A Day in the Life of a High School Teacher - The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly

I'm interested in knowing what a day in your profession looks like.  Everyone has ideas about what they think a doctor, lawyer, salesman, teacher, or ______ (you fill in the blank) does each day... but what do they really do all day?

I'll start.  :)

Courtesy of some of my students in Art :)

I'm a high school social studies teacher and basically I have about 900 tabs open in my browser head at one time.  

I would wager that most people think a teacher's day goes like so:

• Get to school early to tutor, make copies, prepare for the day
• Teach a section of 25-30 students a lesson prepared in advance
• Repeat step 2 two more times
• Mix in a planning period to grade, respond to emails, and make future lesson plans
• Stay after school for a meeting or two, call parents, grade, prepare for the next day

All of the above is true.  Just add in:

• Filter through about 1+ questions/concerns per minute of teaching time (Think: I left my homework at home.  My mom wants you to call her.  Can I make up my quiz tomorrow?  Did you see in the news that such-in-such happened?  Do we have school tomorrow?  What's the date?  What are we supposed to be doing right now?  Do you have a pencil?  I need a piece of paper.  It's cold in here.  It's hot in here.  Can I go to the bathroom?  Will you assign some extra credit?  Do we have to do this?)
• "Teaching" = putting on a one man circus to engage the 5-minute attention span of 30+ teenagers.
• Finally get a class on task for one sacred minute just in time to be interrupted by a call from the office or intercom with a counselor or principal needing to see a student
• Put 3 meetings during that planning period on top of a to do list you know you'll never complete before leaving school (Grade the honors essays, enter the Unit Test grades, check the end-of-class assessment so you know how to structure tomorrow's lesson, finalize tomorrow's lesson, make copies, call 2 parents, write the referral for Johnny who will not follow directions, put together a packet of work for Luke who just got suspended for 10 days and is already failing, respond to the 20 emails waiting in your inbox, tutor Suzy during her lunch, stop by the nurse's and social worker's offices to discuss another student who told you she's pregnant...etc.)
• After leaving work, respond to 10-15 texts with encouragement to pregnant student, explanations of the homework assignment, updates for parents on their child's progress, times for tutoring sessions, reminders to make up tests and complete homework... all while fixing dinner and packing everyone's bag for the next day
• Have a phone conference while your baby is screaming in the next room because it's the only time you and that parent can "meet" this week and your husband is at a meeting

All of the above is also true and really happened in one day.

Being a teacher is really like being a nurse, mom, mind-reader, secretary, janitor, life coach, counselor, judge, scholar, motivational speaker, one-man-circus, and mentor all at the same time.  5% of my job is actually teaching, and 95% is other stuff.  If all I had to do was teach it would be an easy job!

Society (& myself) expect me to create fabulous lessons with student collaboration that teaches them to make a difference in the world... and understand the state standards that they'll be assessed on at the end of a semester (that's made by someone who's never actually stepped foot in my classroom)...

To sponsor awesome clubs to motivate students to raise the social, academic, and moral standards for themselves and others....

To teach students to think critically, be informed, and advocate for themselves....

To have Pinterest-worthy bulletin boards, maps, and colors on the walls...

To raise future leaders that aren't afraid to get dirty and volunteer to help others...

But the reality is this:

I'm literally teaching 10th graders how to read and tie their shoes.

I'm am giving students the questions to their quiz on their warm up and going over the answers, just to have them ask "Did you even teach us this?" and say "I don't know what this is" as they look at the quiz questions like they are in Japanese.

I am having to explain that there are 12 months in a year when Jane can't figure out the answer to the question "If John makes $3000 a month, how much is his yearly salary?" ...Only to be laughed at by a student who responds "Mrs. Morgan, I didn't know that - it's not like I count the months on a calendar."

I am teaching 10th grade students that North Carolina is the state they live in and the USA is the country they live in... so that they can attempt to learn that the NC General Assembly makes laws for the state and the US Congress makes laws for the country.

I am having to explain to a student why I won't give him extra credit assignments when he has a 5 average (yes, a five, not a 50)... after telling him he could turn in any of his missing work for full credit.  And then he'll ask if he can leave class to go to the bathroom.

This is the reality of my job.

Oh yeah, and that pregnant student you poured your soul into... the 12th pregnant girl you've had in 4 years... you just learned that she dropped out.

Such is a teacher's life.

What's your job like?  :)