senoracmt

10 More Days

There. I said it. I am counting down.

Ok, I’ll be honest, I count down every year… but not because I am SO DONE WITH THE YEAR… because it is fun to imagine drinking my coffee slowly… working by the pool… a NAP in the afternoon…

I don’t like keeping a countdown in my room because I sort of hate seeing the days tick away with my seniors… but this year we are ALL counting. Loudly. Daily. We are tired. We did so much this year and in so many ways… and we are toast.

It isn’t that I haven’t been appreciated. Honestly, I wish you could ALL have an admin team like we do. For teacher appreciation week, we got individual favorite snacks, donuts, a cook out put on by the admin, a food truck for lunch provided by admin, and a huge breakfast from the Student Council. We are SO loved and I am so grateful to work where I do.

So why am I so… ready?

At first I felt really bad about it… but then I realized, I can’t feel bad for feeling that way. In the last 15 months, our lives have spun so many different ways that we all deserve it. We should embrace all the feelings. We didn’t get to enjoy last summer! It was spent fretting about what this year would look like. And now… the end is in sight.

Count.

Down.

Those.

Days.

Today we still moved forward in Spanish 4 class… but we ALSO mentioned that there are 2 more days for seniors. Today we did a new movie talk unit in Spanish 3… but we also celebrated that there are only 7 more for juniors. Poor sophomores… They’ve got 9 but that’s still two hand counting so they’re tickled too! We’re going to read a Señor Wooly Graphic Novel next week as a way of continuing to advance their proficiency while honoring their completely FULL mental spaces.

I have 10 days. I’m going to enjoy every minute I have with my students. All 2520 minutes until the end of exams. And then I am going to exhale. I’m going to enjoy this summer and I am going to know it was hard earned.

Published by senoracmt

I began teaching Spanish in Illinois in 1994. I have taught levels 1-4 in a small rural high school, 8th grade introductory Spanish, Biology 1, and 101 and 102 at the community college level. My Spanish classes are partnered with the community college to offer students 8 semester hours of dual credit on completion of Spanish 4. In 2011 I met Carol Gaab and Kristy Placido and have since co-authored the book "La hija del sastre" with Carol Gaab and authored the novels "La Calaca Alegre", "Bianca Nieves" "Vector," "48 horas", "Bananas", "Sostenible", "Tucán", and "Papálotl" through Fluency Matters and Wayside Publishing. In 2006 I became National Board certified and renewed in 2016. I completed my Masters degree in Spanish education in 2011 and did my research on the use of Understanding by Design to create meaningful cultural units for the language classroom. I am a frequent presenter on this topic, please consider me if you are interested in a workshop on backward design. In 2013 I was named the ICTFL Foreign Language teacher of the year and in 2014 I was selected as CSCTFL's teacher of the year. In November of 2014 I was lucky enough to be one of the five finalists for the ACTFL National Teacher of the Year in San Antonio, TX. Please contact our info@somewheretoshare.com account with any questions you have about the curriculum or PD@somewheretoshare.com with questions about professional development opportunities.

One comment

  1. Thank you for putting the words to what I’ve been feeling! I’m exhausted and dragging in, but I *do* love what I do so very much. Next year WILL BE BETTER. (I’m just putting that out there so that the universe knows it too!!)

    Good luck to you, fellow soldier. Those mornings of piddling around the house are coming soon. We can do it!

    Shelley Woodward, EdS
    Spanish Teacher
    swoodward@greateratlantachristian.org
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    From: Somewhere to Share
    Reply-To: Somewhere to Share
    Date: Thursday, May 6, 2021 at 3:51 PM
    To: Shelley Woodward
    Subject: [New post] 10 More Days

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    senoracmt posted: ” There. I said it. I am counting down. Ok, I’ll be honest, I count down every year… but not because I am SO DONE WITH THE YEAR… because it is fun to imagine drinking my coffee slowly… working by the pool… a NAP in the afternoon… I don’t li”

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