school | Jackie Reeve

Teacher Gift Boxes with Homemade Scones

jackie December 21, 2014 Food baking, gifts, jam, recipes, school, teachers

I promise that title sounds fancier than the boxes really are. I love teachers (I am one!), and I love putting these treat boxes together. This is just a little extra on top of the class gift, largely because I always have more jam than any three-person family could eat in a year. And you need something to put the jam on, hence…scones. Also, H’s school has just been completely amazing to her and for her, and I want to show my appreciation for their work with our little late bloomer as often as possible.

Last year, H’s first at her school, I made gift boxes for her teacher, aide, the head of the school, and the marvelous admin. I put in some blueberry butter I’d made over the summer, a Starbucks card, and some homemade scones I made the same morning I delivered the boxes. The scones were just so fast and easy that this year I kind of decided this was a tradition worth keeping up. And, again, I made all the scones last Friday morning while H was at school and then delivered them at the half day pickup.

Library Progress

jackie September 20, 2014 Teaching cricut, decorating, libraries, school

I’ve seen every class twice now at my new school. It’s been hectic, to say the least. I really have to adjust to the idea that I’m part time, and that means the library will get organized and set up on a part time schedule. It is going to take a while, no doubt. But I started checking books out last week, and now I can really start seeing the gaps in the collection that I need to fill in. This coming week is book fair, which is always one of my most stressful weeks of the school year. But once book fair passes I can hunker down and work on organizing and labeling.

But, I have been decorating.

My New Library

jackie August 11, 2014 Teaching back to school, library, school

So, I got a part-time teaching job for September. I wrote about it a couple of weeks ago, and it’s a very exciting time.

I wasn’t actually planning on going back to teaching, but I started getting the itch this past spring. That itch to do my old work, to use that part of my brain, to teach. I consider a lot of things my work these days, but this was my work. I missed it. I was good at it. I had a hard time with how I left it. I applied to only this one two-day-a-week position thinking if I get it, great. If I don’t, that’s that.

And I got it.

And I’m excited. Really, really excited. Read more on My New Library…

May Outfits

jackie June 1, 2014 Outfits, Thoughts blog, Outfits, Quilts, school

I didn’t even get half the month of May in photos, but to be fair we were out of the country for part of that time. And I didn’t take any outfit photos while we were away. I get a pass on all the yoga pants and stretchy jeans I wore on vacation because CHEESE.

So I Took Most of March Off

jackie March 30, 2013 Family, Teaching, Thoughts, Travel, Working Mom adam, road trip, school, spring break, the kid, Travel, Working Mom

This has been a helluva month. I posted about the awesomeness surrounding H’s first birthday, but then I basically needed a break. I found out a couple days before her birthday that my district isn’t renewing my contract next year. I’m up for tenure at the end of the year, and…that’s the end of that. They don’t have to give a reason, but they did, and it was frankly more insulting than if they just hadn’t told me why. So that was a blow to the juggling act that has been returning to work after having this glorious little lady, and it all happened very fast, and I still had to try and pull off her birthday party despite being terribly distracted and frustrated. Then I spent the week between H’s birthday and spring break trying to finish Battle of the Books with my 4th graders and deal with my job posting going out and telling folks I will not be back.

1.5 Weeks Down, 38 to Go

jackie September 15, 2012 Crafts, Family, Teaching, Working Mom bulletin boards, first day of school, library, school, the kid, Working Mom

I’ve been off the grid since the first day of school, it’s been HARD.

I was doing fine last Tuesday when the teachers started back to school; Adam stayed home with H that day. I was doing great the first day of school, when H went to her sitter Diana’s house for the first time. But then I picked her up on Wednesday and realized she’d spent an entire day with someone else. She had a great time, but it felt so surreal to me. Then I got a horrible night’s sleep, woke up in tears about the daunting prospect of another day with this new reality, got through Thursday, and had a complete breakdown after putting her to bed that night. The time with her after school just went too fast. I’ve never cried so hard in my life.

Read more on 1.5 Weeks Down, 38 to Go…

First Day

jackie September 4, 2012 Crafts, Family, Teaching, Working Mom lesson plans, school, Teaching, the kid, Working Mom

I went back to work today, and I did much better than I thought I would. Adam stayed home with H, and I got lots of photos and updates about her during the day. But I also just felt surprisingly good to be working again. Using that entire catalog of brain functions and social skills again just made me feel like a better mom when I got home. Yes, it sucked not to be able to give her hugs at any moment. And yes, I may get hysterical tomorrow when I drop her off at the sitter’s and see how she reacts to being left with someone she doesn’t know very well yet. But today I was able to leave home at home to get stuff done for the kids’ arrival tomorrow, and then I was able to leave work at work, zero in on her when I got home, and then do whatever prep I had left for tomorrow after she went to bed. I was one of the first teachers to leave the building today, and I did not feel guilty about that.

Last Night

jackie September 3, 2012 Family, Teaching, Thoughts adam, school, the kid, Thoughts

So it’s now officially the last night of my maternity leave. The baby’s been put to bed (although at the moment she isn’t sleeping, just rolling around in her crib), I’ve done all the cuddling and smooching I can do now. It feels a little like skydiving or cliff jumping or something, this whole back to work thing. You know it’s probably not going to be the end of you (but hey, it might be), and you’ll feel really good and strong for having done it, but it doesn’t make taking that first step any easier. It doesn’t make it easier to see an “after,” all you see is the first step. So the best thing to do is not think about it, just dive in. I’ve been trying to get my desk organized, my back to school existence in working order, things are arranged, outfits are coordinated. But I still have a knot in my stomach.

H Goes to School

jackie May 22, 2012 Family, Teaching school, the kid

Last Friday I took H to my school for the first time. I had to drop off the last of my library orders for the year, and since H’s officially old enough to be out in public now I thought it would be a great opportunity to show her where Mommy works.

October at the Library

jackie October 13, 2011 Teaching, Thoughts displays, libraries, school, Teaching

I don’t have my Halloween decorations up yet, but I do have all of my October displays out.

I love my displays so much more now that I’m doing the signs in color. And work has been so great this month, I’m tackling a ton of projects that are so satisfying. My brain is working pretty well during the 2nd trimester, so I’m taking advantage before it turns to mush again in a couple of months. I’ve totally revamped the Battle of the Books program at school, I’ve got the schedule finished for the library moms, I put in another great book order, I finally tackled the filing system my predecessor left behind, and all my lesson plans are written through the first week of November.

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