Beat The Clock

Life for me is a game of beat the clock. I don’t mean to be negative. It is just reality. I feel this the most in my career choice, teaching.

I love teaching. I have taught every grade K-6 in some form during my 23 tenure. Most of those years were in Kindergarten. How I love those little guys. I loved to creatively weave objectives into play and exploration. I loved to watch them play and talk to them. The only reason I left was TIME. There just wasn’t enough time in the day to really do all I wanted to do and do it well. And, the expectations were going higher and higher with no hope of more time in sight.

So, here I am now in 4th grade where, once again, I am completely and totally frustrated with the lack of time to teach what and how I want to teach. The day feels so chopped up with ….Spanish/ELD, ART, PE ,violins, computer lab and library at awkward times. All of these are important. I just wish all the extras could be at the end of the day… or even after 3PM so that I have time to teach and teach well.

Time is my biggest frustration. There simply isn’t enough. I want time to rest, time to run, time to pray, time to love, time to hang out, and time to teach.

What can I say….. I am not good at “Beat the Clock”. I almost always feel like I am losing. I guess the only time I am not is when I am winning. Maybe when my worth as a teacher isn't graded by one test in early May, then I will feel the value of time for all of the important things.