handwritten on February 26, 2019
As I was driving home today to go running after school, there were two moments where the whimsy of the world just opened up. I was heading around a sharp bend on Church Lane (going very slowly), and I noticed in front of a red barn and much farmland, there was a family of deer. It certainly was a family as I was able to easily identify the mother, the father and the two babies. Well immedietely, the adults began to move and one child trotted behind. However, as they all got to the side of the road, there was still one baby deer just frozen right in front of my car. He or she clearly could not move a muscle. I watched as all three deer came out of the woods, rejoined with the deer right in...
handwritten on February 25, 2019
Last year I got into a heavy duty running routine. I think there were a couple of factors in this. My vocation was a bit rocky that year, I was trying to plan my wedding all while remaining cheerful and positive, and my father was going through many rounds of intense chemo treatments trying to beat his cancer. It is safe to say that sometimes life just unwravels like a piece of frayed yarn. Sometimes it feels like the threads split all at once.
So I thought to myself in December of last year, I am going to run the half marathon for the first time. I'm going to run and run and train and run. And I did. And some days I felt like I could fly. Other days I ran, and I had no idea where I was...
handwritten on February 24, 2019
How many movies have you watched with the message "Don't Quit!" "Don't Give Up!" "Don't Give In" "Keep Going." So I was at Smallman Galley getting coffee, and I had this major issue getting my credit card out of my wallet. This was not a huge deal because I knew I had back up cash. It's one of those wallets that just traps everything instead of securing it. I literally put a quarter in that wallet once, and I still cannot find it.
Isn't that funny though that sometimes we tuck things in a pocket and they just disappear. We have feelings or things to say and those tend to disappear as well. Anyways. I shifted one card to retrieve another card, and it got severely stuck. As in, I put my...
handwritten on February 22, 2019
My students always make fun of me because every activity we do in the classroom I always begin by saying, "This is my absolute favorite activity." "I just cannot wait to begin this." I said this again today and one of my students smiled and said, "Mrs. Amoscato you ALWAYS say this exact same phrase." "How can everything be your favorite?" I smiled because my husband does the exact same thing with food (perhaps this is where I have taken the phrase from.) And you know, I think as a teacher, everything has to be your favorite even if it isn't. Students can easily pick up energy or a lack thereof.
I remember some of my favorite teachers in elementary and middle school. Though my brain is the...
handwritten on February 21, 2019
As an adult, we always talk about how we lose our flexibility-like someone has just taken it from us. We claim that kids are more flexible, they are better with change and they are more malleable. And while I do believe this is the case, I also feel like it is human nature (in adults and children alike) to prefer things to remain the same. Especially when things are good, we enjoy the comfort, the similarity in that individual or that person because we learn their nuances, their humor, their behavior and so forth.
Thursday was flute teaching day. I have to laugh because I have three students who have been with me from the beginning and two students who are rather new (as of this year and...
