dead battery

It happens to all of us. The battery dies on something. In recent years I have heard complaints of batteries dying on Kindles before someone is able to finish a book, or the battery on their phone dies before they are able to take a quick photo of something that is priceless. Today, the battery that died was mine. Well, my computer's battery died as well, but that wasn't until after my personal one did.

It take a lot of energy to teach. Last year, I think that I lived in a little bubble of confusion that kept on bouncing me along, somewhat effortlessly. It's easy to have energy when you do not fully realize the implications of your position, how to meet the goals and objectives of your position, and when you don't really understand what you are doing wrong or how you can fix it (or at least try to fix it). 

This year I am tired. I had the summer to really evaluate what it means to be a kindergarten teacher. I have a better understanding of my goals, and as a result I am pushing my students further. To do this, I am also pushing myself further. I spend time trying to develop dynamic lesson plans that fit within the district mandated curriculum. I put myself out there to try and keep my kinders engaged in a less than exciting lesson that just needs to be taught. I spend endless hours looking for new and exciting resources. I write grants. I develop hands on materials (manipulatives). I teach.

Today, I was super excited to see my kinders after being away from them yesterday. We had a fantastic morning that was focused on oral language development (a fancy way of saying that we talked a lot). We did center work. And more center work. And we celebrated National Book-It Day. Then we did more centers in math class. Then I had a meeting. Then we did our exciting smartie pants end of day wrap up (I swear, I'll actually write about this one of these days). Then my kinders left. And with them, my energy vanished. My battery died on the spot when the last student climbed into his father's truck.

Still, I went back to my classroom and had a meeting with my mentor. As a second year teacher I am a part of a mentoring program to help me to become a more effective teacher. This means more work. And of course, on top of that I have grad school work. And lesson planning. Do you get the point? I am exhausted. 

This afternoon though, my computer's battery died. This year I have taken to leaving my charger at home. Today, I found good reason to do this. When my battery died, I had to leave (well, not really, but it seemed like a good excuse).

The good news is that we have fall break next week. Four whole days of no teaching (just planning, grad school, yada, yada, yada). I am ecstatic.