I had such big plans, I was so organized, I was determined, I even had a very cool green office to work in that was air conditioned (my excuse last summer: my office was too hot, the air conditioning didn't work well on the second floor). I was going to create academic vocabulary plans and activities to go with every unit for levels two and three. I was going to create an anchor chart, handout and activities to help my students with collective nouns. I was going to read the book about using chromebooks in the classroom. I was going to create digital versions of all my worksheets. I was going to revamp my grammar activities and increase rigor. I was going to read a book that didn't use the word differentiation in it and didn't rhyme. I was going to find books to be literature connections for each unit and then create lessons and activities to go with each one. I was going to....
So what happened? Life happened. First it was Google certified educator training. Then it was the last class for my language arts endorsement. Then it was vacation with my husband; after which I did start the academic vocabulary project. But then my boss called and said we had to recertify for the WIDA test and could you please join us for training? (I love how it's always phrased as a question but what is really being said is: join us or find a new job.) In my defense after I finished training I went back to the academic vocabulary project. But then my boss's boss called and wanted a meeting: "Good news! You're getting a full-time para! She's going to teach a reading a writing class. Now she's just a para so you'll have to manage her, create the lesson plans and do all the paperwork. Oh, and the class doesn't really exist yet, so could you maybe create the class, find curriculum and then do a data dig to identify the students who would be best suited for it and begin the three year tracking of their progress? And please don't forget that the counselors are handing out schedules on Friday so you need to get this all done by Thursday at the latest (it was Tuesday, late afternoon Tuesday)." Sure, no problem, and because I'm a teacher and this is what I do I had it all done by close of business on Wednesday; which left me free to spend Thursday and Friday in meetings with counselors. No problem, I still have the weekend and Monday before PD starts and I need to set up the classrooms. Seventy-three e-mails, a sick dog, a hungry husband and a ton of laundry later I'm sitting here.....staring at a pile of lamination and typing a blog about how I have too much to do and I should be working because school starts in thirteen hours, but instead I'm thinking that some chocolate chip cookies sound good and so will probably go and bake and rationalize that the lamination really isn't needed quite yet because the first week is all about routines and culture and setting expectations, right? (Read here: the first week is all about helping sixth graders open lockers, waking up kids who haven't opened their eyes before noon in three months and repeating about a thousand times: no, your best friend having a different schedule is not a valid reason to go to the counselors to request a schedule change and I won't give you a pass.)
Ooops. I did it again, I let summer get away from me and didn't accomplish even a fraction of what I should have. Any other teachers out there feel the same? I'm going to assume that's a yes and you're just too busy with your own unfulfilled to-do list to actually type a response. Good luck, keep calm and remember: June is only ten months away.