When Teachers Dream

I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that it's August already. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I (vaguely) remember it being June; July, however, is a 31-day block gone missing. Maybe I've repressed it, but the fact that I'm blogging about this is a prime sign I'm in denial of reality. I've rationalized this post as a public service to those of you who, like me, are scratching your head as you flip the calendar and see some red-leafed tree staring you in the face.

I'm supposed to start teaching again in 13 days; faculty orientation is in 10. Last night/early this morning I had a nightmare about my first day of class that had me cramming 20 students into a fellow teacher's car and going for a drive, formally introducing myself to them as we went. As my goal was also to get to know the students, I asked them to introduce themselves (even those in the very back, though I couldn't put names with faces as I couldn't see all of them in the rearview mirror).

As I was executing an awkward six-point turn on a snowy(?!) country road to start heading back, I dented/scraped the side of a parked car. Not thinking I hit it hard enough to do any damage, we drove off, but then I remembered I taught Ethics and New Testament, so I decided to go back, leave a note for the owner, and set a good example for the students by doing the right thing. But instead of just leaving a note, I decided to actually find the driver, which ended up taking a good hour while making the kids even more uncomfortable in the back seats.

The dream went on, but it's fuzzy from there. All I recall is that we eventually made it back to school, the students were wound up, and I had absolutely no control of the situation. Thankfully I woke up (probably with a violent jump like in the movies), but it took me at least half an hour to shake the feeling that it all really happened.

This morning has been a semi-painful come-to-Jesus realization that I've done squat over the summer to get ready for this fall, and I have less than two weeks to figure things out. Needless to say, a first-day road trip for twenty is out of the question.