It's almost Christmas!

Despite baking Christmas cakes, going “light-seeing”, listening to Christmas music (both in class and at home), and exchanging gifts, it really hasn’t felt like Christmas time yet. Maybe it has to do with being in school until December 21st. It’s hard to feel the joy of the season when you’ve got papers to grade, lessons to plan, and 12 year olds to babysit. Because that’s pretty much what it felt like this week: babysitting.

Wednesday was an utter waste of time and energy. It was a half-day, which already spells worthless in my book. The kids come to school with the mindset that they won’t do any work, which is evident by their lack of back packs and basic school supplies. This half-day, even the teachers felt the same way. We had a Christmas program scheduled for the first hour or so of the day, and from there it becomes a matter of feeding children and controlling chaos. But of course, nothing went according to schedule, so I had no idea what was going on for pretty much the whole day. And what’s more annoying than not knowing what’s going on? Oh, say, 100 kids asking you what’s going on. By the end of the day, I was practically shoving kids out my door. “See you in 2012!” was my catch phrase as I walked the kids out to the buses. Praise. The. Lord.

Now the fun could really begin. The rest of the evening was stress-free, filled with laughter and conversation that did not revolve around school or students or test scores. The staff went out to eat and exchanged secret Santa gifts, with nothing hanging over our heads except a week and a half of break.

I absolutely love the people I work with. My principal is hard-working, but she is down to earth and never expects more from us than what she herself is willing and able to give. She is real about our “situation” as a low-performing school, and her honesty is refreshing. My fellow teachers are fun-loving and hysterical. But by far my favorite people are the women I work most closely with, the other 7th grade teachers.

Last year, on those mornings when I would rather get hit by a bus than try to manage the chaos that was my 8th period, I got up to go to work because if nothing else, I knew I’d have fun with my coworkers during our common planning time.

This year, I look forward to our unofficial morning meetings in the hallway, where we mingle for maybe a little too long to watch the chaos that is the 8th grade and bask in the glory of our well-behaved (and well-trained) 7th graders. We are a strong team, mostly because we all like each other and work well together. And apparently, we play well together, too. After our staff dinner, the 7th grade team went shopping “on the town”, making trips to Target and Old Navy, and creating a scene along the way. We had so much fun, and it was a great way to kick off break.

Now, all is right in Glen Allen--Amanda and I are both home, and we are currently preparing for happy hour with our parents.

It's beginning to feel a little more like Christmas...