Is It Naptime Yet?: My Job _ _ _ _

There are lots of ways to fill in the blanks here. There are lots of four letter words a teacher could use to describe the job of teaching. Depending on the time of year, the class make-up, the administrator, the parents, the commute, the paperwork, the quality of the para (if you even HAVE a para) and the condition of the building/materials/technology/parking lot/food/phone system/climate/air quality/pencil sharpener/etc/etc/etc a teacher's attitude can shift 180 degrees.

Things have been a little hairy this year for me. So when "Winter Celebration" rolled around I thought, "Geez. Just add ONE MORE THING I have to squeeze into my jam packed day and how can I fit it in and where am I going to get 64 oz of apple juice on the cheap and what if the kids don't get it and where did I put my keys?" A little background please, you ask?

OK. Each class picks out a winter holiday celebrated by some culture somewhere and researches said holiday. Then we present a showcase of the 12 holidays in the gym. We have food, music, dance, info posters, crafts, and many more items of interest displayed during this time. The showcase is put on the day before school is out for Winter Break. And there you go. If you know any kid of any age EVER- you know that after December 1, a child's brain has 2 parts- the Santa part and the vacation part. (For most kids you would hope that those parts are filled with good thoughts about both items, but unfortunately educators know that for many there is worry about those 2 items, too. But that is a sad post for a sad day. This is not that day.) So the kids are crazy, the teachers are crazy and the gym is pretty crazy on Winter Celebration Day.

Now that you're up to speed, I must say that I decided this year to NOT let Winter Celebration make me nervous. We were going to enjoy the planning, creating and preparing a great Winter Solstice presentation (That was the holiday I picked out of the hat). And we did. I let go of all the "I have to get the reading done-where is the math homework-I have to get that lesson done by Thursday!" thoughts that consume me and we listened to music and made posters and really had a fun time. You can check it out HERE if you want.

My friend Kathy posted her status on Facebook last night telling the interloop how much she enjoys her job, and this made me realize how much I really did enjoy the Celebration this year and how valuable an event like that is for kids and teachers, even though none of it will be on any test or state assessment. These are the days that kids remember and talk about later.

So when things get hairy again after Winter Break, and it is inevitable that they will, maybe we will again put aside the Reading Workshop, Writer's Workshop, Math, ISAT coach, and Common Assessment Review, and do something creative and fun. As long as I get to page 168 by Wednesday....

Take a look at some of the fun of Winter Celebration 2010. BTW, I filled in my blanks in the title with R-O-C-K-S!