Relativity

If you've never taught before, be prepared for the elastic nature of time during the last six weeks of school. Get ready for days that last for-e-ver, each period playing like a slow-motion movie in your head, the blades of your beat-up classroom fan turning, whirring, click, click, click... just don't become complacent, for these slow, stretched-out days snap together like a rubberband at week's end, as the days fill with field trips, field days, final exams, class trips, and the evenings fill with awards ceremonies and dances... The temperature rises and the minutes drag, the kids brains are molasses dripping down over their shoulders onto their desks, but when you go home, your brain melts and oozes and you get nothing prepared, and the days slip by unnoticed...

Today was the first truly hot, humid day of the year. I was relaxed. The classroom was sunny and felt spacious. Hotter, stickier days will come. My afternoon classes, with their fly-stuck-in-amber feel, were just a peek into the next few weeks.

My roommate says I'm "the Sarah Jessica Parker of education." Hmmmmmm.