Moving Forward

 Today wasn't a great day. This fact is particularly disappointing given that it had started off with such promise. I had students who needed more time finishing our district writing assessment, so I had allotted for an extended independent reading time to afford them that extra time. Afterward, I had prepared an activity I had gotten from EduProtocols to have students review the eight parts of speech. Each team was given a slide on which they had to provide two definitions of the assigned part of speech, along with three original sentences with their part of speech highlighted, five examples, and two images.

Second period did an amazing job! They divided up the task among team members, stayed off each others' slides (for the most part), and worked hard to produce a quality slide. There was much noise and laughter, but they were all on-task and enjoying the assignment. I was excited to have found a learning activity that they actually perceived as fun.

Then fourth period came.

It was not the same experience at all. There was much noise and laughter, but it wasn't the "we're having fun doing this assignment" kind, but more like "we're goofing off and not getting much done" kind of laughter. We were only a few minutes in before someone deleted another team's slide. Time was wasted as I worked to restore the slide. When it came time for the teams to present, unsurprisingly, some of the slides were not complete and had errors.

My earlier exhilaration turned to utter despair.

My two afternoon classes mirrored my morning almost exactly. Sixth period did a great job, and eight period did a not-so-great job.

Driving home from work, however, it was hard to hang on to the feeling of hopelessness. The sky was blue, the sun was warm, and the scenery flashing by was painted in soft hues of pink, white, and green. How can you feel down when spring is in the air? Added to that was the fact that in two days my husband would become owner-operator of his first Grocery Outlet store. Despite the disappointments of the day, things were looking up. We were taking another step in building a new future for ourselves, a life after teaching and a life after kids. Something new and different, which was kind of scary and kind of exciting. It reminded me of the way life was when we were young and first starting out.

I think it's easy, especially once you've hit middle-age, to spend a good portion of your time looking back, reminiscing about the past and feeling nostalgic for all that's gone before. I often find myself thinking about the family I've lost and the babies that have now grown up and are finding their own way in the world. That kind of focus, though, can lead us to believe that the best is already behind us. And perhaps without effort, it is. I'm beginning to believe, however, that by continuing to make plans and working toward them, we can shift our focus to what still lies ahead and keep moving forward.