Wake Me Up When September Ends

For teachers this has a certain ring to it. I can't believe that we are already into the 5th week of school (at least where I'm at). It is both amazing and depressing. Amazing that we have hit 5 weeks so fast, depressing because the Veteran's day holiday is still 5 weeks away. It is simply one of those things that comes with each school year.

I didn't know just how much different this school year would be from those in the past. I knew that if I ever returned to the classroom that I would ditch 99% of the things I had done in the past. I relied too much on my personality and not enough on simply planning and executing good lessons. When I came back to the classroom it was like I unlearned years of bad habits, but I had all types of experience to go with it. I haven't had that day where I just wanted to mail it in. I have been able to shift and change on the fly, but I have not had to. Quite simply, I'm better at what I do.

I spend more time on what I do know to make my classroom a better place. In some cases that has meant innovation (I have a blog for my students), in some cases that has meant going back to basics (the textbook isn't such a bad thing), and in some cases it has simply meant doing the job of getting the kids through the curriculum. By this time of the year I am usually out of gas and ready for June. This is year different. This year it all seems about right. Can't put a finger on it, just seems like it is different.

I was actually very disappointed in myself today. I had a major technology breakdown at school and ended up wasting 20+ minutes of my kids time. It really was something I couldn't stand. I must of apologized ten times. I through my hands up and moved on. I know in the past I would have tossed in the towel and never done anything to make it even close to a real lesson. Today I knew there was something in reserve, I knew it was there for me just in case. I get to do the other teaching as we move through the rest of the unit. Today's gaff didn't scuttle the ship, it was just a case of operator error.

This year has really been the first year where I know that my focus has been totally on what I do in the classroom, the things I do with my kids and not what the total school may be going through. It is a great change. It is something that I do not know if I knew about it before. Teaching is a tough job, incredibly rewarding but very demanding when it is done correctly. I've always known that but don't know if I always showed that.

I've got two days of September to go. 1/10 of the way to another summer off. 9/10 of a year to keep getting better at something that I knew I needed to come back to.