Tis the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas break, these three and half weeks, and all through the school, students and teachers are acting jolly and cool. Teachers are restless; Thanksgiving break was just a tease of visions of time off. Now, the teachers do not want to be seen again until the new year and plotting their scheme to see how early they can sneak off.

Everyone is discussing their holiday plans; students believe that the studies in the classes don’t matter. Yet the teachers are still persevering through. Lesson plans are not decorations, they say. Still, they dress them up even more than before. Bah Humbug!

The countdown has been on the board; now it matters even more. Every day, one day closer with the passing hours and hopes of students passing. Teachers dream of sleeping late, drinking coffee in pajamas, reading a book, or binge-watching what they have not seen. When will the final bell of the semester ring? Oh, to escape before.

In classrooms, teaching is like lecturing the chaos method. Students’ minds everywhere, sugarplums in their heads. Teachers teaching with smiles of gingerbread men, trying to keep control with a caffeinated dream yet loving their festive decorated classrooms they will have to unclutter upon return in January.

Teacher departments’ get-togethers will be planned around food, all in a ho, ho, ho mood. Ugly sweaters come out only this time once a year, creating a real nightmare before Christmas. Carols of the season play in the background while teachers dream of summer vacation.

In the copy room, the copier takes human form with cries of distress. No more tests, it says. They groan like the teachers with the exams they have to grade. Staff meetings will cause a drag as teachers sit creating complex driving route equations to solve their shopping, which is not yet done. Amazon to the rescue!

And then, there it will be, not the bell, but the announcement, “Teachers, if you have any students, send them to the cafeteria. Administration will watch them until it is time for them to leave.” The teachers who are left will breathe the sweet relief, walking out with the joy of belief. Christmas break is finally here while standing in the parking lot, talking for another few hours.

And so, as teachers leave with holiday cheer in a week or so or a few days, Merry Christmas to the elves of education. The ones who make it happen every day for all. They are the gift of education that keeps on giving every school day of the year and keep on giving…

Let’s go fight the good fight of leadership. Someone has to…

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2023 J Clay Norton

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