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03 March 2015

Three is a Magic Number

Hmmm...third times the charm OR three strikes and you're out?  This is my third attempt to start a post.  THIS IS IT!  Whether it is a charm or a strike out.  I am not starting over.

I have been getting my house back together since guests left yesterday after being with us a little over two weeks.  Whew!  I wish I could quantify there trip for you.  Here are my best guesstimates:

16 days
10 people in the house
4 Mardi Gras parades
1 Mardi Gras ball
37 stuffed animals and 50 pounds of beads
2 trips to Bourbon street
1 trip to the outlet mall
Too many meals out
Not enough meals in
THOUSANDS of calories
Countless loads of laundry

My house has been buried under layers of decorations, beads, suitcases and such.  Slowly, finally order is once again emerging from the chaos.

My point in all of this is that I did NOT want to write tonight.  I mean, really did NOT!  As I was folding yet another load of laundry I thought about how I was dreading sitting down at the computer and using my brain to string even a few words together that would be worth reading.  Then I realized how my students feel.  Often they come to school tired, maybe not feeling great.  I get frustrated when they are not jumping up and down to do all the lessons I have planned.  There's the problem- the focus is on me, what I have planned, what I need to accomplish with them.  Sometimes, I have to remember that they are human beings with likes and dislikes as well as feelings.  Good days, bad days.  I need to be considerate about what I expect from them.  I need to encourage them and get the most out of them while being sensitive to each personality and situation.  Maybe this 31 day challenge will make me a better teacher.  Day two and already much good has come from pecking out  some thoughts on the keyboard...even when I don't feel like it.

Dina

PS.  For new readers, as you may now gather these "postcards" are no longer from the UK.  I started the blog when we moved there for a semester and have not been able to bring myself to change the title.  I am back in my hometown of New Orleans.


2 comments:

  1. This is the "gold nugget" in all that you felt today: "I thought about how I was dreading sitting down at the computer and using my brain to string even a few words together that would be worth reading. Then I realized how my students feel." I'm convinced that writing (and challenging ourselves to 31 days of it!!!) makes us better teachers. Thanks for posting! Keep slicing!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is the "gold nugget" in all that you felt today: "I thought about how I was dreading sitting down at the computer and using my brain to string even a few words together that would be worth reading. Then I realized how my students feel." I'm convinced that writing (and challenging ourselves to 31 days of it!!!) makes us better teachers. Thanks for posting! Keep slicing!!

    ReplyDelete