First day of school!

As I type this I can view the sun shining lazily through clouds and silhouetting mountains across the bay.  I listen to the sounds of the ocean - the seagull's squawk, the eagle's weaving unique melodies in the trees, waves crashing against the beach as each wave brings with it a small increase as the tide approaches it's peak for the evening.  A picture may be worth a thousand words, it cannot capture feelings and the sense of awe a scene inspires.  How blessed can a person feel?  I'm not sure if there is a limit to that feeling, but we feel very blessed indeed that God chose to weave an intricate tapestry with our lives and began preparing us for this journey long before we conceived it.


We have enjoyed Nanwalek immensely since arriving a little over a month ago, but play time is over - at least until the weekend - and school has begun!  As the day began I realized I had an entirely different group of challenges for the first day of school than I ever expected.  I expected more preps and recognized I would be challenged with new courses, but I never considered the simple differences the class rosters would create.  I am accustomed to teaching 1 course to 5 different groups of kids.  We now only have 2 groups of students.  As far as introductory activities go, what used to take 3 days can now easily be accomplished in 1 because I will see each group of students more during a single day.  This will allow for more opportunities to get to know my students individually, having less than 35 in a day verses the 100 typical of my career thus far.  So I find myself looking forward to this new classroom scenario, but trying to wrap my brain around it and rearrange my whole approach to planning.