This is a link up that Amanda @ Running With Spoons started. She's a cool chick! The more I read her blog, the more I realize we have a lot in common! Anyway, my third edition of Thinking Out Loud has a theme.... TEACHING.
1. I don't talk about teaching a lot on my blog. This is for a few reasons. First of all, it's a fitness blog, not a teaching blog. Second, I teach all day... I really don't want to come home and write about it. Third, I don't want to jeopardize any privacy issues, so I prefer to keep it safe. If I tell a story about work, I try to keep it very general!
2. My job: I teach music at an elementary school. This is my 9th year teaching. I teach Kindergarten - 4th grade general music as well as 4th grade chorus. After work, I teach private piano lessons at my home 3 days a week. I have 11 private students. I could have more, but you all know I thoroughly enjoy hanging out with my husband and cats, so I try not to take on too much!
The door to my classroom. Yes, I love my cats!
3. My education: I got my undergrad degree in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. I earned my Master's in Educational Development and Strategies from Wilkes University.
My and my hubby this past summer in the IUP Oak Grove.
4. If I wanted to, I could work 24 hours a day and still have more to do. The thing is, the more you teach, the more you learn, and the more you realize you can keep improving upon your lessons, activities, assessments, etc. I don't work 24 hours a day. I work from 7:55am-3:40pm. Sometimes I do grades and lesson plans at home, but not regularly. I would rather work through lunch than take work home. This may make me seem like I am not dedicated. But the thing is, like I said, even if I took work home and worked all night, there would still be work to do. Teachers know what I am talking about. You have to draw the line somewhere. I love teaching, I have a great job. But I also need to step away from it. If I didn't do that, I don't think I'd be a very fun teacher in the classroom.
5. That being said, a lot of my brainstorming, reflection, and ideas happen on a run! You know how when you're running your mind just... wanders? Well most of my runs are in the morning before work. So it makes sense that my mind would wander toward the day ahead. I've had quite a few teaching "epiphanies" on a run. So while I don't take a lot of work home with me, I do take it on a run!
6. Teaching is stressful. Even teaching music. But it doesn't stress me out 24/7. If it did, I don't think teaching would be the right career for me! (Who would want a job where they're stressed 24/7!?) Here is a graph that accurately depicts my stress level at work by percentage:
Not too bad, right!?
7. I really believe I have one of the best jobs in the world. Above all, I get to teach kids to love and appreciate music. (At least, I hope that is what I am teaching them!)
Hanging outside my classroom.
In case you missed my past Thinking Out Loud posts...
Thinking Out Loud #2 - The Gym!
Are you a teacher? What do you teach?
What was your favorite class in school?
Do you have a job in which you take work home regularly?
The world needs good teachers, especially ones who are passionate about what they teach and enjoy what they do. I really love your approach to your work :) But I hear ya on not wanting to blog about it… My current job has absolutely nothing to do with anything I blog about, so I tend to avoid talking about it because it just isn't relevant. That and I spend enough time working -- it's nice to write about something else. And I work from home, so I guess you could say that I take my work home with me lol. I actually do need to make a conscious effort to stop and not work something like 12 hours a day, because yeah… there really is always something to do.
ReplyDeleteHappy Thursday, Megan!
It's funny because I do wonder what people do for a living...! Sometimes on their about section it mentions it, sometimes not, sometimes I can decipher from reading a few blog posts.... I do like to know people's "day" job!
DeleteI'm doing a PhD right now so I can teach college English :) unsurprisingly, my favorite classes as a kid were English, or Spelling/Reading when I was very young. I'm in the thesis stage of my schooling so I'm pretty much working from home just researching and writing. I turn everything off at 5 or 6 to eat and watch tv r play cheesy board games with my husband so we get quality time together.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good balance! I'm sure you could work into the night but ya gotta draw the line! I loved English as a kid as well. I was always writing stories and reading.
DeleteI have a few friends that are teachers and they find that they take their work home with them. I give you guys so much credit, you work so hard and have such an important job! I'm a hygienist, so I leave my work at work, but sometimes stressful situations follow me home for sure!
ReplyDeleteI understand... sometimes it's impossible to not bring your thoughts home! One of my biggest mistakes is checking my work email at home, which I do a lot. Once in awhile I'll get an angry parent email or something similar and then I can't fall asleep that night!
DeleteYour job sounds really cool! One of my biggest regrets in life is not learning learning more music/learning to play an instrument. One of my goals this year is to learn Ukulele. I just want to make sure I dedicate the time to practice. I bring my work home with me because I actually work from home as a freelancer. It's almost a 7 day a week job, but not necessarily 8 hour a day. I'm not sure how I feel about that exactly, but for now it will have to do.
ReplyDeleteThat would be so cool to learn the Ukulele. It has such a calm, zen-like sound. I do wish I knew hot to play the guitar. It would be really helpful at school. I really have no excuse not to learn it because I could teach myself. It's just every time I start I wimp out.
DeleteHah! I love that you have your cats on your classroom door :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not a teacher, but during grad school I did teach Intro to Public Speaking on my own. It was such a rewarding experience and I loved every moment (except grading papers).
Seeing the student growth was simply amazing and knowing I had a hand in it kind of blew my mind. When half my students asked if they could take Public Speaking 2 with me the next semester I almost cried, haha. Too bad my university didn't offer an advanced course in Public Speaking, but knowing my students felt like they learned a lot and from me was the coolest!!
What a great feeling! It is very rewarding to not only teach but know the students enjoyed it. And most people HATE public speaking!
DeleteI'm a pretty big nerd so my favorite classes in high school were math and physics. Makes sense that I became an engineer. Luckily, as an engineer I don't take work home with me. I do have to study sometimes and work weekends when we're swamped but that isn't often.
ReplyDeleteWow, you and I are total opposites! I was horrible at math and science-y stuff;
DeleteI just found your blog today and I love what you have to say, mostly about encouraging runners to strength train. My husband is a high school science teacher. He keeps it mostly at school but occasionally goes in on weekends, mostly to grade. I'm a stay-at-home mom with a Master's degree in accounting...haven't put that to much use yet, but maybe someday.
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by my blog! That is one of the reasons I started this blog... I really want to help educate people to get the most out of their hard work and training. We all work so hard, but we're not always doing the most effective things to get the results we want.
DeleteI could've written this! Without running, I would implode from my job. I LOVE it, but it's tough. I only share teaching stuff on the blog when it's REALLY a good story, because when I get home I want silence and to forget my job for a bit lol.
ReplyDeleteSilence... yes.... it is the best thing in the world after a day at work!
DeleteI don't blog about teaching stuff on my blog mostly due to privacy laws and such. I am getting my teaching credential in Special Education and there are A LOT of confidentiality laws that come along with it. Plus, my blog is about healthy living, not teaching. My mom is a general education teacher and is always bringing work home for the weekend. A teacher's job is never ending. And I know what Ali means about silence. I go to the gym immediately after work because I need that hour and a half to myself or else I will snap someone's head off!
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of teachers need that "buffer" time. For some it's the gym (like you), some it's the commute home. For me, it's about a 45 min time period where my husband is not allowed to talk to me because I need to unwind!
DeleteNot a teacher, but I did consider becoming one, and even took the Mass teacher's test (and passed) and was in the process of applying for my license...until writing and editing fell into my lap. Since that is what I'm so passionate (and landed my dream job!) I kind of abandoned the whole teacher idea. Being a writer/editor isn't as glamorous as many people think it is, though...I work a LOT of hours...stay at the office late at night/take work home with me/work a ton of weekends. It can be hard fitting runs in at times! But I'm really passionate about my job and it is (most of the time) really fun and rewarding so all the hard work is worth it!
ReplyDeleteI think it is SO cool that you have your dream job. I think my dream job would be performing on Broadway :)
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