Sunday, December 9, 2007

Daily Life

Sometimes I think I do a pretty poor job of giving you an idea of what life here is really like. Although we do have lots of fun and some crazy adventures, it's not all fun and games. At the end of the day I'm still just trying to make it through my first year of teaching. Most of my life is consumed with teaching... lesson plans and grading. During the week I work hard and am pretty tired. On a typical day I wake up around 4:45 am to get ready for the day. I'm usually headed for school around 6:00 am or 6:15 am to do some last minute things for the day ahead. We have staff devotions at 7:15 am and school starts at 7:45 am. I don't teach 1st or 3rd period. I do teach 2nd, then teach 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th straight. Then 8th period I have another prep period to get ready for the next day or do some grading. I usually stay after school working until 5:00 pm or 5:30 pm. Plus often times I bring home grading and work into the evening. I also usually end up spending most of Saturday on lesson plans for the next week and grading from the week before. I have found that for the most part I am enjoying teaching but it is challenging and draining. Some days go well and I get a lot done, while others I feel like I'm failing as a teacher and drowning in the work load. I do love my students and feel I've been given a gift in teaching here at BAIS. Despite that, as the quarter wraps up and semester exams are right around the corner things are looking pretty busy. I'm looking forward to the coming Christmas break and spending some time in the States with my family.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Emily,
Welcome to the world of teaching. The truth is that you will never really finish everything, which is the great thing about teaching...there are always new ideas to teach. The main thing is to know that every day always works out, lesson plans rarely go as planned, that's the beauty of teaching. The kids will love you no matter what; they always know when a teacher cares. Much love to you, Aunt Barb PS I'm retiring this year after 25 years.