One More Week

I am scheduled to return to work next Thursday morning at 8:00 sharp (but I like to be there around 7:45). I can't believe my four month vacation is coming to an end. So many plans that turned into so many broken promises. I had intentions of losing weight, taking some university classes, getting into cake decorating, cooking a new meal each week and so many other little plans. And I didn't do a single one. What did I spend my time doing? Well, I'm definitely well rested. And I did organize the storage room (when my friend walked in the room today, I believe "Holy crap! Martha Stewart!" were the first words out of her mouth). In retrospect, I think actually gained weight, got a little stupider, ate more cakes than I decorated and my cooking went downhill (grilled cheese anyone?).

I am excited to return to work because this will be the first time that I work full-time for the entire year (including the summer). I am also excited because the classroom that I have been sharing will belong to me! While I have learned invaluable ideas and methods from my job-share partner, because I was only working Tuesdays and Thursdays, I felt more like a substitute than a regular teacher. I always cleared any new ideas I had with my partner and I let her run the classroom and I just followed her lead. Now that she will be going on mat leave, all the decisions will be up to me. It's a little scary, but kind of exciting at the same time. Since I've graduated, this will be my first classroom where I am in charge for longer than two months. Between the two of us, I definitely have way less patience than she does. Perhaps this is because I don't have children of my own (she has three little girls). But that is my professional goal for this coming year...to become more patient and to talk things through with my students when they're driving me up the wall (instead of letting things go too far and then kicking them out of the class). I also want to get more creative in the classroom...to move away from the pencil and paper work and bring in more hands-on activities for the guys.

I'm also looking forward to the return of routine. You would think I would be more organized when I'm not working, but this is not the case. When I am working, my meals are planned out in weekly menus, Joel's lunches are prepared the night before, I do one area of cleaning each evening (with a schedule posted on the fridge of what to do when), laundry is done at regular intervals, I eat better (and less, since I can't eat in the classroom obviously), I grocery shop only once a week instead of running out four times a week and I go to bed at a decent hour. Since I wake up at 5:45 when I work, I'm generally in bed and reading by 10:00. Ah, yes...routine...it will be good to have it back.