Lovely, rainy Saturday

The usual hope is for good weather over a weekend. Today, I'm glad it's raining. My day is more laid back when the rain is falling so I need no excuse to keep my nightgown and robe on longer than usual, one of my little sinful pleasures. Today has been exceptionally quiet so I didn't dress until almost noon, and then it was to head to my shop to make some necklaces for the bakery gal's shop. I deserve a day like this, and I'll tell you why.

Having a student teacher brings clarity to my job as high school English teacher. Her presence - like the catalyst in science or in literature - causes me to react sooner and yet with more thought to situations that arise on a daily basis. I know I have to do things correctly...by the book, so to speak...to maintain fairness which is part of my identity as a teacher, but this year I find myself going one step further to make sure that what happens as a result of my actions is what "the book" says will happen. Usually I can do this on my lunch break or during my prep period, but not this year. "Lunch" is at 10:35 a.m. and that's when I have to gear up for my ->difficult<- class, making sure that there are at least three different parts to the class and that I have enough copies of anything needed. What's supposed to be my prep period is consumed with conversation between the two of us about what to cover, how much time it'll probably take, ways to assess student understanding of material, etc. She still observes most of my classes as she sits in the back of the classroom writing her daily reflections and marking the papers from the one class of mine that she teaches. That leaves after school to do my follow-ups, if I don't have a meeting of some sort. Lately I've had some extra following up to do because of a few students in The Class, and Friday it finally came to a head. I'd submitted write-ups and provided photocopies of inappropriate work, I'd sent the kid out of class when he refused to remove the boxing gloves he chose to wear in class ("My hands are cold and I have no other gloves") and then he used profanity and made sure I heard it, and I expected administration to handle the situation. To me, it's been important to establish some degree of control because my student teacher is apprehensive about taking over this class. Well, it didn't happen as it was supposed to, so I ended up essentially on the warpath for an hour after school. How can I expect to hand over The Class - along with the other four classes that run well - to my student teacher unless I know she has a chance of surviving with the support of the administration?

Gina and I have hammered out her schedule until Dec. 11, her last day, so we know when her four-week solo period with full days of classes will happen. I do realize that part of her learning is seeing things from behind the teacher desk as they really are, but I don't want her to completely lose faith in The System because there are a few gaping holes in ours. Yes, she should be aware that teachers constantly have to go with the flow and expect interruptions and curves thrown at her. But she should also have reason to trust that the rules will be supported and the atmosphere in the school will be conducive to learning for students who want to learn. That's what I'm trying to ensure, both for her and for my students. Some days I'm worn out from the effort.

I'm taking a break from worry about school until Monday morning. I have to put it away and give it a rest. One way of doing that is taking the time to enjoy the creature comforts of my life away from school. I made four necklaces today and did some sorting and organizing out in my shop. I ate an apple from the local orchard and tossed the core into the woods as I walked down the driveway. I changed the bed sheets, inhaling the scent of the sunny day when the fresh ones hung out on the line. My lunch was a whoopie pie....at noon. I finished three crossword puzzles and two cups of coffee while snuggled up on the couch under a fuzzy throw. I went out and took three more pictures of the beautifully shaped maple tree in a nearby cemetery. And I enjoyed the ticking of the clock as I responded to personal emails. As I said, this has been a lovely, rainy day.