January

I decided to turn this monthly post into sort of a status update on my teaching career (for those who are following).

I think I am starting to enjoy teaching. Last semester, I worked really, really hard and didn't get much out of it. For the bulk of the time I was always behind on grading, I rarely made parental calls, I didn't sleep well at night because I was either working or thinking about the next thing that had to be done.

The biggest change is that I've chilled out a lot. I've accepted that some things will never happen. For example, I will never make some people in my building happy. I'm OK with that. I realized that I was not responsible for making my kids be responsible--for brining their books, homework, and supplies to class. I could only offer rewards and consequences. Carrying the whole world on my back is not my responsibility.

The big leap for me was finally controlling things I could control. For example, I try to plan lessons out two weeks in advance (one prep is already planned until Spring Break) and I grade papers as soon as I get them. It is so easy to get behind and I am working hard not to fall into trap. In my classroom, I make an effort to make every second of time count--building on my efficiency from last semester.

My class management is not the best but it is getting better. I have more rewards (tickets are the greatest things ever) and I am making a conscious effort to be more consistent.

The glaring weak spot seems to be my personal life (or lack thereof). At some point I will make my life be about something more than teaching and talking to my friends (almost all of whom are teachers) about teaching. I'm kind of hoping that this situation resolves itself.

Here's hoping that I can build on January's progress in February.