Whoa, what a whirlwind. Week 2 wasn't really a week. It was three days. Anyone can manage a three-day work week, right? Maybe not. All I can say is. Food poisoning. I started feeling off on Saturday night and I don't think I was feeling right again until Friday. I took Monday off, baby still went to daycare because I was a wreck, and then I had Friday off because I don't work every second Friday. It was brutal and I still feel a bit off just thinking about it.
As for my weekly reflection - I am still waiting on keys. As are two of the staff in my faculty. I managed to get a block key, and a classroom key, and I was able to wrangle one more classroom key for a staff member. But that is it until the locksmith returns from holidays in a few days time. So, it is going to be another week and a half, at least, before I can open the book room, get into the staffroom without hunting for one of the cleaning staff in the morning, and tun the electricity back on when it trips the switch. I was asked to type up a list of exactly what keys are needed and pop it in the book where all the jobs are written down. I have returned twice to put the list back in the book. I am hoping by the halfway point of this term that the whole faculty will be able to get into the buildings. Fingers crossed.
As for official duties, I attended my first Executive Meeting, and it went well. I made a few contributions and took the rest of it in - the school is not the same place it was 3-years ago and people have changed in that time. Everyone has grown, the school has grown, and I am just trying to absorb everything, and ask questions to fill the gaps in my knowledge. I have had a few funny looks when I have asked for things but I have been gone a while, and I simply don't remember everything.
As for my personal goals, to write, and ensure I am not existing on caffeine and chocolate, well... My healthy eating has all but gone out the window. My last meal before I was ill was a salad and I can't really stomach the thought of a salad now. I will need to change the ingredients to try to shift the negative association. I guess that is what I am trying to do with my Year 10 class each day - trying to shift their negative associations with the word 'English.' It will be a gradual process for us all.
I have a few tasks still outstanding - collection of mandatory training certificates and contact details, a project outline for one of the school goals. That is my plan for tomorrow morning - just to check where everything is up to and work out who I need to speak with. Mostly, I am just trying to consolidate and ensure we have the resources we need to do our work. I managed to put claims in for items I purchased for the faculty, put a P-Card application through, and compile a large stationery order that I really hope is processed sooner rather than later. We are subsisting on the smell of an oily rag at the moment and it is more difficult than it needs to be.
I am starting to get my head around what writing workshop will look like in class. I think I have resigned myself to the fact that students will be given a period a fortnight or the equivalent for reading - how I wish it were more - but the writing workshop focus will have to do for now. I would love to request more Stage 4 classes next year so that I am able to continue with the process I am starting now but hopefully I will be able to develop the scope and sequence of skill development over Stage 4 this year and it will be ready for staff to use in 2021. Then the next thing to do will be to get stuck into Stage 5.
Some interesting things the kids have said to me so far:
- My husband works at the school as well and I have fielded several, 'Why don't you have the same last name as your husband?' - my response has been - my name is my own, I got married after I had been working for some time so I was already established, and I also mentioned that I'm a feminist.
- I have written my name on the board several times and had the comment, 'You wrote 'Ms' on the whiteboard and you're married. You should write Mrs.' I responded with why write an extra letter when I can get away with two? I didn't mention the hypocrisy of Mr VS. Mrs.
My to do list continues to grow as we move into Week 3.
Saturday, February 15, 2020
Friday, February 14, 2020
Reflections on Week 1, Term 1, 2020
It has been a very busy start to the term. I knew it would be. I was prepared. I have set myself some limits. I am aware that all the things on my to do list will never be done at the end of the day and that is alright, because I am getting through them. I haven't procrastinated on many tasks. Though, I have run out of time in the school day to get things done. That is something I just cannot understand - the role of an executive staff is being available to staff but it is also a teaching role, I have 120 of my own students, and yet I also have the other 900 on my mind. In my periods off face-to-face teaching I have to meet with the principal to ask that the literacy initiative I am running can be copied out of a non-English budget, apologise profusely to the office manager because I didn't follow protocol for ordering textbooks because 20 copies weren't returned by the Standard English class last year and we are studying the play with the next cohort right now.
It has been a pressure pot of ordering stationery and equipment and consumables, like batteries, which run the clocks in our classrooms and remotes for the projectors. All of these small details that don't make a 'leader' but are crucial to the smooth running of a school day so it is leadership, I think, to be all over the small details, while not forgetting the big picture, and realising that I cannot work 15-hours a day. Trying to not panic about all the things that need doing, immediately, is quite a challenge.
Ensuring that my family has a routine is high on my priority list as well. We lasted a day. Our baby had an injection on Wednesday of Week 1, Term 1 and that was it. He was all over the place and so were we. Then we hit Saturday evening and my partner and I were struck down with food poisoning and I have been out of action for the past 30-hours. I feel like a wreck. I managed to prepare my own lessons and those of one of my staff in the moments I felt okay. Had a day off resting and catching up on things I couldn't do over the weekend. And now awaiting on a staff member to send through lessons for tomorrow as she is unwell too. It is wild. And untenable. And hats off to those who do this year in and year out. I am on the learning curve of a life time.
Keys really help, so does being on email mailing lists. So far I have been saved by caring colleagues, I am so very grateful to work with great people. I know though that every one thing I can't do for myself is something someone else has to add to their workload for the day. I have a different concept of time lately, I am keenly aware of whom I am taking time from if I am not doing what I am meant to be doing, if something isn't working that should be working, inefficiencies make me really cross, in a way they didn't before. Now, if my work computer isn't functioning I know that is more time I will have to spend working at home, or after school, more time that my child will be in the company of people who are paid to look after him. And that breaks my heart a little, each and every day.
I must say that it definitely isn't all doom and gloom though. I have opportunities to mentor and support early career teachers. I am getting things done. I have made a few small but deliberate changes in line with a greater vision and the staff working with me on this, seem excited. I have another 3-days this week to get all finance/purchasing stuff done, clean and unpack my classroom, book PDP meetings with staff.
It has been a pressure pot of ordering stationery and equipment and consumables, like batteries, which run the clocks in our classrooms and remotes for the projectors. All of these small details that don't make a 'leader' but are crucial to the smooth running of a school day so it is leadership, I think, to be all over the small details, while not forgetting the big picture, and realising that I cannot work 15-hours a day. Trying to not panic about all the things that need doing, immediately, is quite a challenge.
Ensuring that my family has a routine is high on my priority list as well. We lasted a day. Our baby had an injection on Wednesday of Week 1, Term 1 and that was it. He was all over the place and so were we. Then we hit Saturday evening and my partner and I were struck down with food poisoning and I have been out of action for the past 30-hours. I feel like a wreck. I managed to prepare my own lessons and those of one of my staff in the moments I felt okay. Had a day off resting and catching up on things I couldn't do over the weekend. And now awaiting on a staff member to send through lessons for tomorrow as she is unwell too. It is wild. And untenable. And hats off to those who do this year in and year out. I am on the learning curve of a life time.
Keys really help, so does being on email mailing lists. So far I have been saved by caring colleagues, I am so very grateful to work with great people. I know though that every one thing I can't do for myself is something someone else has to add to their workload for the day. I have a different concept of time lately, I am keenly aware of whom I am taking time from if I am not doing what I am meant to be doing, if something isn't working that should be working, inefficiencies make me really cross, in a way they didn't before. Now, if my work computer isn't functioning I know that is more time I will have to spend working at home, or after school, more time that my child will be in the company of people who are paid to look after him. And that breaks my heart a little, each and every day.
I must say that it definitely isn't all doom and gloom though. I have opportunities to mentor and support early career teachers. I am getting things done. I have made a few small but deliberate changes in line with a greater vision and the staff working with me on this, seem excited. I have another 3-days this week to get all finance/purchasing stuff done, clean and unpack my classroom, book PDP meetings with staff.
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