Late night ramblings of an exhausted teacher.
So far, I feel as if 2017 has been my hardest year teaching. With the stress of reapplying for my job, packing up everything only to be told that we can't occupy the new school building they've had since January, packing up 2 schools whose prior teaching staff was (for the most part) not hired back. Taking said boxes and cramming them back into the building we were told to move out of. Waiting for any word of holiday breaks being taken over by relocating plans. And all that was before school started nearly 2 weeks late!
Then, because we are considered a new school, all the paperwork that isn't compliant must be rewritten. All. Of. It. Sometimes some reports can just be reworded and other times it has to be completely restarted from scratch. And that means testing kids. Testing them in an environment where they will not be distracted so they can do their best work. This means being outside of my classroom. A. Lot. This also means that my kiddos in the room need to be working on something. And whose job is it to plan that? Yup, mine. I do have to say that I've got a fantastic teaching assistant who will do whatever I ask. It's just a different co-teaching dynamic that I'm not yet used to.
During this time known as SpedCrunch, I find myself running out of steam, brainpower and patience with myself. I've stayed at work extra hours, worked nights, weekends, and even tried writing on my drive into work this morning. (Michelle drove this morning while I passengered). There have been so many times when me and my housework has been neglected in order to spend more of my waking time writing. What really gets me is knowing that many of the reports I've written in the past week will never be read, feeling like I'm being pulled in so many directions by never ending to do lists. When it's all over, I likely won't have to write another report the rest of the year and this is the dim light at the end of this congested and stinky tunnel. I'll have a chance to do the people side of my job. When all is said and done, I'll have written or contributed to the writing of over 300 pages of
reports, summaries, scores, needs and goals.
And I do it all for my kiddos.
So far, I feel as if 2017 has been my hardest year teaching. With the stress of reapplying for my job, packing up everything only to be told that we can't occupy the new school building they've had since January, packing up 2 schools whose prior teaching staff was (for the most part) not hired back. Taking said boxes and cramming them back into the building we were told to move out of. Waiting for any word of holiday breaks being taken over by relocating plans. And all that was before school started nearly 2 weeks late!
Then, because we are considered a new school, all the paperwork that isn't compliant must be rewritten. All. Of. It. Sometimes some reports can just be reworded and other times it has to be completely restarted from scratch. And that means testing kids. Testing them in an environment where they will not be distracted so they can do their best work. This means being outside of my classroom. A. Lot. This also means that my kiddos in the room need to be working on something. And whose job is it to plan that? Yup, mine. I do have to say that I've got a fantastic teaching assistant who will do whatever I ask. It's just a different co-teaching dynamic that I'm not yet used to.
During this time known as SpedCrunch, I find myself running out of steam, brainpower and patience with myself. I've stayed at work extra hours, worked nights, weekends, and even tried writing on my drive into work this morning. (Michelle drove this morning while I passengered). There have been so many times when me and my housework has been neglected in order to spend more of my waking time writing. What really gets me is knowing that many of the reports I've written in the past week will never be read, feeling like I'm being pulled in so many directions by never ending to do lists. When it's all over, I likely won't have to write another report the rest of the year and this is the dim light at the end of this congested and stinky tunnel. I'll have a chance to do the people side of my job. When all is said and done, I'll have written or contributed to the writing of over 300 pages of
reports, summaries, scores, needs and goals.
And I do it all for my kiddos.
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