The Elk

I pulled the ELK medicine card this week.  It's a good one for teachers.  ELK medicine is all about stamina and setting your pace so that you can maintain energy over the distance.  On Tuesday afternoon at bus duty a student teacher asked me how I build up teaching stamina.

I was exhausted so I said, "You don't.  It's an exhausting job.  You'll be completely wiped out at the end of the day for the rest of your life."

She looked so crestfallen and her supervising teacher said, "Well, that may be a little extreme."

There's probably a good reason why I never work with student teachers.  Even so, I pulled it together the next day and thought about maintaining my energy throughout the day.  I worked on crocheting during morning meeting.  We had an extra recess.  When we transitioned from one activity to the next, I didn't let 15 Thirdlanders come up to tell me their random stories.  This last one is a hard one because it seems rude to cut people off when they have a story to tell, but enough is enough already.  We have a lot of time to chat during the day.

I played some Bob Dylan music in the background and put on the barred owl web cam.  At the end of the day on Wednesday, I revised my statement to Student Teacher and talked to her about how important it is to set a reasonable pace and allow yourself room to protect your energy.  "I feel pretty good today," I told her.  Her supervising teacher nodded in approval.

But then on Thursday, I was wiped out again.  So was Student Teacher.  We were almost leaning on the bus at bus duty.  So, it's one thing and then another.  Today I'm calling on ELK to help me go the distance.  Come on, ELK.  Give me some of your Friday medicine.