The Back-to-School Scaries

I dread the beginning of the school year.

Don’t get me wrong – I love teaching, for the most part. I love getting a new crop of students every year, getting a fresh start, getting to try something new and different, getting to attempt once again to stamp out ignorance.

But I dread the anxiety the beginning of the school year brings.

The anxious feelings start creeping into my mind when the first back-to-school ads come on TV or the displays go up in stores. As with most major events/holidays, these exhibitions happen earlier and earlier. When I notice them, I casually check the calendar and count the number of weeks left in summer vacation. 

I tell myself to stop, to live in the moment, but that end-of-relaxation date stays in the back of my mind.

Another dose of worry happens a few days before we teachers return for pre-school planning week. The cause is the dreaded letter from the principal. 

The message is always positive and encouraging, and when I was an ingénue, I got caught up in the excitement. This year will be my 37^th in the classroom, so I’m totally able to control my enthusiasm. In addition to the “Welcome Back” message, the envelope contains the schedule for the week which usually consists of meeting after meeting after meeting. I have been in so many of these meetings for so long that I have seen the same this-is-the-thing-that-will-fix-education presented different ways and called different names at least three times.

Monday, I’ll begin again, which is the best thing about teaching. Not many professions allow a definite start/end date when you can try different strategies and materials with a whole new crop of mostly eager participants. I look at each year as my way to finally get it right, to have my best year yet.

Until Monday and for about two weeks after that, I’ll wake up at 2:00 a.m. and attempt to solve my imaginary classroom scenarios. I’ve tried everything to avoid this anxiety – exercise, no caffeine, peaceful bedtime routine, sleeping pills – but I’ve found nothing to conquer the Back-to-School Scaries.

I’ll let you know if those education experts have finally come up with that magical method that will fix education. Every year, I hope.

Is Taking Your Kid to Work Always a Great Idea?

This week, I had the pleasure of participating in Take Your Child to Work Day (TYCTWD) by taking my granddaughter, Cloee, to school with me.

TYCTWD started back in 1993 by Gloria Steinem and the Ms. Foundation for Women as Take Your Daughter to Work. The intent was to educate girls and encourage them to enter the workforce.  The hope was a girl would see what her parent did at work and decide what she might want to become.

Cloee is ten and has lived with me for the past four years. She has begged me every year to take her to work with me, but I wouldn’t do it. I never did it with my children, always making a joke by saying that the reason I went to work was to get away from them. Also, I really didn’t see the need in taking them or Cloee with me. After all, I’m a teacher and they see what a teacher does every day in their own classrooms. Cloee had been to school with me many times before – when she was sick and I had to take her to school with me to wait for the substitute, when she had an appointment we had to attend, etc.

I put her off every year by telling her that I would take her on my last TYCTWD which occurred this week. I couldn’t back out of my promise.

I had a couple of problems with taking my 10-year-old granddaughter to school with me. First, my school is huge compared to what she’s used to, with over 2,000 teenagers milling around. Also, my students are all about to graduate and consider themselves adults already. Many of them have a less-than-stellar commitment to education right now. I didn’t want them modeling any bad behavior, so we had a long talk the day before Cloee’s visit, discussing topics like inappropriate behavior or language.

A couple of years ago, a teacher at my school brought his pre-teen daughter to class with him and one of his male students made a very suggestive comment about his daughter. I have seen some mad people before, but this man went off on this kid like I had never seen a teacher do. I don’t think the teacher was worried one bit about his job on that day. I can’t say that I blame him, either. My memory of that event is the reason I wanted to prepare my students.

For the most part, my students were pretty good after a quick reminder that we had an impressionable visitor in the classroom. I will probably have to take them some candy as a reward. They may pretend to be adults, but they can still be bribed with candy.

When we got home, I asked Cloee what she learned during her visit. She said she noticed that I said the same thing over and over to the classes which is because I have the same subject during several periods. She also said she understood now what I meant by the term Spawns of Satan.

I don't know what Cloee wants to be when she grows up. She has mentioned teacher but also veterinarian, nurse, etc. I'm sure she will figure it out and make a great whatever she becomes. I don't know if her going to work with me will make a difference in her decision but now she knows, at least. And I enjoyed TYCTWD, probably most because it was my last one!

  

.   

Cloee learned that teachers often have to eat lunch at their desks because they have to tend to grading papers, preparing lessons or taking attendance.

Cloee got a chance to check out the new yearbook which looks fantastic!
Kudos to the staff and praise the Lord, I wasn't the yearbook sponsor this year.