To the Residents of Red Oak:
I apologize. Let me explain: I opened my car door to grab my grocery. I had a bit of, well, an avalanche. I dropped a bag. Nothing major happened, except my grape tomato container spewed its contents all over the pavement. I picked up what I could and threw them into to the bushes. Let me remind you that this happened far after sunset, so I did my best in the dark.
To the Wildlife of Red Oak:
You’re welcome.
There is a scene in the movie The Hunger Games where Effie Trinket reaches in to a bowl of tribute names and picks out the name Primrose Everdeen. It is at that moment that Katniss Everdeen, her older sister, jumps up and screams, “I volunteer, I volunteer as tribute.” You can see it here in the trailer.
Every time I see that scene in the trailer my eyes fill with tears because it is the essence of sacrificial love. Something that we rarely see in our selfish world today. It is with this type of love that Jesus went to the cross with, but instead of sacrificing himself for one he did it for all. He saw that all our names were going to be drawn and they were all tainted and covered with sin. He knew that the only way to remove that sin and give us a chance for eternal life was sacrifice. So he stepped out of the crowd and yelled, “I volunteer, I volunteer as tribute.” He did it for you and he did it for me.
” —TJ MousetisI’m sitting at Jittery Joe’s grading papers, making PowerPoints, and the like. (Is this how teachers spend spring break? I think so.)
Mr. Jittery Joe’s is also playing Queen’s greatest hits. We all subconsciously included ourselves in Bohemian Rhapsody (toe-tapping, whistling, all out singing…. whatever you’d like). And then it was We Are The Champions. (I kind of felt like I should pull out my phone and pretend it was a lighter and we were at a concert.) And now we’re all singing We Will Rock You.
Life’s good.
(In other news, who knew I’d miss my kids so much over break?! I’ve been away from them for four days, and I don’t know what I’ll do in the next six…. but they did write me some funny notes on their quizzes knowing that I’d grade them over break. One of them asked me to coach baseball. Ha. I’ll leave you on that ridiculous note…)
I just did some house hunting online to prep for Wednesday’s rendezvous with Mrs. Realtor Lady. I’ve been in love with a neighborhood for quite some time, but nothing’s really popped up there. UNTIL NOW. And there are TWO for sale. Right next to each other. Ohhhh man. I’m no prophet, but I’m thinking I might be on to something. Hurry, Wednesday, hurry!!!
In-service went just as planned…. plenty of shenanigans (group texting with the friends scattered throughout the room in all the meetings), lots of scramble with friends and words with friends, as well as a good dose of boredom.
Meeting #1 lasted 1.6 hours and including fascinating details such as how to copy and paste as well as how to print. (I wish that I was kidding.)
I watched a riveting video covering the dangers of blood-borne pathogens in which we were reminded to not touch blood and never clean wounds with bleach.
Meeting #2 had a 25 minute late start (because Mrs. Testing Director was on the phone trying to figure out if we could use calculators on next month’s tests). This late start put all of us in a bad mood. (And I was especially not thrilled to be in there because I’m only used one hour of one day as a fill-in for one teacher…. but hey.) This delayed start meant we went an hour over our scheduled time slow which meant that…
We did not make it to Mama’s Boy for lunch. I know, I know. I’d been looking forward to it all day month long. (We’d decided to go here a month ago when we realized that this day fell during UGA’s spring break which translates into an empty Athens.) I’d been dreaming of honey-infused biscuits and with poppyseed butter…. but only half of our crew made it there. I drove the other half, and we realized it wasn’t worth it to trek across town to get there, rush, and get back.
We then decided that we all needed an attitude adjustment before the afternoon meetings. Lunch was a great break; Mr. Middle School Principal has decided that my transportational device (Dolly) means that I’m a rapper. Cool. They all call me ‘Lil KG now. Excellence.
And, amidst all of this, I was given my contract for next year. I wanted to just squeeeeeeeeeal with excitement when I saw it, but our headmaster’s office is right behind the teacher mailboxes…. so I decided to maybe try to act like an adult. As I walked back to my room and opened it, I realized that this time last year, I was in the middle of student teaching. I had no idea where I’d be after May. I had no idea that my last few weeks of student teaching would include all that they did. I didn’t know that I’d have a student set the bathroom on fire, a student attempt to commit suicide, and a student killed. I didn’t know if I’d have a job, much less a job that I love as much as I do. And now, I’ve almost finished my first year of teaching. (What, what, what?!? How is that possible?)
And we’re already talking about next year. I met with Mr. Department Head to nail down details for next year. I don’t really quite remember all that we talked about because I was so distracted by thinking that I wouldn’t be a first-year teacher anymore. I’d know my kids. And my colleagues. And how things work. And how to teach.
And I’m still trying to deal with the inner conundrum of feeling like I have no idea what I’m doing, feeling like I don’t know my stuff, and wondering how on earth I can actually teaching while being affirmed and encouraged by my supervisors. I guess that’s what being a teacher is… realizing you don’t have it all together but being willing to learn.
1. Sit in a meeting about upcoming testing.
2. Sit in a meeting about the iPad kickoff next year.
3. Play Words with Friends with colleagues.
4. Sit in a meeting about benefits.
5. Shenanigans.
6. Sit in a meeting about changes for next year.
7. Contain my joy over next year’s teaching assignment.
8. A lunch break enjoying empty Athens that occurs with UGA spring break.
9. Be jealous of my friends on spring break.
10. Sit in a meeting.
11. Imagine that people are muppets. Sometimes this gets me through meetings.
12. Remember I’m an adult.
13. Find some houses online to dream about.
14. Grade some papers.
15. Shenanigans.
16. Make a bulletin board.
17. A prank. Or five.
18. Compare my March Madness bracket with the colleagues’.
19. Be made fun of for my bracket.
20. Tomfoolery.
