A Day in The Life Of A Teacher

Some of you will know, if you've been here before, that I am a teacher. I teach English in a secondary school on the Isle of Man. I am always interested to read other teachers' blogs and find out how similar or how different their day is to mine. So, here is what an average day for me looks like.

I generally arrive at school about 8.15. This may seem late to some teachers, but I can't drop my son off with the childminder before that. School officially starts at 8.50 so I have about half an hour to check the school register and report system, which will tell me if I am cover for an absent teacher in my free lessons, check emails, photocopy what I need for the day and have a cup of tea! Two days a week we have a whole staff briefing at 8.40 too. 

The day begins with registration at 8.50; I have a Year 7 group, so I take the register, check everyone is ok, sort out planners, equipment, notes queries etc and then I send them on their way at 9.10.

Then lessons start, we have two lessons before break, a 15 minute break and then two more lessons before lunch finally at 12.45. I throw some food down me, before sitting either in my classroom or our office and making sure I am ready for the afternoon's lessons. I also do one lunch duty a week, where I supervise the queues in the cafeteria and one lunch time club for Year 7. After lunch, we then have a 10 minute registration period with our tutor groups and then it's two more lessons before the students go home at 3.40. Once a week, the staff then have a meeting. This could be a subject meeting, a tutor meeting or a whole staff meeting. Our school is on a split site, so once a week, the staff in our building have to trek to the other building for a briefing. This is lovely in Summer, not so much in Winter when it's snowing or icy. 

Throughout all of this,  I have five free lessons a week. I say'free' but free teachers often get taken for cover, to supervise classes of absent teachers  and, even though you don't have to teach that class, just supervise it, it still means you don't necessarily get done what you had planned. 

When I am actually free, I may plan lessons and resources, get photocopying done, reply to emails, telephone parents, mentor students, have mini meetings with the staff in our department, mark books or assessments, put displays up, plan for open evenings or parents' evenings, set targets for students, The list goes on and is seemingly never ending. There is never a day I sit down at my computer in my frees and wonder what I could do. I always have a to do list and whilst things are being ticked off, other tasks are being added to it. 

I love my job. I love what I do, I love that it fits in around having children, as I can spend the holidays with my son, but it's not really a family friendly career. I'm fortunate that I have been doing this for nearly 10 years, so I don't have to do things from scratch. But it's still time consuming and it can't all be done in the school day. Inevitably, I have to get my laptop out once Charlie is in bed. 

I've said before on here, it really winds me up when people say why do teachers moan as they get all those holidays. And yes, there's no denying it. However, we don't get paid to be off. And each half term is so intense, I don't know if teachers could actually function without a regular break. I'm not saying other jobs aren't like that; indeed, I believe that employees don't get enough holidays anyway. 

So, anyway, that's my average day as a teacher - is yours different? 

The End.

That's it. My maternity leave is now over. I am back to work on Monday morning.

I cannot quite believe how fast it has gone. It has been the most amazing time of my life in fact, which I know sounds a bit cheesy, but it has. When Charlie was first born, it was still pretty cold, so for the first couple of weeks we spent most days snuggled in bed under the duvet, watching Jezza and This Morning. Then, once the weather got better, we have been out and about most days; meeting other mummies and babies, wandering around town, walking along the promenade and doing the odd bit of shopping! It has been wonderful and I am genuinely sad that those lovely days are now over.

I do think it's time that Charlie starts to be with other people, I feel that being around other children, particularly, will help him grow and learn and he needs new experiences. But I am still sad that from 8am-4pm he will be with someone else. I am very aware that I could miss him first crawling, or later on walking and talking. But, when we planned a baby, I knew that when he would be six months I would have to return to work.

I do, however, feel grateful that I have had these six months. I know not everyone  has this opportunity and has to return a lot sooner than I have, so I know I should feel grateful. At the beginning I worried how Charlie would cope without me. I was at the centre of his world back then. But now, as he's getting a bit older, I see that actually, he will cope without me, he will be fine. He doesn't need me as exclusively as he did when he was tiny and only feeding from me. He's eating food now as well as still taking milk. But that makes me sad. He's growing way too fast and me being at work will miss a lot of this.

However I am staying positive; I have some lovely friends at work, it will be nice to see them and talk about other things than baby TV and what Charlie had for lunch that day. It will be nice to use my brain again. I am though, aware of the irony that basically I am leaving my son with someone else so I can go and look after other people's children!!

Because I am going back to work and am a slightly different shape than I was before being pregnant, I of course, have had to buy a few new bits for work! Such as this gorgeous dog jumper and this lovely dress.
And of course I had to buy a new bag! I chose the Zara office bag that I saw Charlotte with from writelikenooneswatching. It's a fabulous bag and I love it! So these things are easing the pain of going back to work, but I am still sad.

I will cherish our weekends together and our evenings and I know that I have his lovely smiley face to look forward to when I pick him up. And I know he will have lots of fun with his new friends.

But I will miss him...

mummystartingout x

Our Week #2

Welcome back to week two of  'Our Week.' This one probably has to be the most boring one ever! sorry! But like I said last week, please bear with me, I endeavour to make them more exciting very soon!

Monday was back to work. Ugh. It was certainly a shock to the system after four weeks off, especially getting up in the dark and arriving home in the dark! To compensate I made my favourite dish for tea - yummy risotto. The hubby isn't keen but I love it, probably a bit too much and tend to eat far too much of it as well. The first day back to work also coincided with my mac dying :( Now, I love my mac and for that matter, my iPhone. I was lost without it for the 24 hours or so it took to fix it. The lovely IT man at school managed to reinstall the operating system on it, but it meant that I lost all my photos that I had put on it, these included all my blogging ones. I thought as they were backed up to icloud I would be able to get them all back, but it turns out it's only the last 30 days worth! arghhhh! Anyway, it's fixed and back in my hands, but I feel like I am starting again with it.
I also had a physio appointment at lunch time so I managed to nip out and have a quick shopping fix! I picked up a bargain pair of shoes from New Look for £4!

Tuesday, again spent at work. My timetable has been reduced as I only have a few weeks left before maternity leave starts, so I don't have as much to do anymore. In a way that's good, work are being super supportive and helpful, but I think it could get a bit boring if I don't start to focus a bit more. I have a few things that I must do before I leave and yet I keep putting them off!

Wednesday, again more work. That was it.

Thursday - yet more work.

Friday was a work day and then it was time to come home and get ready for date night with the hubby! Our local pub, which is actually a good 10 minute drive to, are having a Sausage festival throughout January. You get three sausages for £8 with mash and onion gravy and I thought that was pretty cheap. In my haste to guzzle the sausages down, I forgot to take a picture, but they were yummy! I chose pork, leek and Stilton, which was my favourite and pork, honey and mustard. I also had to choose a third one, but that one I assigned to the hubby as I knew I would not be able to manage three, so he chose wild boar, which he said was yummy too! I was able to wear my new dress and bargain shoes from Monday, even though it was below freezing when we went out!

Saturday we had a massive lie in; it was gone 11am when I finally got up! I mustered up some energy and cleaned the house before nipping out to a lovely little independent mill shopping centre 5 minutes down the road. It was primarily to meet the step-daughter to pick her up and bring her to ours for the night, but they also have a lovely woman's range there that includes The White Stuff, which I seem to have an obsession with at the minute, They also sell Cath Kidston handbags! But I managed to resist as I am trying to be good, what with a baby expected in less than 7 weeks...
After that, we came home and I made a curry for tea and the step-daughter made us watch Take Me Out.

Today, I got up earlier than yesterday and nipped to town. I have been after a red cardigan for absolutely ages and haven't been able to find one. Just a basic one, to brighten up black tops etc. I managed to find one in Peacocks for £12 which I thought was quite good. But I don't like the buttons, so I have some Cath Kidston red heart shaped ones that I am going to sew on to the cardigan instead. I also picked up a top in Next with a voucher I got for Christmas. I'll try and blog it soon, but I may save it for after the baby arrives so I have something new to wear.
I then came home, made a cottage pie and am now curled up on the sofa, drinking my new favourite drink, apple and spiced ginger juice from Cawston Press, whilst the hubby watches yet another football match!

And that was my week!

mummystartingout x

The scarier side of pregnancy

What started out as an ordinary week at work certainly took a diversion from the norm this week!

To be quite honest I was dreading the next two weeks at work; I can feel my body starting to slow down and I am getting much more tired, much more easily. But I was determined to carry on until next Friday when I was to finish for Christmas, with two weeks off. The thought that, when I went back in January, I only had four weeks before my official maternity leave was actually quite exciting and I knew that over the next two weeks I needed to get myself organised at work, so I can pass things to the person taking over from me in January.

So I went to work on Monday, spent an hour there and then promptly got knocked (accidentally) on the stairs and fell down them! Fortunately, (or otherwise...) I landed on my knees and went over on my ankle, I didn't fall face down the stairs and to my knowledge I didn't bang my belly or my sides at all. However, the pain in my ankle was IMMENSE! It brings tears to my eyes just to think about it now. I have broken a toe before and whilst I know that's a very minor injury really, the pain was about ten times worse than a broken toe. Of course, being in a school I was determined not to cry in front of students! Although none of them came rushing to my aid! Anyway, somehow, although I still no not know how I managed it, I hobbled to the staffroom where I collapsed in tears and pain. I couldn't put any weight on my foot and by now was starting to get concerned I had broken something!

A colleague called the medical woman and got me an ice pack. The hubby works in the same place as me so they asked me if I would like them to get him. I kept saying 'no he'll go mad!'' But in the end he had to come and take me to A&E as I couldn't walk, my foot was swelling up and the pain was horrid.

So off we went to A&E, had an X ray to check for broken bones, and whilst the doctor said he couldn't see anything obvious, he wasn't sure if there was something broken underneath as there was quite a bit of swelling. So they strapped it up, gave me crutches and sent me on my way with a prescription for diclofenac.

Now, I have taken diclofenac before, and as far as I was aware, you are not supposed to take them in pregnancy. So yesterday I rang the midwife to see what she thought. Incidentally, not once in A&E was the baby checked on or monitored. I did say, obviously, that I hadn't fallen on my bump or banged it, but I would have thought they would check. Anyway, the midwife was very angry with A&E! One for not notifying them at the time and asking for someone to check up on the baby and secondly for giving me diclofenac when you are not supposed to take them. She asked if I had felt baby moving, any bleeding or loss etc and I said that everything had been fine. I thought that would be enough. But no, she said I needed to go up to the hospital to the maternity unit and have them check me over. So, hubby threw some clothes and Pj's into a bag for me, just in case, and off we went in minus temperatures at 5pm.

The midwife at the hospital checked my urine, blood pressure and temperature and besides a slight trace of protein all was well. She then hooked me up to the baby monitor and hubby got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time, which was lovely! His heartbeat was nice and strong and after half an hour I thought that would be it. But oh no, I hadn't pressed the button for feeling movements at all during the trace (I hadn't felt him in that half hour) and so I had to stay on the monitor.

This is where I started to panic. I knew that I had felt him move as normal since I fell, but now I was starting to worry that something was wrong, why hadn't he moved in that half hour?! The midwife said food might help to get him moving so I was presented with some food and a hot chocolate and lo and behold he started to move! Phew. After an hour or so, she was happy enough and took me off the monitor. Typically, just as she did, he started doing a jig in my belly and even hubby could see my belly moving across the other side of the room! Sod's law!

Anyway, I was given the all clear to go home, with some strong painkillers and instructions to rest for the next few weeks - since I can't walk or put any weight on my foot, I doubt I will be doing much!

This whole fiasco has shook me up a bit if I'm honest. Everything was going well; I was nearly 29 weeks, had had the growth scan and saw the consultant last week and everything was fine and then I felt like it was all going wrong. I started to worry about the baby moving and getting really freaked out if I didn't feel him for a few minutes.

After a good night's sleep I feel a lot better; I have felt him move most of the time and know that when he isn't, he is probably sleeping or resting.

So, now I am stuck either on the sofa or in bed for at least the next week, using crutches to get around. As they weren't sure if there is something broken or not, I have to go back next week and get it looked at again. I'm hoping by the weekend I can start to put a bit of weight on it again and start trying to walk on it. I feel completely useless and helpless; the hubby has to literally do everything for me. Including, oh the shame, shower me! Not my greatest highlight in life being showered and washed by your hubby I can tell you, but fortunately, I have a lovely hubby who was actually willing to do it. I feel a bit sorry for him, as he still has to go to work and then come home and start tidying up; put washing loads on; make tea etc and then finally about 10pm he can sit down! He hasn't complained, yet, but I am sure he will!

It made me think about what we (or I) take for granted. Even the simple things, like having a cup of tea! I can't negotiate a drink and crutches from the kitchen to the lounge, therefore I am stuck with a flask of tea. Bleurggh. Although, it's better than nothing.

So, not a great start to the week and it's messed up my plans of getting organised at work as I am now off work until January!

Any ideas for hobbies I can take up from the comfort of my sofa??

mummystartingout x