October 09, 2007
Is it the weekend yet?
On Friday at 3pm, I got to my mailbox and see that there are people who are coming to my room to watch me do a lesson 4 or 5th period for like 15 minutes today. I knew they couldn’t come in 4th period because that is lunch. So I stress out all weekend with that I’m going to do. I figure out the math lesson, but I still need to make copies and put manipulatives together and get the charts together. So I get to school at 7:20am. I get stuff together until 8am, when my kids come in. I then spend my entire lunch period stressing out and getting the rest of it together. THEY NEVER SHOW!!! Actually they do show, while my kids are at lunch. I thought they were coming back, but they didn’t. So no big deal, my lesson was amazing and I have more crap to put up on the walls. It’s better that they didn’t show. I don’t particularly want someone watching me teach or asking me questions about what I am doing or how I assess the kids. It’s just frustrating that I was stressing out over nothing.
So I stay at work late. I make up sub plans because my staff developer will be here tomorrow and I am working with him first and second period according to the schedule. I also found out today that I am going to Columbia University on Thursday for a workshop. So I need to leave plans for that as well. I also put up the work that my class did during math which came out amazing. I get my stuff together and I go to the office getting ready to leave. Oh no...wait...my principal needs to speak with me. UGH!!!!!!!!!!! Apparently she wants this guy who didn’t come to my room today for math to come to my room tomorrow for writing. It’s not really to see me though, or so she says. She wants him to see how the SETTS teacher works with one of my kids in writing. This is going to be a disaster. I told her that was fine, but it was just going to be a lesson on collecting ideas or writing an entry in our notebooks trying to get more stories down. She said it was fine. Now I have to look over my notes and figure out exactly the way I want to teach the lesson.
It’s amazing the things that go on in a school. I really don’t need this extra stress when I have kids in my class that can’t read or write. I don’t need people coming into my room stressing me and the kdis out. I really just want to be left alone. This extra crap is not about teaching. It ends up taking away from what I do in my day and takes away from the teaching.