Spring Energy

I'm extra energetic today. Not sure why, possibly has to do with all of the stuff happening in life around me right now. Grades are turned in, Sesame's stuff is starting to look organized in our room, and spring is here!

Amongst the flowers, wind, and buzzing bees I've accomplished very little in my garden. As it wistfully waits to be tended, much less planted, the weeds are thriving. This could be a metaphor for how my classes have gone until recently.

This week is AIMS testing.

This joke of an assessment is the cumbersome elephant in my cozy basement classroom. Today I spent a few hours playing quiz games with students as a review for tomorrow's doldrums. When I asked questions about simple machines, some kids forgot that by 'spring' I was referencing the object rather than the season. I almost 'sprang' a leak of annoyance.

They are after all middle-schoolers.

Now I am reflecting on the grading process I finally completed last night, writing narratives about each student's progress this trimester. Our alternative method of sending parents and students feedback on their performance does so much more than a few letters or percentages. However, it is becoming little more than an experiment in copy and pasting words on a document. The authenticity of my expression for each student is lost in the desire to finish quickly and enjoy a beer. Maybe I'll wrap my head around another idea soon, but for now I'll bask in the delight that my time spent on report cards is getting ever so shorter.