Snow Days and Catch Up

One of the first things I noticed at my high school when I was meeting my coworkers this summer was a handmade sign above the 9th grade English teacher's desk. It looked like a cute craftstore/boutique purchase (something I would totally buy) and it said: Please Pray for Snow. I'm a Teacher. I loved it, but never really knew how true it would be. We came back for our first full week today after 8 straight snow days and a 2 week work week last week, in which we only saw our classes for 25 minutes each. I have gotten so used to not going to work day in and day out or having 2 hour delays. It's really bad. My phone started buzzing at 5:30 this morning (the time I usually wake up during the work week and the time my alarm is always set for) and the first thing I thought was that school was delayed. My heart soared for a moment, but then I realized how silly I was being and that it was in fact just my normal alarm. It's crazy what two weeks off can do to you!

I'm way behind my county pacing guide, which has me super stressed out. (Somehow I am still praying for snow days though...go figure.) If my administration or county supervisor asks why I am so behind I will just have to tell the truth. I tried a lot of "fun" and more student-centered lessons that flopped. They wasted a lot of time and most of the students didn't get what they were supposed to out of them. My World War I unit is going pretty well. We have been moving pretty fast the past couple of days, but I think they are getting it. One of my best teaching moments was way back before the 2 week snow break. I really wanted them to "get" what World War I was like. I can talk about how awful life in the trenches was until I'm blue in the face, but unless they really like history they won't get it. I can show pictures on my PowerPoint and even have them line up in opposing trenches across the classroom (which I tried). But they still didn't get it. So I showed them this video:



Their reaction was amazing. They started off giggling at the silly old music as they watched all the armies march off to war. They laughed at first as they saw a Soldier fall in the mud. Then they started realizing that mud and dirt was pretty much a Soldier's entire existence in the trenches. They were silent for a good 4 minutes as they just watched the video and listened to the somber music. I knew it might hook a few kids, but I had no idea they would all be so captivated by it. With about 2 minute to go in the video they all started to ask the REALLY good questions every history teacher wants their kids to ponder. What was the point of all this? Why did they go over the top when they knew it probably wouldn't accomplish anything? All this just because some Austrian guy got shot? Why did they fight a war like this for 4 years? It was truly, what they call in grad school, a "teachable moment". You hook their attention and then see how long you can keep it.

I actually think, for as disjointed as the WWI unit has been with all the snow days and 2 hour delays, it has gone really well. On Friday, we did a dramatic reenactment of the Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles. It included some memorable moments from my wonderful 10th graders - including a Prime Minister Clemenceau (aka The Tiger) who wanted to punish Germany so badly and got so into it he almost knocked over the podium. I had a Premiere Orlando from Italy in one class who so perfectly captured Italy's annoyance and frustration with the conference he had the class in stitches. It was a fun activity, a short activity, but best of all I think the kids really "got" it. They got that Germany was punished very unfairly. They made the connection that Italy would probably end up "joining the other side" in the next war since they were so ticked at the Allies. I rarely am able to get them to make connections and foreshadow what will happen so this was a huge success. My grad school professors would be so proud. I finally reached the highest level of Bloom's Taxonomy.

Unfortunately, despite how well today went, I just got the call that I am now faced with yet another 2 hour delay tomorrow. So much for teaching the Russian Revolution! I don't think there is any way I can teach the whole thing in 25 minutes. I'm about to go into panic mode, which will not be good. Panic mode usually just leads to me stressing myself out and accomplishing nothing. I know I will have to make cuts and sale through certain units. Unfortunately, the time period I think I will need to sail through right now is my favorite period of history and the whole reason I became a teacher in the first place, World War II. Teaching World War II as a "here are the causes, here are the effects, these are the major leaders" war will really bum me out, but I suppose I just need to suck it up. Time to make a coup of hot cocoa, get up close and personal with the county pacing guide and the Virginia Standards of learning and maybe listen to JC's calm and collected voice of reason in an attempt to keep myself from freaking out.

What do you do when you get super stressed out? How do keep yourself from panicking? More importantly, what do you do to calm yourself back down?