Teaching these kids is really dragging me down. Part of it is the stress of working at two schools. I have to be so organized, know exactly what to pack in the bag for each kid, be prepared for anything- but I'm just not like that. I'm not an insanely organized person. Each school has a different culture, too, and I find myself still very lost sometimes about when to wear red, when to dress in a goofy costume, or when is a shortened day, or when my class is at a different time at one school. Some books are okay to read at one school and not at the other. I wish I had a million dollar gift card to a wonderful independent book store, and then I could just buy all the books I need. As it is, I borrow them from a million different sources, because I'm a reading teacher with no classroom full of books. Of course, when they asked in the interview why they should hire me, I said, "Because I'm incredibly flexible." I don't know if that was a lie or if being flexible is something different from being two different people. It makes my mind disorganized and confused. It's stressful.
We have two days of school this week and then Christmas vacation. Some of my coworkers have taken off for the two days, and they're just taking this whole week off. One of them even emailed everyone to have a happy holiday. This email was sort of like a,"See ya, Suckers!" Half of me admires such brazenness.
The other half of me wishes I were her.
Speaking of empathy, I find myself empathizing with teachers at my school who are in your position--who work at two schools--or three--
ReplyDeletePeople always forget they aren't there full time and forget to tell them things, schedules change, and as you mentioned, schools vary wildly in terms of school climate and what is expected/appropriate.
In my experience, people usually expect you to do a full time job when you're working part-time--which is particularly tough when you are working two part-time jobs.
Hope one of these works into a full time job!
My sister is a health teacher who was moved from the high school to elementary school so she has to travel to 4 different schools and teach first through fifth grade on any given day. Between what she tells me and what you have written, I'm terribly empathetic. I don't think I'd have the patience, let alone the organizational skills for the job, and those who would be hurt the most by this would be the kids who are supposed to be learning something from me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments! I already feel a little bit better about it.
ReplyDeleteThe different expectations are the worst.
People in schools get to take hols during term time? Cor, that's progressive.
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