The Joy of Teaching

I'm heading into the BEST time of my job...my student teacher Ann (who is doing a fantastic job) is getting ready to do her "solo student teaching"...which means she has to do EVERYTHING for the next two weeks!

I have great plans...I'm not even supposed to be in the room much so she can have the "true" experience, so this is the partial list of what I'm going to be doing starting next Monday:

*I have to test every single 2nd grader on their reading scores: I would only have to test mine normally, but I'm nice so I offered to do all the kids since I have Ann.

*Progress Reports are due before xmas, so I've got grading and scoring to do.

*I've been meaning to organize all my IB (International Baccalaureate) stuff for 5 years now so I'm going to take 4 boxes of files, papers, notebooks, copies, books, etc. and make some sense of it all! This should take the better part of a whole day.

*I'm going to sneak in and organize my supply closet: I have things in there I can't find so I'm so excited to see what games, papers, paints, etc. I have hiding!

*I'm going to research Loan Forgiveness for teachers...I've heard some grumblings of different programs where the government will reimburse your student loans if you work in a high-needs school district for more than 5 years. I'll keep you posted what I find out.

*I'm going to outline my lesson plans for the rest of the year. This will take whatever remaining time I have left.

To reference a previous post...THANK GOODNESS FOR STUDENT TEACHERS!!!


HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TEACHER?

1. You can hear 25 voices behind you and know exactly which one belongs to the child out of line.

2. You get a secret thrill out of laminating something.

3. You walk into a store and hear the words "It's Ms/Mr. _________" and know you have been spotted.

4. You have 25 people that accidentally call you Mom/Dad at one time or another.

5. You can eat a multi-course meal in under twenty-five minutes.

6. You've trained yourself to go to the bathroom at two distinct times of the day: lunch and prep period .

7. You start saving other people's trash, because most likely, you can use that toilet paper tube or plastic butter tub for something in the classroom.

8. You believe the teachers' lounge should be equipped with a margarita machine.

9. You want to slap the next person who says "Must be nice to work 7 to 3 and have summers off."

10. You believe chocolate is a food group.

11. You can tell if it's a full moon without ever looking outside.

12. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says
"Boy, the kids sure are mellow today."

13. You feel the urge to talk to strange children and correct their
behavior when you are out in public.

14. You believe in aerial spraying of Ritalin.

15. You think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.

16. You spend more money on school stuff than you do on your own
children.

17. You can't pass the school supply aisle without getting at least
five items!

18. You ask your friends if the left hand turn he just made was a "good choice or a bad choice."

19. You find true beauty in a can full of perfectly sharpened pencils

20. You are secretly addicted to hand sanitizer and finally,

21. You understand instantaneously why a child behaves a certain way after meeting his or her parents.