Take a breath, save your sanity

My day started out quite plesant. We had a staff meeting and then had time to work in our room. I got to visit with Marilee for a bit. Then it was off to Pekadills for the last time this summer (i am glad someone else shared in our joy over Pekadills). I went with some fellow third grade teachers and TJ met us there. Beautiful day. Long weekend getting closer. Sun warming my skin. Then, i return to school to find out while we were gone, the curriculum lady was looking for us. YUCK! We had to meet about spelling. i hate spelling. Either the child can spell, or they cannot. You can teach them rules, you can put up word walls, you can have them memorize lists, you can integrate it into a book you are reading. . . but it never transfers to their every day writing, which is what really counts. As an adult, i am never given a spelling test, but i do have to jot a note to my boss (or i e-mail him and use spell check). I hate complaining about it because i have no solution. . . and that is what bothers me most of all. Maybe i will write my thesis on this. Anyway, there is now this new thing in isolation that we have to do. I don't really get it, and i don't think it will work. I am always more than willing to try new things, especially if there is data and research showing benifits. What i am not a big fan of is just picking something that works because we don't know what else to do. So our kids can't spell on the MEAP. They get 100% when spelling on their spelling tests, but in their writing they fail miserably in spelling. What ever are we going to do?? I know, let's teach them sounds in isolation and sort words into groups according to sounds and then we can move on to science. Hopefully you can see the sarcasm in my words. A couple of times, we are supposed to sort one of their words. How do you sort one word?Is spelling really that important. I spell things wrong all the time, but most of the time it does not stop the understanding of my sentences. In fact, studies have shown that we focus primarily on the beginning sounds of a word and the ending, so who really cares?
Then my day gets a little worse because i have to sign up for observations from my principal, only the directions that are on the folder are written in the most unclear language i have ever read (or maybe it was my killing headache that interfered). I have to sign up for a pre conference, but that has to be so many days from my observation, which can not be on the same day as another teacher and then i need to sign up for a post conference, which has to be three to five days after the observation and i have to sign up for two sets of these. Oh, and they cannot be during MEAP testing, but they should be in October. HUH???
Then i find out at 3:30 that i am getting another student. My even number is gone. I have to add this poor student on to an end of a table, bring out my second set of mailboxes, make her a back-to- school goody bag, write her name on her 3 folders, her notebook, a lunch stick, a job crayon and her locker. Get her a glue stick, crayons. . . ect. I know that all doesn't mean much to you, but let's just say i have to drag a bunch of stuff back out and write her name 80 times.
I tell you all this to let you know what i have learned. I get stressed out very easily. The curriculum lady asked me if i was alright, and i replied with a fake sounding yes. I get overwhelmed so easily. I am flexible. I am calm. I just need a few minutes (okay, maybe hours) to take a breath, and save my sanity. To pray. To feel God's presence and realize that in the big scheme of things, it is ridiculous that i am even stressed about such absurd things. Take a breath. I just want everything to be right. And it is. It might not be how i planned it, but it doesn't mean that the students won't learn. It doesn't mean that i can't try my best.
I feel the tension flow out of my fingers as i just vented my whole ridiculous day. If you are still reading this, i thank you for caring enough to survive all spewing of complaints and education talk. Thanks. I feel better. I took a breath and saved my sanity.