Sunday, September 7, 2014

Back in the Saddle Again; or, Some New for the Old (that's me)

Time does stand still sometimes at GTMO.

Did you hear that Philip Seymour Hoffman died?

You know, the actor who died waaay back in Feb?

In case you've been in a coma, come to GTMO and check out the most recent Entertainment Weekly magazine here---it's the "latest" edition all about what happened.

There are several other magazines from February currently on the stands. And yes, they are selling for full price.

Other times, time zooms by. I can't believe that a) summer is over and b) weekends go by at warp speed, thanks to my new job duties this year.

I'm back in the teaching saddle again.

It's been a little rough.

The teaching part has, thankfully, been great.

It's just me that's falling apart.

Just keep swimming. . . A day at the beach, earlier this year. 
I have a pattern in my life that goes something life this: exhaustion leads to frustration, frustration leads to anger. 

In the middle of that is illness. 

I've been exhausted with the start of a new year, new preps, new schedule, new routines. 

I first found myself with a full fledged cold---exhaustion, moldy room, and/or germy kids I'm sure had something to do with it.  I ended up going to the ER for my cold---it sounds silly until you realize that I couldn't take off work the first few days for a dr. appointment, so the ER it was. Thankfully you can still get Sudafed in GTMO (as long as you go through a doctor), and I am finally feeling better. 

I was also feeling frustrated (leading to anger) over having to spend so much time at work instead of with my family, that I went for some backyard therapy and pulled, yanked, and cursed at weeds for a good 2 hours until I felt much better. 

This sounds great until the yanking, combined with many nights bolting upright coughing in bed, resulted in a back that was completely out of whack. That's not the doctor's diagnosis, because, well, there's that whole not-taking-off-work-at-the-beginning-of-the-year thing. . . But whatever I did hurt worse than back labor, and that's saying something. I have finally recuperated and I'm holding my breath that I'm healthy from here on out.

What's different about this year isn't just that I'm getting older and crabbier. It's that there are more hours required than I have in a day for work. 

Unfortunately, teaching isn't just teaching. That's just a small part of the job. There's the prep. 

I've been known to spend 2 hours or more putting together a 30 minute lesson. This seems stupid until you realize that a skill learned in 30 minutes can be used for a lifetime. The payoff is huge, if you plan and execute your plan just right. 

I'm teaching five preps of English after six years out of the classroom. I have very little resources, being that a) I moved here to be a librarian, thus not bringing many teacher resources, and there are very few here; and b) I am the only person teaching my preps IN THE ENTIRE DISTRICT. (Did you catch that?  We are the only high school in our district, so I have no colleagues for collaboration). Imagine now doing this for five classes, every week for 180+ days. 

I'm so exhausted, I'm frustrated, and I'm trying so hard not to get angry. 

I don't like being angry. I don't like not being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

But it's been difficult to not get angry when I am exhausted AND sick at the same time. 

My version of the pic above---done when I should have been doing lesson plans. 
Why am I falling apart? 

I could go on and on with being a martyr/mother/teacher, but there is some good that makes me realize that this, too, shall pass. 

There's the husband who has cooked dinner almost every single night since school started. He's packed lunches, walked a boy to the bus every morning, made sure a teenager is where he needs to be after school, and barely bats an eye anymore because, bless his heart, he's had to live with this for 21 years now. He knows the drill---I will be completely and totally worthless at home for the next month or so. (Hopefully less than that). 

There's the neighbor who greeted me at my first night back to work and said, "I know you are exhausted from your first day back, so I cooked you supper." 

Seriously. And she's done it again since. 

Then there are the kids. Not my amazing birth-children, but my student-children. 

There are the less than 3 weeks of school and I've already heard these comments:

"I think it's a hyper-bowl." (nope, that's a hyperbole: hy-PER-bo-le)

"I miss you in the li-berry." 

"Christopher Columbus was a sick bastard." 

"Miss, Miss. . . " (some teachers get offended when kids call them "Miss," but it's a sign of respect in several countries/cultures, and I find it rather endearing). 

*snicker snicker* "She said 'diction!!' Dick-tion!!!" *snicker snicker

(I won't even go into the inappropriateness that accompanied our unit on DIDLS. Yes, the unfortunate acronym is pronounced "diddles"). 

. . . and my personal favorite (directed partially at me): 
"All white people are crazy." 

I'm so impressed. It usually takes 2-3 months for kids to say these things. If one bursts out with, "You forgot to brush your hair this morning, didn't you?" I know that I've reached them all. 

2 comments:

  1. I hope you are feeling better. I admire & envy your wanderlust & your painting skills!

    ReplyDelete

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