Slice of Life Day 26: A Mental Reset
I've been at the beach for four days. My brain and body are on beach time. It doesn't feel like a Monday night. My whole existence for the past several days has been one continuous Jimmy Buffett song... sandy toes and 5 o'clock all day! I was so timelessly floating that it didn't really occur to me until this afternoon as I was preparing to come home that I only have two and a half days until spring break (more beach time)!
So as I drove home by myself for the four hours between the beach and my house, I was mentally attempting to prepare. I need to be back in school mode tomorrow. My kids have a big project they've been working on (the We Didn't Start the Fire project I wrote about on Day 16. Updates coming soon...). Grade conferences will be tomorrow and Wednesday. Grades are due right after break. So there's a lot riding on my mindset! I can't keep drifting away to Margaritaville!
I was psyching myself up by thinking about the emails I received from my students while I was gone. They were so kind. Everyone who emailed me said they were missing me and ready for me to get back to class; that it's just not the same when I'm not there. It's what every teacher wants to hear, right? They've been working hard, and I feel guilty that I've been away at the beach goofing off (but not so guilty that I wouldn't go back in a heartbeat).
But there was one email that was different. We have also been doing a spoken word poetry bracket for March Madness, and when I checked my email at the house I had a shared doc from a student who was so inspired by the poetry we've been hearing that she wrote her own. So here's a kid who not only has worked on her assigned project, but has been inspired enough by what we are doing that she did extra work!
And just like that, my mental reset button clicked. I sat down and took out my laptop to write, comment on student work, check my email, and be a teacher once again. I am hoping she will give me permission to share what she wrote here. It was partially inspired by Rudy Francisco's Complainers and partly inspired by the March for Our Lives speeches, and it has the potential to be pretty amazing.
I am inspired by my students to be a better teacher, even when it's so tempting to Jimmy Buffett away into the sunset. My kids make me better. I hope your students do the same for you.
So as I drove home by myself for the four hours between the beach and my house, I was mentally attempting to prepare. I need to be back in school mode tomorrow. My kids have a big project they've been working on (the We Didn't Start the Fire project I wrote about on Day 16. Updates coming soon...). Grade conferences will be tomorrow and Wednesday. Grades are due right after break. So there's a lot riding on my mindset! I can't keep drifting away to Margaritaville!
I was psyching myself up by thinking about the emails I received from my students while I was gone. They were so kind. Everyone who emailed me said they were missing me and ready for me to get back to class; that it's just not the same when I'm not there. It's what every teacher wants to hear, right? They've been working hard, and I feel guilty that I've been away at the beach goofing off (but not so guilty that I wouldn't go back in a heartbeat).
But there was one email that was different. We have also been doing a spoken word poetry bracket for March Madness, and when I checked my email at the house I had a shared doc from a student who was so inspired by the poetry we've been hearing that she wrote her own. So here's a kid who not only has worked on her assigned project, but has been inspired enough by what we are doing that she did extra work!
And just like that, my mental reset button clicked. I sat down and took out my laptop to write, comment on student work, check my email, and be a teacher once again. I am hoping she will give me permission to share what she wrote here. It was partially inspired by Rudy Francisco's Complainers and partly inspired by the March for Our Lives speeches, and it has the potential to be pretty amazing.
I am inspired by my students to be a better teacher, even when it's so tempting to Jimmy Buffett away into the sunset. My kids make me better. I hope your students do the same for you.
It's always nice to know when a student connects with what we present to them. And it is a nice celebration that your student helped you shift into school mode.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have two wonderful worlds to transition between. Love it! Mark
ReplyDeleteIt's great that your students love and miss you when you are gone. That is the most wonderful feeling, and definitely a good way to bridge those two and a half days between beach trips!
ReplyDeleteEven though it is already Spring Break for me, I have some work to do, which honestly I have been dreading. I am hoping my "mental reset button" will click soon and I can get back into that teacher mode like you did. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's always a kid, I think, that helps us reset after a break. I hope you enjoyed your time away!
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