Lightening the Load

I was privileged to attend the differentiated workshop, designed to equip teachers to become trainers in the techniques developed by Carolyn Chapman and Rita King. When I was asked to be a presenter at this year's Best Practices Institute, I was eager to redeliver some of the fabulous ideas I had just learned. THEN I discovered that Carolyn Chapman would be delivering her own material at the BPI. Well, you can imagine that I quickly changed my mind about my topic--Who would be foolish enough to be redelivering down the hall from the original author? Not I!

When I looked at the schedule, I saw that I would be giving my presentations (two duplicate sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon) on the fourth and final day of the conference. I hope that there will be a few enthusiastic participants that late in the week, but I am wise enough to recognize that many will only be attending to get credit for about-to-expire certificates.

My solution? I changed my topic to "Lightening the Load" (Go to page 39 to see the description of my session) and will attempt to give ideas about juggling daily demands, answering to administrators, working with new initiatives, and handling the host of tasks that teachers face daily. I have always said that the classroom teacher carries the load of the school district more than anyone else. We are on the front lines daily, dealing with curriculum concerns, eager and disinterested students, uninvolved and smothering parents, and demands that change (and are sometimes announced) just as we think we have "finished" an assignment.

SO--do you have any advice for others about how you handle all the demands? How do you set your priorities? How do you avoid making your family feel that they are less important than your students? How do you keep current with all the latest developments? What do you do to recharge?

NO--I am NOT asking you for all the content of my little workshop. I am full of ideas (some would substitute another word there), but I realize that I don't know it all. That reminds me of a Sunday morning long ago . . .I arrived at church with my little boys in tow. They were all decked out in their little suits and ties, and a slightly older woman stopped and asked me, "Patricia, you just look like you have it all together. How do you do it all?" And I burst into tears! Yes, I had managed to get us all to church, looking good, but the pressure valve had reached its limit! It's funny now, but the gift of that memory has served me well. Everyone is dealing with something, and it's our privilege to help others lighten their load.