I Work Hard But I Keep My Hours
“You have to have a good balance, but let's face it—If we want to be good at our job, we have to put the work in, so I can't expect to be great at this if I don't do my part. (….) So I put a lot of work into what I do, because I know the rewards are going to be better.”
“I mean, it's hard. This is a hard job that we do.”
“To help with that balance, I would rather put in a few hours of work, maybe on the weekend (…) So that way at 3:30 every day after school I can leave. I'm prepped. I prep myself usually for two weeks at a time. I want to be prepped, copies ready, projects, everything is prepped and ready to go. That way I can leave every day on time unless I have my meetings, which we all do. I think just knowing that I can walk out every day at 3:30. I don't have to stay. I go in about a half hour early every day and I definitely do spend some time in on the weekends.”
Planning Has Become Easier
My plans from year to year are not changing too much. We have a pacing guide that we follow every year, so we know exactly what we're teaching, on what days we're teaching it. So that part, the lesson planning, is not as difficult and time-consuming.
When I Go Home, It’s Leisure Activities, Not Work
“I don't have to come home and sit here and do work all night as well, because then you're just going to be completely overwhelmed. You were at work all day.”
“My favorite thing to do is watch our shows that we've DVRed. I go dancing on Wednesday nights. I go line dancing and I have some colleagues that come along too, and my daughter-in-laws. And I like to dance in the kitchen. I try to find things that I like to do.”
“My husband is very supportive in so many ways (….) My husband cooks all the time. He does all of our dinners, so I don't have to do that part of it.”
But It Is Hard To Turn Off My School Brain
"I'm up at night thinking, what could I have done different? (…) Trying to just check your email once when you get home at night, and then not check it again until the morning. But I'm not good at any of this. (…) It's just my brain's working all the time, you know. It's hard to go to sleep."