kateann6:

strangenewclassrooms:

writteninthekitchensink:

On my very first day of student teaching, my cooperating teacher gave me three pieces of advice: arrive early, don’t leave as soon as you’re contractually allowed to go, and leave with something in your hand every single day, even if you know you’re not going to do…

It’s interesting that this is the advice the OP’s CT gave them. Mine gave me the exact opposite advice. Granted, my natural MO is already to get there an hour early and stay several hours late so I didn’t necessarily need that ingrained in me. He’d yell at me to go home, to take a lunch break. He’d tell me that “the quizzes will still be there in the morning” that “all work and no play make you a very cranky teacher.” I think we all have a tendency to feel guilty for putting off work (since it’s all about our students and goodness knows we love ‘em) but really, if we’re not taking time to care for ourselves, what message is that sending our kids? They need to learn to put themselves first—in a constructive way—that the best thing they can do to take care of the people they love is to take care of themselves. This is still something I struggle with. 

My experience is similar to Strangenewclassroom’s. I naturally like to show up to work an hour early (I feel I do my best work in the morning) and during my student teaching and the first semester of this year I stayed at work until 5ish. My mentor teacher last year would yell at me and tell me to go home or to sleep in, but I had trouble with and I still do. 

I was lucky enough to get hired at the school I student taught at and I now teach in the classroom next to my former mentor teacher. He still comes into my room on Fridays and tells me to go home. One day he even packed my bag for me and walked me to my car and waited until I left because he knew if I didn’t I would have stayed until all of my grading was done. 

I’ve been getting better about going home at a reasonable time, but it’s still something I struggle with. I feel guilty when I leave early, especially right after the kids leave. I do it occassionally, if I have an appointment, but generally I stay. After first semester I was really tired. Even during third quarter I was physically and emotionally drained. So I have started going home early and not taking as much work home with me. 

My students have noticed. It’s taking them longer to get papers back, but I’m honestly happier (though some of them are not). A few students even came in the day after a test and asked if I’d graded them all. I explained that I hadn’t had time left, and he looked disgusted. He told me that I should have taken them home, because it’s my job to do so. Normally, I feel that my job doesn’t end at 3:30 or 4, but I explained to him that if I took home grading every night that I would never be able to leave work. That I would become cranky and upset and that it wouldn’t be good for him or the other students. He just shrugged at me. I don’t know if he understands, but I hope he does some day. 

I love my job. I don’t want to get burnt out. So, some days I force myself to go home at 3:30 and to leave my work at school, and honestly I think I’m happier because of it.