Bwahahaha.  Yes, soon they will be mine again!!  This may or may not be a good thing for my students who have had fun working with my wonderful student teacher this semester.  Like most young teachers, being firm can be a challenge, especially when some little puppy dog eyes look their way asking for just one more chance to make things better, despite the fact that they’ve already had many chances.  I don’t fall for that much anymore.

The break has been nice, allowing me to teach at a different level.  It’s a challenge to look at how someone is teaching and help them make adjustments without changing them in the process.  While there are techniques that are universal to teaching, so much of it is really relational, and well, you can’t teach genuine caring.   The kids are having a difficult time saying goodbye this week because they’ve come to love her.  And as kids tend to do, they’re trying to figure out a way for her to stay, and then they realize (or she reminds them) that if she kept teaching there that I wouldn’t have a job!  So I’m thinking it’s about time to make them mine again.

So, beginning next Monday, I have them back for 14 days and I find myself excited about that.  Not the kind of excited like when you have a bad student teacher and you can’t wait to get your kids back so you can fix them.  No, the cool thing about having a great student teacher is that you have to search yourself, ask “why” of yourself, and be able to back up what you say, and all of this helps me to be a better teacher.  So many times as veteran teachers we just go with what we’ve always done, but when someone asks you why you do it, it’s a great test to see if you’re in a rut or if what you’re doing is still relevant.

And while it has been wonderful to be able to keep up with all the paperwork, surveys, emailing, programs, parent letters, weekly music newsletters and whatever else came across my desk, sitting in front of the computer all day is not exactly what I got into teaching for.  So just the prospect of doing lesson plans, as nerdy as it sounds, is kind of exciting.  And as for classroom management, let’s see if I can put my money where my mouth is.  I’ve been instructing my student teacher in classroom management techniques, now let’s see if I’m as consistent as I think I am.  I’m seeing all of this as a challenge with myself, and well, I’m a pretty competitive person.

So, look out kids, Mrs. Bush is gonna be back and hopefully better than ever.  Despite my advanced age (158), I will show you that I’ve still got game and I’m ready to play.  Bwahahahahahaha….