Despite the fact that we do not officially have to go in until Thursday, I have been inundated with requests from my principal and content coach to come in starting today.  We started getting the mass e-mails requesting our presence last week.  Good thing that ever since the first year I have created the habit of being out of town until the day before we go back.  Everyone seems to know that I leave town right after we get out and I don’t return until the week we begin again so I haven’t been hassled too much this year.   Many of my colleagues have been back since last week, which is totally up to them, but I purposely leave my closets really organized with all my ‘beginning of the year’ supplies ready so it’s been a snap coming back in.  I’d rather stay late on the first few days than go in one second early. 

I have spent some time this week at home looking at my curriculum, trying to block out a better system for covering things than I did last year.  I also created a new, more concise parent letter and student questionnaire.  Lastly, and the thing I am most proud of, is that I spent a lot of time creating a website for my students to go to if they want lists of homework assignments, info about whatever we’re covering in class, links to the online grade system so they can log-in and check their progress, etc etc.  That took me forever, but I think it’s going to be really useful for those who choose to check it out. 

I have been trying to think positively about the new year since I am still feeling wishy-washy about going back.  I have spent some time remembering favorite students, or ones I feel I achieved something with.  It’s been working a bit, but I think the thing that will make the biggest impact is putting my foot down and telling the Almighty Admin I will not, under any circumstance, take a student teacher.  I am just not ready for it, it’s only my 4th year!  It cheated everyone involved last year because I was so stressed that I wasn’t able to give the time deserved to the students or my student teachers.  I think I will be a better teacher, and ultimately more prepared to handle helping someone else learn to do this if I give myself more time to develop.  I hope the they can suck it up and understand that.

Does anyone know if I can borrow Michael Phelps for a week or so…?  I’d even take him for just a weekend…you know, simply to hang about the house flexing his abs or something…

…might make the heart grow fonder?  Who knows, but I’ll be absent until school begins.  I’m giving it another year and we’ll see how it goes.  In the meantime, perhaps I’ll take Woodswoman’s advice and go hang out in the mountains…

What if I just walked away?  From this job/career I mean.  I really felt funky at the end of this year, and after more than 3 weeks off, the funk is definitely still there and in a BAD way.  I have been perusing ads…and not for teaching jobs…not totally seriously at this point, but I will say I am shockingly burnt out already after only three years.  I’m sick of so many things: the indifference, the ignorance, the pay, the feeling that I’m not really accomplishing much of anything with most of these kids (although I’m told that I AM in fact accomplishing things, but it doesn’t feel like it…) ug.  What to do, what to do…?

I have received many more requests than I anticipated for the password to the protected posts.  I only feel truly comfortable giving out the password if you are a friend/family member, frequent commenter, or author of a blog that I can access.  Please do not be offended if I don’t respond to your request as I am simply trying to protect the privacy of some of the issues surrounding my school that have the potential to ‘out’ where I work.

Thanks!

Took me a while to get to this post what with all the recovering I had to do yesterday due to the celebrations I participated in Thursday afternoon…and evening…

There were some truly crazy things that happened in the last few days, I’m intending to write a much longer post, or two, or three, or ten…about those things, but it (they) will have a password, so if you are a regular reader or fellow blogger and would like the password, please let me know (either in the comments or via my e-mail on the ‘about me’ page) and I’ll e-mail it to you. 

Have a great summer!

You know how you think you’ve carefully previewed a film that you plan to show class and you are sure that you are aware of all the parts you might need to stop and clarify for them, or parts you might need to fast-forward through, etc?  Yeah, well, if you’re ever showing “7 Alone” (an older movie about a family on the Oregon Trail) you might want to skip the part where the father says to the rambunctious and disobedient son… “Take down your pants!  I’m gonna give you a lickin’ you won’t soon forget!”   The father threatens the kids with ‘a lickin’ on several occasions, and I had already talked to the class about how that just meant a spanking of sorts, but I somehow missed the scene where the pants came down… (just to clarify for those you who may be experiencing summer brain fry, the dad gave him a bare-ass whipping with a belt…)  The students just about lost it at that point and several of them made gross slurping noises until I turned on the lights and stared them down. 

One more week…