How are you coping (December thread)

[AnoDeLosMuertos]

I’ve just come back after being off for a week with Covid. Just had a little cry as Tuesday is my hardest day of the week and the behaviour is getting harder. A year 9 class I have on Tuesdays is a double lesson which makes me feel like an NQT again. I’ve been teaching for 12 years but started at this school in September.

Travelling around with a trolley all over school is tiring, remembering to take all my resources for 5 lessons is annoying, behaviour in some classes is lacklustre/ lazy or downright badly behaved.

Is anyone else dragging themselves towards the end of term???

I definitely feel like I'm dragging myself to the end of term too.

I have a tonne of marking to do, a tonne of reports to write (by the end of the week) and there seems to be no acknowledgement that Covid is causing all of us a lot of extra stress/work.

I just feel exhausted. Constantly battling with kids to get them to social distance and wear masks is exhausting me, as well.

Yes! My marking load is huge, I'm so tired and feel like I might cry most days. Very much teetering on the emotional brink. Kids are exhausted, emotional and we are too. It's a bad combination as for them, they act out and overreact, and it all makes us feel more tired and worn down dealing with it.

Having a bit of a tough time out of school too, which doesn't help.

2020 needs to do one.

Me, I am an NQT in secondary.

I’m going to stick with teaching this academic year. But if I don’t feel better about it once all the Covid crap has disappeared then I’m quitting teaching.

Hopefully I’ll get better over time and things will get easier.

It is a huge struggle. At my school nothing has been scaled back to take into account we are teaching in a pandemic. Expectations and demands have been ramped up instead to deal with gaps in learning. Horrible situation and many people are just clinging on until the end of term. Really hope we don’t have to isolate over Christmas. 💐for all who are struggling x

I’m having the learning walks. Just found out we’re having more next week.

I’m getting into bed now 😔

*hating.

I'm alright at the moment, but anxiety is high over the potential for a whole-xmas holiday isolation period.

We've got a quarter of the kids off in our school, due mostly to adult cases (although no children are being tested), so it's in the school.

Everything crossed.

And regard SLT expectations, I'm phase leader and am pushing everything back to them and/or ignoring it all. My teachers and TAs are working hard enough, with extremely challenging children. Any monitoring is being done as a collective, I'm not judging anyone on anything.

I am swearing ;at home ,in the car, in the bath .It’s working for me ,.Love my class ,feel for my colleagues and just focusing on getting through the next few weeks . I have taught for thirty years , resisted SLT as the classroom is where I want to be ..We are so near to getting through this.

I’m an NQT in primary in a challenging state primary in London. In October our bubble was sent home, and I also developed covid. I am so so so so tired, but thought I was fine until my head of year asked me how I was at 5.30 last Thursday and I barely stopped crying until I went to bed 5 hours later.

Nothing in particular had happened. I have had worse days. I really felt like I was unravelling and felt really scared. My lovely experienced colleagues just explained it’s fatigue... apparently.

For the NQTs finding it tough - hang in there. This is the hardest term by far and the whole covid situation makes it even harder.

This week has been long -2 nights of being in school until 7pm making parents eve calls.

I am secondary and teach mostly upper school. I feel like I have so much content to cover prior to Christmas that there isn't really any let up at all Plus, the usual Xmas activities can't happen so it doesn't feel quite as festive as it usually does.

Putting my tree up this weekend to help me feel more festive.