The anxiety begins to churn within me.  I take a moment to glance at the week ahead in my mind's eye.  I teach two 10R and two 9R English classes.  I also teach an IB Theatre Arts class.  I am constantly overwhelmed by my workload.  I never see the end of my 'to do' list.  I've got report card grades due within the next week and a half.  I've got yearbook deadlines, fundraising for the class of '07, and a theatre club to run.  I've got doctors' appointments, bills to pay, laundry, phone calls, and dinners to make.  I find the hectic pace of my teaching life to be too much.  I feel like a robot, emotionally unattached to my life because I'm merely trying to check off the next item on my endless 'to do' list.

It's January and I feel out of balance.  A teacher's life is enormously complex and emotionally charged.  How do we find the balance between our personal lives which includes our family, friends, hobbies, interests, exercise, diet, and daily responsibilites; and our teaching lives which includes our colleagues, our students, our administrators, our creativity, our grading and assessing, our lesson planning, and test prepping?  How can I get back to that place where I enjoy what I do and feel connected to my purpose?

I'm six years into this profession.  Many encouraged me into believing that by now, teaching would be a breeze.  I don't think teaching is ever a breeze.  This is the reality. 

So, why this blog?

Well, I'm seeking a place where I can slow down and reflect on my life as a teacher; a place where I can be honest about the complexities of this kind of work.  I want to create a haven that is inviting to anyone who travels this journey that rides the highs of creativity and genuine bonding, and the lows of feeling inadequate and seeing our students struggle in so many ways.  Teaching is a calling and it calls forth our personalities, our values, our flaws.  It tests our physical strength, our emotional range, and our psychological awareness.  Teaching is opportunity in the fullest sense of the word.  It is spiritual and soulful work.  But I get lost, and I get lost very easily. 

If I'm not alone, then I hope that this blog becomes a meeting place for teachers who need to slow down and lean on eachother, even if just for a cyber-moment.