To ask teachers on mumsnet what ‘behind the scenes’ things your job involves

[Humbersausage]

I have always found it really interesting how most of the work teachers do is never seen by parents or students. Aibu to ask teachers what bits of the job there are that we don’t see. In other words Aibu to ask what the ‘trade secrets’ of teaching there are?

Apart from the usual stuff I find it's the trips to the shop to get things for school.
Today I went to get candy canes for a guess the amount in the jar activity for our 12 days of Christmas.
The other day had to scoot to the shops to get glitter and paper plates for art ( it's all reimbursable so that's not the issue)
I have a 2 and 5 yr old so it's a dose.,mind you so was cleaning up the feckin glitter!

Tomorrow I have a Standards Review Meeting with my line manager and the head to discuss the Year 12 and 13 groups in my subject area. I’ve had to provide a report in advance of this meeting, analysing data and identifying groups of students who are underperforming, then suggesting ways to improve their grades. Fun!

Complaining about management

Telling stories about hilarious (unintentional?) things the kids have said

Crying because of behaviour/witnessing difficult situations

Wondering where you're going to get paper plates before 8am tomorrow (brilliant lesson idea? Is it ever?)

Oh and Pinterest.. have lost hours on that!

I think people generally don’t understand how much data analysis we have to do

Last night i spent 5 hours trying to get ahead on the planning of my first week back after Christmas. Purchased a couple of items online for my topic. Spent lunchtime today printing off said resources.

There’s a lot of continuing professional development too be done all throughout the year. Lots of teachers also complete further study such as Masters degrees alongside their full time jobs.

Reading through chapter upon chapter of academic research just to make sure a particular point you want to make in class is absolutely correct.

Also, am I the only one detecting a slightly cynical tone in the OP?

mnahmnah Absolutely! I definitely didn’t sign up for all the data analysis...

Obvious things like making resources, prepping lessons, planning and marking and meetings.
Entering assessments into databases and test analysis. That takes ages.
Sorting classrooms out - moving furniture and so on, in the quest to find the perfect arrangement (this is me a lot this year - I've got a tricky bunch).
Keeping behaviour records - again, for me, it's a lot of the time this year.
Discussions with TA.
Phoning parents / colleagues in other schools - maybe one-two calls a day, sometimes only minutes but some are quite lengthy.
Responding to emails. Again, usually brief but some take a lot of thinking about to compose, particularly to one parent we have. Had 10 emails today, which is fairly standard (and I understand in other jobs emails number in the hundreds daily - that must be very time-consuming!).
Oh yeah, and husbands who see you typing away at home and expect you to drop it all and have an in-depth conversation THAT VERY MINUTE because he's just got in. That may just be me, of course...

Yesterday I found myself wiping vomit handprints off of the classroom and toilet doors (child had been sick and went to wash hands in the toilet).
Picking up coats/bags/hats/gloves from the floor by the coat pegs.
Searching for lost items.
Unscrewing water bottle lids that are too tight.
Tying shoelaces.
Tying long hair back into ponytails.
Putting masking tape over ears to cover earrings for PE.
Repeating myself continuously.

Data analysis, emailing parents- theres genuinely an expectation that we are on hand anytime to answer emails.
Girls falling out....all. the. Bloody. Time!
Boys fighting, sometimes.
Tidying up the classroom
Emails...
Marking
Feedback on work
Planning based on data
Emails...
Staff training
Detention duty
After school club duty
Break duty
Planning staff training

@switswoo81 when you're secondary science you find yourself buying quite a lot of hearts, fish heads, kidneys etc etc!

The one really good thing about Covid is not having to run a club. That always pushed all the other work back an hour, and in the winter it was cold and dark.

Writing and rewriting schemes of work for every class just because the bastard education minister decides to go on a power trip and change everything because he thinks he knows best.

This week I have been looking up research and making a presentation on it to show progress towards a research target we have to have as part of our performance review.

Going through classes and flagging up students who are behind on the system - this usually then generates an email from tutors and possibly contact with parents so not a 10-second job all told.

Marking obviously, but also logging marks, keeping my mark book up to date, checking where students are against targets.

Entering grades on to the system (different to the mark book)

Reading ahead for next term, doing research etc (I’ve never had a single year in my teaching career where I wasn’t teaching a new subject, year group or syllabus)

Making sure exam entries are all correct and the right classes have been entered for the right things.

Emailing students off sick or self-isolating, setting work for them and answering messages about it.

Finding ways to promote my subject and work with local employers when we can’t go anywhere or get anyone to come in!

Reading though UCAS stuff for students I teach (they have tutors to do this but often want subject advice)

Dealing with mental health and emotional issues with students.

This is sixth form teaching, I teach 23 hours a week and get a bare minimum of frees - and have to plan and teach as well!

Things I have done this term:
Detailed data analysis of progress including breaking down into vulnerable groups.
Provision mapping for intervention/catch up sessions.
Training on key areas our school are focussing on this year.
Working on the progression documents of the subject I lead.
Monitoring the learning happening across the school in the subject I lead.
Phoning parents.
Discussions with colleagues regarding particular pupils/families that need support.
Filling out forms/needs assessments/ discussion with outside agencies regarding pupils with SEN.
Ordering resources.
Communication with families regarding enrichment days.
Putting up displays.
Planning.
Marking.

Practicing their kegels because they have one loo break a day.

Mentoring a trainee teacher
Delivering CPD to colleagues
Chasing students for missing work

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

Practicing their kegels because they have one loo break a day.

Forgot about subject leadership - small school for me so we have multiple subjects to lead. That's book scrutinies, pupil conferencing, planning checks, resourcing , deep dive forms and so on to complete.

The loo break thing finished me off with teaching. I mean, I was almost done anyway, but the impossibility of managing loo breaks had become an issue.

Hours of marking. Emails about ridiculous things. Cleaning my classroom because I can’t bear any kind of mess... listening to constant moaning about an unfair tackle in a playground football match. Putting headache balm on every half an hour. Data analysis.

My last lesson today took about an hour to plan and prep and set up. Doing a test run, making a power point and hand out, setting room up etc.
I also want to photograph the work (practical).
Luckily there's no formal assessment from it.
Also today- other lessons which took almost as long, pupil information to send, a reference for a pupil, and a meeting.
Love it though!!

This week, what I've done over and beyond usual planning, teaching, marking, data analysis is ...Making cakes for y10 to eat during our last lesson/cleaning my classroom because the cleaning staff haven't got the time as short staffed. Speaking to y9s about their GCSE options, filing away all my work sheets that I've used this half term, continued to build a website for my faculty. Bought a film for my class to watch, help a colleague who'd had a boy leave the lesson and not come back.

Planning takes me ages. I've been teaching (primary) for 16 years and still have to do fresh planning every year. If I'm in the same year group for two consecutive years I can recycle some bits but there are so many curriculum changes or changing priority areas or just differences between cohorts that I never just get to fall back on things I've used before.

Also resourcing - I teach KS1 at the moment and I can't just decide that we will write a story,for example. I have to create a picture storyboard or sentence starters or a vocabulary bank. Then differentiated versions need to be produced for different abilities. Sometimes things are available online but you still need to find and adapt them.

I teach at least 4 different subjects per day, plus little extra bits like phonics/handwriting and everything needs planning and resourcing. Then I also have to plan interventions for a TA to deliver to small groups.

There are also displays - we have to have them for most subjects and they are supposed to be regularly updated to reflect current learning.

Then there are always just bits and pieces to do. Eg, in my school we have to have evidence for every lesson taught so we keep a book of photo evidence for practical lessons and the photos need printing, cutting out and sticking into the book. Luckily in the last couple of years there's been a move away from intensive marking in books (that young children never read anyway!) so the marking workload is less than it used to be.

Some people are very efficient and get everything done during the school day but I am sadly not one of those people . I have youngish DC of my own and I often have to leave work to take them to activities etc. By the time I've sorted them, done dinner and bed it's usually 8.30/9.00 then I have to sit down and do work. I'm tired in the evenings after being on my feet all day and so it often takes me longer to get things done than it probably should. I do try to use the holidays to get ahead but I like to chill out and spend time with my family too.

Oh and watching an entire fucking series of art ninja at lunchtimes while the kids eat in class after realising that the cartoon we all loved watching was a PG 😬