This was me earlier this week...
<sigh> Every year in that first week of November the dreaded "Blahs" start to set in. Others have different names for it I'm sure, but it's all the same thing. It's that weight that slowly descends upon you; it creeps up like a tiny kitten finding a cozy spot on your shoulder. There is nothing warm and fuzzy about it though. It's gets heavier and heavier and you don't realize it until that first week of November then your realize, "how did this heavy, ugly frickin' cat get on my shoulders??"
For me it started with getting behind on grading with AP Comp. I'll be the first to say that I haven't had the will to read anymore student work. There is so much. I've told myself many times that I should back off on the writing and give myself a break. This won't help my student though. They need the work. No. I mean it. They NEED the work. So doing less is not an option. I really need to buckle down and knock it out. A great way to do that is to give timed writes (which I did today). How'd that go? I did everything except grade. SMH.
What really did me in this week was a spot of bad news. I had found out that a former colleague of mine had passed away. We had worked together in the English department for the first couple of years that our school was open. She was super cool. Very intelligent, edgy, connected with students well, and she was one of the few I could talk to as I was going through my hectic first years of teaching. I won't discuss how she died in an open forum like this, but she had her own demons to manage just as I'm sure the rest of us do. The news floored me and I've pretty much stayed there for the rest of the week.
I take comfort in knowing tomorrow is Friday. This is a well needed three day weekend.
