Mondays Aren't Always Bad

Yesterday was my first day back to the classroom in a month without my Teacher Candidate colleague there. The students were quite depressed as they came into the classroom in the morning. There were several quietly moaned protestations of love and longing for her, and a few requests to me that she come back.

I miss her too. There is a real joy in having another adult in the room who is working toward the same goals. It is also sometimes nice to have someone else to enjoy the humour that is part of every school day (because the kids often don't get what is so funny about what they just said). Plus she was a lovely person.

It is also nice to be back to just the students and myself. I can be a little more relaxed. I can be less anxious about making mistakes. Because having another adult in the room absolutely raises the bar. And I am supposed to be modeling master teaching skills day in and day out. Just a little bit of pressure there. Because, although I am a good teacher, I am not a master day in and day out. Sure, I have lessons and moments that are incredible. But I am sure not incredible all the time.

So it was very relaxing yesterday. And by the end of math class we were back in our groove, the students and I. And I was reminded why I really like this job and this group of students. We had a good day.