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| Memories of Paris 08. - 2011 |
What I need to do and what I have the energy to do are two very
different things.
We’ve all felt it. It’s the mental, emotional and physical
exhaustion from a day of teaching and being a wife and mother. We say to ourselves, if only I could just
teach. If only I could actually spend my entire planning period working on
lessons, making examples and preparing materials. If only my students actually wanted to be in
class, learn about artists, generate new ideas and create art, then my job
would be wonderful. If I didn’t have to drag ideas out of students or rack by
brain for ways to motivate the unmotivated.
If I didn’t have to spend hours preparing lessons only to have the
schedule changed or half the class absent.
If I didn’t have activities to get my children to, dinner to cook,
laundry to do, or homework to help with.
If I didn’t have to start my graduate work at 9pm once the kids go to
sleep. If I didn’t have all these things
to do then I could do the other thing that I need to do. I need to write about
my teaching, learning, and research so that I actually remember and learn from
my day’s events. While I have many things running a marathon through my head, I
just don’t have the energy to write them down.
I know if I could get in a run or some cardio exercise I’d have more
energy, but when do I fit that in? When
do I fit in time to relax, refocus and refuel?
IT seems that every moment of my day is already accounted for.
If
you’re a teacher you know, and probably live, this scenario. You have sticky notes everywhere and
scribbled thoughts all over your planner.
You make mental notes you hope you won’t forget by the time you get
around to writing them down. You count
the minute to the bell so you can pee.
You scarf down lunch, or skip it, so you can prepare for the next
class. You stay after school so students
can keep working on a late assignment. There
will be good days, bad days and days you are just trying to make it through
without losing your cool with a student or your administration. There are days when all has gone fabulously
and you feel like a million bucks at the end of the work day. There are days when you wake up and look
forward to the adventures of the day simply because you got 8 hours of sleep. And then there’s that one day when you get a
note from a student that says Thank You.
One heart felt note acknowledging that you are appreciated by a student who you
didn’t think was ever listening reminds you of why you do all the things you
do. That is what makes the job worth it
all.
