And it is October...

I am knocking on wood right now because for the most part we have had a really smooth start to the 2014-15 school year. August and September came and went, and the excitement of the beginning of the year is now beginning to fade.  I refer to October as "Shocktober," because students are settling into the routine of learning, and the honeymoon period is over.  It is the month when grades are first due, discipline issues begin to surface, and the workload for teachers increases. We begin noticing students who have gaps in their learning, students who are apathetic, and students who have difficulties in their personal life, and we begin the work of supporting and helping them.  Teaching is hard work--it takes patience and out of the box thinking.  If you think that teachers still teach the way that you were taught as a child, then think again. Teachers today have to wear many hats, and our students are expected to do more and more while the funding is increasingly less and less. So, as we settle into October, I am continuously looking for ways to support my teachers so they can do the work--the work of teaching and learning. I told my staff yesterday that my primary role is to support them and to "lead them into the October battle."  I told them that "I will die on that hill for them", because they are worth, but more importantly, our students are worth it. We can not turn back now.