The Grind and Other Bad Metaphors

It appears we have reached the point of the semester where everything seems to be coming at you at 100mph, yet the weeks go by just slow enough to give you pause and see the work piling up before you. I knew going into this semester that it was going to a little change of pace from what I was used to during the school year. Obviously this is in large part because I am now on the other side of the podium. As students, we became used to having seemingly every test from every class converge upon us at once, whilst two or three papers were sprinkled on top. This often made for at least seven big, grade deciding, projects to deal with over the course of the week. As teachers, we are now reaching the point of the year where we begin to experience the other side of the coin. While we may have only one subject with two or three grade levels a piece, each of those classes are sending numerous assignments, large or small, our way to be graded. We are at the point where lesson plans need to be adjusted in order to accommodate unexpected changes in our schedule. With each of those schedule changes, we may have to rush to create new lesson templates for our students to use the next day. In short, we are reaching the time period right before spring break.

The semester is reaching the mid-point, the peak before the downhill slide into summer. We are at the point where we can all but see over the peak of the mountain and look onto the valley below. We are at the point where repetitive sentences and cheesy metaphors make a blog post feel way more emphatic than it should. But as those papers pile before us, as those last minute rushes to change a our schedules occur, there is still the understanding that in two weeks we can take a breather. With a little bit of work, not only can we all at least come close to getting caught up in the classroom, but we can get caught up with our own personal studies as well.

See that’s the trick for us right now. Teachers and students, they are two sides of the same coin—and as student teachers our coins are two faced. We inhabit both sides and are currently fighting through the semester as both students and as teachers. And wouldn’t you know it, both our student obligations and our teaching obligations are coming to a head at the same exact time. Funny how that works. The hope, however, is still there. If nothing else, we can champion the fact that we have to work twice as hard, and then with a little luck, breathe twice as easily once spring break rolls around. I know that these next two weeks have the potential to be hell, getting myself caught up on grading and lesson planning. But this isn’t anything new. You and I will get through it like we have every March, with the knowledge and reassurance that after Spring Break, we’re practically there.