Most of us have just completed our 2nd Quarter Report Cards: it's hard to believe that we're halfway finished with this school year!
The students we teach right now are on their way to the next teacher in the next grade. We have done our best. We hope that THEY, too, have done their best.
We begin to become comfortable with the personalities and individual mannerisms of our students. We may have a few changes to implement in order to improve our students, to push them academically to go as far as (we believe) they can go.
We may decide to change what we, as teachers, do. Or we may change nothing, being truly satisfied with the path we have taken with our students this year. Some may continue stay the course, others may refine or re-work their focus for the remaining time we have with these children.
I am always amazed at how quickly the school year actually flies by! I find myself thinking that I will truly MISS my students. I even look ahead to see what students are coming my way next year!
What an interesting time of year January is for a teacher!
Friday, January 25, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
SNOW DAY: Teacher's best friend or worst enemy?
A TEACHER'S WORST ENEMY:
Some teachers view a Snow Day as a great thing! (Myself included...until this year!)
I did not welcome today's snow day with my normal excitement. I had a number of things planned for my students in multiple grades today. Some had tests to finish or missing homework to submit (or at least to FIND!) I had all of my weekly lessons planned out to the minute! Report cards are also looming very closely on the horizon!
There was even a special group (Windy City Players) scheduled to come to school today to perform the play (Cinderella) for our children. (And this was a reschedule already from last Fall when Cinderella was ill on the original performance date...)
Everything was put on hold with the coming of winter weather this morning! I was really bummed that I would now have to re-organize all of the lesson plans that I had worked so hard on! Having just 1 unexpected snow day affected my entire week!
We had another "problem" snow day just last month! Before the Saginaw blizzard of December 16, 2007, the teachers and I knew we had EXACTLY 3 (yes, only THREE!) school days to perfect our Christmas program (which I help direct)! We had been working for months! Having no school that Monday pushed us back a day: we feared our students would NOT have nearly enough time to pull it off "on-stage".
Thankfully, it all worked itself out (barely) between our first staged run-through at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday until the 7:00 p.m. performance on Wednesday evening! We had just barely 2 days!
A TEACHER'S BEST FRIEND
The other opinion held by most is that snow days are amazing and wonderful! A true gift from heaven to overworked, underpaid teachers who labor night and day for their hardworking (or hardly-working) little students with sometimes little thanks.
I DO enjoy having that unexpected day of freedom to spend with my 2 babies at home, who sometimes take the back burner to my classroom duties each day. So, not only are THEY truly surprised & overjoyed, but I, too, become quite giddy at the fact that I can stay home with them and just be a kid myself all day!
WHAT DO YOU THINK? TAKE MY POLL ABOVE
Whatever your opinion on snow days as of this year (or in years past), please take my poll so I can see what you and everyone else out there does with their "FREE" day!
A TEACHER'S WORST ENEMY:
Some teachers view a Snow Day as a great thing! (Myself included...until this year!)
I did not welcome today's snow day with my normal excitement. I had a number of things planned for my students in multiple grades today. Some had tests to finish or missing homework to submit (or at least to FIND!) I had all of my weekly lessons planned out to the minute! Report cards are also looming very closely on the horizon!
There was even a special group (Windy City Players) scheduled to come to school today to perform the play (Cinderella) for our children. (And this was a reschedule already from last Fall when Cinderella was ill on the original performance date...)
Everything was put on hold with the coming of winter weather this morning! I was really bummed that I would now have to re-organize all of the lesson plans that I had worked so hard on! Having just 1 unexpected snow day affected my entire week!
We had another "problem" snow day just last month! Before the Saginaw blizzard of December 16, 2007, the teachers and I knew we had EXACTLY 3 (yes, only THREE!) school days to perfect our Christmas program (which I help direct)! We had been working for months! Having no school that Monday pushed us back a day: we feared our students would NOT have nearly enough time to pull it off "on-stage".
Thankfully, it all worked itself out (barely) between our first staged run-through at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday until the 7:00 p.m. performance on Wednesday evening! We had just barely 2 days!
A TEACHER'S BEST FRIEND
The other opinion held by most is that snow days are amazing and wonderful! A true gift from heaven to overworked, underpaid teachers who labor night and day for their hardworking (or hardly-working) little students with sometimes little thanks.
I DO enjoy having that unexpected day of freedom to spend with my 2 babies at home, who sometimes take the back burner to my classroom duties each day. So, not only are THEY truly surprised & overjoyed, but I, too, become quite giddy at the fact that I can stay home with them and just be a kid myself all day!
WHAT DO YOU THINK? TAKE MY POLL ABOVE
Whatever your opinion on snow days as of this year (or in years past), please take my poll so I can see what you and everyone else out there does with their "FREE" day!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)