I am thankful for hot showers, early bedtimes, and a day to wear jeans while teaching teens about something that they've done before!
Showers are so relaxing and early bedtimes make me a happier person the next day. Jeans are comforting and a signal that the weekend is so very near. Teaching teenagers, while challenging in itself, is also more challenging when the students have never ever done the activity before. Literary analysis and interpretive response papers have cluttered my desk the past six weeks but now we are moving into familiar territory - poetry!
I had a significant dip in my grades this last six weeks and last night, at report card pick up, I finally realized why. The kids haven't done any of what I was requiring of them (by the way, the state and my district require me to require these assignments) ever before. No wonder they struggled so much! No wonder my headaches were throbbing on and off all day every day. Oh, glorious realization!
I expect that grades will pick up this third grading period. Yes, it is shorter. Yes, they've been benchmarked to death (with one final nail in the coffin yet to come), and yes, we were all at each others' throats with frustration BUT WE CAN DO POETRY!!! WE WILL ENJOY OUR LAST GRADING PERIOD OF THE SEMESTER!!!
Can't wait to get to class!
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