Evaluation day

So I had my administrator come in and evaluate me a few days ago and today we talked about what she saw. Last year she was telling me that I had a lot to learn about classroom management. Last year they came into the class that was a riot. There were just too many strong personalities in the class to keep some semblance of control. I naively thought that it would be a good idea for them to observe this class to try and help me to get some type of control. Unfortunately that was my mistake. I was "graded" badly for my poor classroom management skills. It was not that bad but I don't like any bad marks on my evaluations. Now apparently I am a good teacher with excellent classroom management skills (she came into a good class). Which does make me feel good. But ultimately it is not important what my administrator thinks about my teaching. It is only important that I feel like I am doing a good job.

But before my evaluation was the event that was a year of anticipation and training in coming. The National Tournament. I went to Las Vegas after killing myself with exercise and diet. I had lost 30 pounds off a frame that did not have 30 pounds to lose. I do know that I lost some muscle mass in there but I was glad that I did because I looked at the participants in the next weight class up and decided that they were really big. I did alright but unfortunately I did not place, I did not make it to the Olympic Trials. But here is some pictures from the tournament.

There were more pictures of my second match. Apparently my first one was over too quickly. The guy was strong. Very Strong. I was a little faster but I needed to wrestle more. Not workout more wrestle more. It is like a boxer (I am looking at you Maurice) jumping rope and punching tires to train for an upcoming fight. You might feel ready but when the action is happening you feel a little rusty.

So here I am circling my opponent waiting to attack.

I do a little head fake to make him step.

And I attack. Unfortunately the attack did not work because I was a little bit rusty and could not finish it.

Since my offense did not pan out he countered and we ended up here. The rest of the match did not go all that well. There were a few spots where I was close to getting points but he stopped me at every turn.

All in all I have no regrets about this whole journey. Because all of this was never about the destination it was really about the journey. Could I still train like I used to. I found my answers within myself, yes I was weighed, measured and found wanting, but as Amanda will find this funny the thoughts that went through my head after I was done was, "What will I do with all of my free time? Oh Calamity." I trained, worked, and dieted, now I am enjoying two different aspects of life: Eating, and relaxing. I have another 30 days before I am out for summer break (not that I am counting I just happened to have a calender next to me at my computer) where I will either spend it traveling the east coast or relaxing at the beach in the cabin where I live. Maybe go out to my front yard and get some oysters. I don't know if there will be enough time.