Do Students Know Teachers Have Not-Being-Prepared-to-Teach Nightmares?!

I must have been in deep sleep because the time was before 9am, and I had gone to bed past 3…but that doesn’t matter. What matters is the horror that maybe some of you can relate to. The nightmare was awful. I’m teaching at a new school starting in less than a few weeks, and although I subbed there in June, it still feels a little scary and daunting. And dreams, of course, have the worst worries of your inner psyche interwoven in them.

In my dream, suddenly, I remembered it was my first day of teaching, and I realized I was late. Not just late, but absolutely unprepared- no clue what I was going to do. Part of the fear of not knowing what to do has to do with a lack of real planning this Summer, but probably moreso because when I jumped in as a sub, I had to teach a level four honors course, and the book was so confusing and difficult to teach. The chapter I went through with them was on technology, and one of the segments was called “What Will Life Be Like in The Year 2000?”.

But I was dreaming that my course had to do with ethics, so I was quickly coming up with ideas. I would have them write about themselves, and then a situation where their values were questioned. Something vague like that. And then I remembered it all had to be in French!

I know students have nightmares where they didn’t do their homework, or worse, didn’t finish a paper or project, and it’s a regular phenomenon in the academic world. But are students aware that a similar phenomenon can plague teachers. Often, for me, the nightmares are about getting up late for school. Which was funny, because in the dream I had a bunch of time discrepancies, and other small questionings, which eventually led me to jump up out of bed. And, mind you, early, on my last day of an actual vacation.

I was reassured that within a few minutes, another teacher friend from afar had written about a similar experience she had in July. Guess it does happen to the best of us.

So no, people, teachers do not have it easy all Summer. Sometimes it gets painful having so much free time, sometimes we have regular bad dreams about work, and I think it could all be balanced out by doing that prep and work throughout the Summer, but, alas, you see, that would ruin my Summer. Sort of.