My morning routine consists of waking up to my ring tone / alarm “Champion” by Kanye West. After maybe getting readjusted out of my slumber and hoping the sun goes back down quick enough where I can forget about work, I crawl out, hit my computer’s on-button, wash my face, brush my teeth, scramble for a big bowl of Raisin Bran / Frosted Flakes / Lucky Charms / Apple Jacks / Honey Nut Cheerios, dump in some milk, and plop down in front of the TV for some NY1 News in the Morning, or ESPN depending on how interested I was in the sporting events of the previous night. It’s been this day almost everyday for the past 3 years minus weekends and most of my vacation days. I also check up on my e-mail, make a big note to myself about how I’m going to walk into my classroom today, what am I going to realistically do for the train ride to my school, and even have time to respond to a couple of friend requests, Twitters, e-mails, and messages.

I don’t know about you, but that makes me want to do all of that again … backwards, ending with my face in my pillow. I have become a creature of routine, but my lack of organization tells me either a) I never wanted to live by the standards of cleanliness so long as I know where everything is or b) I need a new routine (probably both). Even in situations where I should be less stressed (like class trips for instance), I find myself stressin’ out like crazy, making sure my face doesn’t end up on Fox5 News for being a negligent Black teacher, or however they’ll paint me. What’s more, we’re starting to wind down and I’ve already been looking towards next year since a good month ago, so now that we’re more than 90% of the way there, I’m too excited / anxious for the new year to begin.

I’ve already finished one of my projects (which was a big hit with the staff), but now I have a couple more to go, along with a ton of trips that I never even planned on until I was asked to go the day before. And what’s worse, my Google Reader is full of blogs from teachers who have either already resigned, started looking for other jobs, or are wrapping up the year in a reflective sort of mood. In the meantime, the rest of us in NYC are here face in palms, melting in our (mostly) boiling rooms, tapping our feet harder than the children are.

It’s time to breathe. Yeah, that’s what I’m going to do. Breathe.

::siiiiiiiiighhhhhhh::

jose, who loves the relationships he’s built with most of his students, but realizes that some of the other relationships need to be renewed with others …