My brain is fried...

But at least I don't have to worry about lesson plans for awhile. For the 4 different grade sections I'm teaching I just finished the first 4 weeks of lesson plans. Some of it is recycled from last year; some of it is brand new; some I'm appropriating from other teachers. This is the part of teaching that makes my head hurt, but it's obviously necessary to be successful in the classroom. I'm not gifted with the minutiae part of life. I'm all about the broad, sweeping themes, the symbolism, the significance, etc. I wish I could fast-forward through the building blocks part. Doing this part of it is always a good reminder of what it is like to be a student. There are unpleasant but necessary parts of learning in order to get to what might be the most enjoyable. 

Also a good reminder of what being a student is like is teacher training, which consumed the majority of last week. We undergo reminders of procedure, go over the handbook, policies, etc., and have grade level team meetings. The fight to pay attention when your noggin has hit critical mass was a prominent part toward the end of every day, and worse towards the end of the week. Two of my non-finer moments of last week, but that were good reminders, came from 2 "everything's funnier when it's inappropriate to laugh" events. While taking notes one morning on my laptop, something funny popped into my head and I typed it out so my husband, who was reading over my shoulder, could see it. He found it hilarious and had to stifle a loud laugh, and his reaction was so funny to me that I then had to squelch the rising laughter and proceeded to shake for the next several minutes. Another time I was struck by something a speaker said and I snorted because I was trying not to laugh. Immediately the people on either side of me smacked me in the leg, which only made it worse. This is how I get when I'm under pressure. I find things hilarious that I wouldn't ordinarily, and it's usually when it's not a great time for me to be laughing. 

Moments like that remind me to be sympathetic to my students. Yes, I expect them to behave. Yes, I expect them to take me seriously when I'm being serious. But sometimes, it just gets to be all too much. There is a place for laughter in education. There is a time to throw solemnity out the window and blow off steam. But it needs to be appropriate. I need to learn to manage stress more effectively so people don't wonder who the nutjob is laughing in the corner when nothing funny is happening. I need to remember that my students are going to occasionally need a break from the essays, the deep discussions, the life lessons. God created humor, and it is good. It's easy to forget that.