Is this a life?

Dear Bloggers,

It’s after 8 p.m. and my alarm went off over an hour ago to stop working… Yes I set an alarm for when I need to stop working - or at least begin to wrap things up for the evening. Over the summer I began reading a book which that has been sitting on my nightstand, haunting me unfinished since I realize that my goal of finishing all my classes novels was growing less realistic if I didn’t strictly read school related materials. So, in an effort not to be such a work-aholic I decided I was going to make some time for adult literature again. However, I'm so overly stressed right now that I decided to use this time to vent as the “frustrated teacher”.

I’ve been realizing that my quality of life has been slowly deteriorating over the past few years. At first I made an excuse that it was from changing districts. Then my next year it was from changing placements, and last year it was due to a change in curriculum and administration. Well, this year we have yet another new curriculum to follow. (This will be my third in this district in four years). This year I have been making notations on my calendar how many hours I have been spending in the building and additional hours that I spent working at home. My intentions were to figure out my hourly wage. (I’m really not sure why I want to depress myself and do that math).  Now of course this couldn’t include the countless hours I spent this past summer. Tonight I'm frustrated because it’s only Wednesday and I’ve already worked more than a 40 hour work week.


Let me take you through what has been a typical week thus far:

Sunday - I meet with my co-teacher, alternating houses where we will plan for the upcoming week and make ourselves checklists. We begin about 2 and have been going until 8 or 9 pm. Last week we met on a Saturday for over 14 hours until we began falling asleep at her dining room table. (This was a horrible choice because I still spent all day Sunday working somehow). And did I mention, I spend the whole morning preparing food for the upcoming week or I end up eating soup straight out of the can for dinner and school lunch?

Our parking situation is horrible, so I must arrive by 7:05 if I want a spot in the lot, and remotely near my room. This is essential since I lug a bag with three large teacher’s editions; and a second with a chromebook, papers to grade, any other materials I may need, my coffee (which I inevitably spill on myself), breakfast, lunch, and sometimes dinner. Mondays we have meetings until 4. I run back up to my classroom to tie up loose ends and check my email. I’ve been leaving the building about 5:30/6 and go home to let the dog out and if I have time, throw some food in my face. I leave almost immediately to go tutor and don’t get home until close to 8. If I didn’t get a chance to eat - I’ll stop for a pint of white rice (quickest thing I know to get) and eat it in the car on the way home. Then I may do another hour of work or so if it’s my week to grade the weekend reading assignments or simply crash.

Tuesday is my late day. I stay until everything is completed, and I don’t leave until 6 or 6:30. I go home, eat, and get to work. This is when I make my screencasts for flipping lessons, or videos for independent practice. Usually there is a question or two from a parent or child needing homework help. So I’m multi-tasking. I try to be off the computer and heading towards bed by 8pm.

Wednesday repeat, but I try to leave the building by 5:50. This is ideal traffic time. This is the day that I grade. So depending how much I have it could take an hour, it could take three.

Thursday I try to start outlining what I will need to accomplish for the next week and get a jump on any graphic organizers or vocabulary so I’m ready for the weekend planning sessions. I also list the skills we will be addressing for the upcoming week. I try to leave by 4:15 and mainly work from home. (It’s still a 9 hour day) but by 7 I like to be in bed to catch up on the DVR and make sure there’s space for the amazing Thursday night line-up.

Now Friday comes! We often try not to work through lunch and generally don’t allow kids to hang out in our classrooms. Sometimes we’ll order out. I stay after school and plan with one of my co-teachers. We usually stay until 6 or 6:30 to complete our weekly agendas, lesson plans, and divide the tasks of mini-lessons, graphic organizers to be completed, and any other assignment that may need to be created or found. I come home exhausted and veg on the couch watching my Thursday night line-up. Often I will fall asleep before 8 or 9, but if I don’t I’ll get back to work and attempt to tackle some of my to-do list.

Saturday I wake super early - since I usually fall asleep before 11. I try to get my weekend cleaning completed before noon so I have a few hours to lounge. I put the DVR on and get to town. I try not to work on Saturday, but often do. Saturdays are quite during the evening here and usually a good time to record screencasts without the stomping feet of my upstairs neighbors. But sometimes, I’ll go back to bed and watch all of the TV I didn’t get to or stopped paying attention to while cleaning.


And then Sunday, it starts all over.

I really can’t keep this pace up. Every year, I say this will be the last. I convince myself that next year will be better. There’s always an excuse why my workload is nearly unbearable, but it never changes.


Sincerely,


Another Frustrated Teacher