A Post to Remember

Dear After Spring Break Me,

     As you begin to lose your sanity and gain one more year of teaching experience, remember this post.  

Keep hope, take care of yourself, and "treat yo'self."

    Yesterday was the first day back after winter break.  Although I was not mentally prepared, I went about the normal day just fine.  Right after our help! I'm trapped inside my classroom with hyper eight year olds inside recess, we lost all control.

By lost all control, I mean we could no longer keep our mouths from talking or keep our hands from playing with our shoelaces, dirt/hair on the floor, or whatever else we could get our hands on.

At the end of the day, I was thinking: "Well, I had two weeks of rest.  If it weren't for those two weeks of sleeping in, I would be SPENT today!"

and also, 

"How will I ever make it to the end of the school year?"

and lastly, 

"Why can't we have a two week spring break?"

After talking with my partner teacher, I went home yesterday and put my thinking cap on.

I didn't look on pinterest.

I didn't surf the teacher blogs.

I didn't search on TPT.

I didn't read a teacher's textbook.

I used my noggin. 

I thought to myself, "How can I make it through tomorrow and give my students what they need from their teacher?"

and here's what I came up with:

Get into it and expect things to get crazy.

~

I woke up with that in mind and had a fantastic day.

Throughout the day, I was consciously "getting into it" as far as management goes.  

I caught ALL of my students doing something good.

I am happy to say that all of my students ended the day above green on our color chart.

And when they weren't doing good things, I didn't freak out.  

I just went with it and provided them with consequences.  

After all, they are children learning how to make mistakes.  

Sometimes I just need to hear those words and deal with it.  Yes, they are going to be mean, ugly, and downright disrespectful.  

They are human.  

They are a product of their environment and this world is broken.

My job as their teacher is not to make them perfect human beings.

Repeat.  Do not try to make them act perfectly!

My job is to help them grow and learn.

Treat them as children, not mini adults.

Remember:

Stay calm and pretend it's on the lesson plans.

Yours truly,

The Frizz

PS What you turn into a big deal, your students will turn into a big deal.  

So pick your battles and praise their victories. 

PSS If this teaching thing doesn't pan out, you can always make it big as an animal balloonist.