Hitting a Wall

A teacher and I were discussing after school last Monday just how very tired we both were….on a Monday!  She reminded me that it is this time of year that we all get very tired.  We’ve accomplished so very much in less than 45 days of school.  We’ve unpacked and decorated our rooms, gotten to know our students, we’ve established relationships with our families, we made tons of copies, graded and analyzed lots of work, had plenty of assessments, completed progress reports, made tons of phone calls and conducted several parent conferences.  That is just a simple small list of all that has occurred the last 45 days.  To say that we deserve to be tired is almost the worst understatement that I’ve ever made.

I’m not sure about you but when I start hitting the wall, I sometimes feel like hitting someone (not literally). My Clarendon County temper likes to rear its ugly head.  When I’m tired, I can be quick to anger, quick to respond in a not so kind way, or quick to jab when I should pull back.  Luckily, I have learned this about myself and have learned to spot those signs (most of the time).  

My AP and I were discussing a discipline problem recently and he was reminded of a quote he heard, “small minds discuss people; average minds discuss events; but brilliant minds discuss ideas.”  I wrote it down, as I do with many quotes, and have pondered over that idea for days. 

This is an Eleanor Roosevelt quote.  I’m not sure how much you all know about Mrs. Roosevelt, but she had what I would call the most miserable life growing up: alcoholic father, mother who tragically died of diphtheria, her brothers dying of scarlet fever, and an orphan by age 10 when she was sent to boarding school.  She had a lot to complain about.  I am sure she had many times when she felt like she was hitting a wall.  However, she used that sadness to become an advocate for minorities, the poor, the addicted,and for children and women’s rights.  Even when you feel like hitting a wall, and so many of us do right now, don’t do what becomes the natural thing to do….hitting others (with our words or actions), power through knowing that you are making a difference...with little sleep and loads of caffeine.