Spring Time Frustration

I can feel it coming down the hall with my students as soon as the bell rings- that restless, can't sit still, can't stop talking, spring time feeling.  As it travels down the hallway, I feel my spring time frustration creep up my body.  That tense, why can't they just listen, why do I have to keep repeating myself, if only they would...  Ugh, we have all been there.  Today it was all over my school.  The students were restless from being inside due to the rain and the teachers had hit their limits(the lack of air conditioning did not help).  So, what can we do about it?  More times than I would like to admit, I have given into it and snapped at my kids.  How do we stop ourselves from reaching that scary teacher moment?  Today I tried a new strategy.  I pulled my kids together and did something I enjoyed.  This just happened to be a novel study we are doing that I love.  I went to my happy place and it not only calmed me down-it helped restore some positive energy back into our classroom.  Next time you feel yourself getting that anxious, I could just scream feeling pull out your favorite book or activity and invite your kids to do it with you.  Just a theory-see if it works.
  One more thought to share.  In my professional development this week, our trainer said that we often have those frustrating days on the days we are less prepared.  I know it is hard to stay motivated this time of year with testing over and the weather getting warm but try to keep your kids engaged.  Now is a great time to test new strategies you want to use next year, extend concepts kids enjoyed, and enjoy the last few weeks with this year's kids.  I want to encourage you to stay focused on our goal as teachers- sparking curiosity, teaching how to learn, and loving our kids like they were our own-yes, even when they throw things after you told them to stop 28 times.
 Katie