All before ten

I am forever copying other people. One of the reasons I even DO a blog is because first my friend Nicole started doing one, then my friend Ami followed and Anabelle continued soon after. So as soon as I announced my pregnancy, I decided to do my own blog to document the events leading up to the birth of our baby. Anyway, I was reading Nicole's blog today and the title of the post was All before ten, and she was listing all the things she did in her day as a stay at home mom before ten in the morning. It was pretty eye-opening since I am not a stay at home mom. It got me thinking about all the times that I have heard, oh you're a teacher, it must be fun to sit around and play with kids all day long! Soooo... I thought it might be an eye opening experience for some people all there to see just how much a teacher does, all before ten in the morning. I'm going to add my own personal stuff to this because I have the added challenge of not only being an elementary school teacher but also being 33 weeks pregnant. It ain't easy! Here we go:

6:00-6:45 - Wake up, shower, get dressed (which in and of itself is a challenge these days since NOTHING fits!)

6:45-6:55 - Heat up water for my hot chocolate (it's my calcium!), feed the dog and pack up my bag full of snacks to get me through the day.

6:55 - Try to be out of the house for my super long commute... ok it's five minutes, but sometimes it takes a long time to cross Rita ;)

7:00-7:15 - Prepare for the day, make sure bellwork and other copies for the day are ready.

7:15-7:30 - Duty. Ugh! I hate duty! Three days a week, I have to spend in the back parking lot, making sure drop offs go smoothly, kids behave themselves, etc...

7:30-7:45 - Bell rings, showtime! It doesn't matter how tired I am, how many times I had to get up to pee in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep and thus am exhausted, it's time to put on a smile and say good morning to 21 smiling little seven year olds who are looking to me for a good day! Anyway, this is where I have to bring all the kids in, unpack, get notes, lunch money, homework etc... take attendance and get them settled to do bellwork. Easier said than done!

7:45-8:15 - Hard to explain this part of the day to non-Vail teachers. Long story short, we separate the kids based on math abilities and re-teach or enrich objectives based on test scores.

8:15-9:00 - Specials time! Thankfully in Vail, we get a plan period ALMOST everyday. Four days a week, I walk my kids over to Music, Computer Lab, Art or PE. During this time, I get my grading done and entered online, lesson plans for the week written or answer parent emails and phone calls.

9:00-9:30 - Recess! Sounds like it's time for a break right? Well, yes for the kids it is a break. Meanwhile, I have kids doing or re-doing classwork, sitting out for behavior issues and of course, kids tattling and generally being kids.

9:30-10:30 - Math! I know I'm going past ten at this point but math takes a long time. We have to do math fluency practice, math review and new math skills so math is a long period of the day. This is all in addition to the math we did before specials. Morning=math!

Now there is a TON more that goes on in the second half of the day but since I'm copying Nicole, I'll stop for now ;) Suffice to say, there is a lot of standing, walking, bending, squatting, etc... that puts a lot of strain on my feet, legs and back. It's also a challenge to find time in my day to utilize the facilities, which I need to do more and more during the day. THEN I still have to go home and cook dinner, do dishes, laundry, grade even more papers, and find some time to get ready for my next challenge... motherhood! I worry A LOT these days about whether I'll be able to handle teaching and being a mom. But I have some awesome super-mom examples to look up to: Jill, Jaymee, Jen, Ami, Anabelle, I know there are more, sorry if I forgot you. I blame the baby for sucking my brain out!

So there you have it. No finger-painting, no down-time, no short hours, no big money. Just lots of work! However, it's a great job, I have fun and I love it! I get presents, hugs, and the funniest stories you will ever hear! Let's just hope I can keep it up for the next six weeks!