But I Smile Anyway…

We are nearly there, the finish line is firmly in sight!

Across the country you can hear the count downs, some with 3 days some with 5 left, but the quiet whispers of ‘One Monday left, One Tuesday left…’ has now changed to ‘5 days, 4 days…’

And no, that is not the school children getting excited at the prospect of their six weeks of bliss with no homework, no getting up early, no teachers and NO SCHOOL!

I am talking about the teachers!

I have always said teaching is a vocation.

You either want to do it or you don’t.

But even if you really want to do it, nothing, and I mean NOTHING, can prepare you for the all encompassing exhaustion that accompanies the best profession in the world!

You see the little seeds of your pupils planted in your care at the beginning of the year, and as you realise what they need to flourish, you chart every stage of their germination, encouraging growth academically, emotionally and physically. The end of the year sees you proudly showing off the blooms you have helped to cultivate.

But not without wiping yourself out.

What with planning lessons that will engage and encourage, delivering all singing, all dancing lessons, assessing and marking, filling in spreadsheets and creating classroom environments to inspire, alongside termly reports and progress grids, not to mention our own teaching observations and performance management meetings, we still have to deal with staff meetings, parent meetings, parents in general and other class based issues. And I can’t forget the extra duties such as subject responsibilities, and clubs that we may run.

It is truly exhausting.

And we thank the day that the school gates finally shut in July… to the children anyway.

You see, contrary to popular belief, once the kids go home, it doesn’t automatically mean that the teachers pack up and leave in a ‘Let’s party! School’s out!’rush.

No.

Many of those teachers will probably leave earlier than normal, then the following Monday will be back in class. (Or maybe the last week of the holidays)

Yes.

We love our jobs that much.

Because it’s not possible to give your children the education they need without planning and preparation. And if we are teaching in the term time, and during school hours, we need to put in that overtime (unpaid, might I add) at home, and in school, to get things ready for our class of angels!

So, I will finish on Tuesday (Yesss!) then be back on Wednesday with my colleagues, clearing the classroom, sorting through resources, preparing display boards, naming books, printing resources, filing paperwork, ordering necessary items. We may be back all week, it may be a few days, but that will be the start of our break.

Then once we leave the school gates, our summer can finally start, but we know that wherever we go, our teacher mind is on somewhere in the back ground, collecting things that will help with our teaching, and any spare moments, we will probably be browsing Pinterest, saving ideas for the next year. And we will keep seeing stationery that would be soooo great for our class! (Cue spending from our own pockets, because we just can’t help it!)

You think your name (Mr/Miss/Mrs …) will be forgotten for the summer, but as you walk through your hometown, you can guarantee you will find a student, or their family, calling your name. Sometimes you want to hide, to forget you are a teacher, but for the most part, you relish the recognition! After all, a child remembers you and wants to speak to you, even out of school! That must be a good thing, right?

A teacher’s work is never done.

And I wouldn’t change it for anything!

( Actually, that’s a lie! I would change it so that there weren’t so many unrealistic expectations on the children, so much demand for accountability, so much paperwork and red tape, taking the fun out of lessons you could be teaching… Oh and a pay rise would be wonderful!)

So, once my extra stint is finished at school, I will be off to spend time caring for Pops, and getting some rewriting done on that finished but not forgotten manuscript (in between keeping the kids apart! 😉 You know what I mean!)

And before we know it, September will be knocking… actually August, because we go back on 30th August… well, us teachers, anyway!

But I am soooo not thinking about that end of the holidays yet!