A Day in the Life...of this teacher

    I start the morning at 5:45 with a cup of coffee. Despite my best efforts, I cannot help but to check my email. I wish there was a way to leave my "email" in the car or at school so I wasn't tempted to check it all of the time. Needless to say, once I check my school email...I am obliged to check my personal email. 

    Get a grip, I tell myself and just drink your damn coffee and watch the news for 15 minutes. Nope, I get 5 minutes in and then start to freak out about my day's plans. Did I complete them? Are they good enough? Did I print out everything that I need? Well, as far as I can tell - they are set to go. Shit! I need to get on that treadmill right now or else I will not get in the shower on time. Off I go. 

    Headphones on, and begin to do as little as possible on the treadmill so I can feel like I exercised today. I do tell people: "as long as you are doing something, it just might have to be enough." So, I get my 20 minutes in or 1 mile, depending on how much procrastination I did on the couch prior to. No time for sit-ups or push-ups today (which is fine by me since I didn't want to do them anyway). I run upstairs and heat up my 1/2 finished coffee, find some clean clothes in the dryer and head back upstairs to take a shower. This is where I not only need to decide what to wear for the day, but where I continue to persevorate about the day ahead. 

    Now, I can get out of the shower, do my usual morning routine (no one needs to know what that is) and get back downstairs so I can remotely start my car, figure out which can of soup I can tolerate for lunch, grab a granola bar, fill my water bottle and make my coffee to go.  Hmmm, how am I going to get to the car in just one trip? If can carry my water bottle, lunchbox and coffee in one hand, I can sling my backpack over my shoulder, put my phone in my back pocket and get to the car without dropping anything. Maybe....

    Ok, off to work I go. Now, I have 20 minutes to listen to an audio book or the radio or better...my music list. Since my car has bluetooth, I can also catch up on voice texts to people I may or may not have time to text before I leave the house. I like to wish two of my sons a good and safe day. I have also been trying to send a happy note to other people that have been on my mind. It could be a family member or a friend. You get the gist. 

    When I arrive at school, there are always cars in the yard. The other teachers that get there early every day. That is not to say I am late, but I am not early like they are. Again, I have to assure myself that this is fine because I stay late at school most days and then work at home after that! Why I need to justify my actions to my own self is fairly ridiculous, but what else is new. The good news is that I am here at school and ready for the day.

    I walk in with a smile and friendly greeting for everyone I meet on my way to my classroom. I put down my backpack and any other bags that I bring home and back each day. I open my computer, start Pandora playing in the classroom, start the projector so I can post my schedule for the kids when they come in, and then write that same schedule on the board. There- ready for the day! Or am I....... Here comes the boss and she looks apologetic even before she opens her mouth and I know that change is afoot! Guess what? One of the Specials teachers is out and so....planning time is also out. (Most of the time the boss will do everything in her power to find a way for us to still have our planning time, but sometimes it just isn't possible. It's a good thing I don't count on my planning time very often.) Ok then- time to pull a "plan B" out of our back pockets. No sweat! It's nothing new these days. For the last two years I don't recall even one week where everything went off as scheduled. 

    I would be remiss if I didn't mention that because we run the school with a very small staff, having one person down doesn't just mess with the teachers, but the rest of the duty schedule is also now in peril. The staffing shuffle begins again. The poor Principal and Administrative Assistant are now running around trying to put all the puzzle pieces together for lunch and recess, etc. (I will leave all of the other things they are dealing with behind the scenes for another day, but recognize that this one thing is just the tip of the iceberg.)

    Needless to say, I make it through the day. The kids have no idea what kind of chaos is going on around them in the school. The parents don't know that all of us have had to adjust our schedules yet again so their kids were continuing with their education and since there is no complaining on our part, the Board just assumes all is good. (I am not sure this is true, but since we don't see them at school - that is what I am going with. No hard feelings.)

    The kids get on the bus. Parents come and pick the kids up. Then we all go inside and let out a collective breath and are absolutely exhausted. I am sure that all of us would say that being a teacher is interesting because there is something new every day, but this is getting a bit ridiculous and we really did not sign up for a chess game each day. 

    I then try to clean up my mess of a room. Think about tomorrow. Am unsuccessful getting anywhere, so pack up, get in my car and go home. If you think that I just go home and take a nap, you may be right. I often drop on the couch before dinner because I cannot think anymore. Then I make dinner, clean-up the dishes (sometimes) and then get my computer out and make sure I am all set for tomorrow.  Plan, change, repeat!