5 days

Lately a lot of people have been hearing me ask for five days.  I just want to have five days in my classroom without me having to go somewhere else.  In the last couple of months, I have been involved in lots of opportunities and responsibilities as a and for a teacher.  The problem is that all of these opportunities takes me away from the classroom and then I feel quite disjointed.  I like to keep my students in the loop as to when they'll have a sub as they tend to respond better about the whole thing.  It's gotten to a point that they know when I approach the calendar that I'm about to tell them I'm going to be gone again.  It's also gotten to the point that if I give them the heads up about an upcoming quiz or test, they ask if I'm going to be gone as all of my absences fell on test and quiz days for awhile.

One of these opportunities takes me away one or two days a month.  I get to participate in a program through our district called Associates.  I've only gone once now and will be going again in a couple of weeks.  We basically get to spend two days talking to educators about education, public schools, and democracy (at least that's what we did last month, let's see what we get to talk about this month).  It's been quite enjoyable even if I do have homework and reading assignments to complete.  We get to talk about some things that I haven't experienced or seen since I was attending public schools and that I sometimes feel that my co-workers don't necessarily understand.

Another opportunity is coming this Friday.  I haven't really told many people about this one (my students don't even know why I'm really going to be out of class that day), but here goes.  A couple of months ago, I was invited to attend a state board of education board meeting to be recognized for my accomplishments in science teaching.  The state is recognizing each of the three state finalists for the PAEMST award this year (no, I still haven't heard any results on that and won't until this spring).  When I asked my principal if I could/should go, he told me most definitely and I then asked if I should just take a personal day since I'd be missing school.  He told me no.  I asked if I should hurry back by lunch so we'd only have to get a half-day sub.  He told me no.  I don't know how to spend the rest of my Friday.  I have a few projects to work on, maybe I'll do that.