Flexibility

As a teacher some weeks you just have to be REALLY flexible. This past week we had a four day week. Now, I love having a day off, but then it sometimes causes the four-day week to be rather hectic. On top of a short week, we had a big fundraiser for our school which included a talent show. I love this event because we get to see all that talent we have in our school from Kindergarten through 12 grade. With this big program, students need to be pulled out to practice their portion of the entertainment. If you are a teacher you know that this really messes up your lesson plans. I have learned over the years that you just learn to bump things to the next week if necessary. I love having my lesson plan template on the computer, because then all I have to do is cut and paste to the next day. When I first started teaching, if I did not get done with everything that was in my lesson plans, it would really bother me. Or I would stress myself and my students and try to shove everything in so I would be done. I had a wise teacher tell me that it is not necessary to "finish the textbook". Yes, you need to push the students and stretch them to learn, but finishing the textbook is not a requirement. When I finally learned that, it made teaching a whole lot more fun! Embrace and enjoy the unexpected interruptions in your class!

Never a Dull Moment!

There never seems to be a dull moment when you teach. Just when you think you have time to take care of those "behind the scenes" details that make your lessons work so well, something happens and you find yourself dealing with another set of issues that were not expected. 
I teach at a small private school, so you have many duties that don't seem to be listed on your job description. Today was just one of those. We have a toilet that does not always want to cooperate. Today was one of those days. Upon opening the bathroom door, I hear water rushing and realize the floor is covered in water! Yikes! As I waded my way to the culprit, I finally get the water to stop running. I then make an SOS call to the front office hoping there is someone around who can mop up the whole mess. Luckily, there was and I can get back to the matter at hand.....which was?