Skip to main content

I Really Should Be Somewhere Else

Any teacher worth his or her salt will tell you that our work is never really done. Whilst sitting here and blogging I really should be doing something teacher related. The fact that it’s nearly 11 pm on a Saturday night is no obstacle to that either.

I’ve spent the last week dedicating virtually every moment of the days (and parts of the nights) to doing “teacher things” and I’m raring to go into the new week and it’s for this reason that I’ve decided to deliberately pull myself back and cut off from the job.

Yes, I have lessons to plan and yes, I should be doing them now but there’s always tomorrow and in all honesty, I do need the time off to refocus my energy and take a break from it all. Burn-out in this profession is probably more common than in many others. Dana warned me about the “trap” that many teachers fall into, by letting the teaching take over your life and I don’t want to let that happen. I enjoy what I’m doing too much to risk losing it.

I say this now, a week into term and I know that I won’t feel this enthusiastic, two months down the line.

Comments

The good teachers don't seem to ever burn out. Look at it this way...

Parenting is a job whose trials and tribulations one can't possibly know until they are already enlisted. It sucks at times and it's overwhelming at times. What keeps you going?

Those precious moments. Those moments that no one besides your daughters could ever give you.

Most kids spend more time with their teachers than their own parents... and you're a surrogate 9 months out of the year.

I have no doubt that you will love this job, embrace it, appreciate those "moments," and sleep well at night knowing you're one of the good guys.

Just don't obsess. Some of my best teachers were not "prepared" necessarily, but they knew their shit adn were engaging enough to make me care about the subject they were teaching. You are part parent, part expert, and part performer. And you are the star of the show.

Don't obsess. It's just a job. A very, very, ultra important, life altering job... No pressure!
The Scribbler said…
That's pretty good advice Rachael. You're absolutely right about being the surrogate parent. Teaching is so much more than just imparting knowledge and I think that we sometimes forget that we're teaching children and not adults.

Popular posts from this blog

Ten Jewberry Muds

To get the full effect, this message should be read out loud. You will understand what 'tenjewberrymuds' means by the end of the conversation. This has been nominated for the best email of 2005. The following is a telephone exchange between a hotel guest and room-service at a hotel in Asia, which was recorded and published in the FarEast Economic Review: Room Service (RS): "Morrin. Roon sirbees." Guest (G): "Sorry, I thought I dialed room-service." RS: "Rye..Roon sirbees..morrin! Jewish to oddor sunteen??" G: "Uh..yes..I'd like some bacon and eggs." RS: "Ow July den?" G: "What??" RS: "Ow July den?...pryed, boyud, poochd?" G: "Oh, the eggs! How do I like them? Sorry, scrambled please." RS: "Ow July dee baykem? Crease?" G: "Crisp will be fine." RS: "Hokay. An Sahn toes?" G: "What?" RS: "An toes. July Sahn toes?" G: "I don't think so."...

A Breed Apart

I'll start with that rarest of things (at least for me), namely an apology. A number of people who read this blog have approached me and asked me how the new job is panning out. I know I should have followed the original posts with updates, but honestly, I came back so tired from work, that I didn't have the will to compose any reports. In short, I am really happy in my new school. The students line up outside the door to my classroom (yes, my classroom) quietly instead of rushing in like a pack of deranged beasts and then, to my utter delight, stand , yes STAND(!!) behind their chairs and wait until I tell them to be seated. These students are actually listening to my instructions. When I tell them to switch their monitors off, they do what I ask. I don't find myself having to wait for fifteen minutes until they can be bothered to be quiet, they do something that I've been longing to experience for two years - they show an interest, in fact, a very keen interest, in w...

Bye Bye University

I can't quite believe it but today is in fact my last as a student. My course ends when I walk out of school at 13.15 I've now fulfilled the statutory days demanded of me as a student teacher. From Monday, I will be effectively unemployed - until Thursday, so I reckon we'll survive. That's it folks, my course is over. I have yet to hear whether or not I've passed, although between you and me ( shhhh don't tell anyone ) I am now a newly qualified teacher in everything but name. The exam board meets Mid-July to make those all important decisions and that's when I expect to get my congratulatory letter through the post. It's been an interesting year, to say the least. There have been ups and downs although the positive has vastly outweighed the negative. I find standing in a classroom less daunting and if anything, I now have the confidence to teach, which I didn't have when I started. I know I've only been doing this lark since September (and teach...