Christmas Vacation

All teachers have a little secret. We look forward to vacation much more than the kids do. It's not a secret to my students, I told them several times, but something they don't know is the deeper teacher secret.

We all think we will get caught up over Christmas break.

I am not sure when this Christmas miracle is supposed to happen, somewhere between the family celebrations, last minute shopping and traveling, but we all think we will be coming back to school in January rested, refreshed, and caught up with all those grades that slipped through the cracks in November and December. (That's right, I said NOVEMBER. I still have part of an essay test that the kids took the day before Thanksgiving break. So sue me.) I brought home a stack of essay tests, a map assignment and a couple of homework assignments that all need to be graded before 7:20 Monday, January 4. I still have a week, and truth be told, I never intended to work on them before this coming week anyway, but they still taunt me.

I actually brought the aforementioned pile of essays home to Oregon to grade, but they haven't made it off the floor of my bedroom, where I dumped them when I unloaded my car. And the likelihood of me working on them anytime in the next 24 hours, before I leave to go back up north, is slim to none. But I feel guilty if I go anywhere without work to do, so I hauled them down here, and I'll haul them back up north again in a day or so.

And then, if I feel like it, I'll grade them. Maybe.