[etni] why I'm exhausted
- From: Bari Nirenberg <bnirenberg@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: etni <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 15:56:43 +0200
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Those of you who know me either in person or from ETNI know that I
generally have a lot of energy and although I am quick to express my
opinion, I'm not usually a "whiner".
Today, I am exhausted, both mentally and physically and for the first
time in a very long time, I really need a break.
I have 37 students in two 3-point 10th grade classes (doing module A
this year). In those two classes, I have a total of 17(!!!) students
who have to have their exams read to them (10 of them have oral exams
and the rest have "hakra'at she'elon", but for reasons I won't go into
here, all of them have to be read to by a teacher). The tests for
both classes fell pretty close to the end of the quarter.
Fortunately, three or four of the kids decided that they didn't want
their dispensations. I had to test the rest of them, though (or find
someone else to do it). I spent every free period this week testing
kids. I gave classwork in one of the classes so that I could read
part of the test to students. I shortened one of the exams so that it
could be done in one period instead of two (which is what the rest of
the class had). I tested several kids at once. And I finally
finished. But that's not all...
During this same period of time, my never-ended-project finally came
to a close. I stopped giving extensions and forced kids to do oral
presentations even when they weren't ready (after warning them that
there would be no more extensions). I made fairly detailed comments
on each project. I sent kids halfway around the school with notes
asking for them to PLEASE be allowed to borrow a tape recorder for one
period (and God bless the kids who managed to schedule the computer
room on their own in order to present their project -- all I had to do
was show up!). And I listened (and am still listening) to endless
complaints about how "unfair" I was being for giving low grades to
students who didn't follow instructions, despite having been guided
through the entire process. In fact, I had two kids show up in the
teachers' room yesterday during my only break ("hafsaka g'dola")
demanding to talk to me about their grades. When I told them that I
wasn't receiving students because I needed a break and I had other
things to take care of (and, of course, told them when I WOULD talk to
them), they got nasty, but eventually, they left.
And then there's all the "regular" stuff that I would normally take in
stride but seems to be just too much when added to projects and
testing students orally. There were book reports and compositions and
unseens to grade. Lots of them. And four out of five of my classes
are taking Bagrut exams (modules A, E, F and G) and there are matkonot
to be prepared. And there were end-of-the-quarter grades to compute
and enter into the computer. And make-up exams for kids who were
absent and late book reports to grade (and quarter grades to be
changed) because kids weren't in class when we did them and extra
compositions to grade because kids didn't bother handing in the one
they were supposed to do. This list goes on and on -- everyday school
stuff.
I'm not a very nice person to be around these days. Is there
something wrong with this picture or is it just me? Am I really being
paid enough to deal with all of this? Note that I am NOT a
coordinator or even a homeroom teacher. Does anyone else feel like
they are drowning under the weight of project work, dispensations,
multiple matkonot and just regular school stuff? I've been teaching
for 16 years and I thought I could handle almost anything. In fact, I
AM "handling" all of this, but not well. I'd love to hear how the
rest of you English teachers deal with all this stress.
Bari
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