Thursday, August 26, 2010

Late Nights and Student Expectations

Pin It The onset of the school year has left me up late for the past several nights planning lessons, grading assignments, and finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with anything which is not school.

Reading blogs has now started to slip into the backseat, although I have been trying to keep up with the rising tide.

I came home at nearly 9 p.m. tonight after a set of late student assessments, a college class, and a handful of Wheat Thins for dinner. I headed downstairs and turned on What About Bob so that I could listen as I dealt with the tracking of files, recording of student testing scores, sorting and organizing parent helper surveys, and finally tackling the stack of 28 journal entries just waiting to be read. One hour stretched into three as I finished one project only to move on to the next - all sandwiched in the dreaded blue tote...


I was feeling the weight of the year already upon my shoulders when I came across one particular little journal entry set to the topic of his expectations of the upcoming year...


Welcome back, Joey; I'll try my hardest not to overdo it...

26 comments:

tiburon said...

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a Joey!

I am already in love.

mamahasspoken said...

Yea!!! A new Joey is always a welcome addition to a classroom!
Hopefully you'll get caught up on all that wonderful paperwork this week-end. I know that's my goal for the week-end ;o)

Jenny said...

Great movie to listen to as you work on your projects.

I am really behind in house work from my first full week back. Not to mention that Blogging really has taken the back sit. I finally got to post up. I dated them Wednesday and Thursday.

Welcome back to school Joey!

Kalei's Best Friend said...

yeah! Joey's back... funny how kids love discipline? its nice to know there are teachers who love what they do and it reflects in their students.

Gerb said...

Classic! Welcome, Joey...

Vanessa said...

Of course they can't be tooooo attractive. That would just distract the student from learning.

Yanet @ 3 Sun Kissed Boys said...

...handsome but not too handsome.... But of course! It my ruin his game. I love you, Joey.

Martha H. said...

I hope you're working on being attractive, but not TOO attractive.

Kristina P. said...

Well, I think you fit the bill!

Shannon said...

I gave each of the 3 boys a journal this year for the first time and told them they have to write in it every day - a little or a lot - thoughts and feelings - a place to express themselves. I can honestly tell you that so far, Levi is shaping up to be Joey worthy...not sure how to handle it!

I just want to hear about what kind of goood rewards you have to offer.

Anonymous said...

Who knew the dreaded blue tote would hold such treasure...a new Joey.

Mindee@ourfrontdoor said...

Oooh - that's a fine line between "attractive" and "to attractive." Good luck with that.

I'd comment on the spelling, but my 42 year old husband still spells to, two and too wrong all the time. :)

TisforTonya said...

love it! we were a little worried that Joey hadn't enrolled this year!

Natasha and Jesse said...

Joey is back! All is right with the world...

And of course teachers have to have good looks but not too good cause that would just be too darn distracting. :)

Jamie said...

What a chaotic mound of joy! :) I hope the school year turns out great for you. It's good to hear you have discovered the next Joey. I'm excited for the stories. :)

mCat said...

I have a feeling this Joey is gonna be a WINNER!

And the fact that you put What About Bob in the background, just endeared you that much more to me.

Gimme gimme gimme, I need, I need, I need!

I could go on all day. Favorite movie

Emmy said...

So do you have good looks just not too good? Should be fun to see what this Joey does :)

And good luck with the year. Teachers really do not get enough respect or pay for what they do.

tammy said...

Can't wait.

What are you gonna do to tone down the looks though?

Mrs. O said...

That is priceless. These little gems are what make teaching awesome.

Krista said...

Life is so boring without Joeys. I had to request last year that I didn't care which teacher my daughter got, I just didn't want her to be in the same class for the fifth straight year with the spawn of Satan. She's quiet so they always sit him next to her. He is seriously in the office EVERY day. He steals, swears (had a problem with the F word in 1st grade) and very disrespectful. Lucky they are only far and few between!

Serene is my name, not my life! said...

Haha, that's so awesome! "Good looks but not too good", such wisdom! :D

My dad is an economics professor at a community college. I use to attend where he taught back in Florida and it was an hour away from home. Being barely 16, I didn't have my own car or anything so I always rode up with my dad right after early morning seminary and stay ALL day till he was ready to go home, which was often at 10 or 11 at night.
I would often help him grade papers and such. Being a teacher is a LOT of work! I would look at the stack of papers on his desk and wish I could help out more. Seems like he was always reading papers.

Good luck with the school year! I have no doubt you'll do great!

P.S. sorry about the super long comment.

Mama-Face said...

I hope my son's teacher lives up to HIS expectations.

I always wondered if teachers really read those journal entries... what is your professional opinion of a kid who usually draws a cartoon instead of an actual written entry? Maybe I don't want to know.

"What About Bob"-greatest movie EVER.

Teachinfourth said...

I nearly always read my students' journal entries. There are weeks when I simply can't because they take a TON of time. I always try to write a sentence or two as well. It's like commenting on blogs, really. However, you know that that takes a lot of time.

Corine Moore said...

No WAY! That can't be real. What 5th grader has expectations like these? If it is... my advice is to not let Joey's expectations rest upon your thoughts any longer than is needed for an initial hearty laugh; his expecations are clearly too high. But my what ENTERTAINMENT he will provide! :D

birdeeb said...

That's CUTE! A teacher with good looks haha ;o)

Connie said...

"What About Bob?" You're my kind of guy! Can't wait to hear about Joey this year!

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