Sick of being sick...

I'm so tired of being sick. We are at 3 weeks, and it's starting to drive me a bit crazy. I was feeling a lot better, and then BAM! something hit me Friday night and has not gone away. What really irks me is that I was on antibiotics. Apparently, they weren't strong enough, so the doctor put me on something else. I really hope it works. I hate being miserable. It doesn't help with teaching either.

They always said you would get the sickest your first year of teaching because you're around so many germs all the time, and you're under a lot more stress. I thought I was going to be one of the lucky ones since I didn't get sick during student teaching, but obviously I was wrong. It takes 3 quarters to get to you, not just a semester...

At least this week is kind of a "down" week. I have stuff to grade, but teaching and assignments aren't really that bad. That's good, because grades are due at 3:00 PM Friday before we leave for Spring Break. I'm so excited about that. I'm not really doing anything exciting, but at least I'll get to sleep in and take a break from everything. I also get to be where it's warmer, so that's really exciting too!

I hope everyone else is feeling healthy. I'm going to go take a nap.

Reflections

So, I was thinking the other day. I decided that I would be a much better teacher if I actually felt like I knew what I was doing from day to day. Right now, I'm just trying to keep my head above water with the everyday assignments. Other English teachers tell me what they did and report what they're doing with their students, and all I can think is, "Wow, that sounds really neat. I should try that." The thing is, I don't have the time or the energy to do what they do on a daily basis. I sometimes feel like I'm cutting corners or not being the best teacher I can be because I'm not doing all of this stuff that other teachers are doing. However, the other English teacher on my team told me that a professor once told her it took 3 years to really get things figured out and be a really good teacher. That makes me feel a little better, but I still don't like feeling like I'm cheating my students. I want them to get the best learning experience they can, and I want them to feel like they actually learned something in English. I don't want them to feel like it was a waste of time, nor do I want them to go to 8th grade and have their teachers ask who their teacher was because it appears that they know nothing... I know we all have our own styles and expertise. I just hope I'm actually teaching my students something...

Despite all of that, I still love my job. I think the students are hilarious, even the ones that drive me crazy on a daily basis. With teaching, there's always something new and exciting going on. There's never a dull moment. The students always have some story to tell or something to relate to. It's quite refreshing, especially when they can make a real connection to something we're doing in class.

We're almost done with our Holocaust unit. I am a little sad about it because I love the book we're reading and the students are very interested in the book and the topic, but I'm also ready to move on to something else. I want to do some poetry when we get back from Spring Break, but I'm not actually sure what we have planned for when we get back.

I'm ready for some warmer weather. For me, March means soccer practice and rain and warm weather, not snow. I realize this is Iowa, but the snow can go away.

You know you live in Iowa when...

You know you live in Iowa when it is 65 degrees in the morning and then you get ice and 2 inches of snow that night. This weekend was absolutely gorgeous. The sun was out, the wind was a warm breeze, and you could almost go outside with just a sweater on. By about 3:00 Sunday afternoon, it'd turned cloudy and cold, and by 9, it was pelting down freezing rain and snowing. What a blast. I am definitely ready for winter to be over. It's supposed to be 45 this weekend, so maybe, just maybe it will warm up.

I finally went to the doctor last Friday. I had been so tired and my symptoms just kept changing and getting worse. The antibiotics seem be helping a bit, but I'm still really tired. Maybe that's just needing a break. I'm glad I only have to get through 2 more weeks.

All of a sudden my students have started deciding to not do their work on time. I hate late work with a passion. It doesn't make any sense to me that things don't get turned in on time when I give them plenty of work time in class. Oh well. It's their grade, not mine. I just have the headache of trying to make sure who has and hasn't turned stuff in and then grading it.

At least the sun is out. Perhaps that will get me out of this weird slump I'm in...

Visitor in the Classroom

Today my friend, Naomi, came and talked to my classes about Judaism and the questions they had about the book we are reading that I did not have the answer for. I thought it went really well, and I think the kids learned a lot from her. I learned a lot too because they asked the questions that I never really thought to ask her. They were really good too.

I always think it's fun to have a speaker come in and talk to the kids, as long as the kids are interested and actually pay attention. They can learn so much from someone who actually has more than just surface knowledge about the topic they are studying.

I got my hair cut today. It's a bit shorter than I thought it was going to be when I told her how much to take off. I'm not upset about it or anything; it will just take some getting used to. My ponytail has much less substance to it!!!

We got more snow Monday night. I couldn't get into my car Tuesday morning, so I had to have someone take me to school and bring me home. That was fun. The last conferences of the year are over! Yay!!! It's always interesting meeting the parents, but those are long days.

I'm glad tomorrow is Friday. I'm just worn out from these past two weeks with ITBS, conferences, multiple shortened schedules, and meetings galore. Two weeks till Spring Break!

I have a voice!

After a week of no voice and having to pantomime and whisper instructions to students to repeat, I finally have my voice back! It isn't quite back to normal, and I'm still coughing and dealing with that stuff, but at least I can talk and give directions. I realized how much I take talking for granted. I talk a lot throughout the day. I'm glad that my co-teacher was there all day Tuesday and Wednesday because she could teach my other two classes.

I actually ended up taking a sick day on Wednesday to try to get my voice back. It didn't work. I had conferences on Thursday. That was a lot of fun. I had to whisper because my voice kept cracking. I hope the parents got something out of it. We have conferences tomorrow and Wednesday as well. At least they end on a "short" day this time around.

It's snowing. Again. I think we're supposed to get between 2 and 4 inches. I'm ready for the snow to be done. The other day I was really excited because it was almost March, but then I realized that this is Iowa and it's probably going to be cold until April, at the earliest.

I was hoping to get to go to dance tonight. I haven't exercised in over a week and I'm really starting to feel it. But, I was sick and I really didn't have the energy to go anywhere or do anything. That's how it is I suppose.

Stay safe and warm. 3 weeks until Spring Break!

No Voice!

So, it's a little difficult to teach if you don't have a voice, as I discovered today. The only reason I went in, really, was because we had ITBS tests today, and I really felt like I needed to be there to make sure my kids were comfortable and felt at ease. I don't know if it actually did any good, but... Fortunately, my co-teacher was at school all day, so she was able to teach the rest of my classes. I would have been able to "teach,", but it's a little difficult to give directions and clarify things if you can't speak loudly. I do have a bit of a voice, but it's not a very good one. If someone tried to talk to me on the phone, it would probably be a disaster...

I'm still going to try to go to the Holocaust survivor speaker tonight. I'll just try not to sit by anybody! I kind of hope it doesn't go too long. That way I can come home and go to bed.

I hate being sick.

It Got Me!

It finally got me. I have been very fortunate and able to stay away from all of it, but the cold bug has finally gotten me. I lost my voice halfway through my 5th period today, which made life very fun for the rest of the day.

These next two weeks are the worst weeks to be sick. We have ITBS MWR, conferences on R and then next TW, and we're at the beginning of our novel that I have to explain. Being sick, unfortunately, really isn't an option. Blah. It'd be one thing if it was sneezing and sniffling and all of that, but the lost voice thing is really bad for a teacher. It's really no fun.

I was supposed to go watch the boys play basketball tonight, but that got scratched. So much for dance as well, since I barely feel well enough to move around my apartment. I must admit though, I'm not too sad about not going back out in this weather right now. It's just downright nasty with blowing snow and FREEZING temperatures. My apartment looks like a nice place to me :)

I hope I feel well enough to go to the kick-off for the Big Read tomorrow night, where we're going to have a Holocaust survivor speaking. That should be awesome!

I'm going to go find some chicken soup and a couch with a blanket.