Saturday, October 31, 2009
A Saturday To Call My Own
I'm in my final year of my administrative credential program, and it's starting to wear thin. Very thin.
I have struggled to stay focused during class; constantly checking the clock is my new pastime. In past classes, I would raise my hand often and participate fully. Now, I say one or two things just to make sure my professor know I do indeed have a heart beat and then I sit quietly and try to nod at the right places. I have found that entire huge chunks of time will pass and I will realize I haven't been listening. Yikes.
Needless to say, I was very excited to see that we didn't have a class scheduled for Halloween (today.) I was even happier that my family and I had no scheduled trips this weekend. It has turned out that every weekend I don't have a class we have gone to visit family. First, it was visiting my mom and grandma, then visiting my dad, and finally last week we went to Redding.
This week we have nada planned. Awesome.
We spent the morning carving pumpkins. In fact, I'm still in my pajamas, as is everyone else in my family. Em is watching her Barbie movie (of course she loves THAT one), and I have considered showering.
Tonight we will dress Em up as Super Girl and head out to a Pumpkin Path activity with our friends Janet and Chris and their daughter.
Tomorrow I plan on another peaceful, quiet day. I have no grading to do and no where to go. Again, awesome.
I have struggled to stay focused during class; constantly checking the clock is my new pastime. In past classes, I would raise my hand often and participate fully. Now, I say one or two things just to make sure my professor know I do indeed have a heart beat and then I sit quietly and try to nod at the right places. I have found that entire huge chunks of time will pass and I will realize I haven't been listening. Yikes.
Needless to say, I was very excited to see that we didn't have a class scheduled for Halloween (today.) I was even happier that my family and I had no scheduled trips this weekend. It has turned out that every weekend I don't have a class we have gone to visit family. First, it was visiting my mom and grandma, then visiting my dad, and finally last week we went to Redding.
This week we have nada planned. Awesome.
We spent the morning carving pumpkins. In fact, I'm still in my pajamas, as is everyone else in my family. Em is watching her Barbie movie (of course she loves THAT one), and I have considered showering.
Tonight we will dress Em up as Super Girl and head out to a Pumpkin Path activity with our friends Janet and Chris and their daughter.
Tomorrow I plan on another peaceful, quiet day. I have no grading to do and no where to go. Again, awesome.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Taking Time
This year, as with most, I have been running at full speed. Since August I have had 10 to 12 hour work days at least four days a week. This is a snap shot of my typical work day:
5:45 Wake up, after Justin takes a shower. Feed cats, make coffee, and do my best to do full make up, hair, and professional dress by 6:30
6:30 Get Emerson up and dressed, teeth brushed, hair controlled
7:15 Drop Emerson off at daycare
7:30 "Work Day" begins
8:00 Teach/Be Ring Master for two hours with adorable, but energy-sucking Freshmen
10:15 Honors classes begin--40 kids in each class and they ALL have questions, difficult questions
11:30 30 minute lunch, time to enjoy my delicious Lean Cuisine
12:00 Honors bonanza begins again
2:30 Ahhhhh, prep period. Spend an hour running around like crazy person
3:30 Teach 8th period for juniors and seniors who failed English 9 or 10
5:00 Pick up Emerson from daycare. "Work Day" officially ends
6:00 Exercise, feed Emerson, speak with husband about teaching, sit on couch and stare into space
7:30 Either bathe or read to Emerson.
8:00 Pick one of the following options: check and answer student/work emails, grade work, work on Advocacy lessons, or do homework for my master classes
9:30 Drag self to bed
On Wednesdays, I have class until 8. And most Saturdays I have class all day.
So needless to say, I've been a little worn around the edges. Just a bit. So today I took a day. Today I'm hanging out with Emerson. We're going to spend time with friends, putter around the house, and just have a day together.
I'm very excited.
5:45 Wake up, after Justin takes a shower. Feed cats, make coffee, and do my best to do full make up, hair, and professional dress by 6:30
6:30 Get Emerson up and dressed, teeth brushed, hair controlled
7:15 Drop Emerson off at daycare
7:30 "Work Day" begins
8:00 Teach/Be Ring Master for two hours with adorable, but energy-sucking Freshmen
10:15 Honors classes begin--40 kids in each class and they ALL have questions, difficult questions
11:30 30 minute lunch, time to enjoy my delicious Lean Cuisine
12:00 Honors bonanza begins again
2:30 Ahhhhh, prep period. Spend an hour running around like crazy person
3:30 Teach 8th period for juniors and seniors who failed English 9 or 10
5:00 Pick up Emerson from daycare. "Work Day" officially ends
6:00 Exercise, feed Emerson, speak with husband about teaching, sit on couch and stare into space
7:30 Either bathe or read to Emerson.
8:00 Pick one of the following options: check and answer student/work emails, grade work, work on Advocacy lessons, or do homework for my master classes
9:30 Drag self to bed
On Wednesdays, I have class until 8. And most Saturdays I have class all day.
So needless to say, I've been a little worn around the edges. Just a bit. So today I took a day. Today I'm hanging out with Emerson. We're going to spend time with friends, putter around the house, and just have a day together.
I'm very excited.
Friday, October 16, 2009
What's Next....
I have felt incredibly restless lately. It's not that I don't have lots to do. (I always have lots to do.) For some reason, I actually felt bored this week.
I think my new-found boredom comes from being back in the class room this week. Don't get me wrong--I really do like my kids and I have the best teaching schedule of my career. I'm challenged by my 2-hour freshman block in the morning and teaching honors has been something I've always wanted to do. And I haven't had the last period as prep since my first year teaching over eight years ago.
Still I'm kinda bored.
I really liked being in the office last week. Unfortunately, I feel pretty stuck. Because of the current budget, there will not be a whole lot of admin jobs in the near future. While there should be a ton of retirements in the next five to ten years, it is still going to be a long wait for my vice principal job. Sigh.
Oh, well. I suppose I should enjoy my duty-free evenings and weekends. But I really miss that walkie-talkie...
I think my new-found boredom comes from being back in the class room this week. Don't get me wrong--I really do like my kids and I have the best teaching schedule of my career. I'm challenged by my 2-hour freshman block in the morning and teaching honors has been something I've always wanted to do. And I haven't had the last period as prep since my first year teaching over eight years ago.
Still I'm kinda bored.
I really liked being in the office last week. Unfortunately, I feel pretty stuck. Because of the current budget, there will not be a whole lot of admin jobs in the near future. While there should be a ton of retirements in the next five to ten years, it is still going to be a long wait for my vice principal job. Sigh.
Oh, well. I suppose I should enjoy my duty-free evenings and weekends. But I really miss that walkie-talkie...
Friday, October 9, 2009
The Good, The Bad, and The New
This week I started a new adventure at work. My principal asked me to begin training as Teacher-in-Charge, a position that is mostly like a Vice Principal (just not paid like one.) Our current TIC, as they are so affectionately named, is pregnant and will be out in March. While it has not been decided if I'll be covering her when she leaves, my principal thought it wise to train me in the ways of high school administration.
So here's my first week of admin experience:
Monday: I had a really hard time sleeping Sunday night, which is typically the case when I'm starting something new. I arrived work freshly ironed and made up, but feeling quite lost. I really didn't have an office, and I had no idea what I was going to do. First thing, I sat through two admin conferences. Unfortunately, my new adventure ended early because another teacher needed my sub so he could pick up his vomiting daughter from daycare. Back to the class room I went.
Tuesday: I spent the full day in the office. I handled a few suspensions (mostly for cell phones...ugh), but spent most of the day talking to kids about attendance and behavior. It was a rather uneventful day, and actually I don't remember a lot of it.
Wednesay: I was back in my room because my students had To Kill a Mockinbird presentations. The only bad thing about being out of my class this week is that it was the end of the quarter. This means that all my students' projects and tests, etc had to be graded this week. Big ugh. My principal asked me to TIC on Wednesday, but I needed to be in my room to make sure my kids were on track. This was a challenging day.
Thursday: This day started weird and just continued. I cannot go into a whole lot of details, as these are sensitive issues pertaining to students, but I will say that these topics were covered by my day: condoms, handcuffs, counterfeit money, and public urination. Sigh. Needless to say, I ate my lunch at 3:45.
Friday: Today was my last day for the foreseeable future in the office, and it was a busy one. This week was Homecoming, so we had a minimum day and a parade outside our school. It was a fast-paced day, but things went really smoothly. And (big deal pause here), I figured out how to use the walkie-talkie finally.
So next week I'm back in my room. This is comforting, but I am looking forward to my next office adventure. I enjoyed the change of pace and new skills. However, I could really use a beer.
So here's my first week of admin experience:
Monday: I had a really hard time sleeping Sunday night, which is typically the case when I'm starting something new. I arrived work freshly ironed and made up, but feeling quite lost. I really didn't have an office, and I had no idea what I was going to do. First thing, I sat through two admin conferences. Unfortunately, my new adventure ended early because another teacher needed my sub so he could pick up his vomiting daughter from daycare. Back to the class room I went.
Tuesday: I spent the full day in the office. I handled a few suspensions (mostly for cell phones...ugh), but spent most of the day talking to kids about attendance and behavior. It was a rather uneventful day, and actually I don't remember a lot of it.
Wednesay: I was back in my room because my students had To Kill a Mockinbird presentations. The only bad thing about being out of my class this week is that it was the end of the quarter. This means that all my students' projects and tests, etc had to be graded this week. Big ugh. My principal asked me to TIC on Wednesday, but I needed to be in my room to make sure my kids were on track. This was a challenging day.
Thursday: This day started weird and just continued. I cannot go into a whole lot of details, as these are sensitive issues pertaining to students, but I will say that these topics were covered by my day: condoms, handcuffs, counterfeit money, and public urination. Sigh. Needless to say, I ate my lunch at 3:45.
Friday: Today was my last day for the foreseeable future in the office, and it was a busy one. This week was Homecoming, so we had a minimum day and a parade outside our school. It was a fast-paced day, but things went really smoothly. And (big deal pause here), I figured out how to use the walkie-talkie finally.
So next week I'm back in my room. This is comforting, but I am looking forward to my next office adventure. I enjoyed the change of pace and new skills. However, I could really use a beer.
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