Although We've Come To The End of The Road...
The good news is it seems another school year is finally winding down.
Now if only I could say the same for the teachers who are teaching them.
While we are t-minus 20 days away from the final day, there is A LOT of preparation that goes into those final moments. There is a slew of end of the year paperwork and potential placements to be decided for next year. Not helping matters is the fact that standardized test scores are still not back from the state and may not be before school's end. Finally there's the looming possibility that any of us could be moved anywhere in the district, any time between now and next September. Working in a school this time of year is like chess meets American Idol. No one is eliminated, but we're all still pawns in one big game.
Another bad thing is that this time of year means we have arrived at the "keeping up appearances" portion of our school calendar. This is because for all intents and purposes, we have to create the illusion that behavior and assignments still matter as much just as they did back in January. Depending on your particular batch of students some might even believe you. But students of today are no different than you and I. As soon as the weather gets warmer, their minds go on permanent vacation. I often wonder if it's any different for kids in say California. They don't have the weather switch over to indicate the end is near. Are they always spaced out due to dreams of swimming in cool water, or does a day that's 89 degrees and sunny simply get taken for granted?
One thing I have learned along the way is that no matter what kind of class you have at the beginning of the year, they are always going to get worse by the end. This is for two main reasons, they are antsy and they are older. If your class was bad in October, trust me, they'll be worse come May. If they were chatty (like mine are) in November, forget about shutting them up come June. You get the idea.
Still I manage to hold a few threats of my students heads until the very last day. Some of them are idle threats, some are not. They need not know which is which. All that's important is that you most of them still believe you are in control. For instance, I already took one student out of our third grade show for his behavior and the same student very well might lose out on field day next Friday, too. I lecture them on everyday behaviors and sometimes make things up. When I was observed (another story for another time) this year, I told the students that they were coming in to assess THEM too, as part of their "portfolio" for going in to fourth grade. A fear of authority is harder to conjure up then you might imagine. As I always remind them, the end of the year is the time that can be the most or least fun, all depending on the roads you decide to take.
But as any teacher who has been teaching for more than a year knows, the last month and a half truly is a joke. You can't accomplish anything of worth even if you wanted to between paperwork, last minute grades and assemblies galore. Plus, if they only knew the truth- by this point, teachers are probably even more tired of it all then them. No, from Memorial Day weekend and on you might as well consider yourself a glorified babysitter, nothing more, nothing less. But if you remain consistent, the kids don't know if you are bluffing or not.
Yes, the road may be nearing its end, but that doesn't mean there still aren't tolls yet to be collected along the way.
Now if only I could say the same for the teachers who are teaching them.
While we are t-minus 20 days away from the final day, there is A LOT of preparation that goes into those final moments. There is a slew of end of the year paperwork and potential placements to be decided for next year. Not helping matters is the fact that standardized test scores are still not back from the state and may not be before school's end. Finally there's the looming possibility that any of us could be moved anywhere in the district, any time between now and next September. Working in a school this time of year is like chess meets American Idol. No one is eliminated, but we're all still pawns in one big game.
Another bad thing is that this time of year means we have arrived at the "keeping up appearances" portion of our school calendar. This is because for all intents and purposes, we have to create the illusion that behavior and assignments still matter as much just as they did back in January. Depending on your particular batch of students some might even believe you. But students of today are no different than you and I. As soon as the weather gets warmer, their minds go on permanent vacation. I often wonder if it's any different for kids in say California. They don't have the weather switch over to indicate the end is near. Are they always spaced out due to dreams of swimming in cool water, or does a day that's 89 degrees and sunny simply get taken for granted?
One thing I have learned along the way is that no matter what kind of class you have at the beginning of the year, they are always going to get worse by the end. This is for two main reasons, they are antsy and they are older. If your class was bad in October, trust me, they'll be worse come May. If they were chatty (like mine are) in November, forget about shutting them up come June. You get the idea.
Still I manage to hold a few threats of my students heads until the very last day. Some of them are idle threats, some are not. They need not know which is which. All that's important is that you most of them still believe you are in control. For instance, I already took one student out of our third grade show for his behavior and the same student very well might lose out on field day next Friday, too. I lecture them on everyday behaviors and sometimes make things up. When I was observed (another story for another time) this year, I told the students that they were coming in to assess THEM too, as part of their "portfolio" for going in to fourth grade. A fear of authority is harder to conjure up then you might imagine. As I always remind them, the end of the year is the time that can be the most or least fun, all depending on the roads you decide to take.
But as any teacher who has been teaching for more than a year knows, the last month and a half truly is a joke. You can't accomplish anything of worth even if you wanted to between paperwork, last minute grades and assemblies galore. Plus, if they only knew the truth- by this point, teachers are probably even more tired of it all then them. No, from Memorial Day weekend and on you might as well consider yourself a glorified babysitter, nothing more, nothing less. But if you remain consistent, the kids don't know if you are bluffing or not.
Yes, the road may be nearing its end, but that doesn't mean there still aren't tolls yet to be collected along the way.
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