How tired are you at the end of the day?

[orangeandlemons]

Just wondered because I am wiped out. Am on my feet from 8 10 to about 4 30. Then have to pick up dd, rush home, make tea, and I am just desperate to sit down. It takes me until about8 30 to recover enough to not feel exhausted. Then it's bedtime at 10.00!

If I've taught a full day, utterly exhausted. Most days I get 5 - 10 minutes to eat as I'm either dealing with students at the end of a lesson or setting up for the afternoon's lessons. Very often, it gets to 3.30 and I realise I haven't even had time for a wee.
Lesson planning can take hours, as all my lessons are delivered via powerpoint and it is, as you know, very time-consuming.
Most evenings, I can barely speak with fatigue, let alone have a proper conversation.

My tiredness tends to build up over the term. I am really tired now, but we finish on Friday for 3+ weeks.

If I have unfinished business from school, I like to deal with it straight after supper. Fortunately, I can log onto the school network so can get on with work.

I am the cover manager at school, so sometimes log on early in the morning if someone texts me that they are not coming in.

I am usually in bed, asleep, by 9pm.

Oh yes, recognise not having time to go for a wee. So how do you lot cope with having small children too?

I don't normally wee in school either!

I have a sit down while I sit with ds going to sleep.

Not long till Easter...

Well when I get home, attention has to be on family till they go up for bath / bed. I am lucky that DP is supportive and does bathtime / bedtime so I can get on with prep at 7.30ish. There are evenings when I don't finish till 11.30. And Sundays when DP has to take kids out so I can spend almost whole day doing school work. And I only work 2.5 days!

This is why I'm glad I'm no longer a classroom teacher.

Same in other jobs too...shattered here, work during the day, small child to sort in the evening, then either log on or do project work in the evenings and Sunday nights - it's relentless.

My day today:
Get up 5:45
Get to work 6:45 and crack on.
8:am-8:45 revision class
9-3:30 teaching/marking, fifteen minute sit down for lunch.
4:30-5:30 private tutoring.
6:30-8 data analysis
Now - Masterchef
10pm bed.

Fairly tired!

"And Sundays when DP has to take kids out so I can spend almost whole day doing school work. And I only work 2.5 days! "

That is ridiculous! There is no way you should be spending that much time to prepare for 2.5 days teaching!

Please look carefully at what is taking the time.

Can you be sure that your pupils are benefiting proportionally to the time you are putting in?

Complex, I read that post and did wonder. I work 3 days a week, and try and make it a point of honour never to work at the weekends

I find I function better if I go to bed for ten, ten thirty in the week. I don't think it's that unusual :)

My school has us under massive pressure to produce 'outstanding' lessons as a matter of course. While I don't spend every Sunday working, I do spend a lot of time planning and marking. Gcse controlled assessments can take me 3-4 hours to assess and give proper feedback. While I'm in just 2.5 days, I teach 8 different classes and each one is a different language / year group. I do everything via powerpoint - our text books are shite, and producing lessons with collaborative learning, mini plenaries, afl, etc etc takes me a long time. It is madness, I know. I don't cut corners but can't keep it up for much longer. I don't think the powers that be in my school have any idea how hard we work.

Our school is the same, and I was like you. The I had 6 months off sick with stress....

Now I produce outstanding lessons sometimes, but most of the time I don't. I could if I spent every waking hour pre preparing, but I'm not prepared to do that any more. Neither are my colleagues. We do what we can....

I work in a training centre with 16-18's getting their first ever qualifications. It is utterly exhausting. I find managing their difficult behaviour from 9.30 til 3 pm totally draining, and it's just as well I like the young people or I would have left years ago. There is no way I could do this job full time.

I agree. Management and other people (including my nearest and dearest) have absolutely no idea how draining the work is.

My children do though... They feel my lack of patience with them when my patience supply has been used up on the young people by the end of the day

With regard to outstanding lessons......only when there is a scheduled observation. The rest of the time I wing it on the most perfunctory of planning and I rarely take work home.

I work three afternoons and 2 full days. If I do any supply in the mornings I find I'm wiped out by Fri. I just about get by on my normal week. But, in addition to ppa and 2 late nights at work I probably spend 2 hrs a week working at home throughout the week. I would say my lessons are all good, maybe one or two slip and one or two are outstanding. I like to think I've got the balance right. But my boss probably wouldn't agree
I've no more time to give to my job as my family would pay the price.

Pretty tired at the end of the day - no break from children at all between 9.30 and 3 (and they are ESBD!)

Leafmould, I know what you mean about having used up all your patience before you get home to your own children
It is a bit better now my DC are 12 and 13 and slightly less demanding.

That's my attitude leafmould