Well, it's official. I survived the first week. And you know what the best part was?
I wanted to get up this morning.
How many people can actually say that on a Monday morning?
(Don't get me wrong, I would have loved an hour more of sleep, but after working a summer at daycare - where my morning mantra was "Please don't make me go to work! I'll do anything!" - it was a welcome change to greet Monday with excitement.)
But Monday comes with lessons . . . lessons like a 30-minute class period goes faster than my mom's peanut clusters at Easter (which is really, really fast).
I already knew that I needed to work on not planning as much in a single lesson (we're talking I finished 1/16 of what I had originally planned during one of my lessons last week), but these Late-Start Mondays really threw me for a loop.
For today, I had planned on introducing our "Reading at Home" program and taking my classes to the library to check out books. Well, when you introduce procedures, you should really plan on fielding questions for the rest of the class period. Seriously. Even if you give them a tangible list of guidelines that answer ALL of them - they're still going to ask. I've got to give it to these kids - they are the most inquisitive people I've ever met.
I felt so bad for the librarian at our school. I was leaving like 10 minutes each period for her to give her presentation on proper book care and the library. I'm just downright mean. Note to self - make treats and thank you's for her.
Well, that was fun.
And guess what? This week is supposed to be our DRP testing. I haven't been told a thing other than the printer at the district office is broken and we might not actually start the tests tomorrow. Mmm... Okay?
My mentor teacher just shrugged his shoulders with a half-grin on his face and advised me to have a back-up lesson plan.
I'm telling you - good teachers are some of the most flexible people in the world.
So I'm going home to do some stretching. We'll see what actually happens tomorrow. :D
You are clever, Ms. Cali. This is an enjoyable read.
ReplyDeleteDo you know how many people don't like Mondays? The best teacher I know told me that her first year of teaching, she prayed each morning that she'd show up at school and it would have burnt down in the night. And she is a good teacher. So, I think you're set for a successful path!