So, I have been thinking about creating a website/blog for a while. Thank to The Rona, I’ve had a ton of extra time on my hands. I decided to stop laying on the couch watching re-runs of Good Bones or pretty much anything else on HGTV or DIY and make this happen. I like to think that I’m funny sometimes. It may also come off as sarcasm. Nevertheless, I thought I was being funny by naming my blog Professional Development. After I post this, I will do a Google search and probably find out that this idea was not funny or witty. I was thinking about how I would sum up teaching in a picture and came up with this. It seems like we are glued to our computers or phones. This may not just be symptomatic of teachers, but I complete this routine every morning. When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is check my phone and look at emails that may have trickled in since I went to bed. Opening the app is like playing Russian Roulette. What am I going to see - An email from a parent about their child who should deserve to turn in something late (even though they have had ample time)? An email about some dumb PD that teachers are being required to complete? Am I going to wake up to messages on from Remind from a student at 2:30 AM incensed that I haven’t responded to their previous messages that they started sending around midnight about an assignment due that day? I don’t know about you, but during the school year, I turn into a pumpkin at about 9 PM. We sometimes just want to sound off and let it all out because we have had a truly awful day. Was it the fact that we had one of many drills that continuously interrupts instruction time? You name it, I feel like we have them: fire drills, tornado drills, active shooter drills? Trying to get kids back on task is like herding cats. Was it the argument that I had with some random kid who I caught vaping in the hallway? I mean there are just so many scenarios. But guess what? Sometimes that gets balanced out by the really good things. It could be something so simple that makes my heart swell or crack a smile so wide you would think that I won a raffle for a spa day. There have been mornings when I have opened up my email to find something from a former student who just wanted to let me know that I had made a positive impact on their life all these years ago. Sometimes there are nice emails from parents. Seriously, little things can make a teacher happy. Finally, happy hour - a phrase that I feel a teacher must have coined. Yeap, people joke, but head out to your local Chili’s (Post-Rona) at about 4 PM on a Friday. Take stock of who you see, it’s most likely a bunch of educators there for the 2 for 1 drinks. Teachers are always all over the drink specials. And instead of talking about something other than teaching, you guessed it; we are talking, cursing, yelling, laughing about our week. If it’s payday we might be even more rambunctious. We need that camaraderie. Sometimes I would not make it without the support from my crew. If you think about it, we spend more time at work with these people, than we do at home with our families (sleeping doesn’t count). If you are lucky enough to have a crew, you will see that they do their best to lift you up and watch your back throughout the school day. Those pictures are teaching in a nutshell. Class Dismissed!
