8.17.08

No news is good news, right?! I don't have much to report. I have spent the last few days dog/house/cat sitting for some friends. It is nice to be away from the house, but hard at the same time. I have ONE week before school business officially starts. Way too soon. (Even though I am pretty excited deep down!)

Friday night we went to a Brandi Carlile concert at the Tractor Tavern in Ballard. We have not been there in a LONG time. In fact, the last time we were there it was for a Brandi concert. Good times.

Yesterday we went to a play called, "You're a good man Charlie Brown." My good friend Terry is in the play. It was great! Even though I found myself looking away so I didn't make eye contact with him. I don't know why. Maybe too many Easter bunnies and clowns in grocery stores as a kid. Who knows. Last night we went to another concert...this time in a park. Brandi Carlile was the headliner. Again, it was fun and we got to see friends that we have not seen in quite some time.

Today we went to Richard's company picnic. It turned out to be only 15 mintues away from where we are house sitting. We waded out in the water to cool us from the heat and humidity.

Summer Days Drifting Away

Summer is winding down. I have had an amazing few months and don't want it to end!

I am officially done with my Master's class. It was a long, sometimes difficult 22 months, but worth it. It will be strange to not have to go to class an entire weekend out of the month. I think I will get used to it pretty quickly. My cohort consisted of 24 teachers and I couldn't ask for a better group. We plan to meet up in the future and enjoy each other's company rather than academics. My group completed our thesis project and were able to turn it in early. We started working on this project in May and thanks to their hard work while I was in France, we were able to complete it in a timely manner. (If you call 3 months timely) So, on July 27th I graduated with my Master's degree in Education! I can now sign my name: April Jean Jackson, M.Ed. Pretty exciting, really.

Master's thesis project...DONE! This is us "acting" exhausted.

As part of our celebration we went to a cabin on a lake near Tacoma, WA. We spent two days out on the boat, relaxing on the dock, playing cards, eating, drinking, laughing, and just spending time with each other. It was SO fun and SO relaxing!

Terry and I in our Lesley University Tshirts we designed for our cohort.

The same weekend I graduated, I was also in a wedding. It was pretty tricky doing both, but thanks to a flexible instructor I was able to attend the wedding. Melissa (the bride) is a teacher and I was very honored to be a part of her big day.

So now what? Well, I have started my National Boards.
"The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards improves teaching and student learning. National Board Certified Teachers are highly accomplished educators who meet high and rigorous standards. Like board-certified doctors and accountants, teachers who achieve National Board Certification have met rigorous standards through intensive study, expert evaluation, self-assessment and peer review. NBPTS offers 25 certificates that cover a variety of subject areas and student developmental levels."
This process includes documenting evidence, video taping myself teach (yipes), writing, evaluating my teaching, submitting a portfolio of this evidence in March and finally taking a test in June. It will be another challenging year for me. This past week I attended a conference to help get started with the process. While it was overwhelming, I think it was informative and vital to getting started on the right foot.


I have a few weeks left of summer and don't have too much planned. We will be camping at the Kite Festival in Long Beach, WA in a few weeks. We also have a concert to attend next weekend. I have meetings at school starting the last week in August.