Every morning for the past week I’ve been slogging through dozens of listings that I’m copy-editing. This is sort of mentally exhausting but it pays well.
Yesterday was my first day of classes. I was very lucky to come home to the kind of guy that brought flowers and cooked dinner and let me vent, because people, I was a wreck. An utter, and complete, wreck. Teachers out there, please tell me that the first day which felt like a two-hour drug trip is normal. Tell me first days are always exhausting and draining and terrifying.
Or is it just terrifying for teachers with absolutely no experience, thrown into an adorably chaotic den of 6 year olds?
So if you’ve called me recently, or just miss my blogging, this is why.
Today will be better because today, I am reading Where The Wild Things Are to my class and goddamnit, everyone loves Where The Wild Things Are, even if the Wild Things are actually in my first-grade classroom.
Send reinforcements and cupcakes.
Um, the first YEAR is exhausting and draining and terrifying.
And after that it is just exhausting and draining.
What Post Hip Chick said.
also a delicious martini for after.
I am a teacher and I can tell you that everyday is a marathon, but you DO build endurance. Don’t get discouraged and remember to keep the appearance of control- whether you really have it or not. I’m sure you are great!
i met maurice sendak, and he told me the “wild things” were fashioned after his jewish eastern european immigrant relatives. he was a little boy when they came to america, and to his small eyes they looked bulbous and hairy-scary. now whenever i see the book i laugh.
I can honestly tell you that spending my summer teaching 10 new 11 – 13 year olds a week to cook for 6 hour stretches at a time has greatly and I mean GREATLY improved my patience with the world.
Now that I am back to just 3, two-hour each sessions per week teaching kids, I find that I am far more level headed and patient with my adult classes.
I even had the last two groups of kids chanting in unison, without any prompting from me,”She’s working her way around the room” and “What Jo says goes”. Even the parents were amazed.
Don’t worry luv, it’s hard in the beginning, and you will still have days that make you want to drink heavily, but as the other commenter said, you will build up endurance.
Open by being serious and have a steely gaze ready. Don’t take any crap for the first couple weeks. You will then gain their respect, then and only then, you can let them be your friend.
Teaching is hard! I can’t imagine 6 year olds, I’m a middle school teacher. How many kids do you have?
Good luck, it WILL get better!
Tammi – at last count, 21.
Teaching really, truly is the worst job I can think of. And you know me, I’ve had some crap jobs. The pay is awful, the clientele have the temperament of wildebeests, and the physical demands can be punishing. The adults – both parents and coworkers – are usually nuts. In the movies, teachers who want to go the extra mile end up tutoring kids at home and using kung-fu as a substitute for behavior management. Back in reality, there are no short cuts. I admire anyone who can do it and stick with it, because sticking with it really is half the job. But the frisson you get when you actually teach a kid something only lasts a second. Don’t be afraid of not liking it. The trick is showing up anyway.
Conrad, you’re lucky I’m made of Pollyanna or that would have deflated me to the size of a newt.
POLLYANNA, I TELL YOU.
I didn’t mean to be deflating! I’m glad you have the job. Nonetheless, does it get easier? Yes. At the same time, discouragement is sort of built in, too, as I’m sure you’ve noticed by now. 6 year olds ARE great, though, although they take far more energy than my kids, who know damn well that I will not chase them.
Best of luck! I’m sure you are doing great. Probably just feels like chaos.
K
Teachers rule! Keep up the great work.
Teaching is a profession that I think a lot of people assume they could do. The funny thing is once they are actually in a classroom, they realize it the most exhausting job ever. I’m in my 3rd year of teaching of 5th grade. I love my job very much, and I do feel like I am making a difference in my students’ lives. I prepare myself each morning by singing at the top of my lungs in the car there. Once I’m there, it feels like I’ve been shot out of a cannon. That feeling lasts until the school day is over!
Good luck!
The first year is especially exhausting and scary. It will get better. You won’t always be so physically exhausted, and you will learn how to keep your anger and frustration in check most of the time. Set limits for yourself. I am a high school English teacher, and even if I moved into the school, I would never, ever finish my work. But I don’t work past five o’clock most days. I have to have a life, and you do too. So set yourself some limits, and try to have fun!