Nothing Good to Say

My mother used to tell me," If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." Guess that's why I haven't updated my blog lately. No, I won't blame it on the weather, the winter blues or cabin fever. I've lived in the midwest all my life and winter comes every year. Even though the current weather is the main topic for small talk around here, I refuse to let the climate dictate my frame of mind.

The past week was a challenging one. Trying to get back into the swing of things after last week's weather roller coaster was totally beyond my expectations . It felt so much like starting over with class routines, behavior expectations, and reading skills. Very depressing for a teacher painfully aware of grade level goals and benchmarks, realizing the year is half over, and each day of staff development and school dismissed due to weather feels like another missed opportunity for progress. Monday I sat at our inservice meetings, trying to listen attentively about state core curriculum. I wished I could drive around to my students houses, tell them to jump in the car because what we REALLY needed that day was to DO SCHOOL!

So in the midst of a frustrating week, with piles of paperwork all around me, unfinished projects to be completed, and January's reading assessments barely started, what did I do?

I rearranged the furniture in my classroom! Psychologists would have a lot to say about my coping strategies, but when faced with challenged I can't seem to fix,  I find that the answer to my problems is almost always ...moving furniture.