Arrrgh!!! What have i forgotten???
I keep thinking that i have forgotten something very important. I have now decided that i will go for a run at 11 and then head for school with the boys. Ah yes - when people say teacher have so many holidays. I will say, yes they do. BUT i will also say that of all the jobs i have done, this one has been the MOST exhausting thus far. Unless you have a classroom of docile children, and let us face it, which of us do, then, as a teacher you have to be at the top of your game for about 7 hours at a go - not only trying to keep everyone interested, but also working to the individual's abilities, trying to show children that everyone is equally able at something, and then trying to get something across. In a way which engages the children. Then there is not taking anything personally. By the time 3 pm arrives, i am a shell of a human being and i need to recover. I also need to prep for tomorrow and then it starts all over again.
At least in our school we have a wide variety of things that the children do. From cooking, to craft to playing to the head work... sometimes i understand why there are tests because this can motivate some children and also motivate some parents to get the learning done.
To holidays, the first half, are usually used for recharging. The second half, any teacher worth their salt would be preparing because if you are not prepared, you might as well not show up for work. Preparation takes about two hours every night. If we are preparing for a Main Lesson block, that will take longer - about half a day - that is assuming if you have done all your reading over the summer. So for the summer, when people are lying on the beach reading their Maeve Binchey, which to be honest i cannot read anyway because life is too short, i am reading the Norse myths, or the entire catalogue of Grimms fairytales. or movement exercises.... and i am thinking of each and every child and how i can work with them - will this be good for them? etc... as a Class Teacher, the early years are taken up with engaging the children using movement. This means lots and lots of work, thinking up learning objectives, and then thinking of how to translate that into movement. It is NOT easy AT ALL.
Anyway... what HAVE i forgotten???
I really think i have something which needs to be done which has been not done!! It is very frustrating...and annoying. Right, time for a run now. 20 minutes of engaging the brain using the body.
At least in our school we have a wide variety of things that the children do. From cooking, to craft to playing to the head work... sometimes i understand why there are tests because this can motivate some children and also motivate some parents to get the learning done.
To holidays, the first half, are usually used for recharging. The second half, any teacher worth their salt would be preparing because if you are not prepared, you might as well not show up for work. Preparation takes about two hours every night. If we are preparing for a Main Lesson block, that will take longer - about half a day - that is assuming if you have done all your reading over the summer. So for the summer, when people are lying on the beach reading their Maeve Binchey, which to be honest i cannot read anyway because life is too short, i am reading the Norse myths, or the entire catalogue of Grimms fairytales. or movement exercises.... and i am thinking of each and every child and how i can work with them - will this be good for them? etc... as a Class Teacher, the early years are taken up with engaging the children using movement. This means lots and lots of work, thinking up learning objectives, and then thinking of how to translate that into movement. It is NOT easy AT ALL.
Anyway... what HAVE i forgotten???
I really think i have something which needs to be done which has been not done!! It is very frustrating...and annoying. Right, time for a run now. 20 minutes of engaging the brain using the body.
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