If I needed a reminder that school is back in session, I would just need to check the status of my Facebook teacher friends. All of them have spent hours this weekend writing lesson plans. Welcome to the beginning of a new school year.
My first day of school Friday went smoothly. First days usually do. It seems that after the long summer break of not grading papers and planning lessons I have loads of patience. The maintenance of this patience is always the troubling area.
Usually every year I set some kind of goal that I try to work toward for the school year. The last two years it has simply been to make it to the end of the school year with my sanity firmly in place. This year I’ve decided to try and maintain those levels of patience that I tend to have in great quantities the first week of school.
This means that when the kid that wasn’t paying attention to me asks a question, I’m going to smile and answer it. When the student who has asked me for a pencil ten days in a row asks again, I will hand one over. When my journalism student tells me that they don’t have their story on the day that the newspaper is due, I won’t…. Well, that may be pushing the reservoir of patience that I have. Basically, I’m going to try to curtail my natural sarcasm with deep breaths and patience.
I don't really have a plan yet. I figure I will survive by taking deep breaths and reminding myself that patience will not raise my tension levels to astronomical proportions. I'm not sure how you practice having patience any other way but by giving it a try.
I believe it is possible though. I know it is possible. I will tell myself that until May and see how it works.
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