The Teacher Diaries

“In the afternoon when school was out and the last one had left with his little dirty  snuffling nose, instead of going home I would go down the hill to the spring where I  could be quiet and hate them.” - Addie Bundren of William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying.  Wow! That was heavy. Addie did her job, yet she hated her students. How many times have you had that one student who’d mastered the art of getting on your nerves? Well, it appears that Addie either had a class full of these students or she just hated her job altogether.              What do you do when you are called to teach that student? I refer to it as a calling  because that student’s enrollment in your class wasn’t by chance. Although that child may possess very unlikable characteristics or behaviors, there is something about them that is special. That is what should be focused on. I have experienced that student annually and many times have had multiples of them not only during the same year, but in the same class.

Ah, homework. That tedious task that reinforces the knowledge acquired and prepares you for the next day’s lesson. Most teachers assign it, but there has been a movement to discontinue it. The logic behind this concept varies between schools, but either way, students are very familiar with it from pre-k on through university. This leads me to the notion of teacher homework. For a week during the middle of my  summer vacation, I participated in workshops to prepare me for the upcoming school year. I thoroughly enjoyed the activities and techniques that I learned. It is always great when I receive professional development that actually develops me as a teacher. However, we were given homework. Initially I was all pumped to go home and do my work  after being in a workshop that lasted from 8:30-4:30 -- mind you that my normal school day ends at 2:50 -- but my brain and body had other plans when I got home. I was tired. After a full month of summer vacation, I needed to psych myself