This week in teaching

It's been a long, strange, interesting week, but overall I feel good about it — particularly since I taught math the whole week, which is getting to be rare. Monday, up at the local junior high. Pretty straightforward, no big problems. Thankfully, it didn't rain, either, so the walk (yes, I did walk this time) was pleasant, and it felt good to get some exercise. Tuesday, I had an appointment with a career counselor to see if I could figure out what's going on with my life and how to get things back on track somehow (thanks, Dad, for the idea, and for picking up the bill). He recognized right away how burned out I am with the current situation, and already has a few ideas. But that will have to wait for a few more days, as Wednesday I started a job at one of the high schools — the same one, in fact, where I was subbing a few weeks ago for a few days for another math teacher who also had to be out for foot surgery, like the guy I'm filling in for now. (Did that make any sense?) This job is great, as he gave me stuff for a few days, but not the whole time, so I'm actually doing a lot of planning and making copies and all that stuff that real teachers do! And I'm loving it! I've already stayed late to figure out what's going on, help a student study for a test, and to give a student with dyslexia time to finish his test.

The problem? It's twofold, or maybe threefold. First, this guy does not have a prep period! Yup, he teaches six periods a day, including one section of health! The school day also starts at 7:10, so I have to be there at 6:40. This, coupled with my tutoring at night, has made me exhausted, and I could barely keep my eyes open last night once I got home. And I still have a bunch of copies to make Monday morning, and several tests to grade. Still, I can't complain too loud. As Super Chicken always told his sidekick Fred, "You knew this job was dangerous when you took it!"

I'm still pretty tired now, but at least I have a weekend to relax, and then the job is for only one more week. Then, winter break! I will definitely need it!