Typical Mackinac

Scenes like this are very common just inside the doors of many Mackinac Island homes. 

Did you know many locals consider it rude not to offer to remove your shoes when entering their home? (Take a minute to think about what's all over the roads here...) I had two students come over for homework help tonight and both of them took off their shoes without a second thought.  

Not everyone requires guests to remove their shoes, but on Mackinac, it's always polite to ask. 

Picture Perfect

There was just something about the plume of steam rising up from the smokestack of this freighter that caught my attention. I see freighters traveling through the Round Island Passage all the time, but I'll never get tired of this view.

First Day

I was lucky enough to be up for the sunrise today - the first day of school on Mackinac. Some folks would have been grouchy to have to be up that early to work a second job, but it's that job that gifts me moments like these. 

Today I begin my thirty-fourth year of teaching. Sometimes I just can't believe just how wonderful my life is. Lots of teachers are leaving the profession, but I love my job and I can't imagine not being at school every day. 

Thirty-four years doesn't look too bad, if I do say so myself.

 

One of my goals this year is to really focus on gratitude with my students. I'm hoping to help them to find joy in the small (nondigital) moments and to be thankful for the little things in life. So, we're going to make origami as often as we can. Before we begin folding each design, we're all going to write something good that happened on the sheet of paper. In that way, each creation will become a visible reminder of all the things we're grateful for.

 (The bulletin board outside my classroom.)