The other night I had a dream that I was a substitute teacher in an elementary school. The teacher who left must have been the most amazing teacher on the planet. My dream lasted the span of multiple days in class and, yes, I was only asleep for a few hours. I'm pretty sure we went on a field trip to a creek nearby and saw a snake but none of the kids were bit or drowned so I felt successful. Unfortunately, when we go back to this classroom, which was just a really weird room isolated from every other classroom at this dream school, I overheard one of the little boys tell another kid that his teacher had said I would be good, but I wasn't.
BOOM. Wake up right then. WHAT?!?!?!? How do these types of dreams happen?? I don't know but I'm sure that I'll have about a million more before students show up in my classroom next week. For now, I will just prepare myself for time spent in my room decorating. Which for me means hanging up enough pictures of myself that students realize I have a life outside of school but I still have a job. I'll do a few bulletin boards for their learning benefit too. I'll have time spent in meetings on new initiatives and new ideas and new things that the school district is doing that we are all figuring out how to use after we yell at the technology specialist at the school on why our printer is not working. I'll get the list of my students and some names I will recognize but most I will not and I will wonder if they like me or if they know me already or if they have brothers or sisters or if, if, if, if...
But you know what? Tonight is my last official night of non-freedom/freedom because I start work tomorrow. Promptly, my staff breakfast will begin at 7:30 am. I will have been awake for about 2.5 hours by then and should surely have enough caffeine and sugar in my system to last me for the 3 hours of morning meetings. So tonight, I will write a blog, stare at the ceiling, wonder what I've forgotten, yell at Facebook because I can't beat this level of Candy Crush and I'll use all my extra lives that have been sent to me, and then I'll attempt to sleep but probably wake up nauseous because I just seem to do that these days.
Here's to a new school year. Meetings, new co-workers, coffee trucks and classroom decorations. New ideas, gift card giveaways, teaching students how to make posters, and making kids cry. Here's to celebrating successes, birthdays, promotions, and overcoming obstacles. Here's to moving mountains, watching mountains move, speaking English to my sweet Anthony with the biggest grin on his face and morning talks with my boys this year. Jokes, practical jokes, observations and visitors, and me giving the death stare to someone who says something ridiculous to me. Here's to sarcasm and kindness, compassion and fear, and another school year for the books where I can make a student laugh, smile, be kind, and show leadership.
I'm probably not going to sleep without normal teacher nightmares or wondering where I put my dry erase markers, but regardless, I'm ready for a routine and I'm excited to see my new and old kids.
Happy school year! -Melis
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