A Glimpse Into a Teacher's Brain

On any given day, a teacher's mind goes 100 miles a minute and has a running itemized list of things that need to be done by the end of that hour/day/week. This week for some peculiar reason and yet no reason at all, has felt too overwhelming for my normal late nights, and so I've been leaving stacks of papers ungraded to be done during my prep the next day (or worse, taking them home because I've lied to myself that I will do them once I've finally sat down....news flash: it NEVER happens. I obviously am in denial). Some days I just sit and think about all the things in my brain that I'm trying to keep track of/get done, and it's ridiculous! I then commence to spoil myself with the dream of a personal assistant to follow me around and write things down so I can remember to do them (or better yet, delegate them to him/her). It's like carrying a 10-foot-high pile of boxes and bags very precariously while simultaneously walking up 5 flights of stairs in stilettos on a rainy day. What pushed me over the edge today was that a non-teacher friend (because yes, my friends are categorized into two groups: teachers and non-teachers) told me I shouldn't be complaining, and then casually said he could do my job. WHAT. This dude obviously has no idea what he's saying. Anyway....As a means of catharsis and perhaps even sharing the burden of responsibility for education of the masses, I've decided to amass a list of all the things that I am currently keeping track of.

1) Grading 3 days x 6 class periods worth of work by the weekend
2) Hassling the tech genie to add in a student who hasn't been in the system for the last month that he's been here
3) After #2 has been done, transferring his grades from Engrade (a free grading website) into PowerSchool (our grading software)
4) Write a blurb for the newsletter
5) Find homework articles for next week
6) Level said articles using newsela.com so my lowest students can get the same information at a reading level that is appropriate for them
7) Dig out old chapter tests and modify them before Thanksgiving so kids can take the test
8) Speaking of Thankgiving, figure out what my family is doing this year
9) Family! I need to call my mom and grandma and say hello since I won't be going home this weekend
10) Homework from yesterday's New Teacher Academy (mandated professional development)-- what do I do in my classroom that works? Um...
11) Follow up with the principal about Student Council plans and today's unfinished meeting
12) Find a way to raise funds for a field trip to the library so my kids can work on their research papers
13) Pick research topics for each grade
14) Remember to submit book orders by next Friday!
15) Update student portfolios for conferences next Thursday
16) Figure out how many more hours of PD I need as a new teacher since my school didn't provide any for me last year
17) Track down my mentor at some point and talk about logging more hours
18) Remember to follow up in class about today's webcast with Scholastic
19) Submit attendance tomorrow. Don't forget like you do every week.
20) Eighth grade REALLY needs to finish those damn hero essays. Gotta mail by next week!!
21) Too many IEP kids in one class, it's an outlier class! Speaking of IEPs, need to get new kid's from SpEd teacher
22) Look up classes for next semester. Not sure if I can handle more than 1 with Girls on the Run
23) Follow up with the teachers who said they'd help coach GOTR to see if they've applied yet
24) Speaking of GOTR, I need to start running again. Must find shoes tonight.
25) Lesson plans for next week. Ouch, that twinge in my shoulder.
26) Make an appointment for my shoulder again..it is not better.
27) Appointments! Need to reschedule alumni meeting because of conferences
28) Catch up on readings for master's classes...ugh
29) Holler at my group mates to update about group project due in December
30) It's freezing in here. Pick up package for space heater at the office tomorrow.
31) This heat situation is ridiculous. No functional heat since september-- another reason to quit?
32) Oh yeah, look up job listings in the area


This doesn't include normal life errands. I could keep going if you let me, but it's time to get the hell out of here.