Émilie

…and week …and school year.  (If you don’t recognize the reference to a certain marvelous children’s book, I pity your lacking childhood.)

Alright, so as marvelous as it feels to slander my entire experience as a first-year teacher, I have to admit that the few golden moments should not be overshadowed by the fact that these last few days before spring break have been some of the most miserable in my life.  I hate my job.  For now at least.

We’ve had some rainy days this week which means indoor recess, and I’m not sure how you could possibly measure who hates this condition more: the students or the teachers.  The kids go nuts, and it’s bad for all involved.  However, I decided to pull a copy of The BFG by Roald Dahl out of the trunk of my car.  (Hey–you can’t deny that this is a handy thing for an elementary school teacher to have at all times.)  I drew on some of my long unused dramatic flair to bring the book to life, and I got several kids hooked, which pretty much made my day.

Similarly on Monday I was so miserably and deliriously tired by the last period of the day (3rd grade math), that while trying to do a brief review of addition and subtraction rules for large numbers,  I randomly pulled out this crazy old Transylvanian/Italian/witch lady accent.  (I am not suggesting that there are any elderly women of this mixed origin, but more that I went with the flow, and the kids thought it was hilarious.)  Suddenly, addition and subtraction became the most interesting and engaging lesson I’d taught in a long time.  I had the absolute attention of every child, and my weakest student became very helpful as old lady Mays insisted that she was “not-a so goood with-a beeg numbers” and could she please promise me that subtraction would not be too hard.  It wasn’t.

So I guess that even with no support, no materials or curriculum that it’s possible to have fun sometimes.

I kicked ass yesterday! I had one of those (regretfully common) days where I felt like everything at my job prevented me from doing my job: teaching. However, I was running around the school like a chicken with my head cut off getting lots of clerical teachery stuff done. Despite the fact that I am “not allowed” to be the team leader for 3rd/4th/5th grade, we still don’t have one, and I seem to be falling into that role if for no other reason than to reduce the chaos which reigns on our hallway. I am still devoid of confidence in my teaching abilities, but at least I’m a good leader.

Actually, I did a clever thing in my 3rd grade math class yesterday, too. I hadn’t even done a lesson plan, but I guess I was already on a roll. Unfortunately it’s too visual to explain here, so I can’t brag about it. The EC teacher (Exceptional Children) did at least say that it was so neat and creative that I should patent the idea. It’s kind of her job to get excited over people’s small successes, but I still appreciate the compliment from a colleague.