A Day in the Life --> Before School even begins

Summer is winding down and our county officially reports in one week from today. Our Teacher Association has negotiated one teacher work day to prep our rooms and get them ready for the entire school year. Unless you are some sort of super hero, I don't think this can be done. So with the permission of my newly appointed principal (she's been on the job for a little less than 4 weeks herself), I decided I would go in an attempt to get some things straight. 

Knowing that I didn't HAVE to go in, I set my alarm for 8 am and hit snooze 3 times.  Each time, I reminded myself that this was a luxury that would be disappearing before I knew it. 

I mustered the strength to get up and get going, arriving at school by 9:15.  I introduced myself to my new principal and our new secretary and made my way down to my classroom. The floors sparkled and shined, and I paused for a moment to quietly thank the hard work that went into making my room so fresh. Then I took a deep breath and began. 

At the end of each school year, everything has to be packed up and placed on shelves. I tried at the end of last year to pack up in a neat and orderly way so that unpacking this year would make sense. For the most part it worked. Ah. Success. 

But wait, what's in this box? Huh? Oh crap... that wasn't supposed to be boxed up there.... ugh... ok. Hmmm.. Where does this go? I don't know. Here. On this empty student desk. I'll figure it out later. 

At about 11 am, a colleague came in. Knowing that we had collaborated over the summer and sent a bunch of items to get printed by our county's print shop, he came by to help organize the 10, yes 10, paper boxes of copies we had waiting for us for this year. While this will be a tremendous time saver over the school year, right now...I'm not feeling it. Remember that stuff I didn't know where to put, when I was unpacking so I just put it on an empty desk? Well, I did that several more times, and now he and I are unpacking these paper boxes and my room is starting to look like it has exploded. 

I think I want to go home. It is my summer break. I really should go home. And watch Ellen. She'll make me laugh and forget about this.... 

But, I'm in too deep. And my colleague is here to help. And I really should take help when I can get it. Ok. Big girl britches on. LET'S DO THIS. 

2 o'clock. Wow. That's a lot of paper sorted. But look what we have accomplished! We have materials for 4 teachers sorted and delivered to their rooms. Our entire PLC has 180 days of bell ringers, a years worth of recursive homework, and foldables for all of our interactive notebooks. Who's feeling cool now? This gal. 

2:15 - Said goodbye to colleague and looked around the room.  Even though the paper boxes are gone, it still looks destroyed. I should just go home. I can still catch Ellen. I think she comes on at 3pm? Wait, why haven't I watch her this summer? Ugh. That was a mistake. I really love her show. Reruns. That's why. I'll do one more thing for my classroom and then go. But what... OOHH! My desk.

Holy crap it's 4:15! Two hours? To put my desk together? What's wrong with me? But- I love my desk.  There's a place for everything. I know where papers are going to go when they come in, I have my system in place. Oh, please let this work. I need this to work. It's going to work. I have faith. I'm good at this. I've got this.  I need to go home. But... 

Look at that top wall shelf. Maybe I should just get those few things off the top shelf and sit them down on the student desks so that the next time I decide to come in to my classroom, I won't have to climb up there to get them. Ok. It will be easy. 5 minutes at most. Wait, what's in this one? Why did I open it and look in? Now I need to go through this and purge. I haven't needed some of this stuff in years. 

A full trash bag of stuff. That feels good. Ok. It's time to go. Holy cow. My room is STILL a mess. It's 5:15. I've been here for 8 hours!! 8 continuous, non-stop hours. Vacation hours. And my room is still a mess. There's so much more to do. How am I going to get it all done? How do people in power think that we can do this in one scheduled work day?  Ah, who knows.  

Here's what I do know. I got a TON done today and I'm going to focus on that. This vacation day brought me success and a feeling of relief and a sense of excitement for the new year. I sorted 10 paper boxes full of pre-printed materials for 4 teachers that will allow us to smooth sail through the year. I set my desk up so it looks gorgeous and has meaning. I cleared clutter and purged items that I won't be needing because I haven't touched it in years. And while, yes, there are still boxes on student desks waiting for me to make a decision about their fate in my classroom, I got a lot accomplished today.  

And that was my day, a day in the life of a teacher 1 week away from officially reporting back to work. 

Reflection: 

1.)Teachers make a lot of decisions throughout the day.  Sometimes we make so many it feels overwhelming.  When you think about today, what is a decision/teacher move you made that you are proud of?  What is one you are worried wasn’t ideal?

Since I was working in my classroom voluntarily, the decision that I made that I was most proud of was just going in today and getting a jump start. I would much rather spend a few hours over several days then be super stressed during meetings and mandatory professional development experiences fretting over all that needs to get done in my classroom. This way, I can be fully present in the other experiences as my county intends me to be. The one decision that I am worried that wasn't ideal was probability spending too much time there! I should have set a timer and left when it went off rather than talking myself into "just one more task."


2) Every person’s life is full of highs and lows.  Share with us some of what that is like for a teacher.  What are you looking forward to?  What has been a challenge for you lately?

I am looking forward to my new set of students, working with my new principal and my new math supervisor. Along with what I'm looking forward too, those are also currently the biggest challenges! I have worked with the same math supervisor for 8 years and principal for 3 years. This year, I am working with new people in both of those positions!

3) We are reminded constantly of how relational teaching is.  As teachers we work to build relationships with our coworkers and students.  Describe a relational moment you had with someone recently.

Today, my colleague and I spent several hours unpacking several boxes of material we collaborated on over the summer to send to print shop that set up our PLC for a good routine for the school year. I consider our PLC one of the strongest PLCs I have ever worked with, and am very blessed. The four of us have built a relationship with each other where we consider each other family.

4) Teachers are always working on improving, and often have specific goals for things to work on throughout a year.  
What is a goal you have for the year?

 My goal this year is to work do a better job at blending my curriculum so that it is balanced for procedural fluency and performance tasks. Each year, it seems that I tend to be heavy on one side or the other.

5) What else happened this month that you would like to share?

My daughter moved into her first apartment and is working as a full time designer 1 in an architectural firm while finishing her architecture degree and my son is getting ready to start his senior high school year. I am in total denial that I am old enough for these life events to be happening to me, while being careful to balance life and career!.