failure.....

Wah! I failed at my goal of last week! I posted only once. Not on Wednesday NOR Saturday. And I am sorry to say that this will not be a long post either. It's 10:20 and I need to be in bed 45 minutes ago because I need to be up early tomorrow morning.
This week has been wonderful. Lots of work--but I feel like I'm getting somewhere. I'm learning a little more about lesson plans, a little more about classroom management, a little more about discipline. I've had students take the mechanical babies home for the 3-day weekend (they begged to take them home for an extra day!), I've had flops of lesson plans, I've had great lesson plans, I've had failed computers, successful lab days, and two observations. I'm surviving. Exhausted, behind, and almost burnt-out, but I am surviving. And I'm getting better. I've gotten home at a decent hour most days this week. Very exciting!! I'm lucky that I'm single right now--I spend 14+ hours a day at school some days. (Some days I only spend 11 hours at school)--and I'm lucky to be single and not have a family to take care of. I can dedicate my time for my student. I hope that it is not always the case--I need "me" time. I went to my parents house this weekend for Labor day, and it was so rejuvenating. It was hard to come back again. But I did, and I'm enjoying it.
I've started teaching human sexuality to my 8th graders. Let's talk about terrifying. I'm most terrified that a parent will call me and yell at me for teaching sexuality to her daughter. I will be changing my disclosure document to have an opt-out clause for next time--I debated putting it in this time, but decided against it. I wish I hadn't, I'd feel much better knowing that I had that security. So I keep crossing my fingers and praying that no one calls to yell at me. It's not like I'm teaching it inappropriately--mostly I'm just showing a video (Pam Stenzel's "Time to wait for sex".....BEST MOVIE EVER) and they have to write a response. But I'm still terrified.
It is officially time for bed. I'm not ready for tomorrow....but then again, I'm never ready. One day I'll get caught up. One day.

~The Teacher