Thursday, August 10, 2023
This is definitely not a teacher blog, but teaching is such a big part of my life that it gets talked about quite frequently here. So, yesterday was our first day of school.
photo of me as a beginning teacher
How is it that it is my 30th year? I am only 51! I guess there are advantages to starting your big girl job so young. I was 22 when I started and will turn 52 in November. I am starting to have lots of people shocked that I haven’t retired and asking me when I will retire. I really don’t know! I swear!
I don’t love the first day for the reason that I do too much talking. I love to get the first day out of the way so we can start my real teaching style which is that they do a lot of talking.
So much has changed since my first year – the 1994-1995 school year. We didn’t even have the internet yet in my school. I think it was two or three years later when our business department was like, “Hey ya’ll – look at this here thing called internet”. Some of my besties were in the business department at my first school and they loved showing us this new “tool”!
Also, the kids had “smoking passes”. If their parents signed a form, they could whip out a pass and go smoke between classes. I also remember the students telling me they could tell which teachers smoked by how they held their chalk – bahaha! I was never a smoker, by the way.
Here is a new trend I am noticing and I do not like it. So, we had 8 rotations with different information led by the admin team, counselors, and a few support staff like the “goal clarity” coach (I use quotes because what does that even mean?), the building assessment coordinator (yup, we have a position just for all the testing we are mandated to do), and a few other people. In all 8 of the sessions we were told to just text these people if we needed things because email would not be checked or would get lost. Say what? In one of the sessions, we were asked to put our personal cell phone number on a sheet. Last year I had non-emergency texts while I was teaching sent by one of these people. I do not want to give out my personal cell to anyone else. I just don’t. Sorry. I have also had a principal call me at 8:30 p.m. on my cell about a non-emergency thing. He is no longer at my school, but come on!
As my long-time readers know, I have worked really hard to have a work/life balance. Maybe this makes me that old, curmudgeonly teacher!
Promises/Goals for Myself:
-People before paper. If a student or fellow teacher comes in, they are more important than the task I was working on.
-Take care of my feet – comfy shoes!
-Leave work at work. I would rather come in early or stay late and keep my work/homelife separate.
-Do not check emails after hours unless I am expecting something or have something I need to look for specifically. Do not watch the principal’s memo on Sunday mornings at 9 a.m. Why? The information will still be there Monday morning.
-Walk and read after school (try to wait on tv until after my evening shower) and do not plan too much during the week. This will be even more important as I will get home an hour or more later. My new end time is 3:20 where it used to be 2:20 and I no longer have last period as my planning. Last year I was able to wrap things up and be ready to go very close to that time!
-Make plans with friends – but maybe only a couple times a month if it’s during the week or think outside the box like a weekend morning.
-Work smarter – Use grocery pickup and order things instead of wasting precious time and energy running around.
-Guard my exposure to negative content, news, people, etc.
You can also check out my Self-Care Syllabus here and I recommend that everyone have one – parents and teachers alike!
I hope that all of you have a wonderful school year – teachers, parents, wives, husbands, grandparents. I pray that our schools are safe places to foster the love of learning. I hope that all kids feel loved and special.
So, I wrote this before our news last Thursday morning – our school district cancelled for four days (so far) to get the bus situation fixed. Teachers had to work two of those days which is actually good so that we don’t have too many added to the end of the school year – we hope.
Amy
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Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa 
I always love reading posts like this! In a way, it’ll be so good that you’ll have almost a full week at work and are still easing into things with your students. And you mentioned those two days, maybe that will reduce your time spent there after school has let out for summer break. Things have a way of working themselves out, right? I love that you keep work and home separate. I think that’s very smart, and I wouldn’t want to give out my # either. Thanks to the person who left, I would have trust issues with doing that as well! I hope you have a good work day, my friend!
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Thank you! Maybe? I am also wondering what the lesson is for me in this strange start. I miss the energy of the kids and really don’t like the teacher days. They are full of admin stuff and meetings and I am not getting to “do my thing”. Boundaries are important in many areas of life and I just think the US has a lot to learn from other countries about lifestyle and not putting work first.
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Congratulations on your 30th year! Some people are really called to teach and I believe you are! You have the heart of an educator and your students are blessed to have you.
xo,
Kellyann
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Thank you! You are kind to say that. I don’t think I can forget this year since it’s started out so oddly.
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Wishing you another wonderful school year! Love your goals- they all make so much sense- I know easier said than done but you will crush them! Hope this week looks a little more normal for you.
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Year 30! That’s amazing! I will be in the same boat. I started when I was 22 too. Smoking passes lol! It is wild to think how much the internet is a part of our educational practices…and we couldn’t have done a year at home online without it. It’s inexcusable to me that people won’t answer an email. I leave emails flagged “unread” until I can respond. You shouldn’t have to give out your phone number to just anyone. We have a BAC too…which I understand but what is a goal clarity coach? Is this a paid position?? I hope you have the best year. Your students are lucky to have you!
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That’s great, thank you! Yeah, I remember when I taught writing proficiency at a science university in 1993 and the students wondered of they could e-mail the assignments… I was like ”e-mail???”… haha!
Don’t give out your cell number! Be brave and just refuse, it’s not ok!
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Happy 30th year! I started right out of college, too and I’m not sure I’ll be ready to retire after 30 years. It’s crazy how much has changed over your career, some is so good and some isn’t my favorite either. I hope your year gets started in a routine soon! I agree that the kids and their energy make it so much better. Your goals are so good! I have been working on that work/home balance and it is tricky!
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30 years is quite an accomplishment! I hope this year treats you well and best of luck on your goals.
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Congratulations on 30 years as a teacher!! 👏👏👏
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Congrats on 30 years in teaching! That is true dedication! I agree that texting on a personal number is just not needed. Email should work for everything except an absolute emergency!
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Praying your schools get this bussing mess sorted out soon.
I like the people-over-paper. I think it’s really important to be able to drop what you’re doing to interact with others and off assistance. We’ve spent way too much of the last few years isolating ourselves. (and yeah, sometimes this means working at home instead 😉
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You look so great! I love this picture! Happy 30th Year of Teaching! I like your list! I do NOT miss the after-hours emails I used to get. I should have been way more insistent on setting some boundaries there! Hope you have a great year!
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Congratulations on 30 years! That is an amazing accomplishment! My principal was really good about not contacting us after hours. I can’t imagine receiving texts at those times. I would always, always expect it to be bad news! And, to say they won’t use email. Must be they receive too many bad emails from other sources!
Your list is a good idea. My first teaching job was right across the street, and I spent way too much time there. After I was RIFd the first year, I started teaching 20 minutes away so I knew I needed to finish things there because I wouldn’t be going back until the next day.
I hope your year, once it gets fully started, is a wonderful one!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
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