Life's not a dress rehearsal: My new life

I have now been in California for 3 weeks now. Things are finally starting to settle, habits are forming, I'm starting to see usual patterns, and normality is attempting to set in. The first week here I have professional development days at De Marillac, the second week was learning how to be a Vincentian, and this last week was learning how to teach 4th graders.

All I have to say is teaching is hard! Its physically taxing, you always seem to have a "mask" on, and intellectual conversations are hard to come by during the day. This last week I started to grow a new found respect for teachers and the teaching industry. My mother, father, and one of my sisters are all teachers and I have always respected them, but this brings a completely new understanding to their lives and how they live them.

I can't say that this week was all sunshine and rainbows for me, but I can say that I opened my life for change and change is what I got. I am constantly learning new things at my job, seeing problems in the school systems, hating technology more and yet growing a new found love for it. Seeing technology progress forward sometimes I wonder what they point of it all is? Why fix something if its not broken? Why do schools get grants for technology and yet struggle to get new books, teaching supplies, and even teachers? What is this strong pull that everyone thinks technology is the solution?

I personally see technology as a growing crutch to the developed world.On the other side of it though I see technology as a beautiful catalystic organism that is allowing humanity the chance to fully express how we see the world and how we want to be apart of it... no matter where we are in the world. My two cents: "Be aware of how much you rely on technology and take a break from it once in a while"

Here is a nice assortment of pictures from the last week. Miss all my readers from Iowa!