First Day Back

Yesterday was our first day back as teachers. We had meetings and break-out sessions about the new online grading system, new homeroom policies and the evaluation system. There were already issues with the auditorium calendar and requests to sign. I had a pile of mail to go through, reminders to write sub plans (which I totally didn't do last year,) discussions of goals and pre-assessments that need to be submitted, new professional development policies and essentially piles of information that was very over-whelming.It reminded me how easy it is to get bogged down int he paperwork and forget to teach.

I don't want to forget to teach. That is the biggest thing I learned from all my summer reading and working. I have things I want to try, I have students with ideas to explore. I don't want to get wrapped up in assessments and calendars and leave my students behind.

August is about organization. Part of that is getting things done early. I have meetings scheduled before school starts to deal with some problems I"m having with the auditorium and my storage spaces so I can nip the problem in the bud now. I have my disclosure documents written. I have started documenting auditorium problems already. I want to get as much done before the first day of school as I can so that I can focus on my students.

I'm also putting responsibility back on others. Last year, I would drop everything if someone needed me for something in the middle of class. I'm not going to do that this year. They can wait until I have a minute to talk. If they wan the auditorium, they have to schedule it and come speak to me. If they don't, they only get what I have time to give. I am a teacher first and the auditorium manager second. My students' learning comes first.