Favorite Teaching Moment
This is totally going to be a not-so-humble brag but my most rewarding moment from this past year teaching has to be my AP World History pass rate of 77%. It was my first year teaching the course, and although I have a decent amount of AP experience with Art History, I felt a little out of my element with World History some days. I second-guessed myself A LOT this past year so it was so damn rewarding to see how many kids had passed!
Read more: End of Quarter 1 Reflections
Not So Favorite Teaching Moment
Without going into too much detail (because I can’t) I had some really, really difficult students (& mothers) this past year. I know teaching always has this burden on it but my new school has a totally different teacher-parent relationship than my last school and that took me for surprise. However, I fought my battles and won the war in the end (not that winning is always important but it damn well was this year!). In the end I learned a lot about dealing with different parents and students and I can only benefit from this baptism by fire…lots of fire…like hell fire. 🙂
Read more: My Reflections on Year 5 of Teaching
Favorite Travel Moment
Ugh so many things to choose from!!! But I think my #1 moment has to be our week trip to Andalusia Spain, especially the city of Córdoba. I was overwhelmed in the Mezquita, loved walking around the quaint medieval city, and our first night taking a dip in the Arab hammam was a dream. Spending a week in Spain with my family (& sister!) was a perfect balance of relaxing strolls with art and history site seeing, and lingering over mouth-watering meals.
Read more: Andalusia 1-Week Itinerary
Not So Favorite Travel Moment
Running Full-out sprinting in the Madrid airport thinking we could catch our connecting flight only to figure out that was flat-out impossible because we had to go through security again. That suuuuucked and meant we missed our connection. But it wasn’t that big of a deal. It just meant my parents landed in Seville an hour before us and were there waiting when we arrived. It actually worked out well because my lovely husband left his wallet and driver’s license at home (yes…I know!) so it’s not like we could have gone to get the rental car without my parents bringing his wallet anyways.
Read more: Travel Tips: Getting an International Driving Permit
Favorite Art Moment
This may not be *the* most exciting thing but it was the art moment that touched me the most this year. This summer I was back in NYC for a NEH Summer Institute about Islamic art & poetry, we spent a day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (read HERE about some of my other adventures there!) and I really enjoyed wandering around the Islamic exhibit with participants from the program. I am a 24/7 teacher and I just can’t help but try to engage others in a visual discovery of history whenever I am in any museum. Luckily my friends were more than happy to indulge me as we looked at noteable art on our lunch break. 🙂
Read more: AP Art History @ The Met
Favorite Family Moment
Buying our house has been the absolute highlight of my personal life this year. I love hosting and it was pretty unfeasible in our tiny duplex but now I can host a whole bunch of things! We hosted my husband’s tennis team a month after moving, a summer family BBQ, and Thanksgiving so far. I love family. I love my big family. And I loved them all under one roof at one time. 🙂 I’m so excited to continue to host family events and grow into our home.
Read more: A House Blessing & Tour
JMF
