Hard Days Come and Go

Tuesday morning I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I did not want to get up, but forced myself out of bed to get to school on time. Chapel is supposed to end by 8:15am, when first period is supposed to start. On Tuesday we did not get out of chapel until 9:00am. I was frustrated as I entered my classroom with the realization that I was not going to get to do everything that I had planned for the day. As if my normal school days are not short enough, I suddenly went from 3 hours of teaching time to 2 hours of teaching time.

I came to school at 7:30, wishing I was still in bed. I went through the rest of the school day wishing that I was still in bed. Needless to say, I was not the happy teacher that I am on a typical day. I felt like I yelled all day long. My students were probably wondering why their teacher was so mean. I was wondering the same thing. I had no idea why I was in such a mad mood, but I couldn’t just make it go away. My kids seemed louder than normal. They complained more than normal. They were constantly out of their seats. They were fighting and yelling. I knew that my attitude was rubbing off on them. All I wanted was for the day to be over.

During recess I prayed that God would give me enough patience to make it through the rest of the day. I cried with frustration because I couldn’t understand what was going on with me. There was no reason for the bad mood that I was in. After recess we played sight word bingo (not part of my plans for the day). This is only the 2^nd time I have played this with my students. They absolutely love it. I thought that if we did something fun, it would somehow make the students happier and put me in a better mood.

At the end of the third round one of my boys yelled “BINGO!” The class knows that when someone says “bingo” that I have to walk over and check their card to make sure they are telling the truth. After I confirmed that this little boy had won, he broke out in dance and song. The entire class began to laugh and before I knew it I was laughing so hard that I was crying. Ten minutes later the bell rang to end the school day. My day had just gotten a little bit better.

After school I went home and took a long nap. I didn’t even eat lunch. I just got straight in bed and was asleep within seconds. I know that is exactly what I needed. When I woke up I felt like it was a brand new day.

I have not had many days like this since I have been here, but they happen. Some things don’t change no matter where in the world you are. Hard days come and they go, but the good days are the ones that keep me going. The good days are the ones that I remember!