A day in the life of a teacher, mom and grad student

6:15 am: Feet hit the ground running. Time to get myself ready for work. Prepare the child’s lunch, get her dressed and take her to school

7:15 am: Arrive at work. Class begins in 10 minutes. I haven’t had any coffee yet, but I’ve already been asked countless questions (“I forgot my pencil, can you give me one?”, “what are we doing today?”, “why do I have an F?”, “can you email my other teacher and tell her why I was absent yesterday?” “I lost my assignment. Can you print me another one?”)

7:25 class begins. Time to answer more questions, try to teach 2 different lessons simultaneously to students at wildly different ability levels, while taking attendance, answering emails and questions

8:10 second class starts. Multi tasking continues. This month we have to do state mandated testing on 225 students in both individual and group settings while also continuing to teach. Instead of teaching this class, I have to leave students under supervision of another adult while I go run around campus like a mad woman. I’m looking for all the students who didn’t show up for testing time, despite having been given a detailed pass and a reminder

8:30 still searching for students. In the mean time I’m stopped by various people needing my help. A new student who doesn’t speak English needs to know his schedule. A Swahili speaking student needs to be pulled for a conference about his poor attendance. I have to get a translator on the line. The cafeteria manager needs me to translate a team meeting with all the Spanish speaking staff. Now back to looking for students

10:00 next class starts. Try to do my actual job, which is teaching. Continue to be bombarded with more repetitive questions. Meanwhile, someone knocks on my door more times than I can count, looking for work for a student who was absent, needing me to translate a phone call, etc

11:45 finally lunch time. But wait! Another student who speaks no English wants me to help him translate to get the info for his new bus. Another knocks on my door to ask if I can help her sign up for internet at home. Yet another needs to go talk to his guidance counselor but needs me to translate. Lunch is up, and I’ve got about 5 minutes to inhale my food.

12:15 last class of the day. They are always bouncing off the walls. It’s difficult to keep 33 rowdy high schoolers under control by yourself sometimes. By the time this class comes, I can feel the exhaustion setting in

1:00 class is over. Next planning period begins. Only, there’s no time for planning or grading. I have to meet with my team to discuss that days testing outcomes and plan the schedule for the next day. Someone else wants to talk to me about forming a new club at school. Another person wants to meet about the field trip we’re taking next week. Then, I must attend a meeting about doing some tutoring sessions on my planning period. After that, I check and answer emails and type up the long list of names of students who will need to test tomorrow (although I’m not sure why I bother, as none of the other teachers check the list anyway).

3:00 leave school. Head to the library to work on my grad class. The professor this semester forgets that all her students are working professionals in an extremely demanding career who also have young children of their own. She piles on the work. I type up my assignments as fast as I can

5:00 I have to go pick up my child from school. On the way home we stop at the grocery store. Get home, eat dinner, try to spend some time with my kid. Then it’s shower, books, bed.

10:30 I am mentally spent, emotionally exhausted and tired to the bone. I lay down to try to rest. I wake up nearly every hour, wondering if I’ve overslept and it’s time to work again. Sleep a few more hours and do it all over again.....

I am burnt out and ready to throw in the towel