moving in

Woo-hoo! I’m up and ready to roll!
This blog will be the unfolding of a new chapter in the life of a former high school English teacher turned SAHM (and wife, sister, daughter, Reading Specialist, and tutor, among other things).

I’ve finally jumped on the bandwagon of the blogging world, and, I have to admit, I’m doing it reluctantly and imperfectly. Being a lover of interaction with people, I often wondered how bloggers fit their blogging, tweeting, facebooking, and cyber-interacting into their real lives, especially those who are full-time, stay-at-home with their kiddos types. I can barely finish cleaning up the breakfast dishes, do a load of laundry, or read the newspaper, let alone actually find time to sit down, relax, and read someone else’s blog. And being the classroom English teacher I was, just the internet jargon makes me nervous; it literally is a foreign language for me. I have to admit, I never got far beyond computer grading programs or Power Point.

However, I have come to realize that I cannot be an internet and blog-hater for much longer, or I will be left behind, and I refuse to be so. So instead of complaining, I’ve decided to share my world, as nutty and crazy and unorganized as it is, with others, for three reasons:

1. I love teaching. I miss teaching. But I’m forgetting some really important students. Although tutoring has given me the awesome opportunity to continue working with students since I’ve left the classroom, in a way that not all teachers get–one-on-one, either at a student’s home, at the library, or at the local coffee shop–what I’ve come to realize is that while trying to juggle the every day, I haven’t really been using the students right here under my own roof like I should be—or could be.

So, first and foremost, I’m throwing myself into the blogging world to share some of the pre-literacy, early learning teaching methods that I have been using on the students I have been tutoring for the last few years with my own little ones. (Jackpot for those interested readers with children!) So hopefully others will be able to use these techniques on their kiddos—or students as well. My thought is that by posting these methods, I’ll be more inclined to focus on making some sort of learning a daily occurrence.

My goal is not to have my little ones slave away at workbooks day after day, but I am really going to force myself to put the time and effort into hunting out learning opportunities for my own children here in our home and in our community, just like I would for the students I tutor. It is mother’s guilt, I’m sure, but I just feel like the hours I’ve put into assessing, recording, planning, analyzing other students I should give back to my own children, especially now since they are the perfect ages–4, 3, and 1 year.

2. My second reason for throwing myself out there to the sharks is to help other teachers-turned SAHM’s find ways of earning some extra money by launching their own tutoring business. Tutoring has really helped keep me sane—as crazy as that sounds—during this otherwise insane time in my life. Having a reason to walk out the door some nights to go do something I really loved—teaching—and being able to engage in a conversation with another human being who didn’t ask what was for dinner or need me to blow his nose really kept me ‘alive’ during some otherwise difficult child-rearing days. Granted, sometimes the planning and prep work got to be a lot—when I was out two or three nights a week—but the money is great, and there’s nothing like doing something you love to make you feel good about yourself. Occasionally I hope to post documents I’ve used to keep my own tutoring organized or post ideas and suggestions as to how you can inexpensively—or with no cost at all—advertise and get yourself started. You’ve got a degree and experience; you might as well do something with it!

3. My last reason is that there’s no better way of learning than by doing. So here I am. Feel free to give me pointers, suggestions, or advice. Gosh knows I need it. Hopefully some of you will see yourself somewhere in my life and will realize that you’re not alone in your internet anxiety. Maybe you will find humor in the way I fumble with my early-elementary knowledge of websites and weblogs, the way I try to stumble to keep up with the rest. In any case, enjoy the ride.