Matt Groening's Life Is Hell ended last year. Today, one of his comics resonates.
This is the time of the year when I'm in the bottom two rows, teetering into the last row. I lose sleep. I think of new ways to try to hold on to the motivation and engagement in the class. I worry about the piles of papers that seem to grow. I browse the job sites. I wonder what it would be like to leave the classroom. Standardized tests loom over me. I've grown weary of walking into buildings before the sun rises, of cold weather, of wondering what will happen, of trying to reach someone determined to be unreachable.
These are the literal and figurative darkest days of the year.
But, there are sunny moments that hint at the changes to come. This weekend has three events I'm particularly looking forward to:
- The clocks move forward and the days of pre-dawn school arrival and departure are over for the school year. Though I will miss the hour of sleep, the sun does much to improve my mood.
- Also, I attend the Northern Virginia Writing Project's Language and Learning Conference during the first weekend in March each year. As with my November trips to NCTE, the L&L seems to come at the perfect time to keep me moving and excited about working with kids.
- Finally, it will be warm enough to open the beehives and check on their progress. We'll ensure they have enough emergency food to last until the nectar flow really gets going, also in a couple of weeks from now.
So, my pre-dawn slice today in anticipatory. Tonight, I've been awake most of the night and working on school-related assignments and worried about what there is left to accomplish. However, I know the darkness won't last, even though it seems like I'm still stuck in liminal space and time. In the next couple of weeks, I will see more sunshine, get more excited about my work, clear the hurdle of annual state writing testing, and have a week-long Spring Break before charging toward the next tests and the end of the year.
I'm looking forward to the light.
Yes, as soon as you get through waking up in the dark for a few days or weeks when the clocks first are changed, and get over the loss of the hour, the extended light as we roll through spring does make a definite difference in our attitudes!
ReplyDeleteI love seeing the light in the afternoons. It feels like I haven't lost the whole day. It's funny that it affects me so much even I have a window in my classroom, something many of my colleagues lack.
DeleteThanks for stopping in and sharing your thoughts.
I would liken this time of year to that steep climb up on a roller coaster. It feels like you will never reach the top and then once testing starts, it is like getting to the top and it all becomes a free fall for the rest of the year. Just hold on a while longer.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great metaphor for the year. It's quite the fast ride from here to the finish, I know.
DeleteThanks for dropping in to comment!
Yes, the light is coming! Tonight's time change marks the beginning of many more good things coming our way.
ReplyDeleteI so love your outlook. :) Thanks for consistently coming by to share with me.
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