The Lowe Down

I am a Teacher/Parent/Counsellor/Policeman/Nurse/Mediator......
a day in the life of Mary

6:30 am - 8:00 am
The alarm clock startles Mary out of her sleep induced coma and she bolts upright in her bed. It takes thirty seconds for her to gain her composure and realizes that the bell has rung, the race is on!  This race begins with the six-thirty alarm and the finish line will be crossed when she crashes into her bed again later tonight sometime between ten-thirty and midnight. Already her brain is cooking breakfast, dressing her children, organizing the household schedule (Melissa’s choir, Ryan’s hockey practice, pick up groceries, lasagna for supper, etc). Once the virtual schedule filters into her brain cells and the blueprint is formed, her feet hit the floor and she is sprinting.
Mary’s husband Mike is a construction worker. He had to be out of the house by six. During the few minutes before they dropped off to sleep the previous evening, Mary had reminded him to put the truck in the garage at noon and pick up Ryan from hockey practice and Melissa from choir following his workday. She would get them to their practices on time, bolt to the grocery store and be home to cook supper before they arrived.
Shower, get kids out of bed, eat breakfast, dress, drop kids off at school, drive to work at Hillview Junior High School, sit in the car for five minutes and collect thoughts, put on a smile, positive thoughts, “I am a teacher, I am a teacher, I am a teacher, GO!”.

8:10am - 8:25am
Once Mary has resolved a schoolyard disagreement between two students involving the ownership of a hockey card, she enters the school. She quickly drops her coat and heads to the grade eight section of the school. Once there she has to ensure that students enter the building in an orderly fashion and are in their classrooms by eight twenty five. These fifteen minutes can be both enjoyable and stressful all at once.
“James you know that the school rules forbid hats being worn into the classroom”
“Hi Jane, how is your dad feeling after his operation”
“Well happy birthday to you Susan. Hope you enjoy your party”
“No! You are not to log onto the classroom computer until the home room teacher is present”
“Ryan, please march yourself down to Principal Evan’s office and we will discuss your inappropriate behavior and use of the “F” word in the school halls”

8:25am - 8:30am
Mary is relieved of her duty as home room teachers file into their classrooms and begin taking attendance and preparing for the day. A quick bathroom break and she is speed walking to her own grade nine home room to begin the daily routine.

8:30am - 11:45am
The beginning of each school consists of taking student attendance, collecting lunch orders and walk-a-thon money that will be used to purchase new computers. Attendance records show that all students except for Niki are present today. The school guidance counsellor came by yesterday to inform Mary that Niki had broken his probation order and would be spending the next three months at the Youth Detention Center. After school she was expected to fax his school records to the education officer at that facility.
Of the remaining twenty seven students, five are given “special” consideration. There are two students deemed gifted and three that have learning difficulties. Mary teaches the Department of Education curriculum to her twenty-two “regular” students and has modified her lesson plans so she can meet the needs of her special students. This lesson planning takes place in addition to her planning for regular stream students. There are slots provided for students deemed “special” to be taken out of the regular class for enrichment but she has them in her classroom for the majority of the time. Many teachers prefer not to modify their lesson planning to accommodate these students but Mary feels that as a professional teacher it is her duty. She has been provided with a student assistant to help her for one hour a day. This is wonderful but not nearly enough. Due to declining enrollment the school board has cut back on student assistant hours and the help is hard to come by.
Mary is having difficulty teaching during English because Adam and Judy are talking and distracting other students. She addresses this with each of them. Adam blames it on Judy and Judy blames it on Adam. It has been a continuous battle with these two students since September. She has notified the vice-principal and sent notes home to the parents but little has changed. Encouragement, detention, extra work, talks, and suspensions have also not worked. She accepts that she will continue to do her best while these students continue to interrupt teaching and learning. She estimates that in the run of a day she spends at least thirty minutes of her time dealing with discipline issues that interrupt her lessons.
Besides the difficulty with Adam and Judy, she has two students that are diagnosed as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD). They are very focused students when they are taking their Ritalin medication, but they often come to school without their “rits”, as it is referred to by other students, and the day consists of Mary trying to keep them focused and on track with the other students. They are great kids who have poor control over their own body and temperament when they are not taking their medication. Mary is not a huge fan of medicating students to improve their performance but sees the benefit for these students and their classmates who are able to focus on learning they can stay on task.
Mary returns an English test to students and is pleased to announce that all students have passed and gives special praise to Joshua, one of her students with a learning disorder, who scored the highest mark ever. During the morning she also offers encouragement and praise to all students, even for the simplest of achievements. Mary believes that it is particularly important to offer encouragement to students who are often discipline problems because so much of what they hear at school is negative.

11:45am - 12:45
Mary puts together a salad from the ingredients of lettuce, tomato and ham that she has brought from home. A cup of tea and its off to the grade eight section at 12:15pm for thirty more minutes of duty.
“James, please remove your hat. If we have to discuss this one more time you will lose it”
“Congratulations on making the basketball team Shauna”
“Did I see you smoking outside the school Trevor. Will have to talk to your mom about that”
“Janie I am sorry to hear that you and Evan broke up. Dry your tears and lets sit here in private and have a talk”
“Jonah, are you copying your homework from Elaine?”
“Love that outfit Jane”


12:45pm - 2:45pm
Mary works her way through a Social Studies lesson on the Inuit of Labrador.
“That’s a wonderful answer Sean. Could you expand on your opinion about the responsibility the government has with this issue”
“Adam could you please answer that question without trying to be funny”
“Please show me your homework from last night”
“This is the second time this week that your homework is incomplete. I will be making a call home to your parents”
“That is a very insightful answer Aaron. You have obviously been doing your readings”
The last slot of the day is slated as “free” on Mary’s schedule but she will have to take this time to make calls to parents.
“Ms. Robinson I want to inform you that Julie did not have her homework completed for the second time this week”
“Mr. Ryan, if you are going to talk to me in this manner I have no choice but to end this conversation”
“Thank you for being so concerned about your child Claire. I wish that all parents were as involved in their child’s school work”

2:45pm - 3:00pm
The final home room gathering of the day is an opportunity for Mary to remind students about homework, walk-a-thon money, and serve discipline letters to Adam and Judy, again.
“Does anyone know where James went after homeroom? I guess I will have to call his parents”
“Please ensure that you bring in your walk-a-thon money and be sure to get your permission slips for the trip to the museum.”

3:00pm - 4:30pm
The monthly staff meeting will be a doozie today. Lots of stressful topics and heated discussion. Mary’s thoughts are, “More stress! That’s just what I need. Is this the day I learn that my job will be gone next year?”
Staff Meeting - Agenda
Teacher Accountability
New duty schedule
Criterion Reference Testing - Poor scores in grade nine Language Arts
Students smoking in school area
Congratulation to Ms. Pynn on Math Award.
Staffing cuts for 2005

4:00pm - 8:00pm

Mary rushes from school to pick up Ryan for hockey and Melissa for choir. After drop off she heads to the grocery store to pick up enough food to last the weekend. Once she gets home she begins to prepare the evening meal and while planning a math test in her head. Mike arrives home with the kids and the family has supper together. Finally, a chance to sit and relax.

“Melissa, don’t talk to your brother like that”
“Mom I want to get my tongue pierced. All the girls are doing it”

Everyone is expected to chip in for cleanup after supper and it gets done quickly. Mary washes, Mike dries and the kids put the dishes away.

“Okay kids get out the books and let’s see what’s for homework”

“Mike you help Ryan with his Language Arts and I will assist Melissa with the Math.”

“Have a great time at hockey Mike. See you around ten.”

8:00pm - 10:00pm
While the kids go and watch television or chat on the phone with their friends, Mary sits at the kitchen table to catch up on school work. She has to prepare a math exam and grade twenty-eight English papers. Following that she has to plan her lessons for the following day and count walk-a-thon money. At nine-thirty she lies on the couch to watch her favorite program, Friends. Unfortunately she dozes off after ten minutes and is awaken by Mike shouting at the children to get ready for bed.

“You stay there honey I’ll make sure they are tucked away”
“Did you win or lose your hockey game?”
“Lets do some family thing this weekend so that we can get in touch with each other and the kids”
“Doesn’t Mike have a hockey tournament this weekend”

10:30pm
Mary feels like a log as she settles into bed. Tired limbs and a frazzled brain will make sleep a welcoming friend. 
“Mike did you ever think that this life is moving at a race car pace and we are driving mopeds?”
“I can’t seem to get everything done”
Checklist for tomorrow - Print off and photocopy math test.
     Call James ‘ dad.
      Dentist appointments for kids.
      Math committee meeting
      Bake cake for choir bake sale.

10:45pm
“Good night Mike. Be sure to pick up Ryan from...........

6:30 am
Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. And they’re off!!!!
Fact: In Newfoundland and Labrador the average teacher invests 52.32 hours per week to school related activities:
Please take time to read the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers Association Workload Study Report. There are a lot of Mary’s in the teaching profession.

http://www.nlta.nl.ca/NLTApub.html