After class I felt charged with ideas and the reality that I had said I was going to do quite a few things that I had not gotten around to yet. So after I dropped off Nik I headed out to Barnum. Of course no one was there but the janitor agreed to get me in through the old home ec room. Of course they are waxing! He asked me how long I was going to be there and laughed when I answered till 4 or 5 most likely.” Kid, why do you work so hard… no one’s here… the kids don’t know… not even the new boss is working yet?”… I smiled and said well I have masters and a lot of new ideas. With that we left me to do my work.
I made the cut outs for the new quote on the old black chalk board that says, “ALL THINKING BEGINS WITH WONDER!” I made the attendance smart board lists for all classes so as the students come in they can “swipe themselves --present” (thanks Nikki A—elementary teachers are so crafty) I made the various grouping strategies that I had not finished in class on Sunday and a set of popsicle sticks for each for each hour to use for random calling. None of these things were URGENT and none of them I would have HAD to DO… but to be a better teacher and use some of the new strategies I want to I felt I needed to get them out of the way so they are ready to go. I worked on two other bulletin boards one for questioning/prompts and one for current events called “In the News”. Again not urgent… just new ideas come to life.
As I was leaving… so was the janitor. He asked… “did you get it all done… are you ready to go?” I smiled again and asked… do you think I will be able to get into my room on Wednesday? Later that night I was reading my assigned book for the book study… “Leading by Soul.” I have a June birthday so it was not my pick but it was meant to be. It’s good. It speaks to me. Buried in the text was a quote that said, “Work is love made visible.”That’s what I should have told the janitor! Next time. J I work hard because I love my job. I work hard because I love the kids. I work hard because teaching is my gift. It satisfies my soul.
Your enthusiasm is inspiring! I think that I may have said that to you before, but after reading this I feel motivated to go in and work on stuff in my own room. I finally have all of my material moved into the new room and next week will hopefully get everything into its place. I am so excited to be able to use some of the ideas that we have all been sharing. Good for you to work on some of the small things a little at a time...It is so easy to forget about them! Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteI have a starboard. Curious to know how you do the smartboard swipe yourself in attendance gig.
ReplyDelete