Let's do the Time Warp.

"It's just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right, put your hands on your hips..."

Wait no, I'm not talking about a fun dance performed by a sweet transvestite and his minions. I'm talking about how time works, well, differently, when you are a teacher. That's the only way to explain why a Power Point I spent HOURS creating only takes one hour to present. Or how 5 minutes until the bell rings feels like 20 when you've run out of things to teach, but feels like 5 seconds when you still have too much to teach. It feels like I'm in a time warp, nothing takes the amount of time I think it will, and I've lost all sense of what time means anymore. It's forcing me to get creative, especially when I have too much time leftover - I give them reading time, or I try to think of an interesting discussion topic, anything so they don't know that I am freaking out inside. My mentor teacher likes to give them time to just relax and talk, and I've come to find that can be useful. I especially like to use it at the end of class, maybe 3-5 minutes, and I present it as a reward for their good behavior during quiet reading time or during independent work time during the lesson. I say something like, "You were really good today" or "You had some good discussions" today, "So you can have some time to chat and relax." But then of course if you are running out of time for the lesson, those few minutes are so precious. Like I said, time is a weird ever-changing thing when you're a teacher. That's life in a vacuum.

To go back to Time Warp, the song, I will say these lyrics hold true to the teaching career:

"It's astounding;
Time is fleeting;
Madness takes its toll."

I'm mainly enjoying myself and I think I'm doing a good job, but I constantly feel a bit panicked and on the verge of insanity. I feel guilty for doing anything fun and I know that if I have any free time, I should be planning or grading essays. I tend to shut down when I get panicked or stressed, and that puts me further behind. I'm trying to calm down, but I'm not comfortable enough with it all yet. So madness is definitely taking its toll. I dream strange dreams every night and just can't seem to turn my brain off. Ah, the crazy life of a teacher.

Also, I would like to give myself props for somehow relating Rocky Horror Show and teaching. I can always fall back on a musical to help me out :D