But...but I just got good at sleeping in
And now school starts
Of course teachers don’t have summers off. We’re prepping, hosting summer camps, reading, trying to stay current on best teaching practices and attending (reluctantly) the rare summer Zoom meeting.
But people say we don’t have summer off probably because — unlike them — we don’t have to get up and get dressed for most of that. So we are allowed to let things go — maybe grow a beard, stop shaving our legs, or both. My special skill is that within the last couple of weeks, I got good at staying in bed past 7 a.m.
I am, by nature, an early riser because somewhere in my cosmic past are chickens that must be fed, I guess. It is weird to lie in but I got to where I kind of liked it. Sometimes, I just read until I got hungry for breakfast. That, to me, is pretty decadent.
My lying in worked for a few days, but then I entered the pre-semester jitters, compounded by a case of bronchitis I’ve been dragging around like a tail for what feels like three years. I haven’t been able to go onto campus to introduce myself to my new classroom, so their technology this morning will be new to me. Earlier this month, I made a trip in to drop off the big stuff (a 12-pack of Dr Pepper, a lamp, and a plant) so at least my little fridge is turned on and my plant is on the bookshelf.
But that crap is temporal. First impressions are so important in a classroom, so I was fretting over how ignorant I will be of the technology, and wishing I had been able to wander on to campus to get orientated, but doctor’s orders, I stayed on the couch and away from people.
I didn’t grow up a teacher, and I so admire people who waltz into a classroom and make magic. Me? I need to take a run at it, get my game face on, check the wires to make sure I don’t plummet to the floor. Teaching (to me) is a bit of a performance, where I’m projecting a confidence I don’t necessarily feel at the first of the semester. Knowing my surroundings helps.
And then I had two email exchanges with students checking in on various things, and their enthusiasm and general hopefulness flipped a switch. You know what? I’m ready. If I stumble over the technology, I will make a joke about it and then I will figure it out, in real-time.
And yes. It’s going to be a great year.
My sister was someone who started waking up earlier in the beginning of August, so she would be ready. What she did, though, was do her high school first quarter curricula for the 3 different courses IN BED. So she'd wake up, give herself breakfast in bed, then work there, comfy, nightgowned and revelling in that 'til she had to, oh, start getting up and preparing for her workdays that began at 6:30. Here's to teachers of ALL grade levels! To you who love sparking something in your students that inspires them to fly.
While I only served a few teaching assignments as a substitute in the school system I graduated from in Wethersfield I agree that teaching is "performance" and the better teachers from my experience we the better performers as they garnered my attention. You will once again rise to the occasion and give your students a bravo performance...Godspeed!