I Need More Time!!

                        

I so know how that woman feels in the picture.  Except instead of surrounding myself in blank post-it notes, I'm completely buried in notes, and deadlines, and to-do lists, and stacks of paperwork.  And it just seems like the piles get bigger and bigger by the day. 

There's just never enough time to even make a dent in the work that continues to pile up around me.

I think it should become a law that teachers get one day every couple of weeks to just spend in their rooms organizing, planning, and catching up on all the paperwork.  An entire day.  A professional development day that's actually focused on developing the professional organization of the classroom. No meetings.  No workshops.  Just closed classroom doors, teachers locked inside, wading through everything that's expected of them when there's just not enough hours in the day to get it all done.

That would be nice.

It'll never happen, but one can dream.

Just imagine how much better the classroom environment would be if a teacher got an entire day every so often to get caught up.  Follow through on some of those wonderful ideas that sit on a virtual pin-board waiting to come to life.  Declutter all the paper and stuff that accumulates.  Organize and plan for all those wonderful projects that want to be done, but never come to light because there's too much front work involved to get them off the ground.

And it's always the day before I have a substitute teacher that gets me all panicked and frazzled about how much I have to do.

Teaching is the one and only profession I can think of in which more work has to be done in order to miss a day of work.  Planning for a sub is stressful.  It's time consuming.  It's just hard.  Most teachers would much rather go to work sick or never take personal days or even attend workshops on the weekend just to avoid planning for a sub.  OK, I don't know about the weekend workshop thing.  But definitely go to work sick and miss out on personal days.  It's just too much hassle preparing for a sub...and I am one person that HATES missing work as it is, let alone when I have no control over the situation.

Tomorrow, I along with my entire team, are attending a Common Core training session.  I have one tomorrow and again next Tuesday.  Two sub days in less than a week.  Talk about stressful!  Let's not even mention the fact that I have a crammed full after school schedule this week...and I haven't done anything to prepare for the sub tomorrow.

I'm supposed to have a doctor's appointment tonight.  That's going to have to be rescheduled.  There's no way I'm going to be able to get everything ready for a sub AND leave right after school to go to a doctor's appointment.  

This weekend, I had originally planned on having a completely free weekend.  No work.  No plans.  Just a weekend to relax and recuperate.  But, I'm starting to think that this weekend would be a PERFECT opportunity for me to spend in my classroom.  I can't stand the junk that's piled up on my desk.  The piles of papers.  The stacks of stuff.  Just one day where I can file, and get everything all organized would be wonderful.  

I'm a person that likes order.  I like being able to find stuff when I need it.  I like for everything to be in a neat binder, so it's only a few flicks of a page away from me.  The past few days, it feels like I've spent way too long looking for that one thing I need.  

Parent teacher conferences are coming up very soon, and the last thing I want is for parents to walk in to my classroom and see the disarray that is currently taking hold.  They'll wonder how on earth I can teach their children with so much clutter and mess surrounding me.  How on earth can I sit across from them and discuss how unorganized their children are when it comes to finding their work, when I'm speaking to them surrounded in my own unorganized mess?

I won't.

I refuse to.

So, I have to decide whether giving up a Saturday to take care of it is worth it.  And it is.  I think that a day in my classroom with nothing else but some relaxing music playing would be very therapeutic.  A relaxation strategy in it's own right.  It may not involve my couch, the TV, or a nap.  But, it will help destress my mind.  Clear away some of my worries.  Help my classroom life become more calm and clear.

But, who has time to think about the weekend already?  It's only Wednesday.  There's still three full days to get through...one of which I won't even be there.  

Right now, I just need to focus on getting through today.  Taking care of the sub plans, making sure she has everything she needs for tomorrow...and that I'm not forgetting anything.  

I know I'll get it done.  I know it'll be fine.  But, it doesn't help shake the panic and frenzy I get myself in to on days like this.

Time to breath.  

Everything will be OK.

I'll get through.

I always do.

And....it's time to go get ready for work. 

Have an awesome Wednesday!!