Having Any Nightmares About the Start of School Yet?

By heather on July 22, 2014

I posted the following on Facebook earlier today and got such a fun response, I just had to put it out there in a bigger way:

Had my first start-of-year-stress-dream last night. My collaborative tables had been replaced with rows of desks, the least collaborative teacher was moved into the adjoining room next to mine, the paperwork for the kids that I submitted in June for first day procedures was lost by the district office, and the Chromebooks were nowhere to be found. In addition, as I tried to put on a smile and still keep the ship afloat, when I’d turn my back, the uncollaborative (read: sabotaging) colleague next door kept stealing the chairs I did have so more and more kids were sitting on the floor when I did turn to smile. No symbolism there.

You know, generally, I start my nightmares a little later in the summer, but with summer ending earlier and earlier, I guess this is to be expected.  Premature nightmares is a just a symptom I hadn’t thought about before.  I’m also not a terribly symbolic sleeper in general.  I see a darling red dress on a mannequin and, lo and behold, I dream that I’m wearing the darling red dress.  Unfortunately, in hindsight, my dream actually didn’t seem all too symbolic either, now that I look back on it.

Nevertheless, the good news is that it’s a dream.  Despite its connection to real life, the moment those students enter the room, even those couple of kids who you end up thankful to see go at the end of the year, the room is again filled with life.  It’s only then that the dreams will stop, and I can think forward again.

It doesn’t matter what’s on the walls.  It matters what is within them.  Will there be kindness?  Will there be collaboration?  Will there be the sweat that comes from meeting an academic challenge?  Sure, I’ll spend a while setting up my classroom environment to make it engaging and usable and a growing resource for the learners inside.  But I also know that I don’t need the walls to teach them, and I don’t need the walls to learn from them either.

Having said that, however, I know that I still have a few nightmares to go before I get to see their end.

I would LOVE to know if you’ve had some nightmares already of your own!  Anybody with me?