June 23, 2018

Saying Goodbye

As I may have mentioned (here) I’m soon saying goodbye to Madrid, a city I have spent the last four years making my home. In addition to the myriad of “commitment issue questions” that come up every time I leave a new place, it always makes me think about the nature of saying goodbye. The Nature of Saying Goodbye Yesterday I had my last day of work and many goodbye experiences.  Teacher goodbyes are especially weird because we say goodbye SO often that I think people get a little desensitized.  For example, this spring I said goodbye to 79 students that I basically spent more time with during the course…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in live fabulous

June 14, 2018

The Importance of Valencia

Here is how my boyfriend gets me to go on an easy weekend trip to Valencia: Step 1: One month prior Bring it up and dutifully listen to me as I spend two hours debating if “we” (read: I) have enough time to go. Step 2: Two weeks prior Wait for me to bring it up again and change my mind about if “we” (see above) have enough time to go. Suggest we look at train tickets at some point just to get an idea of price. Step 3: One week prior Look at train tickets. Remain patiently waiting as I change my mind between two and six more times….

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in travel fabulous

June 8, 2018

Important Friday Questions

I am a teacher with two weeks (and one day) until the end of the school year. I have 75 comments to write, quadruple that number of grades to assign (we assign four grades per student. It’s a complicated topic for another time.), two tests to compose, three tests to give and three students to meet in order to discuss their ‘extended essay’ (a 4,000 word essay that the majority of IB high school students attempt to write the night before its due.  This makes the year and half of meetings prior somewhat painful for teaching faculty.) Oh, and have I mentioned I’m moving? (Countries-from Spain to the USA.) So-this…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in randomly fabulous

April 16, 2018

Monday for Sale

At this point in the year, I’m usually ready to put up Monday for sale. When I started working my first full time job, I loved the idea of a Monday morning. It was a fresh chance to start a new week as a responsible adult. This may have been because I came to the weekday 9-to-5 later than most. First, I spent years in school working afternoon shifts. That part felt normal. But then, I spent years after college graduation in seasonal, ski-industry work. Saturdays and holidays were my on-call times. When I switched to a normal schedule, getting up on a Monday morning felt great. Fast forward to…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in randomly fabulous

June 24, 2017

End of School Questions

The end of school was yesterday in Madrid.  Each year this generates procrastination and despair over grading creative inspiration and time to consider blog fodder. (For notes from a previous year, click here) This year, as I cleaned out my desk, I found myself avoiding grading my finals asking some important self-knowledge questions: Important End Of School Questions 1.  Do people in other professions love office supplies the way teachers do?  My favorite are binder clips!! I have them in all my drawers at school, small recycled glass jars full of a multi-sized rainbow of binder clips.  They also accumulate in my purses and my kitchen (for when I grade…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in live fabulous

March 7, 2016

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

 single cloud in a blue sky

In my young adult life ‘I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud’ was my favorite piece of poetry. Even though I teach science, sometimes I find a way to wander back to it during the course of a workday. For example: In a particularly brilliant moment of lecture in one of my science classes today, I asked my students what they were reading in English class. I wanted to make the point that analogous structures in biology are similar to analogies.  (I know!  My students were all super impressed and interested.) Sidenote:  For those of you who have not been exposed to high school vocabulary in the last 20 years:Analogous Structures:…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in live fabulous

September 2, 2015

Happy New Year

 Happy New Year

Teachers (in their adorable, dorky teacher way) like to say “Happy New Year!” when they see each other in September.  I started hearing the phrase almost immediately when I went back to work 2 days ago.  This “Happy New Year” business means two things: New Year Facts Fact 1: I moved to Spain a year ago. Fact 2: SCHOOL IS STARTING. Literally: school is starting in 24 hours.  What I really should be doing is rooting myself in the reality of Fact 2 and frantically preparing course materials, lab manuals, neatly organizing stacks of colored index cards, etc.  Instead, I have been lingering around in the dreamy realities of Fact…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in live fabulous

June 17, 2015

Last Week of School

 Celebrate the last week of school!

Some weeks have a theme.  For example: 1. First-week-of-spring2. Snow-and-hot-chocolate-and-books3. Eat-Salad-and-don’t-be-fat4. Completing-important-life-errands5. Cherry-blossom-trees The theme of this week in this teacher’s life is:  “Last-week-of-school”   There is something special about the last week of school.  Students are thoroughly and introspectively contemplating all you have taught them through the year while they happily study for their finals. They are so thankful and all bring you presents.  Colleagues are absorbed with the academically-rewarding work of planning units for next year.  There is an air of relaxation as the year peacefully winds to a close….   JUST KIDDING   If you believe a word of that, it’s been too long since you set…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in deep fabulous

May 11, 2015

Happy Monday Morning!

 puppies on wall

Hi readers,Last week, memes.  This week, beautiful roses. And memes. Because nothing cheers up a Monday like flowers and puppies. And while I have you here, let’s talk a little more about your Monday morning happiness plan. (Yes, you need a Monday morning happiness plan.) Before we get to flowers and puppies, let’s consider a short checklist. Monday Happiness Checklist Do you do something nice for yourself when you wake up Monday? A special break from your routine that brings you happiness? Maybe it’s scrolling a website for a few minutes, or eating a special breakfast? You need to create something to look forward to, before work. How is your…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in monday-friday fabulous

May 7, 2015

How to Manage Stress

 how to manage stress

Recently, after how-old.net told me I looked 65 carefully considering my work-life balance, I found myself thinking about how to manage stress. Stress, especially work stress is anti-fabulous. It presents a rather circular problem that can be expressed mathimatically:   See what I mean?  In addition to all the hefty botox bills, stress causes grey hair, pallid skin, fatness, heart disease and a Vegas-length buffet of other disgusting symptoms.    So, what’s a modern-day working girl to do? Here’s the secret:   How to Manage Stress Don’t worry about it. Sounds crazy right? Hold on, let it sink in.  Seriously, just don’t worry about it. It’s not that big of a…

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written by carolineschley@gmail.com - Posted in monday-friday fabulous