As mentioned in my previous post, I have recently made the leap from day-to-day supply, to a long-term position in the same primary class for the remainder of the year. While there are several really nice things about this (Continuity! Getting to know the kids! No early morning supply calls!), it's definitely been an adjustment.
As a supply teacher, there were so many things that I could just leave at the door on my way out of a classroom. But now, I take them all home with me: work to grade, planning to fill out, the stress of knowing that the education of these little humans is currently resting on my shoulders... That kind of thing.
This afternoon, I saw an infographic on Facebook about how many hours are REALLY in a teacher's day, since apparently, some people think that it begins at 9:00 and ends at 3:30. Honestly, it surprises me that people are still so disillusioned (or perhaps just uninformed) as to believe this. Seeing this has inspired me to create my own little "log" of how an average day might go for a teacher in the crazy little bubble that is the Primary classroom.
6:15 AM: Alarm goes off.
6:20 AM: Alarm goes off again. I actually get up this time. Grumble and groan, but bribe myself out of bed with the promise of coffee and breakfast. Shower, get dressed, eat.
7:25-7:40: Depending on how much I have to accomplish in the morning and how proactive I'm feeling, I hop on my bike anywhere between 7:25ish and 7:40ish. Luckily, my new place is situated along the railway path, so I speed alongside the spandex-clad commuters for about 10 minutes until I am at school.
7:35-7:50: Arrive at school. Write the date on the whiteboard. Connect laptop to Smart Board and load up the interactive slideshows and online activities for the day. Print anything that needs printing. Photocopy anything that needs photocopying. Potentially sort out any technological issues that may occur. Consult with TA about the day.
8:30: If it's a Monday or Friday, teachers have to attend a "briefing". If not, I am probably still starting to panic a little about where the time has gone, as the kids will be arriving soon.
8:45: Go outside and greet the children and parents. Answer parents' questions, take names down for the parent-teacher conference, act really excited over the toys and jewelry that the kids brought to school and want to show you.
8:50: Bring the kids inside, collect signed letters from home, corral the kids into putting away said toys/jewelry/that weird piece of string they found outside and tell them about 5 times to sit down with their reading book.
8:55: Once again panic because somehow it's 8:55 and you need to take the register and line the kids up for assembly, quickly enough not to face the shame of showing up late. Spend the assembly watching my class out of the corner of my eye, ready to shoot the "evil eye" at anyone misbehaving.
9:30: Bring the class, who are now super chatty, back to the classroom. Somehow, manage to restore some semblance of order and begin teaching for the morning. It's English and Phonics. Deliver lessons that account for the fact that some kids can write a detailed story using adjective and adverbs, and some can barely string together a sentence in English that makes sense.
10:50: Break time for the kids, and possibly for me... though more likely, I am out on duty, dealing with someone who has lost 5 minutes from their playtime for their behaviour, or hurriedly setting something up for the next lesson as I scarf down an apple.
11:10: Go outside to fetch the class. Arrange the boisterous clump of children into something that resembles a line. Walk about 5 steps with children in tow, but stop because someone has run off to go pick up a hula hoop and begin rolling it. Sternly tell this individual to come back to the line. Meanwhile, someone has come up to you, crying because "so-and-so- pushed in front of me in line". The culprit is now arguing back, and the rest of the line begins amassing itself into a blob again. I begin to feel like I am herding cats.
11:15: Begin teaching maths, or more likely, spend about 15 minutes dealing with behaviour issues and praying that they will finally settle down. Comfort a child who has "hurt themselves" on the playground (if I squint, I can see the scrape). Deliver a maths lesson, and sort out which children are getting which set of questions -- once again, the class ranges from high to very low ability. After about 5 minutes, some kids are complaining that they don't get it. After about 10, some kids are complaining that they're finished and have nothing to do while I'm busy trying to help the ones that don't get it. WHY DOES THAT KID HAVE THE WEIRD PIECE OF STRING AGAIN??
12:15: Lunch time AT LAST. Once again, make the all-important line and bring the kids into the dining hall. Over the next hour, I will cram food and coffee into my face, potentially deal with more behaviour problems, and run around setting up for the afternoon. Walking through the playground to the main part of the school is like walking through tall grass in Pokemon. If a kid in my class spots me, I will more than likely be pulled into some argument about who had the skipping rope first.
1:15: Go outside to fetch the kids again. Deal with same lining up issues.
1:20-3:15: "Teach" afternoon lessons. This week, I had to plan a week's worth of afternoon activities to do with France. By the afternoon, the kids are extremely rowdy. On top of this, the TA (who has been there the whole year and who the kids listen to better than me) is in and out doing various assessments with children. So it generally ends up being half sorting out behavioural issues, and half actual teaching. Students keep talking over me. Someone has crawled under a desk. Someone is sticking a coin to their forehead. I stop the lesson and wait, again and again. I send disruptive students to the back of the room, and try to carry on. I'm not proud of it, but I will likely raise my voice a lot. It's rough.
3:15: Make sure the kids go home with the right parents. Send some kids off to after-school clubs (run by other teachers). Do a bit of tidying up -- barely making a dent in the messy classroom that I have inherited.
3:30: Begin marking the students' work for the day. There may be some other after-school responsibilities. Today, I had to let parents visit the classroom to see what the kids had been working on for Global Week.
3:45: Get pulled into a meeting with the other teachers about targets. We have to track whether each child is achieving targets that we have to come up with for them, as we mark their work.
4:30: Return to the classroom, Finish marking/target tracking and other odd jobs.
5:00-5:30: Pack up for the night, and head out to my bike. I'm getting emails from the other teachers about SATS, expectations, special activities scheduled for the week, etc, etc. By 5:30, I tend to make myself leave, even though there are about 1000 other things I could be doing in the classroom.
5:30: Run any errands that need doing. For instance, this evening I ran out to Tesco to pick up groceries for myself, and some special French treats for the students to end off Global Week -- making sure to pick up some dairy-free cookies for a student with dietary needs.
6:00- Some Time: Home. Dinner. Possibly eat a third of a dark chocolate and hazelnut bar in bed. Whatever. FINALLY STOP MOVING. I'll do the phonics plans on the weekend. My bed and I become one.
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| This dragon's expression accurately sums up how I feel upon being home, in my bed. |
So can we talk about those holidays again please?
Until next time,
C.
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