It All Comes Back

This week I went back into the classroom. Not my own classroom though. It's a rented space of sorts.

I'm subbing for a couple of weeks as their year begins, which has been both so much fun ... and also so draining.

As I was preparing for this week, I began thinking about all the responsibilities I used to have  at the start of a school year when I taught full-time, and I wondered - how in the heck did I not curl up into a ball and cry each year?

All I was doing to prepare for this two-week teaching stint was read through some plans, get to know some language, and get my mental bearings in a track to prepare to be ON all day. I was anticipating that rude awakening of what in-person teaching and planning was going to be like again. 

Now that I'm a few days in, I'm back on track like I hadn't been out of the classroom for a year and a half. All the teaching things just happen naturally in a some way or another, like riding the bike or driving. You don't forget, you just do. I don't think you ever really lose your knack for teaching once you become immersed back into it. But that sense of overwhelm was real. It had me really appreciating teachers more than I ever have, because honestly, right now, they are pulling off some superhero stuff right now. 

While I'm thankful I get to be in this new space to support the sweetest kids at the start of their school year, I do wonder how I managed all those full-time years.... actually - I DO know why I didn't curl up in a ball every year (well, maybe one or two)... It's because I got to teach all these sweet (and saucy) kids over the years. Each a special person in their own way. And because I still get to be a part of student's lives and their learning journeys - that gives me energy to see past some of that overwhelm, to what enjoy the best part of teaching.

Campus grounds at Kokua Academy in Kailua-Kona. Another teacher in image.