boat ride in a natural spring in Florida
23. Hit golf balls
24. Worked out with fidelity the whole semester
25. Learned that the Indiana Department of Education loved our Middle-Secondary Special Education proposal
26. Tried spin class again
27. Loved water aerobics
28. Watched an Atlanta Braves spring training game
29. Started a blog
30. Began a daily writing practice thanks to Bryan’s Boot Camp
31. Drove my son to weight training all semester
32. Meditated with Oprah and Deepak for 21 days
33. Had brunch with my friends more than once
34. Attended Birdman with a live drumming performance at Clowes
35. Attended several One Butler Brain Project lectures with my boys
36. Volunteered to review science textbooks for my boys’ school district
37. Hung out at the middle school team meetings at the Lab School on Fridays from February-May
38. Wrote an (almost finished) article with my friend and colleague, Dr. Brooke Kandel-Cisco
39. Visited Stockholm, Sweden
40. Visited Copenhagen, Denmark
41. Visited Reykjavic, Iceland
42. Rode a bike (without crashing) in Copenhagen
43. Ate herring–multiple times
44. Listened to newly arrived students in Vallentuna tell their stories of arrival in Sweden
45. Had wine and cheese in the lovely home of my Swedish Hoosier colleague, Angelica Granqvist
46. Got to know my Butler colleagues better by traveling with them for 14 days
47. Soaked in the Blue Lagoon with a silica mud mask on my face and a drink in my hand
48. Ate a salmon burger off a salmon wagon
49. Tried Thai food for the first time
50. Walked through Kronsborg Castle which is the setting for Hamlet
51. Saw the “real” Little Mermaid
52. Thought deeply about the restructuring of our College of Education and proposed some ideas
53. Took a class called Writing Life through the Indiana Partnership for Young Writers
54. Applied for and was granted a BAC grant
55. Spent 13 days from 9:00-4:00 being a student in the National Writing Project at IUPUI
56. Continued participating in the Writing Life and reconnected with a writing friend from high school
57. Hiked 8 miles at Clifty Falls with my boys
58. Fell in the creek hiking trail 2
59. Didn’t teach the summer cohort for the first time in 9 years
60. Celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary
61. Co-wrote an article with Michelle Trainor for the Middle School Journal
62. Took baby steps rethinking curriculum with colleagues that might enhance preparation of for middle childhood
63. Learned that STEM grants require much more than a month to prepare
64. Traveled back to the UK with Dr. Esteves, Bryan and 16 students
65. Navigated the Tube in London
66. Saw Twelfth Night at the Globe
67. Saw Julius Caesar performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford upon Avon
68. Climbed to the summit of Arthur’s Seat
69. Participated in a storytelling workshop with a professional storyteller in Edinburgh, Scotland
70. Walked along the dock where the Titanic was launch in Belfast
71. Meditated with Oprah and Deepak for another 21 days
72. Had my first pint of Guinness
73. Walked along the Giant’s Causeway and learned about Finn MacCool
74. Learned that the Peace Wall in Belfast is about keeping peace, not celebrating it
75. Took time, breathed deeply as often as I wanted, and remembered my “why”

This entry was posted on May 24, 2017 at 11:07 am and is filed under Sabbatical, Undivided Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.