Science Training

For the first time in a LONG time, I left my 6 hour training day feeling as though I had learned something valuable. Another first: I looked up at the clock at one point and thought, "Wow! It's 2 o'clock already?". The guy who is doing the presentation is funny and smart and very engaging. Instead of telling us "This is how you should do it" and doing it a completely different way himself, he is actually teaching us using the methods he thinks we should be using. It makes the whole thing fun and completely motivating. In my district, the teachers have become fairly jaded. We have had so many people telling us what to do and ignoring the skills we already have that we approach all newcomers with a "You think you can do it better? Well, prove it, buddy!" mentality. We all start each training sitting back in our chairs with our arms crossed and our minds tightly closed. This guy was able to overcome that in a BIG way. I am absolutely excited to be going back for the next two days.

I'm Sorry, Kids

By the end of this week, I will have missed 6 days out of three weeks. 6/15. Almost half of the days. And although I am missing them for school related business (intervention meetings, training, etc), I am feeling an overwhelming combination of guilt and exhaustion. I keep trying to show my kids how they are going to benefit from me being gone (Hey, guys! We get to have new computers in our room if I go to this three day training!), but I know that they are starting to feel neglected. Thank goodness I have a wonderful regular sub who knows how things go in my room, and who my students enjoy.