Mrs. Stubbs's English Blog: Two Weeks to Vacation

I'm going to start this out as a real blog this morning, since I know that so many parents are in the same place I am. I'm in the transition zone: my kids are transitioning from childhood to adulthood, from dependence to independence, from thinking that they need me, to thinking that they don't (they're wrong). I have one kid in college, and one who's a junior in high school. My child in high school does his utmost to be seen in public with me as little as possible. Because I evidently did my job well and he's an independent soul, my older child who is at MSU never comes home so I literally am never seen with him.

So who am I? I waited my whole life to become a mom. I played games where I was a mom in my playhouse throughout childhood; I babysat loyal families and took those children into my safe keeping throughout my teen years; I started working in schools in my 20's and considered my students "my kids"; I literally became a mom at 30. My identity has been wrapped up in this concept and suddenly I'm being faced with a transition where I'm still a mom, but a mom who is not the caretaker that I've been for so long. I'm expected to show up and support, but not hover. I'm expected to offer advice when asked, but butt out when the advice is not wanted. I struggle constantly with both my new role and with who I am. So if you are feeling like I am, or beginning to feel like this, know that you are not alone. And if you're making this transition better than I am, kudos to you. I wish I was able to be that person.

In the meantime, as I struggle with my personal life, I'm doing my best to stay on top of things in my job. I've been working this weekend on planning out the week and filling in all the paperwork so that today I can jump on grading papers. I hope everyone is patient, however, because at this time of year I do have personal obligations: a family holiday party yesterday, a little Christmas shopping today, faith-based community service today. I did give up something I wanted to go to at Cliff Bell's in Detroit because I simply can't fit it in, but as I always tell my students: I have to prioritize. My goal today is to get maximum numbers of papers graded, including some of the online essays.

Here's the schedule for the week:

English 9

Monday, 12/9 - bell work; independent reading time - packet #1 is due; get packet #2 (due Friday); Stranger Things slideshow is due by midnight
Tuesday, 12/10 - Academic Advisory - bell work; independent reading time
Wednesday, 12/11 - bell work; read the Ray Bradbury short story and annotate
Thursday, 12/12 - PSAT Advisory - bell work; escape room with literary terms
Friday, 12/13 - bell work; finish escape room; independent reading time (packet #2 due by end of the hour)

English 10

Monday, 12/9 - bell work; 3rd Hour - go over Baldwin piece; "Glory"; 4th Hour - reflective writing
Tuesday, 12/10 - Academic Advisory - bell work;3rd Hour - reflective writing; 4th Hour - start HeLa - passage #1
Wednesday, 12/11 - bell work; 3rd Hour - get HeLa books - read passage 1; 4th Hour - continue passage #1
Thursday, 12/12 - PSAT Advisory - bell work; 3rd Hour - continue passage #1; 4th Hour - HeLa passage #2
Friday, 12/13 - bell work; 3rd Hour - HeLa passage #2; 4th Hour - continue passage #2

That's the week as I see it. I hope everyone has a good week. If you need me you know where to find me. Ciao!