It's been a rough week here teaching. Although we had President's Day off, I have had at least two classes of incomplete class work assignments and incessant nagging from my students. At the end of my morning class, I snapped at my students "I do NOT want to hear anyone complain about when lunch is ever again!" I tried to make a dramatic exit out of the classroom.

It didn't work so well.

But, the "savior" for teachers everywhere (I presume) would be the feeling that they get on a Friday. I'd equate it how a runner feels when they can see the finish line. And, today, I am receiving a huge HEAP of that feeling. While we try and take each day as new, with no mistakes in it, I still feel like those days pile up on us until we can not even stand up and, guess what happens, we realize that we're finally to Friday.

Most days, I'm glad that I have a job, that I have friends at where I work, that my work is/seems meaningful (at least to those around me). Today, I feel some of those same feelings but, more importantly, I feel empowered.

Yesterday, I meticulously wrote out some new lesson plans and prepared classwork and homework assignments for both my classes. Most days, I just run out of a lesson plan book (of my own creation) that has 25 to 30 lesson plans and just use those. I've been "using" them for the past 3 years. They're practically memorized. I never actually have to look at them, I just take out the assignments to make copies when I need to. I follow the play book, usually, but I try to omit lesson plans wherever I can. It's so thorough that I never have to add anything.

But, this class is a little different and I've been trying out some new books and new ideas on how to teach...

Today, I'm breaking form.