The Last Days of School (Week 7)

As we are approaching the last days of school I am reflecting on my experience. I was blessed to have an excellent master teacher to work with. She was honored by her peers and students as the teacher of the year. And that says a lot! She does a lot for her school and her students, but she also knows how to separate her job from her home life. 

 

This brings me to another topic. How do you manage the large amount of work with your personal life? The other day I was working on grading student presentations and entering their grades in the gradebook. My master teacher was returning from administering an AP exam and was shocked to see me still at school. She encouraged me to go home and told me, "the work will still be here tomorrow." And she's right. I didn't have to stay and finish the work, but with it being a Thursday I wanted to give students their score sheets the next day. I felt an obligation to get them their scores, so they know their grade before leaving for the weekend. Next week we only have a review session and then head into finals... knowing that score was important. But, just as important is my own life. As a new teacher I fear that I will struggle to balance the amount of time that I invest to my job. I am a perfectionist and I hope that I don't overdo my duties at work at the cost of neglecting myself and my family. I need to give myself a deadline by which to go home and leave my work, at work if necessary.