Am I An Idiot?

I like to think that I'm not an idiot. But every year, as school begins, I'm reminded that I might be one. How else can I explain failing to accomplish everything I needed and wanted to accomplish before school starts up again? Those things I needed and wanted to accomplish include school-related and non-school-related tasks.

On the whole, this has been a great summer, and I'm happy about what I did accomplish. But now that the full-time pressure of a brand-new school year has kicked in, I can't help but regret not having accomplished even more.

Over the last few weeks, I've done some Spring Cleaning in my classroom. I'll only confess to close friends that I had report cards dating back to the 1997-98 school year stored in my classroom. That's in addition to report cards and other documents from the years between then and now. Remember: it's now August of 2007.

Needless to say, I've spent some time shredding and throwing away. I started doing this even before our official Teacher Workdays began, but I wish I had started earlier and/or gotten more done sooner. Whereas I earlier approached this Spring Cleaning in relaxed mode--casually looking over documents and reflecting on staff members, parents, students, and experiences--I'm now in panic-mode, trying to get everything ready for a Sunday evening Open House and Tuesday's "Return of the Living Students."

Guilford County Schools didn't schedule Saturday as a Teacher Workday, but for me, it was one. There was some comfort in being in Good Company: all three of my school's administrators spent a good chunk of the day at our school, as did some other teachers. Can I get a Shout-Out from any other Guilford County Schools staff members who also spent part of Saturday at school (or working on school-work at home, which also certainly counts)? Our new principal, Beverly Wilson, indicated that her former school system scheduled about 7 Teacher Workdays before students returned. I didn't offer my two-cents when this year's school calendar was being developed, but it would be potentially healthy and helpful in multiple ways for our school system to consider adding at least a few Teacher Workdays to the beginning of future school calendars.

I know I'll be at our school tomorrow (technically now later today) for Open House. Parents and their seventh- and eighth-grade children have been invited to visit our school and meet their teachers from 4:00-5:30 PM Sunday afternoon. Then, we'll just have Monday to put the final touches on plans for the first day and first week of school.

As with every school year, there's that strange combination of excitement and anxiety. What will our students be like this year? What challenges will pop up? What memories will be formed? How will it all go, and how will everything work out for everyone involved? These questions only broadly cover the thoughts currently flying through my mind. I'm optimistic and hopeful for a positive year, as I am at this point (almost) every year. (If my class rosters don't change much or at all, I will have by far the smallest class sizes that I've had since my very first year of teaching. That doesn't mean we have fewer students at my school, but for the eighth-grade, we have the most core teachers I believe we've ever had--16!--and apparently that has so far led to smaller class sizes, a definite plus. I hope that stays true.)

To balance the stress of spending most of Saturday at school, I made dinner plans with a few friends from school. We had dinner at Natty Greene's, which has always been a positive experience. There was already a good crowd inside when we arrived slightly past 6:00 PM, so we chose to eat outside. Wondered if it might be a bit too hot, but it was near-perfect. There was even a slight breeze that visited us occasionally--it felt great!

Besides Natty Greene's, I also recommend the Idiot Box, an improv-comedy club a couple blocks down on Elm Street. I've only been three times, but each time has been a great experience. I went today because it will be the last time one of my former students, Zach Stinnett, gets to perform there for a while. He's heading to Chicago to study with Second City. It's a very cool thing to witness a former student doing so well in life. I laughed a lot and thoroughly enjoyed tonight's show. Zach was great, as were his cohorts.

If you haven't been before, pick a Friday or Saturday night and visit the Idiot Box. Whether you're an idiot or not, there's a good chance that you'll laugh and have a great time. The cost is between $5.00-$8.00 per person, and you also have a chance to purchase drinks and snacks. It's also worth noting that there are Saturday Matinees at 5:00 PM that are geared toward families. One of my teaching teammates took his daughters, and from what Zach's mother told me--(she was at both the 5:00 PM show with them and the 8:00 PM show with me)--they had a great time.