First Days Back at Work

November 10, 2014

I went back to work last week on Thursday for a half day. It went pretty well, considering. I walked in with Jen, sat in her room until students arrived to avoid talking to people, and then put on a show in front of students. They had been well-coached. Most gave a cheerful “Hello,” or “Glad you’re back,” or “I missed you.” A few had made cards.

While there I noticed first a pile of ungraded work here, then a pile there. Then one after another.  I started to feel overwhelmed with the mountain of grading I saw. I mentioned it to Jenny before leaving at lunch time, and before the end of the day it was taken care of. The sub would grade the work  from my absence. People swept through my classroom to remove the stress-inducing piles and my team would take my study center the next day so I could be done with teaching responsibilities a little earlier than usual so I could prepare for the week ahead.

I made it through these days pretty easily. I avoided most public areas: the teachers lounge, lunch, the office, and thus was able to avoid most adult interactions. Those I did have sounded much like what my students had been told to say.

Then I went home for the weekend and the bottom fell out.