Teacher Tip #4

Pinch me..  I know that I'm not dreaming but I need to know if I'm still alive!  What a whirlwind of a day! "Well sure, the first day usually is..." you say but this wasn't any ordinary first day of school at my elementary.  With all of the remodeling and construction going on, I knew that the day would be a bit of a challenge.  I just didn't know how much of one!

I got to school early (along with every other staff person!) so that I could make some copies for my students. We have been reduced to one copier for the building for the time being.  I knew I was in trouble when I walked in the front door and saw the copy machine line stretching around the corner and down the hallway.  I groaned inwardly but I decided that I knew ahead of time that it would be tough so I sucked it up and went up to my room to get moving.  I was pleasantly surprised when I returned to the first floor to find that the line was non-existent!  "Yesssss," I found myself exclaiming.  Yes..Out Loud..  What?  It was exciting!  You may as well have stuck me with a pin, though, as I was quickly deflated by the news that the copier had broken.  Yikes!

Next I decided to just print out the copies I needed on a printer.  It's not efficient or cost effective but I was desperate!  So back to my room I scampered to open the files on my computer.  But the funniest thing happened when I pressed print!  What's this?  None of the printers are hooked up?  Splendid. 

"That's ok, that's ok...I'll just use my ELMO document camera and projector!  They can use their own paper and just copy it down," I thought hopefully.  But when the power light to my projector was supposed to turn red, it stayed it's dismal gray.  No power in the ceiling.  "Maybe I can call for help?"  Dead phone.  Needless to say, before the bell rang I was feeling a little, can we say, Overwhelmed!?

Then, I took a look at my desk for the first time that morning.  There seemed to be a glow around it, like a angel had come down and sprinkled love and warm fuzzies all over it.  And sure enough, one had!  On my desk was a gift bag and a coffee that tasted like melted ice cream (the only way I'll drink it!)  The bag was full of little things that said a lot.  Among them were some fun pens and sticky notes, a cute water bottle, a gift card for ice cream and possibly most importantly chocolate and Advil!  The angel also left a note wishing me luck on my first day of the year.  Can you say life saver?  After taking some time looking over my sweet gift, I felt so much better about my day and was able to take off running with a much better attitude. 

So here's my tip for you...

Teacher Tip #4  Time outs aren't just for kids!