Back to the grind

Well today started the official back to school teacher week. Open House is on Thursday and the kids arrive next Tuesday. Apparently gone are the days when the Back to School staff meeting was only half-day and we could spend the rest of the day in our rooms or meeting with teams. The past few years we've had to spend a whole work-day sitting on our butts listening to data reports and playing get-to-know-you and team-building games. I'd rather skip the niceties and just get it over with. Does anyone actually feel better about failing test scores and the number of behavior referrals because they got to build a rocket ship out of a toilet paper tube, lip gloss, and q-tips? Ours wasn't that bad but I had to keep my hands occupied with other tasks to keep from going nutty. I toted bins from my classroom library that needed labels and stickers on books. As long as I had something to focus my nervous energy on I was attentive and generally in a good mood. When I ran out of things to do I was not the best listener and I had a hard time not turning everything that was said into a dirty joke. I think I may have written something HIGHLY inappropriate on my teammates' notes. She feigned surprise and then couldn't help adding in a few of her own adjectives.
After finally being released from the meeting at 3 something, I was NOT very productive. My brain was mush from looking at bar graphs and percentages and jargon all day. I managed to copy everything for my kids' morning work and word study binders. I got my calendar put up and slapped a few more pieces of border trim up before calling it a day. I brought home all my brand new glue bottles in the hopes of prepping them so they won't clog but who knows if I'll get to it. I was excited about this new year all summer until it actually arrived. Now I'm bumming around trying to find the magic again. I guess I'd better find it soon!