Fall Back Into Routine

A photo on my photo doesn't capture how eye-catching this was

My two-month term teaching position has ended, and I have today off. 

It feels weird to be back in my "old" life again, yet very familiar -- too familiar! Falling back into that routine of only subbing a few days a week is not the new routine, even if drinking coffee and reading at eight o'clock this morning was really, really nice. I didn't book this day off, there were no jobs on offer, but I'm using it gladly to catch up on emails and blogs and maybe even write something unrelated to teaching! 

One of the unexpected joys of my busy days, getting out the door at seven a.m. and not leaving school until 5 p.m., was the light. The sunrise as I headed east, the afternoon sunshine as I headed home. I'd time my drives to catch the national news at the top of the hour then usually drive the rest of the way in quiet; it helped to calm me after a day of being "on the floor" as I refer to teaching: standing in front of the class and moving around a lot. I think of it as being "on the floor" also as a way of differentiating it from other teaching jobs. I filled in for a resource teacher yesterday and while that's a great sub job, I couldn't do it every day. It's a lot of sitting and listening to students read. Necessary work but not active enough for me. Even with all the planning and prepping that goes into teaching those primary grades, I'd rather be "on the floor" than sitting at a table all day. 

The one thing I do miss about my "old" life and the familiar routine is the daily walk. I made sure the dog and I got out every Saturday and Sunday morning -- even under threat of rain -- for a long, hilly walk. It meant getting up and dressed and heading out in the car, just like every day during the week, but my back and legs and lungs thanked me for it. It helped to clear my head, even during the hardest, most despairing days (which happened at the midway point, a natural shifting point from the easy days of back to school to the settling in of teaching and planning). As much as I miss the consistency and security of knowing where I am going every day and who I am dealing with, I will enjoy the shorter  work days and planning-free weekends of substitute teaching for awhile.

Can you believe it's only seven weeks until Christmas? 

Hiking along the TransCanada Trail in Oxford