A Day in the Life ... of Me!

Since I have begun teaching my days have become extremely structured. Like most people, I enjoy freedom in my schedule and would prefer more choice, buuuut, I get WAY more done when I have a tight, structured schedule.

I thought it might be interesting to see what a "day in the life" of me looks like nowadays... Keep in mind, this is a "typical" day and my days are not like EVERY day. Anyone in education knows that things happen and the day rarely goes exactly as planned.

4:30-5am - my alarm goes off somewhere in this 30 minutes on days I plan on hitting the gym (which is often these days). My goal is to make it out the day by 5am so I can get to the gym, squeeze in a quick 30 minute workout and be back home by 6am.

6am - get home from the gym, make breakfast and my lunch for the day. After that is done, I get ready for the day. I usually have my work bag, and outfit laid out and ready to go so I can be as speedy as possible.

7am - leave for work. My contract time is technically 8:15-4:15, but I really enjoy getting into work early. It's pretty much the only quiet time of the day, plus, I can leave "on time" which is always nice. The other two teachers on my time are the complete opposite of me and they usually get to to work "on time" and leave late.

8:15 - contract time for teachers, so I can pretty much expect something to come up at this time and my "free time" is over. This time in the morning is usually spent going over things with teachers, making copies and lesson planning.

8:55 - first bell. Students may come in now! This is basically "showtime" and after this point of the day, it feels like a whirlwind.

9:05 - final bell. Students must be in their seats. At this time I take attendance, get students going on their morning math, gather lunch count, etc.

9:15 - my special education teacher comes in to co-teach math with me and it's math time from 9:15-10:15. I am so glad math is in the morning.

10:15 - this is my planning time and "specials" time for the kids. There are two specials every day (except Fridays) and today it is Spanish and music. Spanish is taught in my room, so I usually leave and go work on something in the library or lounge.

10:45 - head back to my classroom to take my kids to music.

11:15 - pick up my kids from music and quickly get started on word work. Traditional spelling is old news and this is the first year that our district is using "word work" which I really, really like. There is still a huge spelling component, but the word parts are taught and it's not solely memorization anymore.

11:40 - head to lunch and recess. I drop the kids off at lunch and then at this time, I either eat in the lounge with my grade level, in the special ed room with my co-teacher, or in my room. It varies by day. Once I sat in the lunchroom with the kids! That was a hit! From 11:40-12:20 I have some free time, except every third week when I have recess duty and have to be outside by 12:10pm.

12:20 - kids come back in from recess and we get started on writing. We just finished an expository writing unit and are now working on a functional writing unit. My co teacher and I are having a fantastic time with this unit and I think the kids are loving it! Think, kids write directions, and we follow them .... our first example was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Gah, I wish I had a video of that!

1:00 - my 90 minute reading block starts. We start with a 20 minute whole group lesson and then break out into reading rotations and I meet with three small groups per day. Sadly, this is my lease favorite time of the day. I am hoping I can change this for next year.

2:30 - This is the time I spend on social studies or science. We never do both, it's either one or the other. We just finished a science unit on the skeletal system and when we get back from break we will begin a social studies unit on the Southeast region of the US.

3:40(ish) - begin to clean up and get ready for dismissal

3:55 - dismissal bell. I high five all the students and they leave! At this time I do a quick sweep of the classroom and make sure everything is in its place. All 28 kids have a "jobs" to do each day (like turn off lamps, water plants, etc.) so the classroom is usually in pretty good order. After this time, I usually begin to get ready for the next day or grade papers.

4:15 - at this time, I may leave. I usually do not though. The work is never done.

5pm - Begin to get ready for the gym. Since it is Monday, I have a gym bag packed and ready to go to one of my favorite Zumba classes, which is on Monday and Wednesdays at 6pm. Right before the class at 5:30 is a core conditioning class that I try to get to as well.

5:30 - 30 minute core class

6pm - Shakin' my booty at a 60 minute Zumba class!

7pm - finally head home for the day. On my way home I usually call Bill and hope he has some dinner ready for me! He usually does during the week since I'm at the gym right after work! He's such a keeper :)

7:30 - sit down and eat dinner. I usually only last about 30-45 minutes before I want to head to bed....

8pm - head to bed to read, watch tv, or grade papers. Usually Bill will join me around 9pm, but he does not go to sleep when I do. Luckily, I can fall asleep with some light or a tv on. However, I do wake up an hour or so later and turn it off.

9-10ish - Snoooooooze.

5am - get up and repeat ...

After reading back through this, it's no wonder this year has flown by for me. I cannot believe there are only about 60 days left of school. I cannot believe my first year of teaching is almost over ... I am going to miss this first group of kids so much. They have really grown up in this year and I am so proud of them! However, I am very much looking forward to teaching next year after having taught everything at least once. It is so scary diving into the unknown almost every day. You never know what is going to happen, and I have been surprised so much this year by how well, or not well, things have gone.

What time does your day start and end? Are you a morning workout person?