The Forty-fifth Republic - Is there anyone there? Surely time for half term

[Staffdontblowitnow]

You are most welcome to this school staff support thread to get us through stressful times. It is meant for school staff only – a sort of room of requirement. Baiters, haters, goaders, and bashers can jog on somewhere else.

If you are NOT staff and just have a general education query please start your own thread.

You can play here if you are a member of one the following groups-

-ABBA - anti bashers and baiting association
-SWAB - school workers against bashers
-SWOT - school workers opposing teacherbashers
-STARS - schoolworkers together against ranting + slurs

Do not give the staffroom password just in case it attracts the wrong sort

Other requirements for staff room entry include the ability to find the staff room, the ability to find a clean mug in the staff room, knowledge of the photocopier codes, and the ability to sniff out where the booze is stashed - Thirsty Tuesdays, Fizz Fridays now in operation.

If you come with a stick to goad us then that is not allowed in the staffroom and you will receive a detention

Stress dizziness may be a Thing?

Dizziness and fainting seems to be my stress reaction, Crackle. All through my NQT and RQT years, although it has settled down since. Facial tics too. When I went to see the doctor, he was unsurprised when I mentioned I was a teacher.

We could afford me not to be working, but mentally it wasn't good. I need to be working.

Thanks, Rule. I love my job, brilliant colleagues, brilliant children and fits so nicely with my own dc too. I also have a real fear of being unemployed and therefore making myself unemployable.

It's draining at the moment though. I think I'm just poor at time management and a bit frightened of not being 100% prepared. I also think of all the crafting and volunteering I could do if I wasn't working!

I am, and always have been a live to work type which is why i get so wound up when I am overlooked/shat upon/undervalued/not promoted!

Speaking of which , after a year and a half of 'giving up', I am about to try again so expect me to be mightily pissed off in a couple of weeks when a younger, male, less experienced science teacher gets the job! It'll be the second time of applying for this role. The person who got it last time is leaving. I was told if he hadn't applied they would definitely have appointed me . They ahve now made this role SLT though, and they are pretty explicit that my face does not fit not enough facial hair but working on that

I have a question. If you could get by perfectly well without your teacher salary, would you leave your job now?

Absolutely. I would probably volunteer doing intervention though.

I also think of all the crafting and volunteering I could do if I wasn't working!

That doesn't happen for me. I just sit. We were talking about that last night- how much time I'm spending almost being 'beyond bored'- not motivated to do anything. At all. Doomscrolling...

I get lots of my self worth from doing a job (well).

Go piggy!

We both would. We have plans...

We could get by without my salary and it's very tempting to resign.

But, dh could die at any time and I would be poorer and struggle on half his pension and no salary. And ds is unlikely to ever be financially independent. So, I cling on.

@RuleWithAWoodenFoot

I also think of all the crafting and volunteering I could do if I wasn't working!

That doesn't happen for me. I just sit. We were talking about that last night- how much time I'm spending almost being 'beyond bored'- not motivated to do anything. At all. Doomscrolling...

I get lots of my self worth from doing a job (well).

I do understand the just sit thing. I am doing that at the moment. I think I would be better without a lockdown though. I would get super fit and train to be an ultra runner,start cooking experiments and help at food banks and my parents church.

Probably just kidding myself though.

More or Less, R4, currently discussing risk to teachers...

Not just now rule no. a) I'm only part time so it's manageable and prevents me becoming a total alcoholic and b) ds is still in school anyway so I'm stuck here anyway.

If ds was already done with education and I owned a house or something that didn't make pension too much of a worry my answer would likely be different and I'd probably arrange a September start overseas job and leave at Easter.

Currently, despite the financial insecurity, I'm relieved to be part time. When I read of people still teaching full time in school and doing remote learning at a time with case numbers as they have been I'm horrified for them and selfishly very relieved not to be in that position.

Thanks for that article (bylinetimes.com/2021/02/02/cambridge-analytica-psychologist-advising-global-covid-19-disinformation-network-linked-to-nigel-farage-and-conservative-party/ ) Noble.

Scary, and so hidden from the eyes of most.

Just done my first live lesson. I kid you not, I was absolutely bricking it before I started stupid anxiety but once I got into it I just talked shit nonsense like I always do. They were very well behaved in the chat, and I kept it to 30 minutes of input. Time for a celebratory hobnob.

Have two hobnobs. It's cruel to just eat one.

Whatever you say

My next challenge is waking the boy for his live lesson period 3. He has another period 5 and in between and after he can do the three non lives.

My first live starts after his so I can get him sorted downstairs on the computer and me in my bedroom on the laptop. No camera obviously. I'm just a voice in the abyss if anyone joins the meet for help with the set work.

Managed a lie in but need coffee and then I'm sure I've got more marking to do

@Stepawayfromtheminirolls

Just done my first live lesson. I kid you not, I was absolutely bricking it before I started stupid anxiety but once I got into it I just talked shit nonsense like I always do. They were very well behaved in the chat, and I kept it to 30 minutes of input. Time for a celebratory hobnob.

Well done, Stepawayfromtheminirolls. Now it's done, it will definitely get easier.

I didn't realise how much blinking I do until I saw myself on a recorded Teams lesson . And "okay!".

Personally, I suspect teaching is as addictive as crack.

Seriously.

I think there's something in the structure of teaching (not the paperwork and data - the actual interaction but) that hooks into quite primal mechanisms - and we get hooked.

It's why we keep going back for more, despite the nonsense: we're addicted.

I think it's partly that any other job would go so slowly. I'm sometimes envious of people who can hide behind their computer and pretend to be busy when they're having a bad day but in reality I think time would go so slowly.

There's also a perpetual kept on your toes element to teaching and I get to be more myself in the classroom than I do in most environments because I'm quite irreverent and jokey in a way that doesn't go down great in more adult situations.

I don't know. When it works it's great when it doesn't you're not alone because there'll be others telling you they find that class/child/topic a nightmare too. There's something about wrestling through your day that perhaps suits me better than clock watching mundanity.

I teach because I have a super low boredom threshold - different classes and topics keeps my mind going. I have learnt tho that feeling bored in what I’m teaching (teaching topics year after year) does make me unhappy. I always need to be challenged . This unfortunately doesn’t work with my HoD’s desire for continuity (everyone teaches the exact same thing, year on year) as I think that that isn’t necessarily the best for the students, only the staff.

I love the sense of community that teaching brings. I think I'm just worn down, like so many of us at the moment.

Thanks for your opinions though, I've been feeling very sorry for myself lately, then guilty because I know I haven't got it bad at all.

I teach because I have a super low boredom threshold - different classes and topics keeps my mind going that's me too. I graduated top of my class at uni (not so stealth brag there!), and a local company (not so local now actually) always offered a job to the top 3 graduates in maths and/or computing for some reason. I was offered one of those jobs doing computer programming of some mathematical software. I turned them down because I knew I would be deadly bored sitting at a computer the whole time. I could have been on a really great salary by now but turned it down for the interaction of teaching.

The head has just emailed those of us in the maths department to tell us how much he values what we're doing but he's worried about our mental health!! Apparently he thinks we might be doing too much, and gave us permission to cut corners and set self marking exercises more often, so we get the chance to take longer and more meaningful breaks from our work. I'm really surprised by this, as I don't feel particularly more overworked than normal at this time of year, but that might be because I have smaller classes this year so less marking perhaps? But I've been given permission to cut corners (thank goodness for that, I already am!!)

Impressive that your head has noticed MsAD

I find teaching hard as I am a natural extrovert. I have got better over 20 years nobody would know now. Its an act butbit is exhausting. I love explaining my subject but hate the battle of explaining to those not interested or unable to understand Physics.
I had the perfect job ad a Science TA doing small group teaching but the pay wasn't good.

I know MrsH. I have a feeling my hod may have said something after the last "can you all just......" email yesterday. I think HE (the head) is struggling with his MH this lockdown (it looks like it on briefings) so it's really on his radar to keep an eye on teacher workload. It's not normally like him, he's normally quite a perfectionist himself, so for him to give permission to let things be a bit less perfect is huge!!!