How many teacher workdays did YOU have before school started this year? The school district I work for decided it was necessary to have 8 of them. Yes, 8. I couldn’t believe it either. I’ve never had that many before. I’m not entirely unhappy about it, because it actually gave me adequate time to prepare my classroom. However, most of those days were filled with meetings and professional development (a.k.a. a waste of time).
I don’t know of any other profession that requires as much “professional development” as the teaching profession. I’m not saying that I can’t use improvement. I am NOT perfect. Far from it. But why are we continually developed? Were we not adequately trained before we were launched into the world as teachers? Has the act of effectively educating our youth changed so radically or been so inadequate in the past that it requires us to constantly be retrained to do it better? I don’t think the answer to either of those conditions is affirmative.
All of that aside, I love the start of school. I would feel as if I were missing out on something wonderful if I weren’t a part of the process. There is something about new school supplies that gets to me every year. One of my favorite movie quotes comes from Ephron’s “You’ve Got Mail.” When describing his feelings about the autumn season, one of the anonymous e-mail correspondents writes “I would send you a bouquet of newly-sharpened pencils.” I totally get that. I can think of no floral arrangement that would be lovelier.