february eleventh

today was just another day at the office.
the kids are giddy and ready to be on their break

We will have to hold off on my paper mache lesson until after break because of their giddiness, and mostly because we haven't gotten to a point in what needs to get done to do that lesson yet. It will be soon, but also it must be well planned. It's good that I get some extra time; it will give me some time to think about what I want a room to look like when I teach as well as prepare myself mentally.

I know that I want to teach, it's just not going to be easy that first time. Thrilling, but not easy at all.

Today I visited both Ms. Ohle's classes and Mr. Cohen's classes, both of which are filled with students ready to jump out of their skin with anxoiusness to sleep in, go skiing or go to the beach for the next week. I don't blame them it's just difficult to know what to do with all that giddiness. How do you turn the energy into something constructive for class? Short of taking your class bungee jumping, there's not much that can be done to salvage your students--the warp of winter vacation has already sucked them in. You could always take them outside, or have them write about what they're excited about. The vacation next week is the elephant in the room--you can ignore it, or you can channel it into something positive.