Open House... Survived

Well, I did survive Open House, but just barely. It was a CRAZY day. I firmly believe in the philosophy that a clean desk is a sign of a diseased mind, so because I was aiming to impress the parents (or at least not shock them), I had to sort through the junk that has appeared on it, almost magically, since the beginning of the school year. There was stuff from last year on it, which I still don't get, since it's not the same desk, or even the same classroom. But it was there, so I had to deal with it. Plus, I had to... you know... teach.

So I kept dashing at it throughout the day, while the kids were doing bellwork (the work they must do as they come in), while the kids were having a minute to think about the question I'd just asked them, and while the kids were answering, I was throwing things away and nodding to show I was still listening.

Now that it's clean, I am going to try my best to keep in clean. My co-teacher is always making fun of me for the state of my desk... but I do know what's there, and even a general direction if you want something. Plus, when you've got 100+ kids coming through your doors every day, somehow cleaning off your desk isn't much of a priority.

Anyway, Open House went well. I didn't fall off my heels, which is always a plus, since I don't generally wear heels because I might actually fall off my heels. Only one parent attempted to attack, but was actually pretty easy to head off, because I was so open to the idea of a parent conference. Just not right then. I found out later from my team that he had cornered all of them, too, but I was the only one lucky enough to require a conference. At least in middle school it is required that you have a conference with all of your child's teachers, so I won't be alone.

Several parents came up to me and told me their child loved my class, and me, and that always makes a teacher feel so good, because you do never know how your teaching is being received.

So, hooray! I survived, I have a clean desk, and it's only 2 days until the weekend!