Shannon Costello

The house is in order, the lawn is mowed, and I think it fair to state that I am ready for the first day of school on Monday. I had a wonderful time working this week. There was lots to do and I tore into it so eagerly that it was just as well that we were all kicked out by 5. The energy didn’t stop when I got home. I wanted to mow the lawn this week. Lesson plans chased around in my head at night, and it was hard to get to sleep.

Today I arrived at home and just enjoyed the silence. I lay there with a pillow over my face, not moving and hardly thinking. Music selections for tonight are on the calmer side. Jazz isn’t even acceptable; everything is classical…”Carnival of the Animals” is about as wild as it gets.

I think there’s a reason why I listened to “Carnival” and even “Peter and the Wolf”. I connect those pieces with children and therefore school. I think I’m so excited about school that I hardly know how to express it, so excited that I cannot settle down enough to realize that I’m excited.

And yet, I think that there are stretches several weeks long during every school year when I am continually annoyed at my students. It really isn’t any fun to be grumpy four out of every five days for weeks on end. And of course there will always be moments in my job that I absolutely dread.

I guess every job has its highs and lows. Mostly I’m just glad I had the time, energy, and concentration to enjoy this week’s high.