help needed for a school teacher

[dave1982]

Hi, i'm writing this to seek advice for a friend. She qualified as a teacher last summer and has been working at a junior school ever since (teaching 6-10 year olds), she's recently having doubts about her career as she has very little time to herself cos she is forever planning, every evening and most of the weekend. It's really getting her down. She's doing really great in her job as all her fellow teachers and her head have complimented her on how well she's done considering it's her first year. So i'm seeking any help or tips from people in the same career that could help her condense down her planning time so she can enjoy her personal life as well as her career while she's still young.

Thankd in advance.

[chrisrob]

Wish I could have found an answer. Everyone thinks teaching is easy: 9 to 3, 12 weeks holidays. Humbug. At one stage in my 30 year junior teaching career, I went to bed at 2:00am every day and got up at 6:00.100 hour working weeks were the norm.
Not all teachers do that of course, only the dedicated hard working diligent ones we need. Some do seem to just work to the book but I never discovered how.

[Lil O'lady]

Perhaps she could ask about setting up a job share. There might be people looking to do similar, so the school gets the benefit of two fresh teachers instead of one weary teacher. The TES website has forums, one of which is dedicated to people seeking and offering jobshares. It's a bit hidden but go to www.tes.co.uk, look under communities, and find (I think) job seekers.

[coccinelle]

The first year is the hardest as there's so much work to do but she'll find that she can use work and her planners from this year with next year's pupils.
Finding material and images has become a lot easier with the internet.
However, no shortcuts with correcting work but as time goes on you do get quicker at it.

[danchip]

i may be wrong but aren't teachers given directed time now during the day to do planning and marking

[Lil O'lady]

I'd have to take issue with Sprinter. Yes, teaching is incredibly demanding, but the massive workloads are getting bigger and it is not on. It means that to survive, something has to give - enthusiasm, patience, preparation, marking all go down in quality.
But by accepting a part-time or shared arrangement a good teacher can continue in a rewarding position without being killed off by the workload.

[sophie_1003]

danchip- teachers get 2 half hrs a week (think thats right) out of the classroom to plan and prepare lessons, mark and assess children, prepare for any meetings with parents, other teachers or professionals (and the rest)considering I've been told that it may take upto 3 hours to properly plan for an hour long lesson when you first start planning and apparently most teachers manage to cut this down to an hour with practice, one afternoon is not a lot to do this let alone everything else!

[sophie_1003]

sorry that should read- 2 and a half hrs

[EngTeach]

It will get easier. The school should pair her with an experienced teacher teaching the same grade/courses. Someone to serve as a mentor. I have been teaching for 17 years and I promise it gets better. I used to take a "teacher nap" in the afternoon and then get up and finish planning.

I now plan for about 3 weeks at a time. I just sketch out the overall place i hope to end up and then fill in the day to day stuff . Each night or every few nights. This comes with experience. She will have no clue until about the 3rd year how to manage school and her life. The friends and family have to be understanding. Teaching is very consuming and those kids sneak under your skin. I also work like a dog before breaks so that I have very little to do over them. She also should not overlook the power of a very well timed video complete with questions and gobs of writing to go along with it. Just don't do it too much.

Good luck to her

[thugulike]

All teachers get 10% PPA time. The first year is particularly hard but it does get easier.