After a horrible day like Friday, I want to go back in time to my morning self, innocently getting ready for work, and either hug me or warn me somehow (Run! Run while you can!). .... Or sometimes, when I'm getting ready for work in the morning, I'll look me in the eyes and wonder, "is this going to be one of those days ... how will I know ... when will it happen ... oh no ... dun DUN dunnnnnn (cue in the creepy/eerie music)?".
And then there's the obsessing about "the incident" for the rest of the day. What kind of human goofiness makes you take just one small chunk of your day and replay it over and over and over and let it consume you for much more of your time than it's worth?
Creepy/whiny/calculus girl was in a prime state today choosing to use her time not to actually work, but to loudly proclaim how selfish and inconsiderate I am to assign a project that's due next week when she has 2 more AP exams to take (they work on the project in class. there's no outside work. it should look really cool when done). I had to send her outside and have a discussion with her. Oh, I'm sorry, not a discussion, but a whining session on one side and a disbelief and frustration on the other. Ew.
It helps (mostly) to remember that I've had other "painful" students in the past I've obsessed about in the moment, and now I give them barely a thought. This too shall pass. Deeeeeeeeeeep breaths.
Oh, I know that icky feeling when a student acts up. We try so hard to help these kids, when they question us, we get upset.
ReplyDeleteI can't always follow this advice myself, but it helps to think about your assignment as a professional and know that you are keeping high expectations and good teaching in check; student opinions come later (probably not even next).
Cheer up! I had a bad day yesterday too and keep going over it.
Thanks for commiserating. Today things look much better (as they always seem to). I guess it helps that I had a fun weekend hanging out with friends.
ReplyDeleteMs. Cookie