A Week In The Life Of A Primary School Teacher- Getting excited about next year!

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!

First of all, I’m sorry I didn’t post my diary post last Sunday. I was participating in a race for life event for a dear colleague who we lost last year to breast cancer. We raised over £1000 which is amazing.

School has been full on. There’s been a lot of discussion about class lists. It’s unbelievable how much work goes into putting a class together. I finally have my official class list and I’m meeting them for the first time on Friday morning. I’m really looking forward to it, but I do have a lot of challenges coming my way. I’m already getting excited about how I’m going to do things. I initially wasn’t moving classrooms, but I am now for access reasons for one of my new pupils. I’m going to take the move as a fresh start to revamp the classroom. I’m still going to be teaching 7-9 year olds which I’m very pleased about.

We have a school trip for the next two days completing many adventurous activities. Summer term is all go and I’m excited to spend the next fifteen school days with my current lovely bunch!

As for the blog, there will be a review or two coming your way this week. My later start on Monday and Tuesday will help me have the time to schedule the posts!

A Week In The Life Of A Primary School Teacher- So ready for a break… but not yet!

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!

It was only our 2nd week back at school although I feel like I’ve been back for about six weeks. I’m that tired. I’m hoping that this week will be better on the sleep front! I now have a provisional list for my new class in September and I’m excited. There’s going to be some challenges along the way (especially as I’ll be studying for my Masters at the same time!) but overall I’m very happy! I really need to start thinking about what I’m going to do with them when I meet them for a morning in a few weeks!

This week we’re jam packed full of activities, lessons and Sports Day. It’s going to be another full on week but I’m ready for it. We may have 5 more weeks to go but I’m going to make the most of them! I finally have a summer coming up where I don’t have to move classrooms!

A Week In The Life Of A Primary School Teacher- Good news!

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 returned to school after a lovely week’s break. I didn’t really do much with my break but that is exactly what was needed!

My class have been brilliant this week. I can’t believe I only have 30 more working days with them. That’s crazy to me. It doesn’t feel like I’ve been teaching them for that long. 🙂 I think they’re getting to the end of their tether with some of their classmates. A few arguments are popping up so I have to stamp down that on that this week.

I found out two bits of good news this week. Firstly, I’m staying with the age group I’m with at the moment! (7-9 years old) I’m so happy as this is the first year where I’m not going to need to move classrooms. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to have to sort out my classroom, but overall it will be much less work for me. Yippee!

I also found out that I’ve been accepted onto a Masters in Education. I’m still going to be teaching, but completing the degree part time over 3 years. 🙂 It’s something I’ve always wanted to do so I’m a very happy Chrissi. It means I’m going to have to be super organised in the classroom to ensure I have time for my studies. I’m glad I’ve scaled back on the blogging, because managing the three would be insane!

As for blogging, I’ve got two book reviews coming soon. This teacher is still reading, just not putting the immense pressure on myself to read constantly. It’s made things so much better for me! 🙂

A Week In The Life Of A Primary School Teacher- Time for a week off!

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! 🙂 Time for a week off!

It’s been a lovely week at school though. I’ve mentioned before how we’re a school that like to do a lot of outdoor learning. We dedicate a week a year to outside learning and that’s what we’ve been doing this week. We have been blessed with the weather and delightfully behaved children. As I looked around, I realised that our children are particularly blessed. We’re making wonderful memories with them and giving them such enriching learning experiences. 🙂 I’m so happy I work in the school that I do, despite the stressful times this academic year.

When we get back it’s pretty much full on. We have swimming lessons 4 days a week for 3 weeks, Sports Day and transition day when we meet our new class for September. Just 35 more working days until I’m finished with my fourth class! Crazy times!

I do intend to catch up with some reading over this week, so don’t be surprised if you do some book reviews coming up soon. For those who missed it, I mentioned yesterday I won’t be daily blogging anymore. Just blogging when I’m in the mood and want to. A massive shift for me. I’m sure most of the time things won’t be different around here, there will just be more quiet days!

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!

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!