I'm noticing a pattern, every year I start, and everything is good. I am prepared for my classes, I have good relationships with the teachers, I am fulfilling all my responsibilities to everything. Then all of a sudden, 4 weeks later, the drain plug has been pulled and everything is spiraling to oblivion. I have no idea what I'm going to teach next period or next month, I am annoying my coworkers or at least I think I'm annoying them and I am calling excuses for everyone of my responsibilities. I don't know quite what goes wrong in the four weeks of interim. In the last four weeks, I didn't have any emergencies, in fact I actually had at least one day off of school a week. I don't have any reason why I am not organized, and yet I'm barely holding it together.
What has changed in the last four weeks. The adrenalin of the new school year is gone. It is very clear who my kids are, where they are at, and what I should do on a day to day basis. A big difference in the last four weeks is that I decide to take on more obligations. Now I am on the PD committee, the portfolio committee, the basketball coach, the pre-calc instructor, part time team leader. I've also taken a lot more leisure time, I spent a weekend at my cousin's wedding, I went apple picking one one off day and registering voters another weekend. All the stuff that I need to do is getting done in last minute little spurts. I've known for months that i needed to teach this unit, but I did not plan one lick of it yet, and I knew the unit before that I would need a project for it, but I didn't plan that until the day before. I've also put a lot of time into shit that is inconsequential. I watched every episode of the daily show on hulu.com for the last 2 weeks, I watched every inch of coverage on the bailout from msnbc.com, and I watched at least an hour of each 3 presidential debates.
Meanwhile lots of stuff has been slipping, I just keep missing stuff for TC, I have taught at least 3 classes with lessons pulled from the depths of my colon, and I have fucked up on a progressively deepening number of levels. I might have forgot to go to a team meeting, then I forgot to take minutes for a meeting I went to, then I forgot to email the math coach my lesson, then I forget to do the lesson plan, and now tomorrow I have game scheduled and I don't have jersey's for my team.
I wonder how else this last 4 weeks could have gone and the answer that would be best is, boring as hell. I could have not signed up for shit, just kept on casually knocking stuff out and not signing on for any extra anything. And that is for sure how the next 4 weeks, and the 4 weeks after that will go.
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