A Handful at a Time

I always knew it would happen. It was always some far off reality. The inevitable kind of reality. I always have so much on my mind, is it really at all surprising that it's happening now? No... I suppose it's not. The future is now and I regret to say that I am beginning to lose my marbles.

Some of you might have suspected this was happening a while ago. The signs were there... I just thought I was being quirky and my regular kind of unusual. Perhaps I should tell you what I'm talking about. On Thursday, a student handed me her work. Literally. She put it in my hand. I can't find it. I turned my desk at school inside out (not as dramatic as it sounds), I went through all my papers at home (much more dramatic than it sounds) and I can't think of where it could be. There are only two places remaining and they shall be upended tomorrow morning. As if that wasn't bad enough, I seem to have misplaced one of my marking sheets. I could have sworn I put it in the bin with the rest of the assignments I had to mark this weekend. It was not there. There's the blank one, the half filled one, the one Meeko chewed on when I turned around for three seconds, but not the one with my students' religion marks. Annoyed? Yeah! I still have the assignments so it's just a question of going through all of them and taking down the grade again, but I don't have time for these kinds of shenanigans. I will upend my desk and search through the other bin for that tomorrow. And it's not like it's easy to lose. It's a piece of pink paper. Kind of stands out.

So, that's my morning tomorrow. Apparently the price of being distracted is insanity and paranoia. Regardless, that's about the only "school" related things I'm actually doing tomorrow. The kids are going on a field trip. Oddly enough, I almost mean that literally as well. They're off to the ecology centre. I hope the weather cooperates because I'm so not up to chasing after kids in snowshoes during a blizzard. That'll take away another handful of marbles...

All in all, this week should (and I'm crossing my fingers and knocking on wood while performing a few other good luck rituals) be relatively easy. I think the only full day of class is Wednesday and the kids get off early for March Break. Which means I do too! Seven days? What will I do? Mark 25 essays of course! Seriously though, I have so much to do, I doubt it'll be much of a break. Much needed but much needed for non-BEd related work. And there's so much of it...

The moral of this story is: If you wish to keep your marbles to yourself, pay attention or your students will steal them. I mean, treat others as you wish to be treated... there, that's a moral. Follow that one!

Lauren.