Anyone who knows me know that I work on two levels. First, when I am in the middle of something I love I work all the time. Second, when I’m tackling something I don’t love my middle name changes to procrastination. I know, I know. I should be the former every moment of every day. Unfortunately, life just isn’t like that.
Last night I was hit with some news that just took the wind right out of my sails. Since it was work related, I am struggling today to find the motivation to ramp back up to that full throttle mode of operating. That’s probably why I’m writing this post instead of working on lesson plans.
As I sat here this morning trying to figure out how to regain my momentum, it struck me that so many of the kids in my class must go through this every day. Some get the wind knocked out of their sails at home. Some are going through breakups with their boyfriends or girlfriends. Some just got yelled out by the teacher before me. (OK, some may even get hit upside the emotional head by me from time to time).
I get aggravated when kids don’t bring 100% to the classroom. After all, I always did.
But wait, did I really? Honestly…uh….no. I skated through high school with relative ease. I never brought my best game to the classroom until I went back to school after being married with children. Why am I so hard on my expectations for kids now?
Today, it will be a struggle to work at full speed. It is like my carbeurator has been chocked down. One time a single screw fell out the engine in my 1976 MG Midget. I lost two pistons, so the car would only go about 20 miles an hour. That’s how I feel.
Today, my speed may be slow, but my empathy gauge is high. It might be a good teaching day.