This will be kind of a rambling post so bear with me on this one.
Apparently I'm getting a wee bit stressed out about the start of the school year. Let's just say falling asleep has been a bit of a chore. The one thing I found that helped me relax was repeating the lyrics of Weird Al's Rolling Stones Polka Medly in my head over and over. That helped me after 45 minutes of tossing and turning. Then at 3am I woke up again and couldn't fall asleep. This has been a normal occurence. I think part of problem is when I settle down for sleep my brain decides to go through all the situations where I might get into confrontations with my students and then looks for solutions. It's not a really healthy way to live. In fact, it's kind of stupid. I want to be more positive and empowering than that. I want to be a happier teacher. Last year I felt like a little bit of a gruntz. (low german for grumpy person) I want to try and turn that frown upside down.
I do feel much better about this year than I did last year. Last year I had a classroom that was ready but not enough of a plan of the day to day teaching. I feel like I'm more prepared for that this year. I know what I'm teaching and the assessments I want to do. I have a better plan and idea of how to be consistent throughout the term with assignments and such.
I've spent a lot of time reading this summer. I'm on my fourth professional development book. The trick is now to take what I've learned and put it into practice. The three key things I'm working on are writer's workshop, lit circles and seven habits of highly effective people. I've never taught any of these things before so they are all terrifying to me. AAAAH!!! I'm taking a lot of risks.
I'm also busy getting ready for a Warhammer tournament in Minneapolis in November. I'm really excited because it's been 5 or 6 years since I've played a tournament. I've wanted to go to this one for a few years but it always conflicted with Flatlands Theatre stuff. Now that Tina and I are retired I can attend. I have about 50 models to paint over the next two months. I need to get going. One of the problems is I'm stuck on a big unit that is not a lot of fun to paint. It kind of sucks.
Anyway, that's kind of my life right now.
cheers
I remember panicking my second year...because I had a much more accurate idea of the work involved the second time around! That pattern continued for a few years, but then I realized the only thing that can make me an awful teacher is if I don't strive to improve. In the end, it all works out, because it has to. :) As for 7 habits, just using the language is an excellent tool. Especially if it's something other teachers are doing too. Because I'm in and out of other peoples' classrooms so much, I really appreciate being able to say something like 'let's put first things first' and I know that the kids know _exactly_ what I'm talking about, instead of trying to figure out what each teacher does differently. Really enjoy your posts, Bud :)
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