January 25th: That Was One Long Day!

Today was one incredibly long day. Mondays usually are, but add in the beginnings of a cold and the day seems doubly long. It's my own fault, of course. I had a massage client on Saturday and I actually said the following words out loud: "Well, I can't remember the last time I was sick!"

Brilliant.

I've been alternating between blaming my seventh graders who have been sick a lot lately, and blaming George who hogs all the heat around here:

Before I fall into my Nyquil-induced coma, let me share with you the highlight from today. After school today, one of the moms stopped me when I was walking back to my classroom. She asked me if I'd gone to church on Sunday; for a second I thought I was talking to my own mother! The reason she asked was so she could ascertain whether or not I'd heard our priest's sermon on Sunday. I hadn't, so she proceeded to summarize it for me. She said that Father was talking about the importance of having people in our lives that make us laugh, and the importance of laughter. She finished by saying, "You are that person for our children, and I just want to thank you for that."

It was really touching. It's not often that we teachers hear such positive feedback from parents or students or the powers that be. I know that this two- or three-minute conversation made a huge difference in my day. I wonder what a difference it could make in the educational realm if more teachers heard something positive each day. I wonder how we could make that happen.

I wonder a lot of things.

Like what happened to yesterday's post. That's easy. I didn't write one. I had a lot of work to get done on a Sunday: lesson plans, grading, progress reports, creating a wiki for an upcoming presentation, more grading. And I just decided that it was okay to skip one day. No guilt. No worry. It's okay!

And now...off to bed!

January 8th

Ahhhhhh....Friday! It's like a cat's favorite sunbeam; warm and inviting, and missed terribly when it stays away too long.

And today was a really good Friday! I woke up feeling good, and by 6:30 A.M. I was...dare I say it...upbeat! I was thrown a bit of a curve ball after our 8:00 mass, but once I realized I was going to be able to see some Irish dancing courtesy of some of my eighth grade girls, I was happy. And, oh my goodness! These girls are amazing!!! I was so proud of each and every one of them today!

The entire day went remarkably smoothly! Could it be that this thinking positively stuff is actually paying off? I enjoyed being around all of my students today, and I think I was a better teacher today because I was enjoying my students. I returned a social studies test to the seventh graders today and asked if there were any questions on it. There were a few students who wanted to argue their case for a question or two. Normally, I just answer their questions, explain why they're wrong, and we move on with our lives. Today, however, I let other students respond to the questions. What ensued was wonderful! They began debating...history! The facts, sure. But mostly they were talking about the interpretation of history. It was a fabulous thing to sit back and watch.

And, of course, no day would be complete without a recess visit from our eighth grade girls. They say they just come into my classroom because it's cold outside, but I know they love me. They stand around my desk and chatter on and on and on...all at the same time, of course. I have no idea how that works...how can they keep track of all the different conversations? How do they expect me to keep track? Oh well...I loved every minute of it! Especially since they were coming to me for reassurance. They are taking the high school entrance exam tomorrow and are all a bit nervous.

You'll do fine, ladies. I'm sure of it.