Were kids up late for the Super Bowl?
Are they tired of the cold, wet, dark weather?
Did they go to a weekend sleepover?
Are they fighting an illness?
It was a tough teaching day. A really tough teaching day--a day when many students were off task and not doing what they were supposed to do.
It's also a time of year when I feel enormous pressure to meet standards, and due to many, many factors there are large numbers of students to serve and not too much extra help.
What's a teacher to do?
First when you get exasperated, you first have to remind yourself that it's not worth it to get all worked up as that does no one any good. When you feel pushed to your limit and beyond, it's probably true that the expectations are more than the hours in the day or the hands available.
When you have a day like this, you know it's time to simplify the teaching/learning menu, tighten up the rules and expectations a bit, and focus on the greatest priorities. Educators are not superhuman and we can't fix every problem.
Tomorrow we'll review the rules yet again, and I'll simplify the learning day. I don't exactly know why the students are less focused and more rambunctious right now, but they are, and that means a simpler, more structured day will be better. Onward.
