Check it Off!

I'm all about my lifelist.  It sends me to obscure destinations in cities, walks me across bridges all over the place, puts books on my reading list, points me towards items in museums, pushes me to do and see and find, and now has enthusiastically prompted me to a teaching gearshift.  I'm going back to 5th grade next year!  Gulp!  Gasp!  Giggle!!!  This has been subconsciously prodding me for at least 3 decades.  I put the wheels in motion, and barring my inability to pass a national proficiency test on the 17th, I'm headed back to...wait for it, wait for it....THE EXACT SAME CLASSROOM I SAT IN AS A FIFTH GRADER ...wait for it again....EXACTLY 50 years ago!!!  For a random gypsy such as myself, that sort of cycle is unheard of, so I pause for a moment to pay homage... tick... tick...tick...tick.  I'm going to teach my fifth graders Greek and Latin roots, how to diagram (I think we'll form a grammar club!), how to knit, how to juggle, how to double Dutch jump rope, how to sew, and that's just the beginning. Jerry is going to come and teach French!  We'll probably have to convene outside of class joyfully and often to accomplish these ambitious objectives--maybe do a little in-class cooking in the corner, in that case, because surely we'll get hungry.  I so want to take them to Yellowstone and the Tetons AND most definitely on a college visit somewhere--maybe Rexburg or Logan.  If the planets align, we can do a mini Natural Helpers retreat and draft Mr. Belnap to pay us a visit!  I will need MONEY!!!  Looking for any and ALL ideas from everyone!  Send them along!  My brainstorm yesterday (because I've been discussing this with my 7th graders) is to sponsor a "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader" tournament of some sort and invite members of the community to come in and challenge them.  In other words, I'm giving this next year the best I have.  I think it's my last.  Follow along if you'd like!  Oh and a day at Provident Heritage Farm learning about alpacas, carding, spinning, and the wonderful world of fleece!  And movie/game nights, and crepes in the classroom, and a kid's "Midsummer Night's Dream", and skyping around the world with other 5th graders, and blogging, and a puppet production, and Paco's going to make them all a bookshelf which we'll paint on the first day, and....