today is a half-day for chicago public schools. students come to school in the morning but leave just after noon so the teachers can sit around and "professionally develop" themselves, by which i mean we doodle in the margins of our notes and nod when the principal/professional developer says something we're supposed to agree with. on half days my kids don't come to see me because there's not really enough time to pull them out of class. so i come in at my usual time because i have to clock in, but then i have the morning to myself to plan lessons and grade papers and organize my room.
i came in a few minutes late this morning and my room was cold because i'd left the window open a crack, so i made myself a mug of hot chocolate and settled in to write a couple of e-mails and poke around at some webpages for a little while as i warmed up and waiting for my brain to turn from "it's morning fuck you" to "alright, let's turn this motha out" (not quite there yet) and i got a glimpse of what it might be like to have a regular office job.
when you're teaching you come in knowing that by 9:00 the train is leaving and if you're not on it you're screwed six ways from sunday. you come into work an hour before school starts to make sure you've got all your shit together by the time the bell rings and yet you never really feel like you do, even if you walked around the room six times making sure everything is in place. there is no settling in to give your brain time to kick in. there is no answering of e-mails. even if i got to work two hours early and technically had time to do these things, i'd be too stressed out and narrow-minded to be able to actually do them. now i see how the other half lives. i will stop short of saying that i really want an office job now, and i'm sure a bunch of people with office jobs would take me to task on my claims that they can mosey on into the office and get to work at their own pace,* but i'm just saying it's kind of sweet to get to do this once in a while.
*although i will take you to the mat with the fact that, even if you've gotta come into work and get crunching, it's not every day that you need to perform for and direct a room of 13-year-olds for hours at a time, so save your indignation.
i came in a few minutes late this morning and my room was cold because i'd left the window open a crack, so i made myself a mug of hot chocolate and settled in to write a couple of e-mails and poke around at some webpages for a little while as i warmed up and waiting for my brain to turn from "it's morning fuck you" to "alright, let's turn this motha out" (not quite there yet) and i got a glimpse of what it might be like to have a regular office job.
when you're teaching you come in knowing that by 9:00 the train is leaving and if you're not on it you're screwed six ways from sunday. you come into work an hour before school starts to make sure you've got all your shit together by the time the bell rings and yet you never really feel like you do, even if you walked around the room six times making sure everything is in place. there is no settling in to give your brain time to kick in. there is no answering of e-mails. even if i got to work two hours early and technically had time to do these things, i'd be too stressed out and narrow-minded to be able to actually do them. now i see how the other half lives. i will stop short of saying that i really want an office job now, and i'm sure a bunch of people with office jobs would take me to task on my claims that they can mosey on into the office and get to work at their own pace,* but i'm just saying it's kind of sweet to get to do this once in a while.
*although i will take you to the mat with the fact that, even if you've gotta come into work and get crunching, it's not every day that you need to perform for and direct a room of 13-year-olds for hours at a time, so save your indignation.
posted by e at 6:54 AM
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