Hey Teachers – You Deserve It
Can I just vent for a second?
Can I just run through a day in the life?
Note to reader: This is not REALLY a typical, “Day in the Life” post because my day is anything but typical.
This is just a small taste of the random shit that gets thrown on your plate when you’re an educator, specifically in special education.
- Managing accommodations for testing across multiple grade levels (this includes reading, scribing, shoulder-tapping for all students on my caseload)
- Preparing materials for all the kiddos who are on Behavior Plans (e.g. visual schedules, reinforcement system, ALL-THE-SNACKS).
- Facilitating IEP meetings. Coordinating with all people involved. Even people who don’t respond to e-mails or GCal invites.
- WRITING IEPs. Which, if you’re anything like me, needs to be done outside of work because right when you’ve got one sentence down about the student’s current reading levels, you’re called on the walkie for some emergency situation.
- Doing multiple services AT ONE TIME. Yes, I can implement a behavior plan while also pulling a small group for a lesson on character motivation.
- Spending an hour alleviating a situation where a student slapped another student’s butt.
- Completing paperwork for a family who is trying to get services at home and needs teacher input.
- Communicating with parents about behaviors that are going on IN REAL TIME.
- Cleaning up a mess after the meltdown that ensued from saying no to a child.
- Documenting quantitative and qualitative data of students that are on plans for severe behaviors.
- Connecting with paraprofessionals to ensure that services are being met, groupings are OK, and nobody wants to pull their hair out.
- Sending out calendar invites for meetings, brainstorm sessions, and planning times. Oh. And wine. Because everyone needs something to get them through the day.
- Modifying homework packets and daily packets for the classroom so the kiddos have activities to work on during independent work time.
- Battling the copier, the scanner, and the printer. They break down daily. Hourly. And then I break down as a result.
- Oh. And lastly, pulling small groups for interventions. You know, actually teaching.
I can go on. I can continue adding bullet points. Every day is so different from the one before. Filled with all of these random things that are so time consuming. But so important.
And this post?
This venting session?
It’s not to invoke your sympathy.
It’s to let you know that when a teacher says, “4 more days until Spring Break,” instead of saying, “You’re so lucky,” a more appropriate response would be, “You deserve it.“
Questions of the Day:
- What would you add to this list?
- Did you hug a teacher today?
You deserve it!! Thank you for sharing this. And for all you do. Especially the effort to help students get the services they need-we shouldn’t have systems that make it so hard for children and families to get needed services. Thanks for being amazing you!!
Yessss you deserve it.
Hats off the all the teachers!
YOU ROCK!!! i love love love my fourth graders! i always say that special education teachers are a special breed – you definitely are and you DEFINITELY deserve it!
Teachers work so hard! I am so thankful for all of them. Thank you for all you do!
Teachers are great, work with many of them and their worth cannot be paid in cash.
Yes I appreciate teachers, and anyone else whose job requires heavy interaction with people. A friend of mine always says “half of the ppl in the world exist to put the other half to the test”. I think ppl like teachers know the truthfulness of that saying best. Keep at it and enjoy your well deserved winter/spring/summer break. 🙂
Ola | JadoreLeDecor.com
Ah, brings back all the memories of my teaching days. 🙂 A day in the life is anything but typical… I’m with you there!
I admire teachers for there hard work. I got the small chance to teach just one class and It felt very scary! So much love to all the teachers.
A big hats off to teachers. I remember the things my teachers had to put up with In class from some of the really bullying teens. I also know a few teachers now and the time and work that goes in after they go home at night is astounding, you definitely deserve that break!
This is really interesting. I never knew that special Ed teachers have to do so much outside of school. Thank you for sharing your insight. I will definitely be more cogniscant regarding my sons teacher now as well.
Oh well, that sounds like fun with a lot of pain as well haha. But no worries, we all have battles with the printer and the scanners. I already cut my hand a few times while battling with a printer..
XX
Nadine Cathleen
Karateandcaviar.com
Being a teacher is a lot of work as you have to deal with a lot of different personalities…. I totally understand the prep time it takes.
I’m totally out of the teacher circle! What are IEP’s? They seem annoying haha
xx, Tomi
http://goodtomicha.com
Not everyone appreciates just how much work and how busy teachers are. A friend is a teacher and she has same atypical days like yours
I am a teacher in a medical college.I think being a teacher is one of the hardest things in this world. I STAY blessed. Carry on the great work
I appreciate teachers so much. No I haven’t hugged one today. I will as soon as I see one.
I was a special education teacher for 13 years! Now I’m a stay-at-home mom & blogger! You hit the nail on the head with this post!! Thanks for all you do!
Lol – my aunt is a teacher- this is so true
I worked 12 years with SP teachers in a Co-teaching class. It’s hard. It’s OK to say no once in awhile. Keep up n the good work.
Yes! You DO deserve it! People think that teachers have nothing to do when they go home, but they often end up carrying work home with them!
My husband was a high school teacher before he went back to school and he had a lot to think about even when he was “off”.
School based SLP and may I just say THANK YOU! Your meme about meetings was the story of my life last week, I had 3 parents not show up! Ugh!
I can’t even imagine how much work goes into people a teacher, though this post does give me a hint. I admire ALL teachers. It’s not something i would excel at.
I taught elementary music for 7 years and got sick of hearing the “it must be so nice to have so many breaks” comments. Now, I’m a mom to a 7 year old little boy who is on an IEP and I literally cannot thank his teachers enough for what they do.
You just described my son and his day everyday. Plus special ed is completely understaffed and over worked. Paperwork is drowning them.. Plus my son at times has to go to court on behalf of his student. There are 12 different languages spoken with all the children he sees. Don’t know how he does it all.
I work at a school and reading this was as close to reading a day in the life of this place as we can get… especially for our special ed teacher! She’s amazing and I’m blown away by her.
Teachers desearve more than a “break”, they are everything. They teach our children to grow and learn, one bad expierence with school can change a childs outlook on education for life. Teachers desearve much more than a “break”, they deserve our respect and appreciation. YOU are appreiciated, “Thank You” for putting your heart and soul into your passion and for ALL that you do!
As a parent of a special needs child I can tell you, even if they don’t tell you, you are saving a life. One lesson plan, one social skills activity, and one sleepless night at a time.
My best friend is a 2nd grade teacher and I know she works so hard! Thank you for all you do 🙂
Yes, you definitely deserve it! Every now and then I do a relief lesson for students who have disabilities and it is extremely exhausting! I can’t imagine how demanding that role would be on a day to day basis.
I can’t even imagine what your work day is like! Thank goodness there are people like you around to fill these challenging roles.
I’m a behavioral health case manager and I spend a lot of time in schools and in IEP meetings. I’m on the parent/student side of things but I can only imagine!
I’m currently working on a new post about this. If you’re interested in participating in a written interview (5 questions) please let me know! 🙂
Yes! We deserve every break, but you know we keep those little loves on our brains even when we are supposed to be “on vacation”. I teach virtually and this week I am trying to conference with all my parents and determine how I am going to meet all of my student’s very unique needs…online. I’m already putting in 12 hour days and the first day of school is not until next week. Let’s just say I might have a countdown until Winter Break already!