Fourth Week of April

Monday
This evening I stopped by to see the mother of my dearest friend – Soldier Girl. My friend arrives home tomorrow, and my attention will be on her, so I wanted to take this last chance to say hello and give her mom a hug. During my friend’s deployment, I thought of her mother often, usually taking comfort in knowing that someone else missed her as terribly as I did. She was so nice and welcoming, and we sat and chatted for a few minutes. Then my friend’s dad came home, full of stories about his day in the police department. The best part was when I was leaving and we were able to say, “I’ll see you tomorrow!” She comes home for good tomorrow…


Tuesday
My dear friend Soldier Girl came home today! She arrived just before noon and promptly went to sleep. I was invited to her first dinner at home -- at her parents’ house (probably because her mom realized that she was going to commandeer a vehicle and come to visit me, with or without dinner). After school and a couple of meetings, I finally made it over there. I was so happy to see her, and she seemed equally happy to see me. She was full of stories and things to show us, while I was full of questions. Her dad was full of his own stories about his time in the Marine Corps, and they reveled in their shared understanding of military ways. We sat around the dinner table for much longer than any of us are used to, and made no effort to move on until after it was dark outside. After such an evening and after missing her for so long, it was hard to leave her. At least this time I know it won’t be another four months before I see her again.


Wednesday
I know I say this every week, but I am seriously I need of a vacation. I can’t remember what happened on Wednesday (and it’s only 3 days later). That’s pathetic.


Thursday
This morning on my way to work, when I passed the last house before the school (the blue house at the northeast corner of school property), I saw a raccoon. He was sitting in the front yard of the blue house. As I slowed down to stare at him, he stopped whatever weird critter thing he was doing to stare back at me. As I slowly rolled toward the stop sign on the corner, he slowly backed away toward the neighbor’s house. SO random, and a little bit creepy…

I am growing increasingly frustrated at the configuration of my classroom. I sit in a weird corner with no view of the door or the pod. I have extra storage because I’m right next to the cabinets, but my area is so awkward and hidden. Also, the kids are always scooting their desks forward, which makes it impossible for me to get to my phone during class. (Mind you, getting rid of the phone would be an acceptable solution to me, but I don’t see that happening.) My work table is inaccessible, so I’ve taken to sitting at an empty student desk in the back row during class – but then the students who need help end up crowding the students who sit near me. It’s a problem, and it’s bothering me more and more every day. I plan to rearrange my room at the end of the school year (for next year)… It’s driving me crazy.

During seventh period today, I had some boys who were done with their work and looking for jobs to do or errands to run. So I had them move some bookshelves for me. They moved the shelves that house three sets of textbooks to the front corner of the classroom, leaving the back corner barren. As I faced the empty corner, I felt the old frustration with the layout of my classroom returning… and instead of making plans for the end of the school year, I impulsively decided to move my room around immediately after school. It took me about two hours to get everything moved, and I eventually called Mr. Chandler to come help me. I know it was stupid. Tomorrow, my kids are going to make a big deal out of it, and I’ll be cleaning up around the room for the next week. But I love it already!


Friday
I was right, on several counts:
My students made a big deal out of my rearranged room.
Other teachers thought I was crazy to move mid-year.
I have small, messy piles around the room now that have to be cleaned up.
My classroom is more functional already.
I can see who’s at the door.
I can have kids working at the work table (for the first time all year).
I have a place for visitors to sit.
I can see the caller ID on my phone.
This is fantastic.