I am a middle school science teacher. My job is very stressful but I love it! I love those goofy hormonal 12 year olds! They aren't babies like elementary school kids, but they aren't quite like a teenager who thinks they are too cool for my nerdy science humor! I have had the summer off, which has been wonderful. It is fun waking up each morning to my 3 year old daughter yelling in her sweet little voice "mommy, its time to wake up!" Its more fun when that wake up call happens after 7am though of course. I love going into her room to open up the windows and see her beaming smily face as she asks me silly and random questions. This morning's question was "Mommy, why do monkeys eat bananas?" It is awesome. I am truly lucky to have a job that I love that also happens to give me time off to spend with my kid(s).
This summer was especially welcome because I spent February thru early June being super sick due to a terrible bout of "morning sickness". By the time we got to June, I could barely keep it together at work! But that is another blog for another time. By week 22 or so of my pregnancy, I was finally done with the sickness and ready to enjoy the summer with my family and begin planning for the baby (nesting).
School/work is now fast approaching... only two weeks left! I tend to plan and do work all summer long so that I am not rushing too much with last minute stuff in my classroom. At this point I am starting to panic though. Not only did I have to plan out my curriculum for my four 6th grade Earth Science class and two 7th grade Life Science classes (200 students total), but I also have to make plans for a long term substitute teacher to come into my classroom (my home away from home) for two months and take over my entire career. Eek! I am not really a "type A" control freak, but I am literally losing sleep over it! It is the fear of the unknown, the lack of control, it is killing me. The fear I have is that I will show up after maternity leave in early December to find that the sub has turned my well oiled machine into an anarchist free-for-all, in other words 6th graders gone wild! What about their grades? What about parent emails and concerns? What about all of my policies and procedures that are designed to keep me sane and turn these kids into responsible members of our society??? Hell, what about SCIENCE??? Can this substitute teach it in a meaningful way so that the kids actually learn something rather than zone out? Will they learn anything? What if this substitute single handedly causes a hatred of science in the hearts of these kids for ever??? Oh No!!! It is a lot of pressure!!!
So that is my blog for today! Just sheer panic! I am sure in the end all will be fine and I will have a great substitute teacher... just hopefully not so great that the kids see me on that dreaded day in December and say "Why did you have to come back? Mrs. Perfect-Sub is our most favorite teacher ever!" IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR? I want a great (but not perfect) substitute teacher who does exactly what I have instructed them to do! Thats all! No biggie!
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