>Random thoughts on a Friday afternoon while working on the dreaded spring progress reports

Waiting:

• for Amigo’s new bedroom furniture to arrive (look forward to pictures in a future post!)
• for my late afternoon appointment at the podiatrist

Working:

• on drafting individual written comments for each student
• on copying grades to the reports in the old-fashioned low-tech way
• wondering when elementary teachers in our district will get software to make this more efficient (middle and high school teachers already do)
• on completing the social skills and study skills part of each report

Waiting:

• for my Hills Bros. instant double mocha cappuccino to get cool enough to sip

Working:

• on nibbling a Memorial Day cookie (flag-shaped, with strategically placed red and blue sprinkles on white frosting)

Waiting:

• for Husband to finish mowing the lawn so I can work outside on the deck
• for La Petite to finish her shower
• for the motivation to start writing math and reading grades
• for Husband to finish the garden fence to I can play in the dirt, er, plant the rest of the vegetables

Working:

• on getting back to the gradebook so I can play in the dirt all weekend. Woo-hoo! Cappucino’s ready, here I go!

>Today, there was progress. Not big steps, but significant progress in small steps.

My stress-induced stomach ache was much better this morning. (I suppose the evening nap followed by nine straight hours of sleep helped.)
I waded through three large stacks of papers, graded them, and recorded them in my gradebook. I can see the computer mouse now, and the screen is next, I’m sure.
I ate lunch in the lounge and didn’t feel too guilty.
It was chaos in my class because of individual band lessons and the all-school bike rodeo. Most of the peer mediators who were volunteering to help out at the rodeo were in my class, too, so I think I had the entire class together for, oh, maybe ten minutes all day. I think (I hope!) I got all the work to all of the kids so they can get it all done and handed in tomorrow. (I hear you laughing — let me dream, okay?)
My class behaved and participated well in the bike rodeo when their turn came.
And last, but not least:
In honor of Ride your Bike to School Day, I did. I rode my bike to school. It is a small accomplishment, but I’m proud of myself. And as the Gershwin brothers once said, “No, no they can’t take that away from me!”

>If you mind, you’ll need to go elsewhere, because I’m going to vent anyway.
I am stressed. How stressed am I feeling? Let’s put it like in Internet joke style.
You might be a wee bit stressed at work if:

• The piles of papers on your desk are so tall you can’t see the computer monitor.
• Lunch gets shorter every day as you keep realizing you have too much work to justify taking a full lunch break.
• You get a stomach ache just thinking about how much needs to be done.
• You look in your purse to find medicine and realize you don’t know if the one lone tablet is Immodium or Dulcolax.

Yes, that was my day today. I started my day talking with a special education teacher about an incident I had the misfortune to witness yesterday, and ended with a cancelled prep time because the Spanish teacher was sick. In between, students were off the walls wild because — hey, it’s May! Let’s be done learning! Every day!!

You may be thinking, “Whine, whine, whine. So — stop whining and do something about it!”
Okay. I will. Here’s my plan.

1. I will make a to-do list. Having a list helps me relax because I don’t have to worry about forgetting to do something.
2. I will make a “Ta-Da!” list for those things I accomplish from the to-do list.
3. I will stop multi-tasking — sort of. I will only attempt one or two things at a time, not more, so that I can actually see progress.
4. I will allow people to help me when they offer. I’m packing up my classroom, and good friends have offered to bring their minivans and help me with the move. I will say yes.
5. I will prioritize. Report cards have to be ready to go sooner than the moving boxes, so I will work on the gradebook first. The side benefit of this will be dramatic reduction in the size of the paper piles (see above).

I will keep happy songs in my head, or at least relevant lyrics. “Where’s the fire, what’s the hurry about, you’d better slow it down before you burn it out…” or “you’ve got so much to do, and only so many hours in a day, hey” and “It’s all right, you can afford to lose a day or two, oo-oo.”

(Trivia fans, can you name the tune? It fits the way I feel, but it still helps me settle.)