Apparently There Is Such Thing as a Snow Day in the Summer

I could have had a breakdown last night when my laptop crashed while I was mid-lesson-planning for this week. I swear I never learn my lesson about backing up. But somehow I put myself together enough to get my materials ready for today.

I came to Frankford this morning nervous but giddy, ready to finally start the work I came here for--teaching a classroom full of students that deserve a good education. I set up my classroom and at 8am began introducing myself as Ms. Norgren to students (after first making the embarrassing mistake of introducing myself as Anne Marie to one girl). They filed in...all four of them...and sat quietly and respectfully as I explained to them my high expectations for their work in my class. At that moment, I was told that I would only have 36 minutes for my lesson, as opposed to the 60 I had planned for. This change was due to the fact that Philly schools called for a "snow day" in July due to the heat, since most of our schools do not have A/C!

So despite all my planning and practice for today's lesson, I ended up improvising most of it! But I believe I at least made a small amount of progress with the students.

Being in the classroom, even for the mere half hour, was just what I needed to move forward. The students filled me with an incredible sense of purpose and showed me exactly what I need to do to push them to learn.

They showed me that in order to teach them, I must first push myself. So even when my laptop crashes and my lesson plans disappear, Ihave no other option than to move forward.

Cheers,
Anne Marie