Hitting the Snooze Button

What is your personal record for the number of times you have hit the snooze button on your alarm?  I mean, in a row.  1,2,12…?  My alarm is set for 3:01 a.m. and I rarely make it to the alarm.  Honestly, I think I have hit the snooze button 3 times in the last 35 years.  But, let’s face it, anyone who says that they jump out of bed with enthusiasm to start the day is lying like a rug.  Of course, we all know that hitting that snooze button too many times can create problems for you and others.  If you are a parent of non-self-sufficient children, then others may be counting on you to prepare them for their day regardless of the preparation needed to start your day.  Don’t lose heart young parent – it does get better. Perhaps you only have to get yourself ready to go, but you still have to deal with getting to school on time while factoring in road construction, traffic, weather problems and a host of other issues. The point is, we just can’t afford to keep hitting the snooze button. From time to time, I have had to deal with students who can’t seem to get to school on time.  My suggestion is pretty much the no-brainer – put your alarm clock on the other side of the room so that you have to get out of bed to shut it off.  Viola- you are up.  Excuse makers will say that this does not work…those are the same folks who make excuses about other things as well.  As the saying goes, if you snooze, you lose.

As teachers, we cannot afford to keep hitting the snooze button.  We don’t have the luxury of extra time to get everything completed as our time parameters are set.  We get 180, seven plus hour days to teach all of the standards. It’s really less than that since the state test is given twice – less than 75% of the way through the year and then again about 5 weeks prior to school ending.  Definitely not a end of course assessment.  We have to be good pacers in our lessons.  We have to have an excellent game plan by setting the essential understandings and the long-term goals. We need to establish meaningful daily goals tied to the long-term goals.  We simply do not have time to hot the snooze button of a “free day” or the like.  Our foot has to be on the gas pedal much of the time.  When we see a student in need of remediation, we need to remediate that student without a great deal of hesitation. The same goes for a student who needs to be challenged more deeply with extensions or enrichments.  We cannot hesitate to provide. We cannot put if off. “I’ll do it later” really becomes “never” because the clock is ticking. Take your hand away from the snooze button.