I'll spare everyone the excuses... it's time to recommit, plain and simple.
I admittedly struggled with this one because I wasn't 100% sure just what I could add in terms of discussion. That being said, a post of this calibre is probably just what the blogging doctors ordered in terms of getting this back into habit.
Behold... my desk drawers! Dunh dunh dunh!!
Exhibit A. Lots of spare rulers and other supplies for those occasional moments when kids forget what they need. In spite of my best efforts, this usually means that I am continually replenishing my stock. Basics like pencils are a particular favorite, hence their absence from the drawer entirely. Additionally, I've got a couple of bottles of Mio, some medals won coaching last year's B Boys basketball team, and mainly random knick-knacks.
Exhibit B isn't much different, only that some of the knick-knacks are now bigger. This one strikes me for the complete randomness of some of it. A tennis ball (I don't even play). A lock. A flashlight. Some old exams and a couple of phonebooks round out the collection.
Now for what this says about me as a teacher. First, I don't really file a lot of material in paper form. I try to get work back to students as fast as I can and remove as much clutter as possible. I'm not always the most tidy of people and as I continue to teach, I realize just how important it is to not get bogged down by too much stuff. Google Drive has made this a lot easier: instead of fumbling around for something, I can keep it stored in the cloud for easy access. I do much better organizing things electronically than I do in actual space. It kind of reminds me of a certain show I've been known to watch from time to time...
Another thing I think this says about me as a teacher is that I have learned to adapt in some ways by making most of what I do a public thing. Let me explain. When I was a kid growing up, the teacher's desk always seemed to give off this aura of power. I don't mean that in a negative way, but I guess I often had a sense of mystery when I thought about it. What could be inside? What's so important that it has to be kept in those drawers and matching mini filing cabinets? I may have inadvertently added to this feeling by keeping my own desk in elementary in a state similar to some unexplored tomb or catacomb.
Maybe I haven't kept much in my desk because it isn't necessarily where I want to be tied to when I'm at work. Most teaching nowadays has me frequently roaming around the classroom. I'm really only seated at the very beginning or end of class, or if there's something I need to get done (catching up on marking, finish a lesson plan, etc). I'd like to think that as ,ore and more of what I do doesn't take place at my desk, I just haven't made it the kind of anchor that a desk has traditionally been.
Final thoughts moving forward. I need to blog more. I started this challenge because I wanted it to become a habit. I've slipped... again. I am recommitting to reporting my thoughts here on a regular basis. To make that possible, I'm going to try to do a bit more sharing. As I recently went through parent-teacher interviews, there were a lot of parents who were impressed to see what their kids were up to on their own blogs. I'm going to try and share a bit more of what I see in the classroom to highlight the exciting things that we are starting to get into.
More to come.
~Mr.T
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