I should also explain that my Principal actually gave me and a couple of my colleagues paid planning time. This means that I'm starting the year a solid 12 hours ahead of everyone else. I'm MUCH less stressed now than I would otherwise be.
Monday Evening
9:30- Go to bed early, as tomorrow really is the first day of school.
10:40 - Look at the clock and begin to worry that I may never sleep.
11:39 - Wake up to excruciating tooth pain. Apparently I am more stressed than I thought, for I had been clenching my jaw to such a degree that the entire right side of my jaw was throbbing.
Tuesday Morning
5:30 - Roll out of bed, hop in shower & stand there for a long time wishing today hadn't come.
6:00 - Get my little one dressed, combed, fed, & sufficiently cuddled for the day.
6:25 - Leave for work. Become annoyed at the lack of anything intelligent or worthwhile on the radio. Flip to NPR, become depressed about civil war in Syria.
6:50 - Finally acknowledge that the day is here, that I'm really going to work, and for the next 9 months, I'm only gonna see my little girl for 1 & 1/2, maybe 2 hours in the evenings on weekdays.
6:51 - Commence annual weeping due to the acknowledgement that I miss my baby girl.
7:10 - Flip the lights on in my classroom.
7:30 - 9:30 - Staff meeting where we are promptly re-introduced to the "no acknowledgement of biological functions" mindset, as the 2 hour meeting had coffee & bagels, but no breaks for those of us who may have consumed too much fruit the night before.
9:30-10:35 - Set up computer, rearrange desks, clean shit.
10:35-10:45 - Chat with Edith.
10:45-11:15 - Continue cleaning shit and organizing papers.
11:20 - Become concerned that my flash drive hasn't materialized yet.
11:22 - Lip sync to "Benny & the Jets."
11:26 - File folder paper cut.
11:27 - Walk to the office to check mail, get band-aids.
11:40 - Settle in to deal with e-mail, as my computer has finally started up.
11:42 - Feel sad that my "I try my best" ribbon was damaged by the tech guys when they did whatever it is they do in the summer with our computers.
11:50 - Watch common core video. Wonder what the hell a "think tank" is and how I might get one.
11:55 - Microwave a burrito to eat whilst I watch riveting video which tells me things I already know.
12:15- Throw a grape at the garbage can. Miss.
12:20 - Walk away from computer and e-mail tasks for the moment in annoyance that fellow English teachers don't read the e-mails I've just sent.
12:21 - Back to filing and cleaning shit. Spend some time cursing GN, the student who smeared gum all over my stool, while I scrape both gum and the wood to which it is attached from my stool.
12:35 - Read a newly purchased book on writing instruction.
12:40-12:50 - Chat with Kathy as we get our things ready for our meeting.
1:00-2:30 - "Existential" conversation with college professors regarding writing instruction. Good idea in theory, I guess. I did draw an interesting shark on my notebook, however.
2:35 - Stand in my room and become overwhelmed at all the shit that still needs done.
2:36 - Read over my "to do" list.
2:38 - Decide to continue organizing my room, as I still can't find my flash drive.
2:29 - Decide that if my flash drive is lost, I may as well just quit. Continue filing shit.
3:00 - Sit down and prioritize tasks for tomorrow. Sigh with the acknowledgement that there's already too much on that list.
3:12 - Throw another grape at the garbage can. Miss.
4:30 - Home & cooking dinner. Decide that raw chicken is the most disgusting thing to touch. Like, worse than hagfish. Cook it anyway.
4:45 -7:00 Family time.
7:00-9:30 - A mixture of work (I had to scan a bunch of documents, but it ended up taking forever, finally got back to those e-mails which had annoyed me this afternoon, and various other little tasks), a little socializing, and some blog time.
10:00 - Try to get to sleep.
Your "I try my best" ribbon was damaged???!! Effing tech guys!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about chicken, though I have no clue what hagfish is and don't really want to.
I know, right? I have a laundry list of complaints about tech this year, but I figure they're probably as overwhelmed as I am.
ReplyDeleteAnd, the hagfish fends off predators, even sharks, by exuding a thick, noxious slime. It's a super successful fish because it very effectively grosses everything else out to such a degree that it can do whatever it wants. Nothing will touch it. Except humans, of course--humans will eat them.