This week’s schoolwork has proved to be quite lacking. After taking a few weeks off, it seems the kids have forgotten how to think for themselves. Math has been a complete disaster and they are definitely not putting their best efforts forth.  Sometimes I find it hard to distinguish between the ‘they just don’t know this’ and the ‘they are just being lazy’.  They both seemed to be dressed in the same costume.  There are days when I wonder if I am doing right by them.  I become short tempered and frustrated when I know they should know something and they have showed me in the past that they do.  Then there are the good times when I see and hear the learning taking hold of their minds.  For the most part, those are the kind of days that we have, but when I have days like the ones we have been having this week, I begin to question my methods.  What can I do different to make them want to learn?  How can I get them to understand how important it is to their futures?  They only see today.  What is the answer?  I am comforted to know that this is not a road I am walking alone.  Talking with others who teach children reassures me that there are the ‘duh’ moments just as there are the ‘ah’ moments and we have to walk through each one equipped with the fact that we are doing the best that we can.  So despite the fact that this has been one of those ‘duh’ weeks I know there is light at the end of the tunnel and the ‘ah’ times are yet to come.