Working Moms

Teacher mommies-XP

Hi ladies! I'm Robyn and I just had my dd on August 31. I'm a first grade teacher.
This was my first week back to work and it's been very overwhelming. My principal has gone from "your plans are your plans" to "you must have every detail written down". My lesson plans are 13 pages long! I feel like I'm already have trouble balancing work and school. The last thing I wan to do when I get home is do school work. I just want to snuggle with dd. I'm working hard on using my prep time efficiently, but there just isn't enough time. How are you balancing work and home? Any suggestions?
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Re: Teacher mommies-XP

  • I'm sorry, that really sucks that your principal is placing greater responsibilities on you at a time when you need more understanding, not more work! Practically, I would set up spreadsheets or word documents so that you have a common, easy to use form and you are just filling in the pieces of the pie each day. Would it be a possibility to talk with your principal about the need for such detailed lesson plans? Or would that not be received well? If there is a legitimate reason, then I don't think there is a way out of it, but even just understanding his/her rationale for it might make it easier for you to swallow having to do them. And as a last resort - what is going to happen if you don't do them? I used to work at a school where lesson plans were required to be turned in. I always did them, but found out half-way through the year that some of my less dedicated colleagues had been "turning in" the same lessons plans each and every week - they never changed anything! I highly doubt with many teachers turning in 13 page lesson plans that they are being thoroughly reviewed. I might do what you "need" to do and definitely don't put too much stress on yourself to try to make them perfect. Hope that helps!

    DD1 - Evelyn Riley - 9/30/11
    DD2 - Charlotte Avery - 1/27/14




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  • That's tough!  When I went into teaching I originally planned to be an elementary school teacher, but after thinking about all the prep work involved, I decided to do middle school.  I have to plan 1 1/2 lesson a day and I just do it 2 times.  We teach blocks so I usually have 1/2 a block as my 5th class, so still no more planning.  There is more grading than elementary, but no tedious work like pre cutting things or stickers, ect.  Plus, my students help me alot.  If they finish early they can help me straighten up the library, update charts, grade multiple choice response, ect.  Is it possible to move up to a higher grade?  There are plenty of things I don't enjoy about middle school, but I'd never give up the fact that I can be with my kids from 2:45 till bed time.
  • Couple of things: I agree about waiting until after the baby goes to bed to do some work. DH and I each take 15 minutes or so to wind down when we get home, and then we play until bedtime. As soon as the baby's asleep, we're both on our laptops getting work done. My lesson plan suggestion is planbook.com; it's been a HUGE time saver for me and is very easy to use. The best part is that I started last year so I can import my lessons from last year to this. PM me if you want me to send you a link to mine to see what it looks like. :)
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