Is it just me, or did life just speed up? Welcome to the end of the school year.

I have no idea what life is like outside of an educational setting, so my idea of time is somewhat shaped by my contract. For me, New Year's Day is really the first day of school; it doesn't matter what the date is, my school life starts then. October means Halloween and scary stories (well, not too scary) for the primary students. Conferences, Thanksgiving, and the build-up to Christmas - that's November and December. The traditional New Year's Day means winter break is almost over, and it's back to business. Bring on the tissues and hand sanitizer - it's cough and cold season as we come get back to learning and share germs like crazy. January and February have a couple of 3-day weekends built in, plus the thrill of a possible snow day or two, and then it's March - the doldrums of the year. March lasts forever, and seems like a couple of months until Spring Break, which always comes as a huge relief. I often wonder if I'm going to make it to the first week of April. School is okay in April, but the BIG TEST begins to loom, and I fear I won't be able to get all of the math in that the kids need to have for the test. You would think that once the test is over, life would settle down, but no, that is not the case. Instead, time simultaneously slows down AND picks up, if that is possible. Life becomes a series of checklists. 5 Interviews as part of the interview team, check. Really long presentation before the school board, check. Retirement parties, check. More Interviews for the vacant positions that just came up, check. Bug kids to return library books, check. Listen to the disbelief and denials of overdue books, check. Literacy Night, check. Dance recital of a graduating senior, check. MAP test, check. Title I Parent Night, check. Start and hopefully finish library inventory, check. Finals, check. Turn in textbooks, check. Attend graduation, check. Complete room inventory after I find the orange folder I might not have turned in last year, check. Grades due, check. Go crazy, check, check, check. Yes, the end of the school seems as though it will never arrive, and when it does finally get close, I always realize I need more time! That's school life, I guess...

18 Days to go, and I'm doing my first post 0f 2012

Where in the world did the year go?! There were days when life was so slow, and now, with 18 days to go, I can't believe it's almost over. I had been thinking about blogging today, mostly because I want my sociology class to take a look at blogs, and think about why blogs have become so popular. It occurred to me that I am a poor example of a blogger because I never take the time to write one. Still, I think this idea of writing and instant publishing is an important idea, and I would like my students to consider it as a creative outlet. I did keep a diary as a kid, the fake leather-bound version with the little key that I stashed somewhere so my sister couldn't find it, not that there was anything earth-shattering in it. I kept a journal as an adult, and it did get me through much of my son's sophomore and junior years. I kept track of everything, including the weather. Some pages are filled with anger, deep lines going down into the paper from the force of my words as I wondered what I had done to deserve such terrible treatment, wondering where I had gone wrong as a parent. I can't really think why I stopped writing, but the habit gradually faded away, and one night I realized that I was just done with journals. Maybe my life improved, and I didn't need the outlet anymore. I still have them. I sleep above them; they are stored in the drawer below my mattress. I started this blog in 2007, after a Reading Team meeting, a now defunct group under the leadership of a teacher I really admired. I'm not sure why I started writing, but I was beginning to think about using technology, and was just beginning to explore the possibilities of using technology with kids. I regularly read half a dozen blogs, mostly education and fabric-related topics, which might seem odd, but it works for me. Will my students be interested in blogs? That remains to be seen. This has been an odd year. I want to retire, I think, but I'm not going to. I won't be teaching math anymore, and while I have mixed feelings about this, I'm pretty sure I won't miss it. My sociology class has been the highlight of the year, and my reward for being so positive about my high school teaching is that I get a second high school class next year. As always, I am looking ahead, past the end of this year. Right now, though, my goal is June 14, and I know that I still have some things to teach, papers to grade, and an inventory to (hopefully) complete. Hmmm, haven't been too success with that lately, but oh, well. And the big question - summer school or not? That, too, remains to be seen. Really, it's not a big question at all, in the grand scheme of things.