“Don’t wanna wish my life away, but roll on Friday!”
Ritu
For Linda’s #1LinerWeds challenge.
One Line Wednesday – #1LinerWeds – Not Long…
03 Apr 2019 32 Comments
in #1linerweds Tags: #1linerweds, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Linda G Hill, one liner challenge
One Liner Wednesday – #1LinerWeds – Free
27 Mar 2019 38 Comments
in #1linerweds Tags: #1linerweds, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Free, Linda G Hill, one liner challenge
“The day you stop taking responsibility for other people’s mistakes, will be the day you feel free.”
Ritu
For Linda’s #1LinerWeds challenge.
One Liner Wednesday – #1LinerWeds – Feedback
20 Mar 2019 39 Comments
in #onelinerwednesday Tags: #1linerweds, #onelinerwednesday, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Feedback, observations
” [Class teacher] has a wonderful aura around her that makes the classroom environment inviting, entertaining and leaves the children wanting to learn…”
My Observer – 2019
Okay, so it won’t quite be a one liner today, just a few more to explain the quote above.
Yesterday I had my formal lesson observation.
For all you non teachers, this is a time where you are watched to make sure you are doing the right thing, all the way through your teaching career.
At each stage the expectations rise higher and higher…
The last two years have seen my observation be a total shambles. I have been stressed out like you wouldn’t believe!
The first one last year was scheduled at a tough time for me, after a lunchtime sale with my School Council, in a class I hadn’t worked with that week yet… not my choice. It was just how the cookie crumbled.
And it was awful. Even after huge amounts of planning, nothing went right as I felt so stressed out. It was no fun. And the results were so awful that my Team Leader said she knew what I was like usually, so she discounted it and said we could reschedule at a later date.
Great.
Then the rescheduled one never got organised so I requested that the Head just come and observe me instead, which was duly arranged.
Except, after planning, I managed to fall in the classroom and had that suspected fractured elbow.
But even if that hadn’t have happened, I would have been stuck, as the snow fell hard at that time, and school would have been closed anyway!
Third time lucky and finally the observation happened, with lovely, positive feedback.
Phew!
This year, I think we may be due three separate observations.
The first which should have been before Christmas ended up being delayed, again, because of staffing shortages.
So my last one ended up in January.
You don’t understand quite how much extra planning goes into these observation sessions.
For a start, I have to fill out a two-page plan for that 30 minute session… and that takes ages… alongside making sure everything is there for the children and adults in the room, it’s no wonder we teachers get stressed!
So this morning, with trepidation, I came into school, butterflies in my tummy and a nervous disposition at my disposal. You see, I had a new Teaching Assistant who had only started on Monday, and my other one had been off sick on Monday. Would this observation happen?
It did, and at the right time, thank goodness!
My staff were all in, the Parent helper who volunteers was amazing, and the kids were really on task for the most part.
Sure, there were a few points to pick up on, which I agreed with (the issue being not being in a class of my own, so having to really fit in with what needs doing in the class), there was that lovely comment above.
And it made my day!
I slept like a happy baby last night!
For Linda’s #1LinerWeds challenge.
One Liner Wednesday – #1LinerWed
13 Mar 2019 28 Comments
in #1linerweds Tags: #1linerweds, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Dreams, Linda G Hill, one liner challenge
“Just dreaming your dream isnt enough, you have to work to make it a reality.”
Ritu
For Linda’s #1LinerWeds feature.
One Liner Wednesday – #1LinerWeds – Teacher/Mum Problems
06 Mar 2019 52 Comments
in #1linerweds, #onelinerwednesday, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #1linerweds, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Guilt, Linda G Hill, one liner challenge, Parent, Teacher
“Being a teacher and a mother is a really tough double role; you are paid to spend your days nurturing other peoples’ kids, yet feel guilty within, if you need time to look after your own…”
Ritu
By no means is this a dig at anyone who I work with.
I am lucky with my management team. They totally understand that family is a most important part of our lives, and that work/life balance is key to happy teachers and success at school for all.
No.
I am talking about that internal tug of war we educators will all feel, at one time or another, if we decide to start our own families.
The amount of times I have had to argue with myself about letting my class, the parents, and the school down, if I end up taking a day or two off because own child is unwell…
It’s silly really, isn’t it?
Obviously my child should come first, and they do, believe me, but I am also lucky that under normal circumstances, I have their grandparents to help out if they are under the weather. If they are really bad, there are times only mummy will do.
But times like now, when the in-laws are away, it gets hard.
Take today for instance.
Lil Princess was battling with a severe headache on the weekend. She woke up on Monday with a slight ache still, but wanted to soldier on. Dosed up with Calpol, she went to school but I worried about her a lot, as she wasn’t right, and I also had the added joy of Parent’s Evening that night, until 7pm…
She walked to her grandparent’s house at the end of the day and developed a really bad cold, which was what the headache was a precursor to… Head cold. No fun.
Tuesday, she was full of it. Bunged up. Head ache, cough. Temperature.
It was awful for her.
My bro and sis in law were both home and they had already offered to have her the next day, as they knew I had another Parent’s Evening and they happened to be home.
But I felt so bad.
I know this parents meeting is really important. But so is my kid.
Again, I feel thankful. I am lucky enough to have a solution to childcare. And the offer of her being there today too, if she is still not right, is reassuring. I am not fobbing her off on anyone. But the guilt…
The guilt that I am projecting on myself… I should have stayed at home. I should have not thought a toss about work.
Yet I did.
And I left her… (in good hands, of course)
Written for Linda’s #1LinerWeds Challenge
But I Smile Anyway... 