Ode to Teachers

Last Thursday was Back to School Night. Not that there haven't been Back to School Night's in my life before (and with birth being as emminent as it is) there will probably be many more in my life to come. What made this Back to School Night so special was that my role was that of the teacher. Quite the unique perspective.


Due to that experience, I have a very real and urgent desire to contact all of my teachers from elementary school and just THANK them profusely for all of the work that they put into their students. I never knew how hard it was to simply put together a classroom!


Recipe for elementary school classroom:

- Chocolate to fortify myself

- Multiple bulletin board backdrops / backgrounds (butcher paper, fabric, scrapbook paper, etc.)

- More chocolate to help me stay on task

- Bulletin board borders (more than you need because you have to cover top, bottom, and sides)

- Items to place ON bulletin boards (it all needs to be content related...)

- Chocolate ice cream to keep my sanity

- Physically arranging desks (what to do with extra desks, how to arrange, etc.)

- Physically arranging the chocolate in my desk in order to consume quicker

- Name tags for desks (writing names, covering name tags with contact paper)

- Make sure the chocolate in my desk isn't lonely (which it will be - so eat it to keep it company)

- Setting up class library (labeling my books, labeling school books, book club books, inventory)
- Arranging word wall (punching out alphabet letters, spacing them on board, etc.)

- Helping the friends of chocolate feel better by eating them too

- Student cubby holes

- Finish by eating chocolate to celebrate being done! (well, semi-done therefore semi-sweet chocolate)



As you can see, if you bothered to even read that LOOOOOONG list, there is a ton of work to do in order to get ready. That doesn't even mention all of the faculty meetings, team meetings, preparation for lesson plans, working with special education teams for students that have IEP's (individual education plans) within my class, etc., etc., etc.



The life of a teacher is CRAZY! :)



On this - Sunday evening - I am now faced with the last night of not having taught my own public education class. I am feeling very anxious and very excited. Very confident and VERY unsure of myself. In our first faculty meeting each teacher was to introduce him or herself with a title from a book/movie/song/etc... I ended up choosing "What to Expect When You're Expecting" because I feel like that sums up my life pretty well right now!



A) Expecting a child (HUGE EXPECTATION - not even including the physical hugeness...)

B) Expectations for this coming school year

C) Expectations for more chocolate cravings (can you tell where my mind REALLY is? :) )

D) Expectations of myself as a mother

E) Expectations of myself as a child of God

F) Expectations of myself as a wife

G) Etc., Etc., Etc., Etc...



Ok. This post feels jumbled and disconnected. I think it's because it's taken me about 3 days to write. So, I'm going to close now with an excited 'Adieu' as I get ready to head over with my husband to some friends house to play card games. :)

For better or for worse: this is my post. :)