at loose ends
As a teacher, this is a great time of year. School is over!!! All the problem children who have pushed every button and tap-danced across my last nerve are gone, now. I teach seniors, and all but one has graduated. That one will attend summer school, and I will not be teaching it (my saying is, when asked if I am teaching summer school, that I put them there, I don't teach them there.) So this is a time for self-evaluation. Problem is, I am so tired and I have been doing this for so long (next fall will be my eighth year) that I am worried that I am stagnating. I think I am doing a good job. After all, the students generally don't fall asleep in class, and none of them outright say that there is no point to what I am teaching (any more.) I only failed 1 out of 125 students, which is much better than the 25-30% I used to fail. Only one student failed my mid-term or finals. Most students turned in their projects. Most students do their homework.
Is the fact that this year went so well because of my experience and ability to adapt work for my classes and students, or did I just have a particularly good group of students? I guess I will have to wait until this time next year to answer that, but I am nervous for the fall. I am teaching three subjects, one of them new, and- thanks to motherhood- have essentially no time to do work at home. Plus my health issues, which can complicate things at any time.
Well, I just need to ignore all that until August, because I am now home with my two difficult yet wonderful daughters, and my niece (who's a year older than my oldest) for the duration of the summer, save two weeks of vacation. I am planning on running my house like the pre-school my kids attend, because the eldest 1) loves it there, 2) likes to play Pre-school at Home, and 3) needs to be kept constantly busy to keep me sane. This is the first summer I will be home with them; normally I still have so much going on that they stay in day care year round. But trying to save money for private school tuition in a year is good motivation to try something new. Tomorrow, the eldest is helping me set up Pre-School at Home, and my niece won't be joining us until next week. I guess I can ease into it. Problem is, I teach high-school for a reason. Most parents are terrified of the teen-age years; I feel more comfortable dealing with teenagers than snotty-nosed, temper-tantruming, need-to-wipe-their-butts 0 through 5 year olds.
On the bright side, the eldest new hobby is board games like Candy Land and Hi-Ho Cherrio, so I may not have to dress up like a princess and dance and sing silly songs to keep her happy. The youngest is growing like a weed, and is much more of a terror than the eldest was at her age. Well, terror in a different way. The eldest was a drama queen, throwing extended attention-grabbing temper tantrums every where and anywhere, the more public and embarrassing the better. This one is quiet, and intent, and mechanically inclined. Less than two, and she can turn the TV off and on and the volume up or down, on demand. At my aunt's house yesterday, she decided that the police scanner in the living room (off, now that my EMT cousin no longer EMTs or lives at home) was more fun than the toys. Anything that has buttons (like the blender in our kitchen) must be pushed. She even defeated child-proof cabinet locks!!!
All in all, the summer should be an experience. Hopefully, I will have time to write. Original fiction and finish up some fan-fic. I hope. I pray.
I'll try.
Is the fact that this year went so well because of my experience and ability to adapt work for my classes and students, or did I just have a particularly good group of students? I guess I will have to wait until this time next year to answer that, but I am nervous for the fall. I am teaching three subjects, one of them new, and- thanks to motherhood- have essentially no time to do work at home. Plus my health issues, which can complicate things at any time.
Well, I just need to ignore all that until August, because I am now home with my two difficult yet wonderful daughters, and my niece (who's a year older than my oldest) for the duration of the summer, save two weeks of vacation. I am planning on running my house like the pre-school my kids attend, because the eldest 1) loves it there, 2) likes to play Pre-school at Home, and 3) needs to be kept constantly busy to keep me sane. This is the first summer I will be home with them; normally I still have so much going on that they stay in day care year round. But trying to save money for private school tuition in a year is good motivation to try something new. Tomorrow, the eldest is helping me set up Pre-School at Home, and my niece won't be joining us until next week. I guess I can ease into it. Problem is, I teach high-school for a reason. Most parents are terrified of the teen-age years; I feel more comfortable dealing with teenagers than snotty-nosed, temper-tantruming, need-to-wipe-their-butts 0 through 5 year olds.
On the bright side, the eldest new hobby is board games like Candy Land and Hi-Ho Cherrio, so I may not have to dress up like a princess and dance and sing silly songs to keep her happy. The youngest is growing like a weed, and is much more of a terror than the eldest was at her age. Well, terror in a different way. The eldest was a drama queen, throwing extended attention-grabbing temper tantrums every where and anywhere, the more public and embarrassing the better. This one is quiet, and intent, and mechanically inclined. Less than two, and she can turn the TV off and on and the volume up or down, on demand. At my aunt's house yesterday, she decided that the police scanner in the living room (off, now that my EMT cousin no longer EMTs or lives at home) was more fun than the toys. Anything that has buttons (like the blender in our kitchen) must be pushed. She even defeated child-proof cabinet locks!!!
All in all, the summer should be an experience. Hopefully, I will have time to write. Original fiction and finish up some fan-fic. I hope. I pray.
I'll try.