Monday

The great thing about teaching - and the most frustrating, at times - is that what happens one day often has very little bearing on the following day. Last week I could have done without. Nothing good happened in Science class. I was grumpy and unhelpful. Vacation seemed like the only solution: a break to pull myself and my curriculum together. And yet vacation seemed just out of reach, still four school days away. I woke up today to snow flurries and -4 Fahrenheit air and no desire to go to school at all.

And today was fine!

The kids gave their PowerPoint presentations on owl pellets, it went smoothly, we have more to finish tomorrow. We gave a practice standardized test. And I talked to the sixth graders about the different types of fat and about heart disease, and they had a million questions, and I think they're going to go home and encourage their relatives to make healthy lifestyle choices. Everyone at school seemed relaxed. All day I just kept thinking, oh! this is so easy... why was last week such an uphill battle?

There is probably no answer for that - but it's so nice to feel back in the swing of things again - and without even leaving for a week!