This will be the school year that I...
* smile more and ask about people's weekends, rather than dashing to a free copier
* abstain from eating "just a sliver" of the secretary's famous pistachio cake from the resource room
* Call home for amazing kids as much as I do for the kids that make shrill squawking noises when my back is turned
* label all my boxes so I can actually find that my plastic raven for the Poe unit or my DVD for Shakespearean day or my vocab cards...dammit... where are my vocab cards?!
* stop going back to resource room to sneak two more harmless slivers of pistachio cake
* get more than six hours of sleep every night
* play "trash ball" without shooshing the kids a million times
* just say "no" to wrapping another slice of cake in a napkin to have for a snack later (after piling a bit of extra icing on top)
* refrain from staying up late to watch horribly trashy shows like Girls Next Door because I'm too exhausted to get up to take out contacts
* cook for Dan more
* don't snap at a single student, even when someone says "that's kind of cheap" when I "only" give him one piece of candy
* have Red Bull-level pep and enthusiasm
* not join in resource room bitch sessions about this year's super annoying student who got busted trying to Google pictures of celebrity's knockers on his school's ibook.
I always unconsciously start the school year as a hopeless optimist, not unlike every person who makes unreasonable New Year's resolutions. People see the pure and unspoiled stretch of twelve months ahead of them and think that finally this will be the year they will be motivated to lose those thirty pounds or finish that novel. After all, a lot can happen in a year, right?
I'm the same exact way. If I had been in a Disney movie today, I would have been dueting with my similarly in-denial colleagues, twirling down the hallways, and getting my animal friends to help me decorate my room with posters. When I walked into my classroom, I felt this charge of excitement that this could be the Best. Year. Ever. I thought of new station activities and theme days I could have. I feverishly boxed all supplies and printed out labels. After school, I bought myself my annual big box of Crayola crayons (the kind with the built-in sharpener in the back) and opened it to inhale that waxy, back-t0-school smell. Nothing says school euphoria like brand new supplies!
I know that this unrealistic optimism will not last, especially given the facts that I'm already feeling tired from waking up at 6:00 today and ate three "slivers" of apple and cheddar breakfast pizza this morning, and was too exhausted to cook for Dan when I came home. After a few weeks, I know I'll find myself sternly admonishing a class, "I think we need to address the amount of you who are forgetting homework assignments. Don't forget that this is 10% of your grade, I repeat, ten percent. One homework zero will negate about fifty other 100's you already made..."
They'll nod like they understand, when really all they're hearing is "Wa wa wa wa", a la Charlie Brown's parents. I'll go to the lounge and complain. Later, those same kids' parents will e-mail, "What can John Doe do to make up his homework 0's?" Then, I'll have to decide: Do I want to be Mrs. Pushover or Mrs. Ballbuster? Either way, it will take me fifteen minutes to write a carefully worded response. When I crash on the couch after school, I'll be too exhausted to cook, instead eating greasy pad thai while watching 30 Rock with Dan, the highlight of my day.
(Not that this is a totally bad thing! Anyone ever seen the episode where Liz Lemmon's delusional brother is still stuck in 1984? Sooo funny.)
I know this progression from naive optimism to reality is totally natural. Honestly, I'm not giving a full picture of a typical day of my job. Yes, I do have stressful moments, but I also get to read the inspirational journals my students write. I crack up when my students get as competitive as Survivor contestants during a round of "Grammar Jeopardy". I love how when I teach about Edgar Allan Poe, a student will inevitably shriek, "He married his cousin?!" I feel so fullfilled when I can build a shy student up through compliments, high five students for raising their grade, and listen to their rambling stories.
I really do love my job, however demanding it may be. Still, I wish there were a few more days that I thought to myself,
I'm the same exact way. If I had been in a Disney movie today, I would have been dueting with my similarly in-denial colleagues, twirling down the hallways, and getting my animal friends to help me decorate my room with posters. When I walked into my classroom, I felt this charge of excitement that this could be the Best. Year. Ever. I thought of new station activities and theme days I could have. I feverishly boxed all supplies and printed out labels. After school, I bought myself my annual big box of Crayola crayons (the kind with the built-in sharpener in the back) and opened it to inhale that waxy, back-t0-school smell. Nothing says school euphoria like brand new supplies!
I know that this unrealistic optimism will not last, especially given the facts that I'm already feeling tired from waking up at 6:00 today and ate three "slivers" of apple and cheddar breakfast pizza this morning, and was too exhausted to cook for Dan when I came home. After a few weeks, I know I'll find myself sternly admonishing a class, "I think we need to address the amount of you who are forgetting homework assignments. Don't forget that this is 10% of your grade, I repeat, ten percent. One homework zero will negate about fifty other 100's you already made..."
They'll nod like they understand, when really all they're hearing is "Wa wa wa wa", a la Charlie Brown's parents. I'll go to the lounge and complain. Later, those same kids' parents will e-mail, "What can John Doe do to make up his homework 0's?" Then, I'll have to decide: Do I want to be Mrs. Pushover or Mrs. Ballbuster? Either way, it will take me fifteen minutes to write a carefully worded response. When I crash on the couch after school, I'll be too exhausted to cook, instead eating greasy pad thai while watching 30 Rock with Dan, the highlight of my day.
(Not that this is a totally bad thing! Anyone ever seen the episode where Liz Lemmon's delusional brother is still stuck in 1984? Sooo funny.)
I know this progression from naive optimism to reality is totally natural. Honestly, I'm not giving a full picture of a typical day of my job. Yes, I do have stressful moments, but I also get to read the inspirational journals my students write. I crack up when my students get as competitive as Survivor contestants during a round of "Grammar Jeopardy". I love how when I teach about Edgar Allan Poe, a student will inevitably shriek, "He married his cousin?!" I feel so fullfilled when I can build a shy student up through compliments, high five students for raising their grade, and listen to their rambling stories.
I really do love my job, however demanding it may be. Still, I wish there were a few more days that I thought to myself,
"This will be the Best. Year. Ever."
4 comments:
Not dashing to the free photo copier.... I would ask how the weekend was while dashing to the photo copy, if your school is like any that I have worked in ... I would make the most of not having to wait for the photo copier
Good luck with your best year ever! :)
I love this list! being too tired to get up and take out my contacts is my big school year rut - I'm going to try to be better about it this year! Also, I'm going to try not to eat every free snack.
Treats in the break room are always trouble.
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