Chrissi Chat- Where I’m at!

I haven’t been posting daily for the last week or so. I’m in a bit of a funk with blogging at the moment. I still absolutely adore it, but after 6 years of posting daily (I’ve only ever missed a few days in those 6 years) I’m getting a bit… not fed up, but uninspired. I’ve made the decision to blog when I want to blog. I’ve finished a book recently and not reviewed it and usually that would bug me, but why should it? Why can’t I just blog when I want to blog? The answer is… I can! It’s up to me when I blog. If my views go down… does it really affect my life? No. It’s taken me a long time to get to this point, but I’m pleased I’m there. It takes the pressure off reading. That review will still be coming out but when I’m in the mood to write it.

The fact is, balancing full time teaching and full time blogging is HARD. I don’t know how I’ve managed it. I’ve had a really stressful year with work and worrying about my blog didn’t really help my mental health. I’ve been honest about my struggles with anxiety and something has to give until I’m in a happier place mentally. Work is massively affecting my mental health and I don’t need blog stress to add to it.

I will still be visiting your blogs, but it might be during a binge reading session. I can’t come online daily and be on WordPress and not blog (I feel guilty!) so I’ll probably read your posts when I’m online. I still support and love my blogging friends.

This isn’t a post saying I’m giving up blogging. I’m not. I’ll just blog when I want to and read when I want to. My blog, my rules!

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A Week In The Life Of A Primary School Teacher- Teacher Tired

Every Sunday (hopefully) I shall be posting a personal post about my life as a primary school teacher. I currently work at a primary school teaching 7-9 year olds. I have worked for two years with 6-7 years, 1 year with 7-9 and now I’m returning to my favourite age! My training posts on this subject were really successful and so therapeutic for me, therefore I’ve decided to continue posting on the topic. I will not be naming any children, or the school where I work. If personal posts aren’t your thing then feel free to skip these posts. I won’t mind! Bookish goodness returns as normal Monday-Saturday!

Oh my goodness. I am absolutely wiped out this week. I’ve barely had any time to read because I feel so exhausted. I have 5 more working days until a week’s break and let me tell you it is NEEDED! I can’t wait to have a really lazy week (although I’ll have to do some planning- boo!)

This week has been a fairly straight forward one. My class are starting to get a little tired though. There’s a lot more arguing, tale telling and general neediness that I haven’t experienced for quite a few months. Going to try and stamp down on that this week because it’s driving me mad. I think because I’m tired as well, my patience is very thin at the moment.

We still have 7 weeks to go after the week break, but I know that’s going to fly by. We’ll have swimming lessons for 3 weeks, sports day and other big events which mean the time flies by. I should also be finding out within the next few weeks who my new class are. I’m hoping to be able to update you with the news I spoke to my head about soon too. Fingers crossed.

Mental Health Awareness Week- My Experience With Anxiety

This week it is mental health awareness week. A subject very close to my heart. I thought I’d step outside my comfort zone and talk about my battle with mental illness.

I have suffered with anxiety for as long as I can remember. I think I had a less severe form of it as a young child. It’s certainly something that has been with me for as long as I can remember. It got to the point several years ago, where I would rarely leave the house because I was worried something bad would happen.

I’ve only been teaching for 4 years because my anxiety held me back. Don’t get me wrong, I still have massive anxiety issues when it comes to my teaching. I doubt myself constantly and I can be physically sick when under huge pressure (parents evening is a massive trigger for me!) I decided that my anxiety wouldn’t win. Teaching was a dream for me and I think I’m born to teach. It’s a job that has to be loved. I truly believe it’s my purpose.

So how did I tackle my anxiety? I finally realised I couldn’t deal with it myself. I’ve become more open to talking about it to my family, friends and colleagues. I started medication to help me deal with it. It doesn’t always work, but it takes the edge off and I’ve only had 2 major panic attacks since teaching (and that’s huge for me!) I’m trying to deal with my negative thoughts about my capabilities as a teacher and to be honest, my personal post documenting my week as a teacher (Sunday post) is a fabulous outlet for me. I find it incredibly therapeutic. The support I’ve had from others on this post blows my mind.

I also love reaching into mental health representation in books whenever I can. I keep a log of my favourites, easily accessible on my blog for recommendations for others. Representation and discussion is key in my eyes.

I won’t let anxiety win. There’s no shame in having a mental illness. There’s no shame in taking medication to help you.  It needs to be spoken about so people know they’re not alone. People with anxiety can achieve their dreams. You need to find that inner strength.

Thank you for reading!

A Week In The Life Of A Primary School Teacher- I got the courage but who knows what’ll happen?

Every Sunday (hopefully) I shall be posting a personal post about my life as a primary school teacher. I currently work at a primary school teaching 7-9 year olds. I have worked for two years with 6-7 years, 1 year with 7-9 and now I’m returning to my favourite age! My training posts on this subject were really successful and so therapeutic for me, therefore I’ve decided to continue posting on the topic. I will not be naming any children, or the school where I work. If personal posts aren’t your thing then feel free to skip these posts. I won’t mind! Bookish goodness returns as normal Monday-Saturday!

Well… I got the courage to speak to my head teacher about the career progression. I can’t talk about it too much yet as she took my information to look through. So hopefully I’ll find out more this week. Goodness knows why I was so worried. I really didn’t need to be. All she can say is no. My world wouldn’t crash down and I’d still be doing what I love.

This week has been a bit of an odd one. We’ve had some standardised testing down in the lower part of the school. It was such a relief to not be a part of it. I’ve done it for 2 years and it’s so stressful for the teachers. The children are made to feel so relaxed that it’s often not a stressful experience for them, but the pressure for the teachers is crazy. I’m not sure why we do it to such young children. A score does not make a person.

The week coming up includes some more testing, this time for our oldest children (Joy of joy!) However, it’s my last week on schedule for this half term. After this week we’re having an outdoor week which I LOVE. I can’t believe there’s only ten more working days until a break. Then I’m onto the final month or so with my cherubs!

A Week In The Life Of A Primary School Teacher- A Weird Vibe

Every Sunday (hopefully) I shall be posting a personal post about my life as a primary school teacher. I currently work at a primary school teaching 7-9 year olds. I have worked for two years with 6-7 years, 1 year with 7-9 and now I’m returning to my favourite age! My training posts on this subject were really successful and so therapeutic for me, therefore I’ve decided to continue posting on the topic. I will not be naming any children, or the school where I work. If personal posts aren’t your thing then feel free to skip these posts. I won’t mind! Bookish goodness returns as normal Monday-Saturday!

Another week has flown by! It’s been a really strange week this week. There’s quite a few unhappy people at work at the moment and I’m one of those people that sucks in emotion around me. Guess I’ve got to learn to shake it off and focus on me more.

However, my class have been WONDERFUL. I can’t believe that I’m in the last term with them. They constantly make me laugh (and tear my hair out…they’re far from perfect) and this week within our class walls, we’ve had a great time. We have been working on an assessed piece of independent writing and so many of them have made massive progress. I think when I get back to work (day off tomorrow-woohoo!) I might photocopy their first piece and their current piece of work to send home to parents. As you’re teaching them 5 days a week, you don’t often see the progress until you directly compare. I like doing that because it confirms to me that they have moved on, even if I’m still picking them up on simple errors! *rolls eyes*

I’m a bit nervous about work this week, because I want to speak to my headteacher about something I’d like to do to further progress in my career. I’m so awkward though. I build it up to be a massive event and then it’s usually fine. More on that next week, if I can find the guts to speak to her! 🙂

Let’s hope for another positive week! 🙂

A Week In The Life Of A Primary School Teacher- Back and raring to go!

Every Sunday (hopefully) I shall be posting a personal post about my life as a primary school teacher. I currently work at a primary school teaching 7-9 year olds. I have worked for two years with 6-7 years, 1 year with 7-9 and now I’m returning to my favourite age! My training posts on this subject were really successful and so therapeutic for me, therefore I’ve decided to continue posting on the topic. I will not be naming any children, or the school where I work. If personal posts aren’t your thing then feel free to skip these posts. I won’t mind! Bookish goodness returns as normal Monday-Saturday!

This week I was back at work after a glorious 2 week break. I kept to my word and didn’t do any work for 2 weeks! 🙂 It was really lovely to feel refreshed going back. Despite having a horrific virus for the first week, I managed to enjoy my time off. Lots of reading, blogging and spending time with friends.

I did miss my class though! Sad, I know! When I’m spending time with them every single day I definitely miss their cheekiness and silliness! 🙂 It was lovely to be back with them and ready to take on this half term’s challenges. We’ve got so much to pack in, including a new book to study in English and lots of fun outdoor activities as the weather gets nice!

I feel like there’s some added pressure this term as the headteacher is definitely tightening up on things. I think it’s needed though and to be honest, I could probably do with a bit of a kick! I’ve become very relaxed recently and need to get back to give it me all!

Looking forward to the half term ahead! With a few shorter weeks it’s going to whizz by! 🙂 I need to make the most of this class, I’ve only got 11 weeks left with them!

A Week In The Life Of A Primary School Teacher- Finally time for a 2 week break!

Every Sunday (hopefully) I shall be posting a personal post about my life as a primary school teacher. I currently work at a primary school teaching 7-9 year olds. I have worked for two years with 6-7 years, 1 year with 7-9 and now I’m returning to my favourite age! My training posts on this subject were really successful and so therapeutic for me, therefore I’ve decided to continue posting on the topic. I will not be naming any children, or the school where I work. If personal posts aren’t your thing then feel free to skip these posts. I won’t mind! Bookish goodness returns as normal Monday-Saturday!

I MADE IT! This half term has felt like it has been 6 months long when in fact it has been 6 weeks. Finally though, the Easter break is upon us. I have 2 weeks off. Hooray! I love the Easter holiday because I have no reports to do and it’s better than the Christmas break as the Christmas break is hectic with family time and celebrations. My aim for today is to completely finish my planning so I can genuinely have 2 weeks off with no work. Bliss! It may be tough going today, to get that done but think how productive I’ll feel at the end of the day! 🙂

This week was lovely and the children really behaved themselves. Work wasn’t of a great quality but they were exhausted and to be honest…so was I. The children earned their class treat for fabulous behaviour over the 6 weeks. They chose to bring in their electronics from home and share with a friend. 🙂 It was a fantastic chilled out last day before break. I can’t believe I only have one term left with this class! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed teaching them and I’m determined to enjoy the last 12 weeks after the break.

This feature will be back in a few weeks! It’s time to read, blog, see friends and SLEEP. Bring it on!