Work From Home?
Posted by Jen Bragg on 28 May 2009 | Posted in: Organization and Supplies, Planning and Curriculum, Teachers and Teaching
For some of you, the school year has come to an end. But for many of you, it’s crunch time. You have just a few weeks, maybe just a few days, to prepare report cards, organize cumulative folders, complete documents for the district office—the list goes on and on! I don’t mean to cause you panic, but how will you get it all done? Will you take some of it home or will you set up camp in your classroom and complete a paperwork mini-marathon? Do you normally work from this location, or is this a one-time deal? For me, some tasks had to be done at school, of course, but I usually preferred the comforts of home to complete my work. (Well, that is until I got frustrated by the mess and wished I were one of the teachers who kept her work at school.) What about you—school or home? Teachers, I love reading your responses, so please share.
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As with most things in life, balance between working at school and at home is rarely 50/50. At different times of the year I spend more or less time at school depending on what’s going on at home. Our daily 40 minute planning period is certainly not close to enough time to plan lessons, grade papers, complete paperwork, contact parents, meet with colleagues, work on curriculum, take a bathroom break, etc. To keep the work load under control, I set deadlines for report cards, paper work, etc. earlier than dictated by the administration. Contractually, our working hours are 7:55 - 3:15. I generally arrive at 7:30 and stay until at least 4:00, often 5:00 or 6:00, and grab a sandwich and stay until 8:00 or 9:00 pm several times throughout the year. I do A LOT of work on my computer at home at odd hours. It makes me feel less stressed when I’m able to give teaching the time it requires. Of course, it’s not always possible and we all have to just do the best we can to find our “balance.”
I work from home all year ’round! I am a Family Child Care Provider who cares for 5 children in my home. For the most part, I keep my business in one part of the house. By the time June rolls around, I have several piles of “work” all over my house! I look forward to the summer so that I can clean-up, recharge and start all over again in September.
When I was a new teacher I was always bringing my work home, and even after I wasn’t so new, i still did-it drove my boyfriend nuts! After I had my daughter, I found myself doing it less and less. I think that it is easier, and less stressful, to keep the two worlds seperate. Plus, I feel that when I am home, I need to devote my time to my daughter, not my kids at work.
Working at school is a must. Being the mother of 2 young boys(and 1 wonderful husband), I need to dedicate by “home time” to them. I feel like I am a better teacher and mother when I do that. Sometimes the work will pile up, but thanks to a wonderful teacher’s aide, and more than willing students to help with the non-paperwork tasks, I manage to get it all done with time to spare for organizing and looking forward to next year.
As for getting my classroom cleaned up. My second “key” to success is to eliminate all the junk that I know I will not use next year. Even so much as labeling a box “not next year”. Then I organize everything else and label everything to organized my teaching station for next year. I even label an “open first” box to get me started on the right track.
I definitely prefer to work at school! I don’t have any kids, but my hubby and I are involved with our church and ministry activities. I used to do so much work at home! I was new then and didn’t know any better!
Now, I get most of my paperwork done at school. If I do bring anything home, it’s usually tests to grade or updating my planner. And this year, I chose 1 day of the week to stay late and work in my classroom. I will definitely keep that up for next year!
HELLO,
IN MY CASE I LIKE WORKING AT SCHOOL BECAUSE ITS WHERE I ENSURE A PREPARED ENVIRONMENT AND A NO-DISTURBANCE ATMOSPHERE.
THANK YOU FOR THE OPORTUNITY YOU HAVE GIVEN TO ME IN CONTRIBUTING TO SUCH ISSUES. I LOVE IT.
I noticed the date/time stamp on Mary’s response 12:21 am After midnight!
Mary I think you work like I do. First attend to the needs of my family, then school work.
I do most of my paperwork and prep at home. Usually you can find me at the computer on Sunday night after 9 pm getting ready for the week.
One of my biggest frustrations is that the State and school district keep asking for more documentation but do not allow for more time in the school day. In Early Childhood we do not get release time for paperwork. It is done before and after school.
I do some of my work after school hours, but I also have children who need homework supervision at home. The bulk of my work must go home. Our elementary school has planning time built into the day for their teachers, but our preschool does not, so we all do what we can at home and stay after school or come in on weekends to photocopy, die-cut, file, etc.
I do a little of both! I have two small boys at home; one is 5 and one is 1 and 1/2. My husband gets really aggrivated because I spend so much time at school. So I try to do stuff at home after all the boys go to bed or before they get up. Also at school I get really distracted because other people or kids want to visit. It’s a good thing I really love being a teacher!
I am going to start my own preschool soon and just wanted to know, what do you parents need out of a preschool?
Thanks
This year I worked had to keep my paperwork up to date as the year went along. We have 9 days left and my report cards are finished, my cum folders are completed and I feel great because I am sorting and packing to move to a brand new elementary school set to open in August.
I made a New Year’s resolution to leave school at 4 each day and that from the end of my bus duty I would stay in my room and complete the things that needed to be done. I can’t tell you guys how much that helped (I drive an hour one way and I have 2 boys under 3) so home time really needed to be me taking care of things for my family.
I started my cum folders at the beginning of the year so keeping them up to date all year has made a huge difference!
This is the first year that I have kept work at school and it has been wonderful. My evening are mine when I get home and I am much more motivated during the day to get my things done at school.
I’m loooking forward for the summer but I was wondering if I can get some advice on what kind of learning activites for the summer cuase I do home school 2 children @ the same time being a full time Nanny either way have a great summer and looking forwad for the next school year!!
yours truly
Danette E Toledo
There are lots of things I’d rather do at home, and spend my time at school doing tasks that can only be done there, like copying, putting together class-made books, sorting the library, etc. So I bring work home most nights, I would say - grading math tests (which, considering I teah 1st grade, is easy to do in front of the TV), looking through education magazines or on the Internet for ideas, reading professional resource books, etc. At the end of this year I also sorted through a couple of tubs I had dumped “to-be-filed” stuff in, and did some end-of-year reports at home. Not an ideal situation, but it works for me and keeps me from being the last one at school every night.
But now my kids are out, and I am glad to be free of that for 10 weeks! I won’t miss it a bit.
I like to look for ideas for the classroom at home because I don’t feel so rush but when it come to the actual paper work of the job I would much rather do it at the school instead of home.
I try to keep my work at school if possible–I have lots to do @ home and I get distracted! When I am in my classroom alone, I get comfy. I wear my comfy clothes and maybe my comfy slippers. I make some tea in a fun mug (or get a pepsi out of the machine). I think it helps a lot to have a fun pen too–like the kids like to use @ the writing center! Then I put on whatever kind of music I am in the mood for and get to work!
This year I cleaned out my filing cabinet and desk before I started putting things away. I ended up staying a little longer than most of the other teachers, but it was easier to put things away and I feel good knowing that in August I will be able to find what I need.