Back to School

I've been out of my classroom for a week. My injury prevented me from being on my feet and for three days a team of teachers helped put together a variety of lesson plans for a mix matched group of subs.
Thursday I walked in to my classroom, to put in one day of teaching and to get a better feel for what was happening during my bed rest.
I walked in the room at 7:30am.

I burst into tears.

I couldn't picture the day in front of me. I couldn't make heads or tails of the notes left by subs. I felt tired.

And then I started organizing piles. I made lesson plans for the day. I limped around my room and picked up papers that had been left behind, straightened desks, and got my feel for the room again.

And I survived. My students sweetly expressed their worry for me. We caught up on assignments, I taught a new lesson on solving systems of equations with substitution. The day felt far from perfect. I couldn't move from desk to desk and answer questions. I reached a point of exhaustion by the end of day and had trouble staying cheerful for my last period. But I did it. I'm back.

I took off Friday, but I'll be back tomorrow (Monday) and ready to give it another try.

Sub Days

Missing school- NOT WORTH IT. I hate missing school for a sick day. Really for any day. I spend over an hour putting together sub plans, making sure seating charts are in order, and getting my classroom organized and ready. Some sick days make getting it all organized impossible, meaning there is a BIG ol' mess to clean up upon return.

Today though, I'm truly testing my ability to put down work and walk away. I will be out for at least the next three days, due to an injury. I can't get to the building. I can't get everything in order for the teacher coming in. I can't even get a sub I know, because of the last minute nature of this. And for all the smart people I know of with teaching degrees.... there are a lot of freaky subs out there. And in the end, nobody can deal with my kids quite the way I do.When my science or humanities teaching partners miss a day they can email in plans and have some movie sent down from the library. I'm discovering, math doesn't work that way. There is no wonderful movie to take notes on, no easy lesson to leave in case a non-math sub shows. I need to get worksheets printed, I need to guess how long each activity I have planned will take. No "press play" lesson here.

So, I got my plans in for day. Some equations worksheets. But there is still tomorrow. And the next day. And however long it takes to get this all back in order. grrrr. Just wish I was there in the classroom, dealing with all my wonderful 8th grade monsters.