5 Things I Forgot About the
Beginning of School
I know. . . it’s shocking to me
too that I could still forget things about the beginning of the school year when
I have been teaching for well over a decade, but I did. Some things seem to have slipped my mind. It seems that I have had that, “Oh yeah….”moment quite a few times this week as my school year
has gotten into full swing.
How Physically Exhausting The Beginning of School Is
Wow! I am tired…more like exhausted and weary. That is no joke, my friends. Worn out.
Kaput. I expire these days at
9:30 pm or maybe, if I have a little sugar in my blood stream, 10:00 pm. Don’t bother texting or calling or looking
for me on Facebook. I will be surfing
the sleeping waves not the internet. Not
only am I drained, but my feet ache, my head hurts, and my back literally cries
at night. It’s sad folks, and I am not
that old.
How Mentally Exhausting The Beginning of School Is
Teaching is mentally
hard. We have to think quickly and solve
problems on the fly. We have to be able
to juggle about 100 things in the air at a time. We have to know that Jimmy has asthma. Suzy
has an IEP for reading but does great in math if you give her manipulatives and extra time. John walks home with Jimmy
only on Mondays when it doesn't rain because if it rains he is a car rider and
his car rider number is 189. And so on
for each kiddo. Some articles I have
read say that teachers make around 1,500 decisions a day. I think this is a low number on average and during the
beginning of school, I think this number is WAY off. When you have 22-25 little lovelies that you
don’t know, you have to make a whole lot of decisions right quick. My teacher friend put it this way: imagine
inviting 22 eight year olds (you don't know) into your living room for 7 hours and only have 1
adult for supervision- YOU. Yikes! When you put it that way…..The first day of
school gives “thinking on your feet” a whole new level of meaning.
How Much I Have to Do That Has Nothing to Do with
Teaching My Students
Trainings, security
briefings, more trainings, maybe some politics.
It is different for every district so I will leave it at that. Enough said.
How Much I Have to Teach My Students Before I Can Really Teach
My Students
I ended last year with such
a great class of highly trained students that knew all of my rules and likes
and dislikes. And I knew them. I knew their strengths and weakness, what we
needed to work on and improve. It was
all smiles. In comes August; a new batch
of kiddos. These students don’t know me,
and I don’t know them. I have no idea
what they know or don’t know- what their strengths are or weaknesses are. And guess what….they don’t
know my RULES. Being a good Harry Wong
follower, I have to teach procedures.
Being a good Whole Brain teacher, I have to teach the rules and ways of
the classroom. Why does it surprise me
every year when it takes sooooo long and is soooo laborious? It is time
intensive work. You have to go over it
again and again. Why do I forget that?
How Much I Missed the Kids
I work over the
summer. No, no, no, I don't get paid- not that kind of work. I research, read, learn, blog,
browse. I never really give up teaching. Ahh… but is a teacher really a teacher if there are no
students? There is just something about
opening that classroom door and greeting those smiling faces at the beginning of school. A world of possibilities, of hope. Now how could I forget that? This one thing that I forgot, the students, is what makes the other 4 things that I forgot worth bearing!
You hit the nail on the head with this post. I am about a week and a few days from meeting my group of students this year. You have just reminded me what I will be facing soon. No wonder we need summer break. ;)
ReplyDeleteHmmmm sounds a lot like being a Mom. Had lunch yesterday with your other mothers we were all discussing how hard it was being a mom for us stay at home Moms and wondering how much harder it is for our children who live in this much wilder world. Rules are good for kids order is good for them it makes them responsible adults. As teachers you are maybe providing the only order and consistency in their life. It is exhausting but so worth it just remember rule 5. Proudly Juliets Mom
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