Full Time Classroom Teachers who are moms-- how do you do it?
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Anonymous
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OP -
You need to figure out ways to streamline your work at school so that you aren't bringing work home, certainly not on a daily basis. How you accomplish this will depend upon what you are teaching, the requirements of your specific school and district, and how much help you have at work or are allowed to find on your own. If you find yourself frequently cutting, glueing, laminating materials -- see if you can purchase them ready made; or get kids to prepare them under your direction, or have parent volunteers do it; or just do without if you can. Streamline and simplify. Redesign teacher-made tests so they are easier to grade and score. Spot check homework or have kids spot check a partners. Figure out a way to do this anonymously if need be. If you find you are staying late cleaning up the classroom, try to train your students to do as much of this as possible. I have heard of some elementary school teachers hiring a neighborhood teenager to correct tests and worksheets, using an answer key. Check out these books for more ideas (both best for elementary school level teaching): http://www.amazon.com/Organized-Teacher-Hands-Terrific-Classroom/dp/0071457070 http://www.amazon.com/Classroom-Teachers-Survival-Guide-Reproducibles/dp/0470453648 Making generic sub plans over the summer is a great idea. I will say though that my own kids HATE HATE HATE days when their teacher is absent, because all the do is worksheets all day long. Finally, I have found that schools that switch to a departmentalized elementary school (each teacher specializing in one subject and switching students) puts a lot less stress on the teaching staff in terms of planning. You might think about switching to a school that has this model. |
Anonymous
| OP, I would heed the time management advice for sure. But when you work in younger grades, there is an emotional drain that for me, was just too much. I had too much invested, emotionally, in my students so that when I got home, I was emotionally spent and had nothing but the dregs to give my own kids. I just could not keep that emotional distance I needed. I switched to an higher grade and now I'm much better. Also, young children need a lot of care-taking that older children don't need (boo-boos, stuck zippers, lost mittens, shoe-tying, an urgent need to unbutton pants for bathroom, etc) and while this is part of the reward (to me) of working with younger children, it is also much more exhausting, physically and emotionally and its more difficult in terms of time management as unpredictable things happen more frequently. |
Anonymous
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OP, I hear you. I used to teach 1st grade in DCPS school and I did not have kids and I left school every day thinking there is NO way I can do this with my own children. I had nothing left to give when I got home. My husband was frustrated with me because I was so drained. I eventually changed jobs (still in ed field) and it got better. I had more energy and was able to feel like a normal person after work. Then, I totally left education and have a job that is corporate that most would consider stressful. To me, it is cake. I have time to cook, clean, hang out with my family and feel normal when work is over.
When PPs say that teaching is easy, it can be, if you work in high income areas, or you are a lazy teacher. If you are lazy, you can make teaching the easiest job on earth. My friends who taught in Fairfax and Montgomery were so much happier than my DCPS pals. And my lazy DCPS colleagues who basically taught using dittos from the 70s, were the happiest people on earth. (which I am NOT advocating). Good luck, time management is the only way you are going to get some relief. |
Anonymous
When I was in elementary school, the students graded each others' papers for some subjects. |
Anonymous
Who died and made you Queen, bitch? What do you do all summer and during other school breaks? |
Anonymous
Please go back under your bridge and wait for another goat. Thank you. |
Anonymous
Boring and lame. |
Anonymous
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Full-time elementary teacher with a 2 year old and a 1 year old at home.
For those posters who don't see why this is extra challenging, I invite you to a day in my life. Being in charge of 30 kids all day and then my own 2 in the evenings is overwhelming. I chose it, I'm not complaining, but to not understand why it's different to teach 30 kids all day and then come home to your own as opposed to working around adults all day and then coming home to your own kids is just ignorant. Okay, enough of that. A couple of strategies that work for me. #1 -- I teach an older elementary grade. With such young kiddos at home that demand such a nurturing approach, I just don't have it in me to teach a younger grade and give them the mommy-type nurturing they need all day. #2 -- I am to get a "B" at work. Seriously. My personality used to be that I had to be the best at work, always demanding more and more of myself. I've let go of a lot of that. I give my students a high quality education every day. I am prepared. No one is suffering. But, I'm okay if I just do a "good" job instead of an "outstanding" job. This has been huge for me and allowed me to save some of myself for my own kids at night. #3 -- I take no work home. If it doesn't get done that night, it can wait until the next day. As long as I'm planned enough to make it through the next day, I go home on time. #4 -- I found a daycare that I absolutely love. This is a huge component. I feel no guilt because my kiddos are in such good hands all day. It's funny. I chose this career path thinking it would be great to do when I had a family. Scheduling wise, that is totally true. But I did not think ahead much about the physical and mental demands of doing both. Good luck! |
Anonymous
I feel like I could have written this! I haven't gone back to work yet, but a friend of mine (also a teacher) is about to in the fall, and we were recently talking about how things are going to be different and how she's going to manage the daily grind on top of the teaching day. I think one of the toughest things for me as a teacher was the early start time- but I taught HS. I was out the door no later than 6 every morning. If I had to get kids ready to leave at that hour, that would be very challening, even though I got to leave at 3 PM. This may not be incredibly relevant, but my last year teaching HS before DS was born, I was studying for my PhD comprehensive exams and I gave myself a no-grading-papers-at-home policy in order to save my home time for studying. People in my department said it was impossible, good luck, etc. etc., but on a block schedule, I had a 100-minute planning period daily, and sometimes that planning period included my 30 minute lunch. In that time I could always get grading done because I was on a mission (in your case, your mission would be to get home to your children schoolwork-free). I also tailored what I assigned to that goal-- I wasn't going to give the students things that were difficult for me to grade, and when I did give long unit exams, I made an answer sheet for them to fill in so that their answers were streamlined and easy to look at. I think there are ways to get the most out of your time in the building, and that's how you'll feel the least restricted at home with your kids. |
Anonymous
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For those posters who don't see why this is extra challenging, I invite you to a day in my life. Being in charge of 30 kids all day and then my own 2 in the evenings is overwhelming. I chose it, I'm not complaining, but to not understand why it's different to teach 30 kids all day and then come home to your own as opposed to working around adults all day and then coming home to your own kids is just ignorant.
For the posters that say "well you chose this job now suck it up" I have to say How can a teen or young 20 year old know what it's like to do what OP is talking about (see above). You can only know in theory. It is not possible to understand the reality of it. Just like people with no children have no idea what it's like to be on the other side of the fence. (No disrespect intended to those struggling with infertility!) |
Anonymous
This is really amazing! I am a teacher and I appreciate the OP's concern. It is an incredible balance between work and home. Try to get your spouse to give you an hour or so. I find that waking up early in the morning and just reading the paper is a wonderful thing - just some quiet, alone time. To the poster quoted here, I agree with you it is not that hard to be a teacher, if you just are a bad teacher However, it is really that hard if you are a GREAT teacher. It requires you to address 25-30 students at one time, and you never get to rest during the school day. Every teacher needs some down time and the summer is rightfully earned. In fact, I used to work in another high-stress position, and teaching, when done well, is even harder. Those that are not good teachers should leave the profession, it benefits society. |
Anonymous
I used to teach too, and I totally disagree. I have so much more flexibility now - when I felt like crap when I was pregnant, I could just put my head down or stay home. Now when DS gets sick, I can work from home or take leave. As long as I can meet my deadlines, no one bothers me. I don't have to worry about sub plans if something unexpected happens. The hours might be reasonable, but teachers (esp secondary) take a lot of work home. I would love summers off, but I do make a lot more money now, so I don't think I can complain. Kudos to anyone on their feet all day who has to be 'on' every day. With that said, I didn't mind teaching at all, I just didn't think I would be happy doing it for 30 years, so I got out early. |
Anonymous
| I agree with all the comment minus the rude remarks that were not needed. Teaching is very trying and emotional. I have older children in h.s./middle school and I am a FT jr high science teacher. I can't breathe with my work load, kids, family time, sports, mom taxi, laundry, groceries, etc..I do work through my lunch and plan and still manage to have an abundance of stuff to do. I am not on any extra committees b/c I don't have a minute extra. ANY advice is greatly appreciated because I'm so overwhelmed that I've considered leaving the profession. This is my true passion but I am giving up something while trying to perform in other areas- like eating dinner out a lot and not spending as much time w/my own kids |
Anonymous
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I realize this is old, but yes I am overwhelmed too. To anyone who thinks teaching is easy--come shadow me for a week, but you have to come to work with me all day, then you can leave until 8:30 or 9:00 and come back for another 2-3 hours. And this is first grade! After I finish typing this, I have to make a SMARTBoard lesson for the reading lesson for tomorrow (yes, I am VERY behind). And I have to because we are expected to have SB lessons for every lesson and I am responsible for creating the reading ones for my grade level so 7 others are counting on it. Write my reading groups lesson plans (5 pages) to be turned in by 4:00 tomorrow. 5 pages not by choice, by format required. We dismiss at 2:10. I will stay til 4 tomorrow (on a FRIDAY, when every other profession blows off early) to make sure I have all materials assembled for next week. This is how it goes after kiddos go to bed:
Sundays: pull SB lessons out of dropbox, link to agenda, e-mail newsletter to parents, update classroom webpage Mondays: grade papers (first grade, so not too much here). If I maybe had a classroom guidance lesson that week and got ahead, maybe try to write some positive notes home or get ahead on SB lessons Tuesdays: finish grading if needed and stuff Wed. take home folders Wednesdays: write reading lesson plans for next week (I am responsible for reading lessons for my 8 person grade level team), compile the rest of the teams' plans to look pretty in Word to turn in Thursdays: create reading SB lessons for next week, reading group lesson plans Fridays and Saturdays, yes Fri and Sat nights: finish SB lessons My house is a wreck and my husband says he only has a wife during the summer! I do not get a lunch break. I have to eat with and supervise my students. I do get 40 min. planning most days but if I don't have a meeting or parent conference, I set up my math centers which is after planning. On Mondays, my grade level meets until 4. On most Wednesdays I have faculty meetings or mandatory committee meetings until 4 or if it is an Early Release Day for the students I have to stay until 3:30. One a month ERDs are supposed to be for teacher planning and the other for Staff Dev. We are usually required to meet with our mandatory committees for an hour on the planning days, plus other busy work tasks, so there goes that time! We are all drowning and the older teachers on my team tell me that they don't know how I do it with small children at home because it wasn't this demanding when their adult children were little. OK--off to do work! |
Anonymous
| Forgot to say, if you choose not to shadow me, you can shadow the lady down the hall who gets to school at 5 a.m. every day, leaves sometime between 4 and 6, does more at home, and is at the school every Sat. and Sun. |