I’m participating with many teacher writers in the Slice of Life March Challenge. Thank you Anna, Beth, Betsy, Dana, Stacey and Tara of Two Writing Teachers for the opportunity. The slicing community of writers fills my head and heart every day. Read their musings here.
Classroom Contained
I left the meeting, head throbbing.
Paperwork, kid work, planning work still there
in my empty classroom.
Tables askew and
Post-its litter the ground.
The stack of papers teetering, threatening.
Maybe even taunting,
saying, okay, you asked for it.
I grab and sort.
Table by table.
High.
Medium.
Low.
Piles form.
Strategized, categorized.
Sort, pile.
High.
Medium.
Low.
The chaos tamed,
put down for the night
to rest,
so it can rise again
tomorrow.
To Read To Write To Be 
Wouldn’t it be great if the chaos of teaching was really that easy to tame? I totally understand thsi feeling!
Oh my goodness, I have had this day! High, medium, low! YES, YES, YES! I’m exhausted from all of the grading and planning and paperwork. So well written, as always, Julieanne!
I think every teacher can relate to what you have eloquently described.
Love this little poem that says so much.
I love how you captured how every teacher I know feels at the end of the day! The “paperwork, kid work, planning work” is always “still there…”
My first thoughts are “ugh” and “yes”, you’ve written it exactly. Oh, the papers, and yes, we do ask for it. Best wishes for the stack reduction, Julieanne.
This is my nightmare. Paper is not my best thing.
Because of this, you know your kids so well. Love the moonrise photo!
I can totally relate! You captured the feeling of walking back into the classroom at the end of a long day so well.
You are great at tackling the taunting task. I sometimes collect and hide before sorting.
Yup. Even with Google docs, which is less paper, there is always a sense of drowning in paper and shifting piles of them.