No Joking Matter

Let me just get one thing out there- Teaching is No Joking Matter.

Teaching is hard. Last week was one of the longest, most difficult weeks in memory. I didn't do the things I needed to do to have control of my classroom; as such, I had no control over my classroom. I teach two classes. One class I have for math, and the other I have for homeroom, math, and social studies. With one group of students, I didn't have any problems- they were super cooperative and on top of the work we did. The other group struggled. I think I didn't provide enough structure. I know I wasn't consistent.

It was such a hard week. I dreaded coming back to school. What do I know about anything to do with teaching? I didn't want to come back to New Orleans. I am struggling. Why am I here? I wasn't really a benefit to my students last week. I wasn't able to share how much I believed in them, how much I wanted them to succeed. I was struggling to get through.

Fast forward to today, and we have a different story. I had a meeting with a couple of people, retooled my management plan, and Friday and Monday have been two much better days. We learned things, we talked a lot, and we actually moved smoothly. Today, I was able to have some conversations that I considered incredibly productive. We talked about the future, and how we need to start thinking about it now. I want to continue to have that conversation so that my students begin to realize that they have to protect the time they have. They have to police themselves.

My voice is gone, I'm super tired, and I am still not totally situated. But at least today was a huge improvement!