Summer High

Well, I finally decided that I would get up with the times and start a blog. Who knows how often I will actually remember to post, but I have good intentions!

I started back to school Monday and have mixed feelings. I have loved every minute of my summer with Malie Kate, but am ready for some type of routine. I'm also excited about this new school year and moving up to fifth grade. It should be challenging, but good at the same time. I'm a little stressed after today and remembering all the reasons why they call it work. My friend Katherine and I were talking this afternoon and decided we would now refer to it as our "Summer High." This refers to teachers being off for summer and forgetting all the real stresses of teaching and only remembering the good things by the end of the summer. If you are a teacher, then you know what I'm talking about. When summer starts you are so worn out and thankful for a break. But by the time school is ready to start you are looking at all the possibilities again through rose colored glasses that made you want to be a teacher in the first place. You can do anything with these students and open a whole new world for them. This year the sky is the limit and you are going to make a difference and get to know each one on such a personal level. You read all these great books on things you are going to do differently this year. Then you go back for the first day which is a teacher workday (even though your room is basically together from the days during the summer you have come up and worked), so you can add the finishing touches to the room and get things together. You are in and out of rooms, talking with coworkers and having a great time, thinking to yourself how wonderful it is to be a teacher. Then comes Day 2 with meetings and paperwork. At the end of Day 2, with day 3 looming, followed swiftly by Day 4 better known as the first day for kids and the rose colored glasses are coming off! You make out your schedule for the first day and realize that the special time you had thought out to have sitting with your kids and just talking about their expectations for the year is no where to be found. So you decide you will squeeze it in between other things, and that is when it hits you! All the things that you had forgotten about over the summer come rushing back to you. The days full of constant moving and teaching which is great, but when do you plan and prepare? oh yeah, I remember now, I'm supposed to do that after hours. That is when I'm now with my daughter. So then it is after she goes to bed and I'm also exhausted but still have things to do. But get it all done, we must!
As you can tell, my "Summer High" came down today. But after talking with Katherine I know she is right about one thing. We don't do this because it is a job, we do it because we are teaching children. That is all I need to tell myself to know that all the extra work and effort is worth it in the end.
Well, I think I've rambled quite enough today! Hopefully, I will make a difference this year! Right now, anything is still possible! =)