Skip to main content

Before the Alarm

Lately I’ve been waking up early
Sometimes a few minutes, sometimes an hour
Some days there’s so much anticipation, it’s hard for me to rest
March is a month of no breaks from school
It’s a month of transition
It’s often  difficult and  goes by slow

Waking up early I’m caught up in my to do lists
But today I seek to take a moment
Pause
Listen to the silence
Embrace the calm before the day begins
Labels:

Comments

  1. Amy RuddMarch 2, 2019 at 4:45 PM

    Yes! Love embracing the calm. It’s so amazing in the quiet of the morning.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kelsey corterMarch 2, 2019 at 4:53 PM

    This truly spoke to me! I will remember to pause and "Listen to the silence" more often this month. We need to cherish all the calm this month!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MSheehanMarch 4, 2019 at 12:28 PM

      Thank you for reading Kelsey! Yes, I'm working on listening to silence as much as I can this month as it is so busy for teachers.

      Delete
  3. SallyMarch 2, 2019 at 7:46 PM

    You capture the busy and productive days you have in that moment just before the day begins so well. Your post reminded me how I do the same thing, especially when I have a big day ahead of me. Thanks for the reminder to pause!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MSheehanMarch 4, 2019 at 12:28 PM

      Thank you for reading Sally! I'm really trying to wok on pauses in my own days as well.

      Delete
  4. jennasemMarch 2, 2019 at 8:42 PM

    This is great! Enjoy the silence! I wish I could wake up early.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MSheehanMarch 4, 2019 at 12:29 PM

      Thank you for reading Jenna! It was a rare early wake up for me. I'm not really a morning person before coffee.

      Delete
  5. FranMarch 2, 2019 at 10:10 PM

    Great post, Michelle! I especially liked these lines:
    "Some days there’s so much anticipation, it’s hard for me to rest
    March is a month of no breaks from school"

    Anticipation takes so many forms! Enjoy the extra minutes! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MSheehanMarch 4, 2019 at 12:30 PM

      Thank you for reading Fran! Enjoying an unexpected snow day today!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Grateful

Today I am grateful for a snow day. I have just come back from back to back trip. The first, an amazing trip to Europe with my students, and the second a funeral. I've been jet lagged and emotional and I am grateful to have space and time to myself to rest and recharge today. Last week due to all the travel and grief, I was very stuck and felt on edge. I felt easily irritated and found myself neglecting grades in order to try to be present for my family as they grieved. I felt like a bad teacher. I often feel this difficult balance and sometimes find it difficult to be a good teacher and good friend, relative, significant other. I feel sometimes when I feel I'm doing really well as a teacher, my personal life is not as nourished and I don't feel my relationships are being well cultivated. But to the opposite, if I feel I am being a good friend/daughter/significant other, I am not necessarily a good teacher. I am so grateful to have today to pause and rest and reflect. I h
14 comments
Read more

My turkey ran out...

In today's edition of "kids say the darndest things", I had a student who walked into our second-period French class with only 10 minutes left in the period. I know that this student lives within walking distance. I also know this student is a great story-teller. Towards the end of the class period, while students were completing their final class activity, I went over to the late student eager to hear his excuse for today. He explained that he was late because "my turkey ran out of his cage". I was surprised and amused by this story.  "So I went to the slaughterhouse on Friday to pick up a guinea fowl and a turkey" he began. "I had the turkey in a cage in my living room. This morning, my grandma woke me up and yelled 'the bird is out of its cage!' So I got up and went running around outside my house to find the turkey. Then my grandpa woke up and yelled 'what's going on here?' Then I told him about the turkey. So anyway, th
11 comments
Read more

If at first you don’t succeed

If you give students the opportunity to debate and you’ve prepared them with a wealth of resources, Will they participate successfully? Today my answer was no. I found that my best laid plans were unsuccessful. Some students were well prepared with notes while others had no idea we were doing a debate. My success rate is not particularly high with this class, but at our second attempt at a more formal class discussion I had high hopes. I’m feeling down on myself like I let them down. But I’m trying to take the unsuccessful lesson in stride and use what happened today to improve the next time. If at first you don’t succeed, revise your lesson plan.
10 comments
Read more