day 59

I was on a roll with my classes yesterday. I've been experiencing a little bit of burn-out, days where I find it hard to care whether or not the students are learning anything and where or not I'm teaching effectively. But the last two days I've come into school early to do what little preparing I need to do before class and to think of ways I can more effectively convey the concepts I'm teaching so that the students will actually learn something and not just waste their time. (Is that a run-on sentence?) I've also grown weary of waking up late (9-10 AM has been common for me lately) so I've been going to be earlier and setting my alarm to wake up at 7, even though I don't have any commitments until three in the afternoon.

It's all paid off in that I've been able to go into class, with my agenda for the comfortably in the back of my mind, and focus on each student. Classes have gone faster, I've been less tolerant of misbehaving students and therefore able to restore order faster when they get out of line, and I haven't run out of steam and energy by the end of the day. I've been getting more done each day and I don't feel like everything is passing me by. It feels, to me, like a continuation of the spirit I felt on Sunday.