I went from waiting, waiting, waiting, to full speed ahead.
We got permission to move in on a Monday. Monday night we loaded up our truck with everything from storage. Tuesday morning we emptied the truck, returned it, and started to unpack. Wednesday was putting together the worst filing cabinet in the world. Right Dad? I workedon organization and unpacking. Thursday, I unpacked organized all day. Then we had 'Back-To-School' Night. We were all completely exhausted and had a 'Grand Opening' with the entire school board, reporters, and parents. I can't even explain how done I was. Those 1st two days of unpacking the water was turned off in the building. We also had our before school meetings, our health fair, and more. I continued working through the weekend, and school started Monday. It has been non-stop since then. Every weekend at work and working late every night. Still feeling miles behind.
I have a few classroom challenges this year and we shall see how that goes. A new challenge arrives tomorrow. I hope I will have a lot of support, from what I know I will need it.
Today was my first day of a class I am taking through December. I have mixed feelings about what I will get out of it. I left feeling not quite sure today of what I would be getting out of it. Maybe, the next class will be better. What it did provide me was a little time away from my classroom. Time to think about what is coming up and reflect. It also allowed me time to be an adult and go to the bathroom just whenever I needed to! HA HA! You've no idea how nice that is.
We have a training to go to tomorrow, our late start day, and all the K-2 teachers are meeting at another school. I am not sure what direction we are going as the district changed our grading policy.However, K-2 is the same as it has been, and most of the changes are for 3-8. I don't know. I hope this isn't some policy that makes me want to bang my head on a wall. I've been trying to talk myself out of what I "think" they might be having us do.
One of my biggest frustrations as a teacher is others NOT valuing my time. Do we make this job look easy. Does society? All of the teachers I know who are really reflective and trying to do a good job are working ABOVE and WAY BEYOND our contract hours. I do not complain about this because I feel it is the right thing to do. To have quality lesson plans in place, procedures, etc. It takes some thought and reflection. I had a parent ask me last week if I could make an exception for her child and have her child do testing outside of school hours. I just said, "I'm sorry no I can't." I didn't offer an explanation as to 'Why Not'. I was just so disgusted. I have meetings to attend, work to grade, emails to answer, lessons to plan, copies to make, assessments to dive into, interventions to create, and the list goes on and on. I am working after work, to make these school days meaningful for your child, and that takes time. So, like the rest of the students in this building, your child will have to test while we test. Now, I can offer the student headphones, a cardboard privacy folder, extended time, scrap paper, and breaks. So frustrating.
In other exciting news I spent about 1/2 hour at a student's soccer game on Saturday. It meant a lot to the student, to me it was a special kind of torture. I don't know how coaches coach over parents yelling at their kids. It reminded me why I use caution when inviting classroom volunteers.
So here I go... Jumping feet first into another school year!
