A Teacher's Journal: Tale of the Tired Teacher!

In many ways, that's the best part of our school's transition to a year round calendar. While I'm suffering from some serious "teacher fatigue" right now, I know that I'm going to have the much needed opportunity to recharge in a few days. What's more, the tensions that are so clearly building up between students on my team will wash away over track out as well. My kids will come back focused and ready to rip again in early February---and I'll be happy to see them!

An unexpected benefit of our conversion to year round has been that my instruction has gotten more targeted and specific because I recognize at the beginning of each track-in session that I have a rapidly closing 9-week window to deliver content. Understanding that my time with students is limited has caused me to be far more specific about what I am going to teach and when I am going to teach it. Units that tended to drift on a traditional calendar because end dates were soft have been tailored and trimmed, focusing on essential content and the required curriculum.

While I understand and respect the argument that the year round calendar does not fit the schedules of many families---and support the decision of any family to opt out of a calendar that interferes with their ability to raise their children----I'm becoming a believer that the year round calendar has some real benefits for both teachers and students.

Now if I can only survive five more candy-filled days of holiday mayhem!