Getting back into the swing of things...

I have to admit that even though it was only Tuesday, and even though it was like the sixth day of the school year, getting up this morning was HARD!  My joints ached and my eyes put up serious objections to opening.  Basically, I was struggling, and I continued to struggle through my first class, and my second, and my last two.  I tried my best to fight through the exhaustion.  I smiled and made it a point to interact with every student, but during every second of the day, I was aware of the fact that I was not doing my best work.  I was not my best teacher self.

But then I remembered last January.  Nine months ago, my friend and I signed ourselves up for a number of 5k runs.  We figured it would provide us with the motivation to try a new activity and get in shape.  We obviously ignored the fact that, at the time, we could barely run a hundred yards.  I had been a pretty decent runner in middle school and high school, but between junky knees and a bout of asthma, I had lost interest in the sport. But I was determined to give it another shot, so I hopped on that treadmill and ran.  At first it was only a half mile, then a mile, and within a few weeks, I was chugging out (slowly and breathlessly, I might add) three whole miles!  Now, three miles is an easy run.  I've gotten faster (not by much) and stronger, regularly running five or six miles.  I have even gotten up to eight miles a couple times.  It took a lot of getting back in shape, and I don't always love the run, but I love how much healthier and more powerful I feel from doing it.

Teaching is the same thing.  It is only day six.  I am only at the mile mark.  I am out of shape and breathless and in PAIN!  But tomorrow, maybe I will be able to push another half mile, get that much closer to the good teacher I know I can be.  It just takes time--time to get stronger, to find that easy (okay, it's never easy) stride.  Once all the assemblies die down, and students stop changing their schedules, I will get back into the swing of things.