So begins the first week in August. For teachers, this is quite an emotional time full of excitement, anxiety, nervousness, and just plain stubbornness. I had a mental tantrum just thinking of going back, but at the same time I was eager to get back. Yes. It all makes perfect sense. We want a fresh start but we don't want to start. It is a tug and pull kind of situation. . . at least for me. I am sitting in my newly decorated classroom feeling completely put together yet frazzled. My lesson plans aren't even plans. They are rough sketches of many possibilities; some are outlines and others are documents piled on top of copies. I know my units AND the order in which I am going to teach them. . . but it's the details that I'm missing: all of the details. However, my classroom looks exactly how I want it! It is the complete definition of an Instagram post: perfected and filtered just enough to hide the chaos of reality. You may be thinking, "But you had plans! You had BIG GOALS!" Yes, I did. . . I DO! Except I never planned out my goals. When I did my Inquiry Project for PLWP, it was all hypothetical. Now, it's real. Creating a Community of Writers is quite intimidating. However, I know what I want to do the first day! However, it's the rest of the days I am having trouble with. Having this community takes a lot of upkeep and I'm worried that I'm not planning or tweaking out the details enough to keep the momentum I want going throughout the whole year. Will everything fit into place? Will I have time to complete everything I want to do? Better yet, will students enjoy or gain anything? I want them to enjoy my class so much that I'm afraid they will hate it. On top of preparing for Writer's Workshop, I have the nitty gritty stuff to prepare. Not only do students hate sitting through a lecture on expectations and the syllabus, but I hate doing it AND making them. I have spent so much time making the document fun and it was still a bore. There were things I had to think about that I just wasn't ready for: what are the consequences for not having materials, being tardy, being disrespectful. . . good question TpT syllabus template. I have no idea. This is the first time I have been given the time to think about these things. When I hired in January, those consequences were fairly already in place. There was already a rhythm and even though I came swinging in off-beat, the classroom was a song being played for quite a long time. Now, I'm expected to compose the song. Ha. Add this to the questions to ask myself at midnight laying in bed contemplating various scenarios. I'm sure one of my scenarios will give me the answer. I hope. I still have 10 days. As I send you all off probably worrying for me and my last 10 days (I do have A LOT to do in a short amount of time), I will be manically planning, attending New Teacher Orientation, attending back-to-school meetings, doing Active Shooter Training, and just really trying to keep hold of the little summer I have left.
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Erica CookRookie, Newbie, New Teacher. Archives
September 2018
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