Late December. Winter break is looming. The students are restless. The teacher is equally so. Your colleague in the classroom next door is playing “The Polar Express” just a little too loud and your students know other people—their friends—are enjoying a movie while they’re concentrating on multiplying and dividing decimals.
You have to wonder what’s better: training eager, young minds to pay attention to the ecosystems of spring while the season’s fever ravages their attention spans? Or pressing on with just a few more lessons and review as the promise of winter break and the gift-giving season distracts them? Spring fever or winter break blues?
I’ll be posting a few more blog entries before the end of the year, and I hope you’ll stick around for what’s to come. But I can’t blame you for having one eye on your students and another on the exit.
If you have a second, share with us your tips for staying on track as the seconds tick off before winter break.