Thank You, Benchmarks!

January 24th: The last day we had off
March 28th: Teacher work day
April 18th: Spring break begins
June 9th: Summer break begins...almost there...

I wrote this post at the beginning of January when I thought I was done with "normal" work weeks. We had just gotten back from Christmas break and only had 5 months left of school. Five months, that's nothing. Well, it has been a loooong two months that I think feels like 5 months. Monday we have a teacher work day. I am SO excited! And I am going to be even more excited when April 18th gets here. I know you (Kelly) don't want to hear teachers complain about not having days off. We do get the summers off after all. But, this is not me complaining; this is me just being really excited for a break! It's nice to mix things up every once in a while. Yes, I could take a day off, but it ends up being more work to do that. So, I'll endure three more days and then enjoy my Monday, which I will be taking off. And then, I'll begin my countdown to spring break.

I will say the students have been really good these two months. The summer seems a long way off and there are tough and frustrating days, but overall I really haven't had anything to complain about. I am so thankful everyday that I work with people who enjoy teaching and don't sit around and complain all the time. Schools with teachers who hate their jobs are not fun places to be.

Today and tomorrow are benchmark testing days aka some of the best school days ever for teachers. I won't get on a rant about standardized testing and how ineffective and inaccurate they are. I will take my hour and a half of planning in the morning and then the silence of 20 students testing for two hours after that and will get a ton of work done. And then, I will enjoy my weekend and not spend it planning lessons! Today, I will be grateful for these crazy tests as I am tired and ready for my day off. Next week, when I am called in to the principal's office to discuss why my students aren't proficient on these tests, I will not be so grateful. Until then...blissful silence...