Evaluation!

 I had my yearly evaluation today. I guess they'll still keep me:

Christina has had an excellent year as our gifted education teacher, consistently going above and beyond in every aspect of her role. Despite not being full time, she has effectively managed responsibilities that equate to two full-time positions, seamlessly balancing service to all gifted students, completing required documentation with accuracy, and providing meaningful instruction across all grade levels. Her organization, dedication, and work ethic are truly commendable. Christina has successfully integrated gifted education into classrooms throughout the building, positively impacting instruction school-wide. She builds strong, trusting relationships with students and fosters an environment where they feel safe, challenged, and encouraged to take academic risks. Her genuine care for students and belief in their potential is evident in everything she does. She is deeply committed to her own professional growth, consistently seeking out current research and innovative practices to strengthen her instruction. Christina generously shares her knowledge and ideas with colleagues, offering support and collaboration that enhances teaching and learning across the school. She is a valued partner to staff and approaches her work with positivity, flexibility, and a willingness to go above and beyond. Christina is a strong advocate for all students, particularly those in the gifted program, and serves as a passionate champion for our school community. We are incredibly fortunate to have her at Trailblazer, and her impact is both significant and lasting.

JRMF

It's my fourth year organizing The Julia Robinson Math Festival for our feeder area at Trailblazer- it's basically a game night with math themed games like Battleship, Connect 4, Chess, and some games most have never heard of like Katamino Family and Tower of Hanoi (making math fun through games!). We had a smaller turn out this year, about 50 kids, but I think that was a good thing because for the first time, parents had room to sit at the game tables and play with their kids. It was really sweet- a great night after a rough week with at least 12 Mondays until it finally ended

Graduation, of sorts

 I got honored at our monthly GT Facilitator Training for completing all of my coursework and getting my GT Metro Certificate. I got it about a year ago, but it was nice to be celebrated because it was a TON of work!

Next Year

 I found out this week that my job is going back to part time next year.

After passing the Praxis, taking a million classes, being willing to go full-time when I didn't want to, and making it work, it feels like a punch in the gut. I'm far more bummed than I thought I would be. I have helped changed the culture of TBE and become an impactful member of our staff, creating a lot of opportunities for our students that they didn't have before. Not being full time next year feels like the district doesn't value what I have done.

But, because my principal is awesome and does value me, she said, "we want to keep you, and we will do whatever we need to do to keep you. We will find another .5 for you if you want, or .3 , or whatever you want."

I went home and talked to Ben and we decided that if I am .5 GT, and then .3 with whatever my principal wants me to do, that would be ideal. I gave my principal a schedule of what, in a perfect world, I would want- getting off everyday at 2:45 so I can be home when my kids get home, and then have Friday afternoons off so I can spend Friday afternoons with Ben. That would actually be a perfect schedule.

I e-mailed my GT feeder team- co-workers in the district who have become friends. One of them sent me this sweet e-mail which made me feel better:

Christina,

I’m truly sorry that you’re going through this at your school. Being new to this position myself, I don’t yet have the knowledge to offer advice on how the GT formula determines FTE per school. However, I want you to know how much I appreciate and admire your dedication to advocating for the GT population.

From listening to you speak in our team and district meetings to seeing the resources and insights you’ve shared through email, it’s clear that you are an invaluable asset to your school, community, and our GT Feeder group. Your hard work and passion do not go unnoticed.

Thank you for being open about your feelings—we are all here to support you during this challenging time.

With appreciation,

Blaine

Finished!

 Time to celebrate!!

My friend and colleague Kristen Anderson told me about a program to get graduate credits for teacher pay advancement that was super cheap and could be done relatively quickly. Most of you probably know teachers get paid based on their level of education. I already have a Masters and have no interest in getting a second Masters, or spending 30k to do so. I needed an additional 60 college credits to get to the second highest level of teacher pay. The highest level of pay requires a PhD, which I currently have no intention of persueing, so really it was a matter of getting those additional 60 credits.

With this program, it was a fraction of the cost, and would take as little or as much time as I wanted. So I got to work. It has been HARD! If you know me, you know there's something wrong with my DNA and I can't do anything half way. I went all in and I have been working my behind off to get these 60 credits completed. A lot of hours went into it (approximately a bajillion), but I finished 22 classes and 60 credit hours in about 3 months!

I learned a ton. I love teachers! I love the profession and all the research and strategies that we get to learn to best teach your kids. We are true professionals, just as much as doctors and engineers. Respect teachers! We are pretty awesome at what we do

If you're a teacher looking for lane advancement classes, reach out to me if you want more information. The 60 credits cost me about $3,500. Way better than 30k which the other programs I looked at were going to cost! It is definitely worth it. I'm so glad I did it, and mostly....I'm so glad it's DONE!

Now, summer break can really start for me!

Year Two In the Books

I am going to miss not having Camille as my little buddy at school, but she is pretty excited to be free of having her mom at her school. She is ready to slay middle school!

For me, it was an end to my second year back at work. It was a great year! I still feel so blessed to have this job- it really is pretty miraculous how it all came to be.  It will be weird to not have Camille there next year. I have loved walking with her to and from school and just having her there.

Annual Review

 I had my annual review with my principal. I am still really loving my job! Unfortunately, next year the district won't let Kelly and me job share, so I will be going full-time next year. Kelly will hopefully find a different job in the district. That was a huge bummer, and she is worried, but we knew from the beginning it was a one year thing, we just hoped the district would change their minds. I'm nervous to go full-time next year, but my admin is very supportive in providing flexibility to my schedule. That's the only way I could do it. Plus, if I hate being full-time I can always switch back to part-time, TBE would just be left with only a part-time instead of a full-time person doing the job, which is a bummer. I don't know why they won't let me be .8, which would be ideal.

Anyway, here's my review:

Christina has done an outstanding job this year, and I have enjoyed watching her grow. She has been an incredible asset to our school and gifted program, and has consistently gone above and beyond to foster a challenging, engaging learning environment. Christina's passion and motivation are contagious, and she encourages those around her to strive for excellence. She is open to new ideas, continually wanting to learn and grow, and always keeping students at the forefront of her mind. Christina is a joy to work with and has begun to take on a leadership role in our building. She willingly supports teachers, shares ideas and information, and presents everything she learns. She always approaches collaboration with enthusiasm and a willingness to explore new ideas. Christina's dedication to her students and our school is commendable, and we are so lucky to have her at Trailblazer.

Dr. Seuss Day

 10 years ago, the Bingo Card for "What Christina's future looks like" had things like, "Living on a cruise ship" and "Becoming a master chef and opening a French cafe" and "Game show host." It most certainly did NOT have, "Elementary teacher."

Therefore, a wardrobe needed for teaching at an elementary school is lacking. When Dr. Suess Day arrived today, I had to turn to Pinterest, and I think things turned out quite nice.

A Good Week

 Claire is really doing awesome at basketball- so much so she even got to suit up for JV when they had an injury! She didn't play, but she loved sitting on the bench with them and cheering the team on! Basketball has been really , really good for her. She is excellent at defense- she is very tenacious. But she needs to watch out for technicals!

Then, I had my middle of year evaluation which went great! It is really, really nice to be respected and valued. I LOVE my job, I love the school, I love the kids, the admin, all of it. And it's nice to know I'm doing a good job. It was a really good evaluation- I told Ben I'm the Ben Marriott of Trailblazer- they love me ;) I really feel blessed to have this job!

Year One Complete!

 "Always make your past self jealous." - Erin Kennedy

With the girls all going to school, I decided I might as well work, too. Mostly as a hobby, for something to do. I only wanted part-time, and I wanted it to be flexible and work with the girl's schedule so I could still be a mom first. I thought subbing would be OK, so I applied.

Then an email from Camille's school went out saying they needed a GT Facilitator. I thought, "I have no idea what that is, but it sounds interesting enough to apply. Let's see what happens."

That started a miraculous journey I never could have anticipated. I absolutely LOVE my job. I love the energy of a school- I felt it the first night we went to Back to School night with Audra two years ago. I missed that energy, and I didn't even realize it.

I love working with a group of experts who know HOW to teach, who love kids and love to teach, who know what it means to be an educator and have studied for years to know the ins and outs of education, and are true professionals in their field. I love watching these masters teach and being able to work with them is an honor.

I love using my degree that I earned forever ago. I love feeling like I'm making a difference. I love that the kids are excited to see me, to learn, and to share their experiences with me.

I even love being a pre-algebra teacher! (with Ben's help, of course) Once kids who have been flexing up in math reach 6th grade, they need 7th grade math, but our school only goes through 6th grade. So they come to me for pre-algebra. Anybody who knows me knows it is ridiculous that I would be teaching pre-algebra. But, my pre-algebra kids all ROCKED their ITBS 8th grade math test, so we did something right!

I love being at Trailblazer. We have the highest scores in Highlands Ranch for everything. It's tough being the best at everything, but we do it, and we have a lot of fun doing it! I think it's because we have low class sizes, so while some of you should come to Trailblazer, don't all of you come because we still want small class sizes! We won a ton of awards this year, and are truly a school of excellence.

I love being back in the classroom, and I love my role in it. I'm not a classroom teacher- those are the real heroes and rock stars of the school- but I love what I do, and I love helping to make Trailblazer the incredible school that it is. All the awards that we win, all the achievement scores where we rank higher than every other school in the area, the huge GreatSchools rating- that isn't by chance. It's because there's an awesome staff who are really, really, really good at what they do to make it happen.

This is a year I never could have imagined- and I'm so grateful the door opened for it to happen. I don't know if my past self would be jealous, because homeschooling was an awesome journey I'll never regret, too- but I'm pretty sure my past self would be feeling great about what the future holds if she knew what lay ahead!

Math Festival

 I organized and hosted a Math Festival at TBE- it was so awesome! We had 120 students from the feeder are show up, and there were about 45 teenagers who came and volunteered. There were 15 tables with different math games and activities- Katamino Family, Sudoko Cubes, Prime, Chess, Battleship, tannegrams, Spot It, and so much more.

It was really cool because you would think that with so many people it would have been loud and chaos- but it wasn't at all. The kids were fully engaged at the tables, playing the games. And the teens were phenomenal! They really focused on the kids and kept them occupied.

It could not have gone any better- it was so perfect!

It was a long night, and I came home exhausted. But it was worth it!

My Miracle

 President Nelson has asked us to look for and document our daily miracles, so here is mine from today- for posterity's sake.

My position at Trailblazer has switched from a part-time position to a full-time position next year. Most people would be happy about this, but I don't want to be full-time. I love having afternoons and Fridays off. I love still being able to make dinner, attend all the things, and be there first and foremost for my family. This has always been something fun for me, not a career, and I want to keep it this was.

On the flip side, though, I am also getting the hang of what I am doing. I love it, and I'm good at it. I have a good rapport with my students. Being full-time and being able to really implement a thousand different things that I can't when I'm part-time does have some appeal.

So I have been torn- between wanting to be a mom first, and really enjoying the respect I get at my job and the satisfaction I get from making a difference with these students.

Claire said it simply, "You need to pray about it, Mom."

I decided to be specific about my prayer. Rather than just asking "which should I do" I decided to ask, "If there is a way for me to be part-time, please let that way be revealed because I don't see how it could happen and we need thy help with showing how this could be possible." I figured if a way wasn't revealed, that was my answer to go full-time.

Of course, the obvious solution is to hire a second person at .5. But the school board said absolutely not, and my principal (who loves me and is willing to do pretty much do anything to keep me) was told that either I go full-time or I can't be in that position anymore.

It didn't look good.

Today I met with her and she offered to open a new position for me to be the "Math Interventionist." This position does not appeal to me, if I'm being honest. Maybe in a year or two, but not right now. I really like what I'm doing with GT.

Then she said the district offered one possible way for us to split the position. I can't get into how, and it is very complicated and involves factors from a lot of different levels, but if Trailblazer agreed to do exactly what the district said in this matter, that would be the only way to have me stay a .5 and to hire a second person at .5- something we could only do if we did it this one exact way that fit this one exact situation.

I was sitting in that meeting thinking, "oh my goodness, this is my miracle. I asked for the path to be revealed, and here it is. We never could have seen this option- not in a million years- and yet here it is, literally falling into our lap at the perfect moment. Wow."

I have no doubt this was the Lord's work. My prayer was answered!

He sure does work in mysterious ways.

The Secret Garden

 I just finished a Secret Garden unit with my 5th graders. It was so fun! These girls were the best to work with! Sometimes this job is the best, and this book with this group was one of those times!

Celebration!

It's time to celebrate!

In four weeks, I finished 90 hours of Professional Development classes, applied and received my official teaching license, and finally today received an official offer from the school district to be hired as the GT Facilitator of TBE, and no longer be a long-term sub! (This is a big deal- teachers have 7 years to get 90 hours to renew their license, but I powered through to get it done. It was a ton of work! I'm exhausted thinking about it)

This comes with about a 33% increase in pay, which is good because when I finally got my first paycheck on September 20th (my start date: August 8th), Ben and I opened it and laughed and laughed.

So far, I LOVE my job! It's the job I never knew existed that happens to be the perfect fit. I honestly believe it was placed in my path by divine intervention. I know it seems silly, but that's how happy I am at this position, at this school, with the co-workers I have. I honestly can't believe how perfectly it has all come together. I feel like I consecrated my job for my family for the past 15 years, giving up my career and sense of "self" so I could be the one to raise my kids, and now the Lord is blessing me in exchange. That's how perfectly things have fallen into place. (NO complaints about taking 15 years off of my career- marrying Ben is the #1 best decision of my life, having and being home with my kids is easily #2. It's been the greatest blessing, and the relationship I have with my girls is something that never could have happened if I wasn't the one raising them. And now, I still get to be a Mom first- there's exactly 40 minutes a week when I am at work and my kids aren't at school. This really is a perfect gig for me and my family)

Yes, I know there will be bumps, but I'm enjoying the honeymoon for as long as possible.

And now, ice-cream!

Start of School!

 There has been excitement, anxiety, and resignation regarding the start of school this year. 

Camille was definitely the excited one.

Audra was resigned. She's the only one who knows what she is getting into.

I had to beg Camille to let me walk her to school. She really wanted to ride her bike to school, so I begged. Audra and Claire came with us. They met their classes out on the black top, and she was like, "please leave" and was not appreciative of my wanting to take pictures.

Her first day went well, though she said it was a little boring at times. And, of course, she was upset when kids didn't follow directions.

.

Claire started on Tuesday. Her anxiety was sky high. And it did NOT go well. The list is long, but it includes her backpack breaking. But that's just the start. There were lots of tears.

We said a ton of prayers, and thankfully day #2 went much, much better. She is going to school and then has volleyball and so she doesn't get home until 4:30. Thankfully, she has some teachers who are really funny. Her math teacher said to the entire class, "I put you with your partner of purpose because your partner is smarter than you," and her art teacher said, after asking if she was related to THE Marriotts,  "Do you have a ton of money hidden secretly?" Claire said no, and she said, "Oh, so you have tons of money not hidden. Nice." That made her smile.

It's been a little emotional. It's really hard watching your kid go through something really, really hard even though you know it's best for her and she needs to do it. I'm super proud of her for being brave, and she has been extremely brave. 

I took the girls to get ice-cream sandwiches to celebrate. I finally got a smile out of Claire!

And, today I had my first day of PAID of training- my new job has started! I start at the school next week, but I have lots of training to do. This job is a steep learning curve, and I'm drinking out of a fire hose, but I think it will be OK. I'm excited. It's nice to use my brain and be rewarded for it. Here's hoping I don't get yelled at for buying the wrong color backpack or making disgusting dinner like my current job.

Job Situation

 It's official! I got the GT Facilitator position!

I know several people who work at TBE. It was extremely validating when I told them I got the job, and they said things like, "I told Katie they needed to hire you- you are exactly what TBE needs, someone who will speak up and fight for these kids and who loves the community." It's been 15 years since I have felt valued in any kind of professional situation, and most of my feedback involves whining and complaining, so to have positive feedback is quite, well, nice.

Anyway, the job is tricky since I know absolutely nothing about GT Education, and I don't have my teaching license. I will be hired as a long-term sub (I did get my substitute license). That will get me through until about Spring Break. During that time, I will work part-time and also get what's called a "Metro Certificate" which is a GT certificate I can get by taking 5 classes and doing a mentorship program. I am hopeful those credits (which are free because the district offers on-line classes) will double as credits for re-licensing. If it does, then getting re-licensed won't be a problem at all. If it doesn't, we have a problem. The principal fully understands everything- I have been very open about all of it, and we both decided, "let's jump in and see what happens." So, that is what we are doing.

This is not my dream job. My dream job would be working for a non-profit. However, this is a job that I can do and still be a mom first. I'll have all the same off time as the girls, it's part-time and I get to set the hours, though after they are set they need to be consistent. But that's great because I really want Fridays off since Ben has Fridays off. I figure I'm consecrating my job right now- sacrificing what I really want for the benefit of my family, which is my most important thing.

I did have to tell Camille that I would not bother her at school, and that TBE is HER school, not mine. She wants complete autonomy, and I fully plan to respect that. Thankfully, because I'll have my own office and I won't be in the classrooms, it shouldn't be difficult.

Here's to the two new Moose at TBE!