Think of The School Year as Time Intervals
When is The Next Day Off
I work in time intervals. I used to count down the days of school left early in my teaching career. I used to say things like, “There are ten weeks of school left.”
I kept a calendar for that specific purpose, but a friend reminded me that I was only making things worse by counting down the days.
Eventually, I stopped counting the days in the school year. Many years went by where I didn’t think of work as “days left to the school year.”
However, I started the practice again during the past several years. I could not put my finger on what caused the added anxiety that caused me to start counting the days left again.
It dawned on me one day, “we have a new principal at work.” The new term he likes to use is ‘deliverables.’ There would always be something due; lesson plans and unit plans were always due because of directives.
During the height of the pandemic year of the 2020–2021 school year, we still had ‘deliverables’ to be turned in.
“I don’t want you to feel any pressure; it is just an exercise I would like you to try with your class,” said the instructional coach. There is always one more thing to try.
I couldn’t start counting down the days of the school year because it would be too stressful to think about; instead, I decided to think of work in time intervals.
When Is The Next Day Off
Presidents day was on February 21, 2022, Monday. If I thought of teaching in time intervals, it made it more manageable.
Looking at work in this way makes it more bearable.
1st Time Interval: February 22, 2022 — March 11, 2022
The first time interval is three weeks; the only thing I need to worry about during this span is a Project-Based Learning (PBL) lesson plan to turn in to the principal. I already turned in my PBL unit.
I used a PBL I had already done several years ago and turned it in; there are still other ‘deliverables’ I need to turn in to the principal, but I’ll have it done before March 11, 2022.
The week of March 14, 2022, is the start of spring break. I’ll be writing on Medium and my short stories that week to build my writing portfolio.
2nd Time Interval: March 21, 2022 — March 24, 2022
The week after spring break is a short week because it’s a state holiday; there is no school on Friday. I am looking forward to a three-day holiday.
It is a short 4-day time interval before the next day off.
3rd Time Interval: March 28, 2022 — April 14, 2022
There are another three weeks before April 15, Good Friday; there is no school on Friday.
4th Time Interval: April 18, 2022 — May 27, 2022
The last stretch of work time is the longest; the last six weeks will be without any holiday or break. May 27, 2022, is the last school day for teachers.
Takeaway
The last time I did this type of countdown was during my first several years of teaching because I was stressed trying to get used to the teaching profession.
I realized I was anxious and stressed again at work; maybe some of it had to do with the pandemic.
But, I had to think of work in time intervals; my principal just sucked the living fun of teaching with all the deliverables and directives.
He is the only principal to use the term ‘deliverables.’ Now, I dislike that word; it does not exist in my vocabulary.
Every teacher does their own thing to help them through teaching; teachers are ten-month employees and get paid for ten months stretched out over twelve months.
Final Thoughts
The last hurdle teachers at my school need to overcome is not to be the teacher who has to teach summer school; it feels like almost a ‘voluntold’ type of deal; the unlucky teacher will have to stay on campus and teach summer school.
“But, you will get paid extra to teach during the summer,” said the vice-principal; the unlucky teacher was my next-door neighbor at work for summer school 2021.
I’ll do what I always do when they ask me if I want to teach during the summer; I say, “No!”
The pressure to get a certified teacher to teach summer school has forced the principals to take drastic measures they don’t like to do; they have never given a directive to teach summer school because they were always able to find a teacher.
It’s different now; the district wants certified licensed teachers to teach summer school instead of a person with no experience directly out of college to teach during the summer.
I’m not sure who will be the unlucky teacher to teach summer school, but I know I will be on an airplane flying to my vacation destination with my cell phone off the day after the last day of the school year.
Thinking of teaching in time intervals instead of the entire year has helped me get through the past several years with my current administration.
Don Sabado
Teacher | Author | Writer
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