To work

Sitting in bed. Cup of tea. Sleeping cat. Quiet holiday Monday. Somehow I have to work up the energy to get myself into school. I promised myself I would go in today. Staple up that last bulletin board. Clean the last clutter off the counters. Bring a plant in the brighten the room. (I can have a plant! I have windows! Glory glory glory!) Maybe make some copies. Fully plan the first few weeks- weeks full of get to know you, name learning, rule giving, pretesting, and general observation of who these new students are.
Anyway... I guess it's time to leave this cozy day and get my mind around SCHOOL. School tomorrow.

are we here again?

First day back for teachers. I love coming back to the school. Setting up my classroom, getting organized, planning the year. Everything feels fresh. Feels like a new start. This year I'm in a new classroom. I have windows. I have a little more space. I have...boxes all over the place from moving. So that will be my day tomorrow (after whatever morning stuff the admins have planned for us). Sort. File. Email. Begin to think about the first day with my new students. A new beginning. Here we go again.

back.

Tomorrow I enter my room again. I turn on the lights, I go to my desk, and boom- the school year continues. I don't know what I will find on my desk. Can't remember what piles I left. I'm not even sure what I will teach tomorrow. I see that as a good sign. I let it all go this break. I relaxed. I saw family. I enjoyed each day.
But it will be good to be back. Good to see my co-workers. Good to see the students. Good to start the year with a fresh mind and new determination. I will attack differentiation with new energy. I will push each student and create opportunities for every student in my room to access quality, high level learning. 2011. It will be a good year.

The new year

It only takes four years to stop feeling like a first year teacher.

That sums up my theme for this year thus far. Where did this change come from? This shift from overwhelming work loads and constant uncertainty to confidence and daily love for my work. Is it me? Is it my students? Is it my co-workers?
I suddenly realized this is the kind of year I WANT to write about. I have 108 students that make me happy every day. I teach on a team with two teachers who make each day fun and exciting. I have finally reached a place where I see best practices at work in my classroom daily, and I see the results from that in every student who sits in my room.
Trimester one ended yesterday. I spent the morning going through my grade book and assigning As and Bs and the occasional C. But, yesterday, with my new found organization, I found time to write a comment about every student. Every one.
"Sara is a strong math student. She asks good questions every day"
"John works hard in this class. He always has his homework done on time"
"Margret has made a real change since we spoke on the phone. She is using class time wisely."
"Sam is a nice young man who gets distracted by his friends from time to time."
etc.
That information, however brief, provides so much more to parents than any letter I could stick on a report card. A, B, C... what do those even mean?
Now I'm teetering on the start of a new trimester and a new unit, all crammed into the awkward two weeks before winter break. I have some thinking to do this weekend as I plot out the next 10 school days. And I look forward to it. The planning, the plotting, the decisions about how to create daily meaningful learning. It's what makes my job the best job a person could ask for.

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.

And, we're back.

School started again today, and I survived.
When I first arrived, everything seemed unfamiliar. Little messes from before the break were sprawled out on counters. Oh yeah, I remember, I ran out of here the moment the bell rang... over two weeks ago.
I started cleaning up the glitter. The glue. The yarn. The left overs of a pre-holiday snowflake project.
I couldn't find my planner. The next unit, every lesson, in there, planned out... but where... I slowed down. I thought. THINK THINK. There, in the crate, yup, the planner.
I made copies, I tracked down team mates, caught up on winter break stories, figured out when I have meetings (before school tomorrow, after school tomorrow, half day meeting during school Wed, after school Wed, then no more until next week. WHEW!)
And suddenly, there were students in the hall. New clothes, new toys, they come bouncing in, hugging friends they haven't seen in days. No real greetings to the teachers, just the occasional "I forgot my locker combination."
So the day passed by. A little glitch here, and little there, but mostly the kids are so tired (did any of them get to bed before midnight?) it's a quiet day, that first day back.

Just a few more hours

I have first day of school jitters! I do! In bed, my mind is racing with things I need to JUST LET GO:
School wide scheduling: SUDDENLY I have solutions for more plan time, more teaching time, better elective offerings, blah blah blah. In the morning light I'll realize I scheduled 6th grade lunch at the same time as 6th grade band class.
My project journal: didn't my aunt give me a journal to keep track of my craft projects in? Where did I pack that? must find it
That DAMN new kid: already suspended, but will be back on Wednesday. What will we do with him??
Jasper moved. Hmmm, good kid, will miss him. That's one more seat in the room.
SHIT- seating: I need to assign new seats when I get to school.
myyyyyy back Huuuuuurts. What did I do to that muscle? Should I go to spin class this week?
BIKE! I told my sister she could have that old bike in the garage. I should dust it first.
SKIIIII BUUUUSSS. Shit. Need to get that organized.
oh yeah, math department, I'm co-head now, don't we have a meeting this week? What did I say I would have done for that?
I wonder what my desk looks like? Can't remember.
Meetings!! I volunteered to host one at my super messy house. CRAP.
Valentine's day, looked at the cutest project... but should save it for a less hectic year. WHERE is that journal my aunt gave me? I bet it's on that bookshelf by the computer. I may as well get up to look.

And on and on and on and on and on.

I must sleep. But who has the time?

hey- there's that journal. now back to bed.

Like any job...

Sunday nights, I can't imagine leaving the weekend and jumping back into the chaos of work. After three years I'm learning not to bring as much home (yes, I still grade papers at home... ). For two whole days I am separate from my life as teacher. I talk to grownups about grownup things. I drink wine. I take my time eating lunch (it can be hard to break the 20 minute lunch shovel). I do laundry... slowly. I see my family.
As I sit on couch, blues music in the background and a kitty in my lap, tomorrow seems so far away. To get through a day of teaching my brain and body move at full speed ALWAYS, so, to cope, I think I've finally found a way to slow myself way down when I'm out of the school environment.
I rest, I recover, and I let myself forget (in just 48 hours) the stress I felt Friday afternoon. In this way, I am able to get myself back in the classroom Monday morning energized and optimistic, ready to start the race through the week again.

Back to School Night

The preparation. The anticipation. The stress. All for one night.

Back to School.

This is THE night. I think about what message I can give parents about the year in math in 8 minutes . I place handouts at the door and sign ups for volunteers. Two days ago, students filled out schedules to take to their families. Heck, my team even bought door prizes (at the dollar tree, we only can give so much) to raffle off to our lucky parents.

Tonight, 30 minutes to launch, the power blows. Poof. A frantic call to the power company. Two hours, we're told, before power can be restored. So, we are sent to doorways and to the parking lots to direct parents back to their homes. Sorry folks, guess we'll meet you another night. I, personally, breath a sigh of relief. As the math teacher, I'm usually the one attacked at back to school night. Parents are sure if they don't get the math part of schooling situated JUST SO, their child will fail life. They want to talk and talk and question and on and on, and I just want to go home and sleep so I can teach the next day.

But, I'm not out of the woods. We've been told all will be rescheduled. So, another day of preparation. Another day of anticipation. Another piece of stress.

Also worth noting, I'm always amazed how quickly teachers can throw together an impromptu "let's get a beer" when the time calls for it.