Drowning 5 Feet From Shore

One hand is outstretched above the surface of the tsunami of homework, and the undertow is dragging me down.

Seriously though, working full-time and balancing schoolwork has never been harder. Last spring, I had 7 classes, and this fall I only have 6, yet the workload seems to have doubled. And this isn't even the most hectic time of the semester. Couple that with the applying for graduation, student teaching seminar and all that entails, getting a physical, doing a portfolio, and on and on, I wonder how I can ever possibly get it all done in time for student teaching. Thus, it seems as though I'm drowning five feet from shore. I can see the bank, but I wonder if I can make it.

The bright spot has been my Practicum. I really like my school. And I know I have a lot to learn from my participating teacher. He's not some wise older man, imparting great wisdom to a doting follower. In fact, he's a wise young man, imparting great wisdom to a doting follower. When I sat where our 8th grade students now sit, he was in diapers, toddling around with a teething ring in his mouth. Yet, his wisdom belies his age. The man is a master of classroom management (my weak point).

I'm actually pretty nervous about teaching my 3 measly lessons.

I have learned something else in my time at Practicum. I've learned that it's often tough to work relevant lessons into the classes that aren't on the standardized tests that all districts are judged by. Right or wrong, these tests are the yardstick by which schools are assessed. And administrators are putting heavy pressure on teachers to (without saying these words exactly) teach to the test.

Last Tuesday was the 6th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America, yet I think my teacher felt guilty about taking the first 20 minutes of class to present a lesson on them. The thing is those attacks have impacted America so greatly. They are a pivotal moment in history, even if that history was only a few years back. Those attacks not merely changed the security in airports, they were instrumental in the case for war on both Afghanistan and Iraq. They've even impacted a lowly courier like me. While at work, I sometimes have to show a guard my driver's license just to enter a company where I must make a pick up. This never happened before 9-11. If a terrorist somehow sneaks a bomb or biological agent onto my truck, I'm accountable. A TSA (Transportation Security Administration) catches me with my delivery vehicle unsecured (read: locked) I could be fired and fined. Thanks to Osama, many common US citizens have loads of extra regulations, can be phone and internet tapped by the government more easily, and on and on. Yet this isn't important enough to teach to 8th graders? The Constitution has it's own specific day in the curriculum, shouldn't world events carry some weight?

I think we owe it to the students to teach them current events, even if they aren't on some test. And why shouldn't they be on the test? History is made in the present, too. The future is pretty dim if the future voters aren't informed about what is happening in their world.

Wow, that was kind of a rambling rant. Hope that made sense.