Amazing! He Knows My “back-to-school” Dreams!

I was really amazed to read Scott Thornbury’s post “D is for Dreams” – he seems to have looked into my dreams!

Although I am about to begin my 26th year as a teacher, I have bad dreams during the second half of every August, like clockwork, every single year.

I wasn’t aware that other teacher do too. Although I teach in a very large high-school with many teachers, the subject has never come up. When we meet during “preparation days” before school starts one either talks about the fun one had on holiday or gripes about the new timetable or changes that have just been intoduced  for the upcoming school year.

My dreams would fall into the “loss of control” category.

Nightmare on the road

The odd thing is I don’t dream about the REAL “loss of control” issues I am worried about when I’m awake. Such as the 12th grader that goes from being sweet and working nicely to saloon-type fighting in about 30 seconds if someone sets him off.  Or the two 11th graders who kept all levels of the school administration on their feet dealing with their disregard of anything their teachers tell them (for instance – you cannot enter a class that isn’t your own in the middle of the lesson!). And what about all those unknown 10th graders?

Instead I dream that I can’t seem to be able to get to the classroom. The car won’t start, the bus won’t come, there is trouble on the road, people keep obstructing my path and forcing me to stop, etc.

There are also the dreams when I DO make it to the classroom but the pupils keep coming in, more and more and more and they don’t seem to stop. I can’t manage to talk to any of them as the door keeps opening…

So, thank you Scott Thornbury! I found your post on dreams very encouraging!

10 thoughts on “Amazing! He Knows My “back-to-school” Dreams!”

  1. Fascinating, and I can relate 100%. You most certainly are not alone, neither as a teacher, nor as a professional.

    I think these kind of “never going to get there on time” dreams have plagued me for every job I’ve ever had… the worst, and REALLY the WORST were the dreams I had when I was just starting out as a cook. I worked at a very high-end french restaurant. Tons of pressure. Tons of famous clients. The chef would lay into me when I’d make a mistake and as I was a newbie, it was fairly often !

    For a number of months, I had this recurring nightmare about not taking enough crab out of the freezer… oh lordy… scares me to the day just talking about it ! LOL

    Now off to read Scott’s post. Cheers 😉

  2. Brad!
    I’ve seen movies about chefs and how stressful the job is but never actually met anyone who has experienced it!
    Perhaps the only difference between teaching-dreams and the dreams of any other kind of profession is that they appear at very certain times of year!
    Thanks for your support!

  3. Oh… crab is seasonal ! Haha… it is a stressful environment. Glad I did it for a few years and then got out. My partner Claire is also very happy I did it 😉 Cheers… and I’m still looking forward 2 that meatloaf one day!

  4. Wonderful post! I love the photo. I’m so happy tat I’m not the only one. I always thought I was crazy. I can never sleep the night before my first class…never. gOod luck with you class this year. Look forward to reading more.

    1. That’s what so wonderful about sharing – you discover that we’re all in the same boat!
      Thanks for stopping by!

  5. I have the types of dreams where I can’t seem to accomplish very simple tasks: dialing the telephone, getting out of a building, making it to an elevator, etc. I’m not sure they coordinate with days before class begins or not, but I can relate.

    1. I would think these dreams also fall under the category of “loss of control dreams” – welcome to “the club”!

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