Saturday, September 17, 2011

Planning time? WHAT planning time??

Can someone PLEASE explain to me how in the world teachers are supposed to plan so much stuff  WITHOUT ADEQUATE PLANNING TIME???? I guess I’ll never really understand this part of the job. The little planning time that we do get is such a precious commodity that you eventually come to protect it against interruption with the threat of death or completely intentional dismemberment… DO not mess with a teacher’s planning time.
As it stands now, I get three half-hour planning times per week. It never ceases to amaze me just how quickly that time goes by. Seems like as soon as I sit down at my computer (I have three in my room now, YAY!!!), pull up my Lesson Planning template and begin filling in just one block for one subject in a day, it’s already over and it’s time for me to get back to my schedule with the kids. Which means, pretty much, that my actual planning time ends up taking place at home when I’m supposed to be off work and spending time with my family. Which also means that my supposed 8-hour a day job has now transformed into a consistent 10 or 11-hour day  easily. No wonder I’m so freakin’ tired every night. Slowly but surely, I’m learning the lot of a teacher. This job entails some serious self-sacrifice, for real.
I’m getting better, though. I’ve learned to set up general files for the crapload of papers that comes your way every week – emails, memos, reminders, schedules, revised schedules, master calendars, changes to the master calendars, etc. Until I set up several folders to help me organize this stuff, my desk was literally crawling with stuff. Papers everywhere. Looking for a pen? White out? Masking tape? Yeah, sure… I’ve got it! Somewhere up under all that paper on my desk! Three weeks in and it’s finally starting to look like a neatly organized desk of a teacher. I’m getting’ there!  

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