My Three Headed Dragon and a Freebie!

Do you ever have a teaching day where you know you are just off your game a little bit?  That was me today.  Maybe I can blame it on the fact that I stayed up past midnight reading (um, oops!).  Spending your day with 26 energetic first graders is a little bit challenging when you are going on 5 hours of sleep…

At about 2:30 this afternoon I was at my limit.  Student after student needed me for one reason or another while I was attempting to do guided reading groups.  So-and-so had lost their glue stick, so-and-so had to go to the bathroom AGAIN and I couldn’t help but thinking over and over, We have routines for these things, people.  Haven’t we discussed what to do in this situation a zillion times? I must be the worst teacher in the world!  I know this is all ridiculous and I apologize for the complain fest…I’m almost done…

The last straw came when one of my sweet students came up to me and confessed he’d just dropped one of our new KindleFires on the floor.  I literally closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The Patience Fairy thankfully appeared and allowed me to handle the situation well, but it seriously took all I had!

I’m really note entirely sure where this bad day came from and I’m going to stop talking about it soon because my eye is starting to twitch at the thought of it.  

After my kids had been dismissed for the day I started looking over some of their work from a few days ago when I had been gone at a training.  I read this paper and couldn’t help but laugh out loud and smile to myself in that empty classroom.

Sometimes that is what teaching feels like.  There are so many things being asked and expected of us, but when you come right down to it, our job is to nurture and enlighten sweet little children.  How lucky are we to be surrounded by them each day?  At the end of my super-grouchy-teacher day I feel grateful for the opportunity that I have to be with these precious friends!