I find my heart a little lighter this evening. And it's probably for a very silly reason.

I wonder if you remember that months ago I mentioned that this is my year to be formally observed and evaluated by the administration of my school.

This should not be all that stressful for me. I mean, after all, I've taught for 19 years. What are they going to do, fire me?

Not to mention that I've received numerous commendations from my division administration, often after parents have contacted them with glowing accounts of my teaching.

Why do I still - quite literally - lose sleep over this?

My principal is my friend. He and I share a laugh at least once a day, often more. Why do I burn up with nerves, my face red and my shirt sticky, when he is sitting in my desk, watching me teach?

There really is no reason for all of this silliness.

The good news is that today, I experienced my last observation - for the next four years, anyway.

My lesson went really well. The students, thinking that he was there to observe them instead of me, behaved extremely well. Almost too well. My principal was taking down data on my classroom management skills, and there weren't any situations to manage. Still, that's a nice problem to have.

We met after the lesson to "debrief", and he spoke about how my voice compelled people to listen when I speak. He spoke of a mutual respect that was evident in my class. He spoke of how the lesson flowed calmly and naturally.

As he spoke of all of this, all I could think about was how well I would sleep tonight.

Stay on Track

Today is track and field day at the school.

I am in charge of the high jump event. I enjoy this day, but I worry a lot about injuries at my event. I worry that someone will land heavily on top of the bar and hurt his or her back. I worry that they will fall off the mat with momentum and hit their head on the hard ground. I worry that they will slip and fall backwards. It's the lunch break now, and so far, so good.

It's a beautiful day - clear blue sky, burning sun, slight breeze - perfect for track. Luckily this year I remembered my sunscreen.

June...

... bleeeccccchhhhhh!

June will be such a blur. In addition to year-end recitals and concerts, there will be the Cancer Society's Relay for Life, in which #1 and I are participating. It is an all night walk-a-thon. Why it has to be overnight is beyond me, but I signed up because our church school is participating in honour of our friend and fellow teacher who died of cancer last November. I'm trying to be positive about it, but I'm afraid it will ruin me. I'm one of those people who really need their sleep, and June is my busiest month.

Oh, we're also chasing after 6 soccer and softball games every week.

And this weekend there's a multicultural festival in town (3 evenings) that the kids really want to go to, and we really want to take them to. We've never been before, and that is really a travesty, because it is quite the phenomenon!

Oh - and in the midst of all the hoop-la this month, I have to complete all of my report cards.

I will try to blog as often as I can, but if I miss for a while, forgive me.

Summer holidays are on their way! (That's the idea that gets me through.)