I'm Pooped

The fall semester at East Grand Forks Senior High School began this past Thursday, September 1. Yes, we had a two-day first week of school before taking a three-day Labor Day weekend, and I for one needed this break! Oof, but I was plumb tuckered out at the end of each school day this week. I always forget over the summer just how relentless a typical school day is. For example, here were my first two days (stuff specific to Thursday is in blue and to Friday in green):

7:45-8:20 -- morning duty: patrol the hallways, greet the students, make the rounds

8:30-9:20 -- American Literature: take them to the computer lab to read and respond via e-mail to the syllabus and course standards on-line, to post comments to our on-line discussion board (on my blog), and to start their two-paragraph writing assignment due tomorrow; collect their homework and lead them on a half-mile walk to the Red River to observe nature and write descriptively from an assigned perspective (either early Native American or European explorer circa 16th century) that will become relevant Tuesday when we talk about the origins of American literature

9:23-10:13 -- preparation period: get ready for the rest of the day

10:16-11:06 -- Study Hall: take them to the library to check out a book for those days when they have no homework to do; try in vain to help them with their math homework

11:09-11:36 -- brunch period: skip eating altogether in order to use the restroom and finish errands for later class periods; eat in the faculty room with other teachers and wonder how my feet are going to hold up through all the afternoon hikes to the river

11:39-12:29 -- American Literature: same as above

12:32-1:22 -- Advanced Writing: the same trip to the computer lab as above, but with a different writing assignment for homework; collect their homework and lead them in a discussion of it followed by an in-class written self-assessment of writing strengths and weaknesses and then a trip to the school's outdoor courtyard to enjoy the weather and start filling in a self-identity quiz that will be the springboard for their first writing project next week

1:25-2:15 -- English 11: same as American Literature (the two courses will begin to differ next week, because American Literature is a college-credit course that requires more and more challenging work) [my third mile-long roundtrip walk to the river]

2:18-3:08 -- English 11: same as above [my fourth trip--I can feel the blisters forming on my heels]; upon returning to the high school, discover my 2nd-grade daughter crying outside the building, worried because she couldn't remember if she was supposed to ride the bus home or come to my school (two blocks from her school) and a little panicked because she could neither reach my wife on the phone at home nor find me once she arrived at my classroom

3:30-5:00 -- conduct auditions for the annual children's theatre production

5:00-5:55 -- prepare for tomorrow's classes, then go home for supper and an extremely early bedtime

3:10 -- bring my daughter to the Performing Arts Center to spend time with the children's theatre student directors while I attend a meeting

3:15-3:45 -- attend a meeting about a student (scheduled without concern for my pre-existing commitment to conduct children's theatre auditions at 3:30)

3:45-4:15 -- get hijacked by a prospective play director who has questions for me concerning budgets and personnel

4:15-5:30 -- arrive at auditions extremely late and join the student directors who have been conducting them in my absence; wrap them up, cast the show, and assign technical crews; bring my daughter home

Notice the ten-hour days without breaks for restroom use or simple rests to collect thoughts and recharge energy (unless I sacrifice precious minutes from my morning preparation period to do so). And normally my evening hours are spent reading homework and preparing for the following day; I was just too wiped out this week to begin that yet.

A definite plus is that I have pretty likeable students. Once my body gets back into school mode, my school day schedule should (sadly) seem less shocking. In the meantime, I'm using the long weekend to catch up on my reading of Thursday night's homework and to prepare for the weeks ahead.