For the most part, I try to take weekends off. I always try to get to school early and stay for a little while after so that I can have some freedom and peace of mind that work stays at work. But then again, I check my email frequently over holiday weekends and days off, I don't want to miss anything. I am also guilty of blogging, editing photos, editing videos, and doing other 'work' related things on the weekends.
Two Saturdays ago, I bought a bunch of pumpkins for still life drawing, and I couldn't resist, I HAD to make my teacher sample right away. As an art teacher, it is hard to turn off the teaching side of my brain....even though I'm not grading papers on the weekends, visiting with art teacher friends, going to art museums, and even scrolling through Pinterest is another version of 'work'.
It is really hard for me to turn off my brain and not think about work. Over our vacation this summer, a principal called me, it was 9:30 at home, but since we were on the west coast, it was only 7:30 a.m. I felt obligated to return the call right away because I knew exactly what it was about, and it needed an immediate response, not an emergency, but not something I could put off for over a week, until we got back to town.
I don't make a habit of working in my classroom on the weekends, but I have definitely used that time to prep materials, or set stuff up if I am anticipating a busy week. Teaching requires more time than any one person can get done in a regular work day. I don't think people outside of education understand how much time it takes to plan, prepare and pull off a 30-class week. Sometimes it is insane how much has to be done in order to get ready for a big unit, and all the grading that has to be done at the end of one. I'm not saying my way is the right way, but since taking my new job, I have felt the need to make everything from scratch. Almost all of my visuals are brand new, I don't want to recycle old stuff my students have done before, so I am working like a dog to prep every single element in the lesson, from presentations to examples, rubrics, handouts, tracers, paper cutting, getting paint ready, bulletin board visuals, the whole 9 yards.
This post is part of the 30-Day September blog challenge for teachers.
Two Saturdays ago, I bought a bunch of pumpkins for still life drawing, and I couldn't resist, I HAD to make my teacher sample right away. As an art teacher, it is hard to turn off the teaching side of my brain....even though I'm not grading papers on the weekends, visiting with art teacher friends, going to art museums, and even scrolling through Pinterest is another version of 'work'.
It is really hard for me to turn off my brain and not think about work. Over our vacation this summer, a principal called me, it was 9:30 at home, but since we were on the west coast, it was only 7:30 a.m. I felt obligated to return the call right away because I knew exactly what it was about, and it needed an immediate response, not an emergency, but not something I could put off for over a week, until we got back to town.
I don't make a habit of working in my classroom on the weekends, but I have definitely used that time to prep materials, or set stuff up if I am anticipating a busy week. Teaching requires more time than any one person can get done in a regular work day. I don't think people outside of education understand how much time it takes to plan, prepare and pull off a 30-class week. Sometimes it is insane how much has to be done in order to get ready for a big unit, and all the grading that has to be done at the end of one. I'm not saying my way is the right way, but since taking my new job, I have felt the need to make everything from scratch. Almost all of my visuals are brand new, I don't want to recycle old stuff my students have done before, so I am working like a dog to prep every single element in the lesson, from presentations to examples, rubrics, handouts, tracers, paper cutting, getting paint ready, bulletin board visuals, the whole 9 yards.
This post is part of the 30-Day September blog challenge for teachers.
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