A Day in the Life

So week one of the blogging initiative and I'm already behind (see my last post!).

4:30 am  The alarm goes off. I crankily roll over as I fall back to sleep to the sound of my saint of a husband piling on clothes to take the dog on a 25 degree walk. If he wasn't also a teacher I am pretty sure I'd be late to work every day. 

4:40 am Okay, okay....I get it, I have to get up. And shower. And decide what to wear. And think momentarily about putting on makeup before I say "nahhhhhh" and run out the door. It is the first day of classes....don't want to set the bar too high for the rest of the semester without makeup.

5:15 am Out the door dressed like as eskimo, scrape the car, and be thankful I'm not in my hometown buried under snow right now. I'll take 28 degrees at this point. 

5:35 am  Arrive at work and my competitive side is a LITTLE sad I'm not the first car in the lot. God bless the English teacher who, despite having 2 kids, beats my kid-less self to work every day. 

5:38 am  Quality time with the copier

5:51 am Track down a janitor to remind them that I still don't have enough chairs for my first period that starts in just over an hour. Try to hide my minor panic attack that my seating isn't done and ready yet.  

6:15 am Finally set up the 5 new seats that arrive in my classroom. Basically playing Tetris to fit 5 more 16 year olds into the room comfortably....a nice mathematical challenge for the morning.

7:15 am Homeroom starts. I see these kids maybe 5 days per year total. This will be the longest 10 minutes of my day....trying to keep calm 27 sophomore with whom I have no relationship other than I hand out their schedules and try to keep them quiet enough to hear the announcements a few days per quarter. Try to play off the fact that I've forgotten everyone's name since October, the last time we had homeroom. 

7:30 am - 10:35 am Pre-calc time!  I always start the first day with a fun game ( in this case, Math III Taboo - adapted from Pre-Calculus Taboo) to  pre-assess and get the kids talking and then I give them a sheet of skills they're expected to know from previous courses and give them some time to work collaboratively on them. I spend some time calming the panicking kids who haven't had math in over a year because of block scheduling. 

10:40 am - 12:40 pm AP Calculus Time. I gave back midterms and gave kids time to correct them, identifying and explaining their mistakes. Was going to jump into a new topic today, but first day back from a 5 day weekend and jumping into  a new topic without addressing their mistakes seemed crazy. Take an awkward 25 minute lunch break 30 minutes into class because of our strange 4 lunch schedule. 

12:40- 2:15 pm Planning! I've never had 4th period planning before and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. It's a good opportunity to reflect on the day and make tweaks, but also to get ready for tomorrow. It also includes all the chores of the day....check mailbox, file papers, walk to office to pick up package with turns out to be the greatest thing a parent could ever drop off...a bulk store's biggest pack of Kleenex! 

Got copies ready for tomorrow, sent lesson plans for Friday and Monday to have them brailled, nursed my Diet Coke to help try to stay focused, set up my new Canvas courses for the semester, sent some parent emails, etc. 

I think it also goes without saying that I refresh the weather report about 35 times during this person too, as some reports are saying we'll get a dusting and some are saying we're going to get 15 inches. 

2:15 pm The last bell rings. New people are starting their afternoon duties and I somehow didn't get parking lot duty. Needless to say, I'm feeling like...

2:40 pm The time I mean to leave school to let me poor puppy out after being home alone since 5:15 am. 

3:10 pm The time I actually manage to sneak out the door. 

3:30 pm Arrive home, long dog walk as an excuse to play in the flurries we are getting right now, settle in for some serious lesson planning to make sure I have time later to relax a little. 

7:00 pm  Realize I've been snacking for 5 hours and actually eat dinner, torture my husband through an episode of Vanderpump Rules, and get ready for bed.

8:45 pm In bed. I realize this is embarrassing, but it's #teacherlife. Alarm is set for 4:30 am...it's coming fast.