Day 323- Teacher Work Day
I adore my students. I really do. However, it's quite nice to occasionally get some time at school without them. Enter Teacher Work Day.
The Setting- I spent most of the day in my classroom by myself (but with the door open, of course). I developed the most soothing and wonderful playlist filled with James Morrison, Maxwell, Howie Day, and other take it easy kind of favorites. If you are not familiar with James Morrison, you must immediately get yourself some James Morrison lovin'. I would suggest starting with "This Boy."
My Accomplishments- Boards cleaned. Desk completely and totally cleared off and cleaned off. Many papers filed and bookshelf organized. Informal department meeting. Mentor meeting. Much needed lesson planning and grading done or in progress. Possible novel selected for next semester/year. Lunch eaten casually, rather than scarfed quickly. Other small yet important activities.
Major Accomplishment- I took a deep breath. Although I only got about 10/20 items done from my to-do list, it sure did feel good... especially after I cleaned all of my fake white boards off and inhaled fumes that I probably shouldn't have.
Results- I feel organized and prepared to take on the next few weeks. I also think I have freed myself up a bit of time to really start to tackle a huge project that I am working on launching at school. Hopefully I will have good news about this before Day 365.
Unintentionally Funny Answers Found While Grading Papers Today (this could really be a whole book if I compiled all of them... these are just from today)-
We have been talking about mood as it pertains to poetry. One student, in response to why a poem was good, said, "This poem really gets me in the mood."
There was another question where students were asked to draw what they thought of when they listened to a poem. One student drew a picture labeled, "Big house, big knockers." She meant door knockers, of course. That didn't stop the eighth grade boy in me from having a big ol' laugh by myself. Perhaps those fumes got to me a little more than I originally thought.
Thank you, Teacher Work Day, you made my day.
The Setting- I spent most of the day in my classroom by myself (but with the door open, of course). I developed the most soothing and wonderful playlist filled with James Morrison, Maxwell, Howie Day, and other take it easy kind of favorites. If you are not familiar with James Morrison, you must immediately get yourself some James Morrison lovin'. I would suggest starting with "This Boy."
My Accomplishments- Boards cleaned. Desk completely and totally cleared off and cleaned off. Many papers filed and bookshelf organized. Informal department meeting. Mentor meeting. Much needed lesson planning and grading done or in progress. Possible novel selected for next semester/year. Lunch eaten casually, rather than scarfed quickly. Other small yet important activities.
Major Accomplishment- I took a deep breath. Although I only got about 10/20 items done from my to-do list, it sure did feel good... especially after I cleaned all of my fake white boards off and inhaled fumes that I probably shouldn't have.
Results- I feel organized and prepared to take on the next few weeks. I also think I have freed myself up a bit of time to really start to tackle a huge project that I am working on launching at school. Hopefully I will have good news about this before Day 365.
Unintentionally Funny Answers Found While Grading Papers Today (this could really be a whole book if I compiled all of them... these are just from today)-
We have been talking about mood as it pertains to poetry. One student, in response to why a poem was good, said, "This poem really gets me in the mood."
There was another question where students were asked to draw what they thought of when they listened to a poem. One student drew a picture labeled, "Big house, big knockers." She meant door knockers, of course. That didn't stop the eighth grade boy in me from having a big ol' laugh by myself. Perhaps those fumes got to me a little more than I originally thought.
Thank you, Teacher Work Day, you made my day.
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