Since my last update not much has changed. Work is still taking up most of my time and life at the moment. However, I am not as stressed out. I think I'm getting used to the time I spend on work so it's becoming a normal thing and there's a routineness about it which lessens the stress level.

Not only do I spend time making lesson plans, grading, buying supplies, and xeroxing, I spend time thinking about teaching. I've been contemplating about what a good teacher is. First, I thought about it from our administrators' perspective since they are the ones who have the power to fire me and thus I want to make the impression on them that I am indeed a good teacher. I want them to feel like they made a good choice in hiring me. But trying to be a good teacher because I wanted to please the administrators was very stressful and it made me put a lot of pressure on myself. Next, I thought about what it means to be a good teacher from my point of view. This caused me to be very practical and efficiency-oriented but no fun. Finally, I considered the meaning of a good teacher from my students' point of view and it's helped to make all of us have better days. I still expect them to learn and work but I also try to make as many of the lessons enjoyable and fun as possible. It must be working because one of my students wrote a note to me saying that I was a good teacher and that without me they would have no fun. Almost made me cry and definitely made me smile.