That title seems a bit extreme, but truly what it means is that I am bidding farewell to the ability to choose how to spend my time. No more meandering through novels for a whole afternoon, no more sitting on the couch talking with Melinda for endless hours, no more watching absurd TV just because I have the chance. Honestly, these aren't all gone, they will just be less present in my life than they were the last five weeks. And it's not all bad. When left to my own devices I can often get down bunny trails that aren't healthy.
So here I arrive at the first day back to school. I have a cold, I'm extremely tired, I haven't done anything remotely near the looks of preparation, and yet I drive myself to Empire this morning. As most teachers will tell you, this isn't the end of the world. It'll all somehow fall into place before students shuffle in on Friday morning. Somehow I'll eek out a doable syllabus. Somehow I'll know exactly what my AP students will be reading this year and somehow I'll get my powerpoints together so that I can explain my expectations on the first day. It'll happen, and the kids will be none the wiser that I have crammed it all into these next four days.
Lucky for me, I have a none school related event to look forward to with such anticipation that it just might get me through this week. On Saturday, well to be exact on Friday at midnight, Harry Potter 7 will hit bookstores and grace us with the long awaited finale to Harry's journey through the wizarding world. After rereading book 6 last week, I wait with bated breath to see how Harry will navigate through his past without Dumbledore to find Voldemort's horcruxes. Will Harry die? Will he ultimately defeat the Dark Lord? These questions I look forward to exploring all of next weekend.
So with that object fixed in my mind, I will somehow survive this week. I will somehow accomplish all that is necessary to start another school year. I will somehow find a smile to put on my face as my students walk through the door to room 306 on Friday. Thus if you wonder why I've fallen off the face of this earth for a while, now you know that I'm somehow trying to peacefully bid farewell to freedom and somehow remember my joy in teaching. It's there, I just have to somehow be reminded.
A Year In Review
7 years ago
1 comment:
as one not given to self-motivation, i should probably have a hard time encouraging you as well. problem is, you're so good at teaching that it would seem an absolute travesty not to say, in the usual long-winded way, that you're going to do great:)
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