I love Mondays. They are loud, a little bit crazy, and always exciting. My students are tapping their feet, their are sharpening their pencils and asking a million questions about what we are doing this week and when are we going to get to do this really cool thing? The noise can be kind of intimidating to cut through but then you realize that it is excitement, not just chatter, and it becomes a different beast to maneuver altogether.
Today, I was boring, though. I had my lessons planned, even with discussion questions, extra surprises and movie clips. And yet, I fell flat. During social studies, where I was teaching the writing of the Constitution, I yawned. And you know if the teacher is bored, then imagine what the students feel. So I stopped. I put the book down that I was reading aloud and then asked them what questions they had. A little bit of perking up. Then I asked them to write on the board everything they knew about the office of the president, some motion and activity. Then I started to drone on again - moment lost.
I don't know what it was today. I had a long night with my daughter with croup, my mind is heavy with the scary legislation vote looming over us, and I didn't take the time to think this morning. I have a pretty set morning routine where I get in 1 hour and 15 min early, turn on my music, jam to that while I clean, pull out, discuss, give hugs to colleagues and just focus. Today I had no music, ran around, got visited by students early, stopped by a great Valentines Day breakfast and just spoke a lot of politics By the time the bell rang, I was ready physically not mentally.
And what a difference that makes! All day I played catch up, tried to find my brain - it must be around somewhere - and just made it through. That is not what teaching is supposed to be like; surviving. So I wonder; what do others do when the lesson isn't working? Do you throw it out? Stop and do something else entirely or just lumber through it? I felt I robbed a great moment in history from my students today, something that I cannot get back. So when your brain disappears and the day just seems to happen to you, what do you do to put it back on track?
I, for one, am going to bed early, charging my Ipod, getting my red shirt ready (all union workers are wearing red to show unity this week) and packing chocolate in my lunch tomorrow. I will not let my students down like this again.
Today, I was boring, though. I had my lessons planned, even with discussion questions, extra surprises and movie clips. And yet, I fell flat. During social studies, where I was teaching the writing of the Constitution, I yawned. And you know if the teacher is bored, then imagine what the students feel. So I stopped. I put the book down that I was reading aloud and then asked them what questions they had. A little bit of perking up. Then I asked them to write on the board everything they knew about the office of the president, some motion and activity. Then I started to drone on again - moment lost.
I don't know what it was today. I had a long night with my daughter with croup, my mind is heavy with the scary legislation vote looming over us, and I didn't take the time to think this morning. I have a pretty set morning routine where I get in 1 hour and 15 min early, turn on my music, jam to that while I clean, pull out, discuss, give hugs to colleagues and just focus. Today I had no music, ran around, got visited by students early, stopped by a great Valentines Day breakfast and just spoke a lot of politics By the time the bell rang, I was ready physically not mentally.
And what a difference that makes! All day I played catch up, tried to find my brain - it must be around somewhere - and just made it through. That is not what teaching is supposed to be like; surviving. So I wonder; what do others do when the lesson isn't working? Do you throw it out? Stop and do something else entirely or just lumber through it? I felt I robbed a great moment in history from my students today, something that I cannot get back. So when your brain disappears and the day just seems to happen to you, what do you do to put it back on track?
I, for one, am going to bed early, charging my Ipod, getting my red shirt ready (all union workers are wearing red to show unity this week) and packing chocolate in my lunch tomorrow. I will not let my students down like this again.
