Last week I was wondering why I hadn't had any yet. But it has happened at last: teaching nightmares. I dreamed about getting up in front of a classroom with no idea what I should say or what I should make them do. I had done zero preparation and was desperately watching the clock, wondering if I could fill the time with small group discussion. Terrifying.
I also had college nightmares before college began, acting nightmares from drama, and even wedding nightmares on Gretchen's behalf! As I recall she didn't have any. I took care of them for her.
The reassuring thing about this kind of dream is the realization when you awake that there is no way it could really happen. I will most definitely be more prepared to teach than that. And I figure, what better way to take care of stress than while you're sleeping? It's multi-tasking, for one thing - so productive. And for another, the waking moments aren't so frenzied because you know it can't be as bad as the dream, and you concentrate on making sure of that by planning/studying/memorizing/etc. And the dreams stop once the reality of college/teaching/wedding actually takes place. The only draw-back to the whole dream thing is that horrible out-of-control feeling during the actual dream. But that never lasts too long.
I go in tomorrow for my first day of teacher training!
5 comments:
The secret is to get rid of the stress before you even know you have it, that way you can have a good nights uninterrupted sleep, hence, being MORE prepared for whatever the day actually does throw at you...
Teacher nightmares! Chalk it up to the mark of a dedicated teacher, because you care in your conscious life how things will go, which manifests itself in your dreams. There, Freud would be proud...
And I can relate to the nightmares, though I haven't had any recently. So maybe I need to increase my dedication level...
I had a weird teaching dream the other night, too! I don't remember it very well, but I remember waking up quickly and feeling relieved it was only a dream.
Whoa, that was weird, Chad -- I think we posted our comments at the exact same moment!
So our pyschic energy must be in sync. Or something like that...
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