AuburnChick's Adventures

What do you get when you mix the following ingredients:  a return to the classroom after two days of substitutes, desks that have been rearranged into neat columns and rows for the ACT test that was administered in your classroom, half-finished projects, an “invisible” guided reading table buried beneath tons of papers, and PMS?

The makings for a stressful morning, that’s what!

Oh my word.

Talk about having a Monday!

After rearranging my desks into groups of five, I barely had time to erase last week’s instructions from the white board before my first period class came in.

It was not the easiest class period, but I did the best I could.

I lost my composure, though, when Barbara came in during my planning and commented on the state of my table.

Oy, but I felt so overwhelmed.

You see, that table represented the status of my brain…buried under mounds of work that needs to be tended to.

I simply must learn to keep my emotions in check, though, because Barb is a worrywart.  She is a people person and has a deep desire to fix all of the wrongs in the world.

She’s wonderful, and she usually manages to fix most of the wrongs that cross her path.

I don’t want to worry her, though.  She’s an amazing friend to have, and I’m blessed.

So, I found my way to her office, apologized for my meltdown, and made my way to my classroom, where I sucked it up.

I plowed my way through those piles of paper and called her into my classroom.

She laughed when I showed her my table.

It was clean.

I wish I’d remembered to take a picture of it, but my hormone-infused brain simply forgot.

That could be because I was toting two bags of exams and projects when I left.

Before I left, though, my mentor teacher stopped by and asked if I would “allow” her to come into one of my classes this week and model a Kagan strategy.

I wanted to laugh.

Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I’m fairly certain that I did…out of relief, mind you.

“Honey,” I wanted to say, “You can come model (i.e. teach) in my classroom any time!”

Truth be told, I still lack confidence in my teaching skills, and I welcome any opportunity to watch a pro in action.  That’s how I learn best.

So, what started out as a morning primed for disaster turned into something manageable, thanks to the concern and care of friends.

Still, I think that next Monday, I’ll make sure that my pot is full of different ingredients…stuff like organized lesson plans, copies already made, and an attitude ready to handle the unexpected pitfalls that inevitably accompany Mondays.

Filed under: Teaching | Tagged: Mondays, teaching |