Why? Well life is kinda getting in the way. If any of you bloggers are or know teachers then this will not come as a surprise. My working days have been averaging 17 hours. Yep, you read that right, 17! I have been up till 1am most mornings and back in work for 8. For the beginning of the term, the workload has been increasingly intense. I have stepped back a few times to look at the big picture thinking there must be something which could be done differently, more efficient perhaps but I keep drawing a blank.
My daily teaching life consists of teaching (28 children) all day, marking the books from the lessons taught in that day and then preparing a range of resources. On top of that I have a mountain of paperwork and two subjects to co-ordinate. The work itself is not too difficult, I just don't have enough time in the day for it all!
I have also found myself in charge of a year group, which I am excited about, however I am working with a newly qualified teacher who is not seeming to be too great. This means that my workload is doubling as I have been needing to take on some of his planning as well as running the year group.
With that in mind, I have found my 'life' side of the scales drastically becoming lighter and lighter! And when I do have the free time I find my body is just so tired. I am hoping that this is just the beginning of a new term madness and that things will settle.
At this moment in time, something needs to give somewhere because surely this is not the life to live?
"Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life become a beautiful success."
Louisa May Alcott 'Little Women'
Any advice from you fabulous bloggers of how best to manage my commitments to work but still have a life are definitely welcome!
6 comments:
Write a "to-do" list every night, and make sure the first hour of your day is the most productive! Those are my little tricks. It's definitely hard to balance everything!
Isn’t That Charming.
i know how it is... my bf is a teacher he gets up every day at 530 and gets home about 630.. he is mentally tired almost everday. but i think it the first couple months that this happens, he was like this last year for about 2 months then, he started to get a hang of it and things started to settle.
xoxo
Keep your head up girly, things will get better!
@Emily - To do lists, I have never loved and at the same time hated something so much haha!! Defnitly great advice and something I need to be more consistent with for sure :-)
@Lisa- I've been in the job 5 years now and this year seems so much more work than previous!!I think,as you say, the mental tiredness is a difficult thing for people to comprehend. Even if you have energy to work after school you are so wiped. Thank you for the kind words- I will keep my head up :-) x
I feel your pain! I am just trying to keep in mind that this is always the hard bit and that it does get easier as the year goes on. The autumn term is just trying to stay afloat so we can enjoy the rest of the year :)
Missy, why oh why are you taking on the NQ's workload? You a doing a disservice to yourself and to him. He needs to learn how to be an effective teacher too.
Unless there's medical reasons, then ignore me. Does your headteacher know about this?
@ Summer - 4 weeks to half term :-)
@Moly - Don't worry, I am stepping back. I had to do more because otherwise I would suffer too because of the lack of plans etc. So I have basically set up the year group ready to go and now he can sort h9imself out.
My HT, Deputy and Phase leader are all aware and are supporting him too. They have also supported me and given me extra time out which is good of them. Believe me, I want him to develop his skills but I don't want my reults to fail because of him you know?
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