A week in the life of a teacher. Thanks Heather for the idea. Maybe some of my teacher friends in other states will take up the cause and post about their weeks to help people understand everything that teachers do!
Monday:
I pull in to the lot at exactly 8:15 after dropping off Evie. Surprisingly there is a car parked in my assigned spot. Even though I’m annoyed and should do something, I simply park in the spot next to mine (if it’s assigned to somebody they always show up much later than me and leave earlier). By the time I reach my room it’s 8:21. I look at my desk and find the note from my sub on Friday and a D1 she had written. I’m relieved that she said the classes were great overall. The D1 is for a student who decided to take a call, walk out of class, and then not return.
I start 2 different lists- my to do list for today and one for tomorrow so that I remember to speak to the student. I then walk to the workroom to put my lunch in the fridge. I end up unjamming the copier and eating a donut. I go back to my room to get organized for the day and it’s already 8:45. Students are coming in to the room for the 1st period Spanish class. I quickly realize that I did not prep my next level 3 unit over the weekend and then wonder why I thought I would (family visiting from out of town, Evie’s birthday celebration). I have a bunch of printouts and activities from another teacher and start to load the links for the listening activities and PDFs for reading activities on to Haiku. I had hoped to alter the activities so that students would use only French, but I’m not going to have the time.
I pull in to the lot at exactly 8:15 after dropping off Evie. Surprisingly there is a car parked in my assigned spot. Even though I’m annoyed and should do something, I simply park in the spot next to mine (if it’s assigned to somebody they always show up much later than me and leave earlier). By the time I reach my room it’s 8:21. I look at my desk and find the note from my sub on Friday and a D1 she had written. I’m relieved that she said the classes were great overall. The D1 is for a student who decided to take a call, walk out of class, and then not return.
I start 2 different lists- my to do list for today and one for tomorrow so that I remember to speak to the student. I then walk to the workroom to put my lunch in the fridge. I end up unjamming the copier and eating a donut. I go back to my room to get organized for the day and it’s already 8:45. Students are coming in to the room for the 1st period Spanish class. I quickly realize that I did not prep my next level 3 unit over the weekend and then wonder why I thought I would (family visiting from out of town, Evie’s birthday celebration). I have a bunch of printouts and activities from another teacher and start to load the links for the listening activities and PDFs for reading activities on to Haiku. I had hoped to alter the activities so that students would use only French, but I’m not going to have the time.
1st period planning (8:55-10:25): When the warning bell rings at 8:50, I wrap up what I’m doing and find my tardy clipboard and passes and head to my tardy duty station on the 3rd floor. When the bell rings at 8:55 there are a bunch of students waiting outside a classroom near my post. I let them in to their room, knowing their teacher was most likely in a meeting. I then write tardy passes until 9:02 and head downstairs to turn in the tardy sign in sheet. The teacher who has 1st floor tardy duty still has a really long line so I jump in to help her before turning in my sheet and checking my mailbox.
I head back upstairs and when I’m almost to my room, our principal comes on the PA and announces that we are going in to a partial lockdown, which means that teachers keep teaching but doors need to be locked and no one is permitted in the halls. I head to my room to get some work done while the Spanish teacher teaches her students. I roll my eyes as every few minutes a student asks to use the restroom even though they know they can’t. One of our Asst principals walks by and tries the doors to make sure they are locked and scares several of the students. I finish loading my links on to Haiku for French 3 and have the assignment ready for 2nd period. Unfortunately I cannot go make copies because we are still on lockdown. I read the Daily Demon (our teacher announcements) and make several notes on my calendar for the week: Friday we have a school wide performance of the musical and shortened classes, Tuesday I have to go to Haiku training during my planning period and we have the makeup ACT. I also update the journals and essential questions on the board for my classes. At 10:16 the lockdown is ended and I hurry to the workroom make my copies.
2nd period (10:30-12:00): This is my Honors French 3 class and also my largest with 27 students. I stand out in the hallway to monitor students like we are supposed to and field lots of questions about why we had a lockdown, none of which I have the answers to. When the bell rings I close the door. I return the surprise subjunctive quiz I gave students on Thursday and tell them to use their notes to make corrections. I circulate as they settle in and work on their corrections. I collect their quizzes as they finish and we go over the work for today. I walk them through how to find the video links and PDFs on Haiku and pass out the activities that go with them. Most students get to work quickly using either a Chromebook or their phones. Within a few minutes, we discover that the links I used for the videos will not play on the Chromebook. While silently cursing technology, I remember that the site I am using also posts directly on YouTube and quickly find the videos there and add them directly to Haiku. Once the students using Chromebooks refresh their browsers, everything is working. I then have a student leave to go to guidance for their registration appointment and about 30 minutes later the phone rings to send another student. Most students are on task and I circulate and answer questions, mostly about the assignment but sometimes about my tournament bracket or makeup work. At the end of class, I am given late work from several students and several others ask me to hold on to the assignment they started today so they don’t lose it.
Lunch (12-12:25): I need to copy handouts for my next 2 classes so I head to the workroom. Someone has left the copier jammed so I clear it and start my copies. It jams several more times and before I know it, lunch is over and I haven’t eaten. I do have my copies though.
3rd period (12:30-2:00). My French 1 class this year is my most challenging class by far. Recently the class has grown smaller because I had 2 students move, 1 in our alternative learning center, and another who is homebound. I quickly find out another has just been sent to ISS and several are absent. I have a student deliver today’s work to the student in ISS and we get started on a reading passage. I have to ask students numerous times to focus and pay attention as we go through the reading looking for cognates and other vocabulary we recognize. We answer a few comprehension questions and I’m pleased with the responses of those who participate. I then model how to do an activity using the verb aller and then places. I then circulate around the room helping students individually and trying my best to keep them on task. One of my most challenging students is more focused today so I make sure to compliment him. He then gives me his behavior chart that his track coaches are making him have filled out by his teachers. I fill it out at the end of class, telling him that if he keeps singing out loud I will add that to the additional comments section next time. The period goes by quickly with no major interruptions so as students leave at 2, I thank them for a good class.
4th period (2:05-3:40). This is one of my three sections of French 2 and is a pretty good class, except there are a few students who would rather talk to each other. We spend the first 30 minutes of class making a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting French and American schools. I let the students answer in English but fill in the diagram in French. I also spend some time clarifying in English since we are just starting the unit. While we are filling out the Venn diagram, I have another student leave for registration. My phone also rings because a student is signing out, except the student is not in my class on A days. After the venn diagram, we read a short passage about a student and his schedule. Students then completed several activities that went with it as I circulated to answer questions. I also used this time to start organizing my things in to piles because I hadn’t had a chance to all day. I stack up all the work that I’d collected in to one pile and the materials I need for planning in to another. Some students finish the assignment early but many of them owe me late work so I tell them to work on that. When the first bell rings at 3:35 most of them leave so I take the time to straighten the desks and pick up any trash on the floor. Several of the remaining students help me until the next bell at 3:40.
At 3:40 I hurry to the work room to make the copies that I need for tomorrow since I have to go a training session during my planning period. I also have to leave at 4 to pick up Evie because she has gymnastics. I quickly heat up and eat my lunch as I make copies and unjam the copier several times. By the time I am done running copies and return to my room it is 4:21. I toss all the papers I need to grade in to my bag and head for the door.
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