On Top of Things - How Possible?

 I am worried that by writing this observation down, I am going to "jinx" things. It's like wishing on a dandelion seed but spoiling it by saying the wish out loud. 

Just last month, I commented that I needed a time-turner so that I could catch up on all the work I needed to accomplish. I was swamped.

Now it's May. There's only two full months left of school. Despite the countdown, I have to quietly admit that I'm not feeling the same sort of stress that I did just a short time ago. In fact, this weekend, I got completely caught up on all my marking. I finalized a few great partnering units with classes (Grade 3 Social Studies and Grade 7 Geography), am about to finalize one more (Grade 7-8 French), and have completed all assignments related to my own class "deliverables" (Grade 1 and 1-2 Social Studies, Grade 1-2, 2-3 and 3 Health, and K-1-2 Media). There's still plenty to do, like prepare for Quiz Bowl, Red Maple Marketing, the Early ON sessions, TMC papers and new partnering units, but the anxious urgency isn't present or overwhelming. I'm good!

How is this possible? Usually April, May and June are a flurry of actions and deadlines. I think it has to do with a few things.

• Completion of massive projects = in late March, I was neck-deep in revising the Part 1, Part 2, and Specialist TL AQ courses for York University. That was HUGE. The pace was frantic and the quantity of material I had to produce was immense. In comparison, everything else now seems like small potatoes

• Possession of a "partner in crime" = There are 30 TL AQ candidates in the Spring 2022 session for York. I would be utterly swamped if it wasn't for my co-instructor, Francis Ngo. He is making our processes more efficient and sharing the responsibilities means that the course candidates are actually getting more attention and feedback.

• Ability to do my own job = There were many absences this week at my school but my administration did not simply presume that the specialist teachers (or specifically, the teacher-librarian) would automatically fill the gaps and cover classes. I did have to step in and become a classroom supply teacher but with some creative scheduling, my timetable was not completely thrown out the window.

• Time during the weekend = The weekend is often earmarked for certain errands; this has not changed but other alterations this week meant that I had uninterrupted moments to sit down and evaluate student work

• Few to no demands for housework = I have constantly maintained that the main reason why I am able to participate in so many different organizations and activities is due to my husband, who takes care of all the major household tasks. He cooks. He washes the dishes. He does the laundry. I do contribute but in different ways, like finances and transportation.

• Happiness = I am generally a happy person but certain things have made me even more happy. I had my eyebrows waxed and my nails done last Friday. Neil Andersen and I booked our flights for a conference we will be attending in the near future. I was accepted to be part of a writing team for the Ministry of Education. I had a delightful lunch with my husband at a favourite restaurant. I found time to scrapbook, a hobby I love. We bought candles and the various scents floating through the house perked me up. There have been a lot of fun moments at school too with the various students, from a Grade 8 Keva Plank building challenge to the realization of personal reading goals for students as we ended our Forest of Reading season with our school-wide voting. 

I'll let you know in a few weeks if I've completely ruined this positive feeling by sharing it. ;>