Back to school

I just finished the least break-like break I've ever had. Aside from a few ballgames, I can't think of anything I did the whole time that was a fun thing that I wanted to do. I have noticed in the couple of days back at school that I am fresher in the classroom than I was, though I've had a couple of moments when it felt like an out of body experience. I should mention to any other teachers reading this that, based on my recent observations, if you have an out of body experience while you're teaching, it's maybe not such a great idea to share that fact with the students. They seem to find it unsettling.

My favorite thing I heard about coming back requires your knowing that I have an extremely messy, paper-strewn desk. Over break I put all of the papers into 3 shopping bags, brought them home, and to the delight of my family, proceeded to sort them on the dining room table. Before I left the office I wiped by desk down with a paper towel (okay, 7 paper towels) and it was completely neat and clean. My office neighbor came in before I got there, looked at my desk, and asked if I'd resigned. We'll see how long that lasts. When I worked in business, at one point I got frustrated enough with the clutter that I bought a book called, "Winning the War With Your Desk." A guy who worked for me came in, saw the book, thought for a moment and said, "My money's on the desk." The best system I came up with was one where every six months I would clear everything off my desk, put it in a box and tape it shut. When six months had passed, if I hadn't opened the box, I would throw it away and start a new box.

Overall, though, I'm happy being back. Teaching is more fun for me than almost anything I did over break.