I have come to fall in love with teaching in Catholic schools. What are YOU in love with?...

"Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything." - Pedro Arrupe

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Almost July...Almost...

Hard to believe it's practically July...but it's true.

Summer, where are you going so fast?

July is definitely a month of celebrations and full-time summer swing. In the midst of all the fun, I'm going to be following Ignatian Spirituality in their "31 Days with Saint Ignatius" in preparation for St. Ignatius's feast day on July 31st.

Are you interested in learning more about Ignatian spirituality and the Jesuits? Join me over at their website (by clicking the picture/link below - it will open right in this window) starting on Monday. This looks like something easily adaptable to making into a daily habit this month...

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Teacher Mode...even though it's Summer...

Spent the afternoon decorating my INB* model, planning an organization lesson using The Important Book, and making foldable models for next week's writing class for 2nd year ACE teachers.

*INB = Interactive NoteBook




And I LOVED it. #nerdalert

Don't worry - my sister and I also spent the afternoon store-hopping among Kohl's, Whole Foods, and Hobby Lobby - all stores = successful ventures.

Hope your Saturday was simply grand!

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Opportunities Abounding

What a day - I tell you, even if all I got out of this Notre Dame gig was seeing so many familiar faces and eating at the dining hall, I would be satisfied. 

But it doesn't stop there - I am blessed with SO many opportunities. (And I am LOVING it.)

Take today, for example - the ACE students in the class for which my sister and I are T.A.s for had two incredible educators as guest speakers - one who addressed teaching about social studies and the other about science. And we got to sit in too. And, honestly, I learned things today that I hadn't even thought of or used in my five years of teaching. (My brain was already trying to figure out how I could either modify the ideas to fit/teach Religion content or how I could share the things I learned with my previous co-teacher so that she might implement some of them next year.)

Maybe it's just the learner in me, but I just can't get enough.

P.S. This video (by the Irish Rovers) was posted by a friend on Facebook today, and it made me smile, so I thought I would pass it along even though it has nothing whatsoever to do with . I must confess, I've always wondered about that...hmm...

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Not Quite

These past few days I feel like I'm living in the movie, "Singing in the Rain"...except I'm not all that excited it's raining - quite the opposite, I am rather perturbed by the consistent downpour and thunderstorm at both the morning time when my sister and I would like to run and at the time we need to head over to campus for Mass.

Nicky Flash. (Right, Marisa?)

As you can probably guess, neither the running nor the Mass-going has happened this week. D*** weather.

However, as in true storm fashion, there is always a silver lining - Instead of getting up early to run, I slept in. Instead of attending Mass, I finished the book Hoot. (I was pleasantly surprised to find out the book takes place in Florida...but we'll leave my book ramblings to another post.)

Gosh, that was random. My sincere apologies. Perhaps I better hang up my hat for tonight before things start getting ever random-er...

Read This!

I'm telling everyone I know - if you are an educator (or if you are interested in a round-up of quality articles on a DAILY basis), visit this website: Catholic School Chronicle Daily.

That's all I have to say this morning. Really.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

We Did It!

In the words of my sister: "It was oppressively hot, but we finished."

It wasn't pretty as we came upon mile 10 of the Chicago Women's Half Marathon this morning. So, when I had a hard time taking deep breaths and had to walk, Marisa stayed right with me. Because of all that walking, we didn't make our goal time, but I'm actually okay with that. There are some things in life you can't control - and the weather conditions during a race is one of them. It was a fun day - and no one can take that away from us. :)

Saturday, June 22, 2013

More About Archdiocesan Campaign!

More about To Teach Who Christ Is campaign! -->


$350 million campaign will strengthen schools, religious education 
“Not only is it the future of our Catholic community, it’s also an alternative to the public school system,” Perry said. “If you believe in school choice, if you believe in alternatives for families, you must get behind this campaign.”

FAQs about the Campaign
"The Catholic school system of the Archdiocese of Chicago is essential to the health and vitality of the Catholic Church and the Chicago area community. Catholic schools give young people a firm foundation for life by providing them with both strong academics and the fundamentals of their faith. Catholic schools also perform a profoundly important civic function by grounding students, both Catholic and those from other faith traditions, in the virtues that produce responsible members of society."