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The Cruelest Month

I know T.S. Eliot favored April as the most cruel, but we teachers know that May is… even more so these days.

Most importantly, it is the final testing month. National ‘assessments, state ‘assessments’, district ‘assessments’, school ‘assessments’… on and on. It’s impossible to actually get anything done. Toss in graduation activities, planning for the upcoming year and the 2011 bonus, lay-offs and transfers, and you have to wonder if it wouldn’t be better to save money by simply shutting down school entirely except for a few test proctors.

Meanwhile, there seems an air of hopelessness permeating the education world. Plans to lay-off thousands are coming to fruition. Schools are being closed, despite protests. Charters are increasing where they can whether they should not. Unions have lost a lot ground and teachers are trying to decide if it’s even worth it any more to continue talking about education. (not that I blame anyone for that, we all have lives to live)

For myself, I know that lately, I’ve been focusing on my students and trying to get everything done in a reasonable amount of time without falling under a pile of paperwork (I am rather infamous for having huge piles on my desk… but I never almost never loose anything either. The trick is not to throw anything away). Mostly, it’s because I just can’t focus on anything else. The political landscape is depressing. The economic outlook isn’t really that much rosier (despite newscasts to the contrary).

Summer is, however, right around the corner. Rejuvenation! It makes me almost giddy to think of all of the unit planning I could do  with that time! The organization of units I could create! I am so a teacher… I guess that’s why I’ll keep putting up with all the crap.

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