one down (almost)... two to go

The end of the trimester is at the end of this week. I need to get through this week, through this month before winter break. I need a break. I'm looking forward to my train ride more than I thought I could. 7 hours of no responsibilities. No driving. No correcting. Sure, I won't be able to see the scenery because my train leaves at 5 something in the evening, but I plan on bringing a book I've been wanting to read for a while. I'm stressed out in this job. I feel as if expectations are set at a level that I'm unable to get to, and that I'm supposed to know all sorts of things that I just don't know. A lot of my parents are very understanding that I haven't really had a chance to sit and think, let alone plan much of anything. I'm running a day or two ahead of my students, if that sometimes. Overwhelmed am I. Worse than overwhelmed, I am beginning to not want to even go anymore. Where once there was stress AND joy, there is now just stress. Now I know how teachers burn out quickly. I have to figure out how to not be another statistic.

A picture from earlier in the fall, when the colors were first starting to change.