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I have just begun my 37th trip around the sun and this one was a little more special than others.

Year 36 saw a lot. I finished chemo, started and finished radiation, dealt with my husband being sick and in and out of the hospital multiple times, the entire family getting COVID, and that is just the health side of things.

We also decided this was the year to make the leap. We have been wanting to move south to be closer to family for a few years now. I worried that after all of our health scares last year that we wouldn't be able to do it because of work, health insurance, etc.

But we did it. I started looking for jobs in March and landed a teaching position at what I have heard is an amazing school near Raleigh. We started looking for houses in April and again we landed our dream house within a few weeks.

Then began the emotional part of saying goodbye. The first time we moved from Virginia to Maryland was more exciting than sad because we had just bought our first house, we had friends in Maryland already, and there were no kids involved. This time our move involved two kids having to say goodbye to their friends that they had made over the past few years. It also included me saying goodbye to my school that I had been at for the past 9 years. You don't realize the relationships that have been built with not only your coworkers, but families that attend the school. I have had so many siblings that I have taught over the years and some of them still had younger siblings that were looking forward to possibly having me in 5th grade.

As we get settled into our new house, new state, and new normal I am reminded why we made this move. Our kids have already stayed at their grandpa's house a few times giving my husband and I a kid-free date night or to go play golf. We also hosted a birthday cookout with family yesterday with my aunt and grandma. We are going to see my husband's aunt this week and I get to see my mom for dinner. This right here is my reason why. I absolutely love being close to family.

In 17 days I get to meet my new school family and I am so excited to start this next chapter in my educational journey!

For now though, going back to enjoying my summer break. 😎

My Journey

This Friday I will get my port removed. I have had the order from my doctor to get it removed since October, but for some reason it just wasn't a priority at the time. I don't know how to explain it, but I felt some weird, emotional attachment to this thing in my body. I don't know if it is the fear of if I take it out, it will come back or if it is just another step in this journey that I am learning to process.

This January I got a new order from the doctor so that I could get the port removed. I tried calling 2 weeks later and could not get in touch with someone. I left a message and never got a call back. Took it as a sign to wait. At the end of February I tried calling again, this time I spoke with someone who was able to schedule my procedure. It is this Friday. Exactly a year from the date I got my port put in. This I decided was another sign. This is when I should get it removed.

As I reflect back on this year, I wanted to put all of my posts and stories in one place. Oddly enough in just the past 2 months I have shared my story with others who were getting ready to go through the same thing I did and it felt so good to share.

Google Slides Can Do That!

When my principal shared with us back in December best practices that we should be doing in the classroom, I felt the collective sigh from the staff members who felt like this is just one more thing we needed to do. Many of the best practices were things that we already know how to do, but we needed a way to do them in a more digital-friendly way to accommodate our new norm of using technology to teach.

I also wanted to showcase how technology can help you work smarter, not harder (one of my favorite sayings!) by having things saved in one place or preparing your objectives, lessons, etc. ahead of time.

Enter Google Slides!

Check out the presentation below to see how I use Google Slides to...

• create objectives
• monitor students
• create manipulatives (both printable and digital)
• create writing assignments
• organize small group instruction
• easily manage rotations/centers
• create a word wall
• organize HOT questions for the entire school
• have active discussions
• create or organize anchor charts

Google Slides Can Do That!

New Year's Eve with Kids

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

We are staying in this year because you know this pandemic is never ending, so I decided to use the internet to come up with some fun ideas to do with our kids (ages 4.5 and 7)!

Beginning at 4 pm there will be a bag to open at each hour. Some of the bags will have games, some will have things to do, some will have little toys to celebrate.

Here is my plan:

4 pm - New Year's Around the World

Print a blank map of the world time zones. Color in the places that have already celebrated New Year's and then each hour you can see what part of the world is celebrating at that time until you get to your time zone.

2021 - What a Dumpster Fire!

Well here we are. Another year done. Another year that we thought was going to be WAY different than it actually was.

The year started off in Florida, in the middle of a pandemic. We chose to go away for New Year's because I knew the bad news that was coming. Right before Christmas was when I found my lump. I decided that we needed to get away before the craziness that was coming.

January we got the dreaded news. The c-word that no one wants to hear. Found out that we would be teaching from home until March.

February had surgery, but also found out it had spread to lymph nodes.

March started chemo, but also returned to work in the building.

April, May, June got approved to work from home while going through chemo. We also decided to sell our house because you know why not add more crazy to our lives.

July moved into a new temporary home. New neighbors, new school for Mackenzie, new area to learn. We also traveled to Nashville to spend a week with my husband's family (and visit mine).

August finished chemo, celebrated with friends, then went to the beach for a week with family. My happy place. I had a week to just do nothing. No doctors appointments, no treatments, no work, nothing. However, the end of August brought illness for my husband. (we can't catch a break this year) 

September started radiation, but also started back to school it what has been even more weird than 2020. Kids in the building, kids at home. Masks on. Social distancing (*when possible). Eat in the classroom. Trying to pretend that everything is normal. (side note - it's not) Went to a concert for the first time in years. Had a girls weekend in Hershey! Massage and facials!

October finished radiation! Traveled to St. Louis for a wedding. We met more of my husband's family and also caught up with old friends.

November celebrated birthdays, Thanksgiving, family visits, and spent the day in Hershey's Chocolate World to celebrate our daughter turning 7.

December we went on a cruise. We decided that we had both been through A LOT this year and we needed to celebrate. We also spent Christmas in North Carolina with family.

One More!

I usually post about education things on this blog, however, I have been wanting to share my journey and felt like this was the right place to do it. I mean, I am after all educating you about cancer, chemo, and all of the unknowns that go along with it.

One. More.

It is finally here. March 23 seems like so long ago. 15 chemotherapy treatments done. 1 more to go.

Here is an inside look at a treatment day... Vitals checked (temp, weight, blood pressure, pulse oxygen, heart rate), access my port, draw blood work and then wait and wait some more. Once blood work comes back, they determine if you get treatment that day or not. If yes, then they put in your orders to the pharmacy (this means even more waiting). First up is your pre-treatment medications. For me, this includes anti-nausea meds, Pepcid, steroids, fluids, and Benadryl. After you get all of these, then is time for your chemo bag(s). Each bag typically drips anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour and half. After the chemo is done, sometimes you get more fluids for another 15-45 minutes. Another vitals check, then they take out the needle from your port. My first 4 treatments took about 4-5 hours, my weekly treatments take about 2.5-3 hours.

This process started off very slow (probably because I started off with a harsher chemo drug, was getting 2 bags of chemo per treatment day, and had a week off.) However, the past 11 weeks have flown by.

I don't know if it has been my positive attitude, my younger age, a relatively healthy body, or a combination of all of them, but I tell everyone that I have been very lucky with this process. I have had very few side effects compared to the laundry list of things that COULD happen that I received in my chemotherapy class.

Speaking of side effects... they are weird. And as I have met different people throughout my journey, it is crazy how the same exact drug affects people so differently. 

I lost my hair after the second treatment. No big shocker there, pretty much everyone does at some point. What is weird is that I have not finished my treatment yet and it is already starting to grow back.

Most people have to take medications to help with nausea, aren't able to eat because they feel so sick to their stomach, and tend to lose weight, which is not always a good thing when your body is taking in these very serious drugs. I have not had to deal with any of this and for that I am VERY thankful.

Another weird side effect, is my fingernails have turned rigid, hard, and are attempting to fall off. You don't realize how much you use your thumbs, until your fingernail is in a lot of pain and it hurts to use them.

Fatigue. Yes, chemotherapy makes you very tired. Especially when you are getting it every week. Your body doesn't have as much time to recover between treatments, so the fatigue seems to build up. However, fun fact, on treatment days I get a bag of steroids. My body loves to become wired when given steroids. So while I am exhausted on Tuesdays, my body is like let's go, I'm wide awake!

One thing that not many people tell you about is the emotional/mental side of chemotherapy. I try to live my life as I normally would, but some days it is hard. The kids don't fully understand what all I am going through, so they don't always get it when mommy is tired. I am not always the best at asking for help or communicating my feelings, so I have had to focus on explaining to people how I feel or if I need help. Some days I just feel like doing absolutely nothing and others I feel perfectly normal. I have tried reading and some days it is hard. It is like my brain just can't handle it.

Every week I sit in a room with 3-5 other patients. I listen to their stories. I have seen people get frustrated because their blood count, platelets, etc. are too low and they can't receive treatment that day. I've seen people have to get blood transfusions rather than their chemo treatment because their numbers are too low. I have learned a lot about blood work and all of the different things that they measure. Again, I am so fortunate with this journey. My numbers have always been great. There have been weeks where my white blood count may be low, but the other numbers are high enough that it doesn't affect my treatment. I had a couple of weeks where one of my liver enzymes was high, but never enough that it prevented me from getting treatment. I am a checklist person. I loved being able to go each week and mark off another treatment. I can't imagine showing up and then finding out that you can't get treated.

On top of all of this is getting cancer in the middle of a pandemic. This means no visitors. Not only are you going to sit at a treatment center from anywhere to 3-8 hours, you have to do so by yourself. Luckily the nurses are absolutely amazing and make you feel like home, but it gets lonely. Many of us just choose to sleep or read or play on our phones. The people that I truly feel sorry for are those that need people there to help them understand the process, or what it means when things don't go as planned.

While I am SO thankful that I am going to be finished, I am going to miss all of the nurses and patients that I have made connections with over the past 4 months.

My chemotherapy journey is coming to an end, but I am not quite done yet. 

Next up is radiation therapy. 6 weeks, 1 session per day for a total of 30 sessions. Stay tuned!

5th Grade I CAN Statements

It's about that time. I have hit that point in my summer break where I am ready to start looking ahead to next school year. I will say that it is hitting a little later this year than normal, which is absolutely needed after this past year.

I revamped these I CAN statements to use in my room in place of putting up the standards. I like the direct statement that the students can read and say, "I can" do this!

I tried to make them appealing to the eye by adding a visual of some sort to help them understand what is expected. I also used bold and underline formatting to help identify key words in the statement.

These are all mostly in black and white, because let's be honest, who has access to a color printer at their school (*rolls eyes*). However, I do like to use colorful paper to print them on and make them pop in the classroom.

Click on the images below to get your FREE copy!