6:30am: my body wakes me up, but I can tell it's too dark for my alarm to go off yet. I usually grab my phone (aka alarm), hold it, and go back to sleep until it goes off.
7:00am: alarm goes off. snooze.
7:10am: snooze.
7:15am: Okay I am seriously getting up now. snooze.
7:20am: Okay I have to get up now.
7:25am: I finally pep talk myself out of bed.
7:30am: staring at my closet for 5 minutes, deciding how to stay the warmest/comfiest while looking professional. I usually decide on multiple pairs of leggings/tights and a long sweater/sweater dress so that I can wear boots. If I don't wear boots with 2 pairs of socks, my feet freeze all day long. I can only wear flats/heels when it's hot. Don't ask me why this is, I live in Southern California where the average is 75 degrees this week. But I do walk to work in the morning when it is 45 degrees and I wear a parka like jacket and a scarf.
7:50am: I have brushed my teeth, washed my face, put foundation on, and done something with my hair. I almost always have my front, short layers out of my face, or they will drive me crazy all day long. My kids get picky and aren't afraid to tell me when I look like crap.
7:55am: I take my 3 vitamins (yes. 3. and I still am sick as a dog). I eat breakfast. My favorite cereal is brown sugar maple frosted mini wheats from Trader Joe's. If I am out of that, I have Special K. Cereal is the easiest for me. I NEVER skip breakfast. I would feel sick if I did, and it gets your metabolism going for the day.
8:05am: I walk to school. I talk with the crossing guard in Spanish. This week we are talking about how I am sick and she was sick last week. She tells me to "cuidense" and I say "y tu tambien."
8:15am: I am in my classroom. I pray for my day, and look over my lessons for the day. Sometimes a parent stops in with something they think they need to tell me. I go online for a few minutes.
8:30am: I go out to get my class. One of my favorite parts of the day. We do our pledges (American flag, Christian flag, Bible) and then pray.
8:45am: chaos. We start calendar. This takes 10 minutes alone for them to figure out what day it is. We count our days in school. We talk about the weather. We practice our memory verse.
9:00am: Bible. Right now we are on Jesus and His disciples. They love Bible time.
9:25am: Prayer and Share time. They can talk about prayer requests but they usually just tell irrelevant stories, which I love.
9:30am: snack time. the snack prayer person prays for snack.
9:35am: I use the bathroom, eat my snack (usually a banana and string cheese). I go online. I get out everything I need for the next lesson.
10:00am. Kids come back in. There are usually 1 or 2 crying after they got hurt or fought with a friend. It's always something new. We start language arts now.
11:15am: LUNCH. It's usually soup, but I allow myself to eat carbs at lunch, because I get so hungry working all day and it's early enough to burn them off. They are one of the only things that really fill me up too. Today I had a spinach salad, cup of pasta, an apple, and hot tea. I go online again, check parent emails, catch up on work and get ready for after lunch.
11:55am: bell rings, I get my class again. This is one of the hardest parts of the day. They are tired or too crazy and complain about everything. I am trying to get kids to finish their worksheet from before lunch and my aide takes her lunch, so it is always chaos and I am alone. They all work at different paces so the kids that are done are causing trouble and I am trying to work with the slow ones so they get to learn everything too. Once we finish that, we do math.
1:00pm. NAP TIME. I usually make some tea and have another snack (eating every 2 hours is the best for your metabolism). I take a walk to fill up my water bottle (I go through 3 water bottles a day. One because it's good for me, and two because my voice needs it.) My aide brings me a mini chocolate bar from the office usually. I write notes home during this time for the trouble makers. I enter grades. I assess/work with kids that need one on one.
2:00pm: Nap time over. We finish whatever we need to, sometimes we have centers, sometimes social studies, sometimes a craft. All of it chaos.
2:40pm: I start calling kids over to write in their folders on how they did. This just started this week. I have a new classroom management plan where their behavior is based on a traffic light. So if they ended on red, I write about their severe behavior. If they ended on green, I get to praise them. The parents get a daily report.
2:55pm. GOODBYE CLASS.
3:00pm: I talk with my aide about whatever crazy things happened that day. I get things cleaned up and ready for tomorrow. The other Kinder teacher calls and complains about something and then usually wants to meet. Today I was stuck there until 5 going over curriculum for next year (we are switching, so everything I am learning this year is pointless because it's all going to be new). I usually eat again after school because I am starving. Usually a bowl of oatmeal.
5:00pm: This is usually the average time I leave and walk home. I call my mom sometimes on my walk home. I get home and do my dishes from the day and I make myself a smoothie to get myself another serving of fruit and to feed my hunger until I make dinner.
6:00pm. I make dinner. I usually know what I am going to make based on what I have. I try to have a lot of lean protein/veggies for dinner, so I will thaw chicken or fish or a turkey burger and marinade and cook it. Last night was my favorite dinner in awhile. Whole grain pita with hummus, mediterranean chicken, lemon, and spinach. Tonight was fish (you LOVE that, Jess Pugh) and rice. My health is a direct result of my eating habits so I only have 1 day a week where I eat whatever I want. All the other days I stay strict and really try to eat good/all natural, because anything artificial or preserved will work against my immune system even more. I really try to think about the food pyramid too and try to get my dairy/whole grains/fruits and veggies in.
7:30pm. Ready to veg online and catch up with friends and television.
9:30pm: I start winding down. I get ready for bed, read my Bible, write in my journal for a few minutes. I try to be asleep by 10:30 but it depends on how I feel.
This is pretty much it, Monday through Friday. Pretty lonely, which is why my weekends are so sacred to me. I am sick right now and hate living in Long Beach, where I don't have anyone to bring me treats or keep me company. It's lonely here a lot. But I'm content. I have a lot of things that keep me busy and a lot of people to talk to. and I know I am doing exactly what God made me to do, which makes me so happy all the time.
7:00am: alarm goes off. snooze.
7:10am: snooze.
7:15am: Okay I am seriously getting up now. snooze.
7:20am: Okay I have to get up now.
7:25am: I finally pep talk myself out of bed.
7:30am: staring at my closet for 5 minutes, deciding how to stay the warmest/comfiest while looking professional. I usually decide on multiple pairs of leggings/tights and a long sweater/sweater dress so that I can wear boots. If I don't wear boots with 2 pairs of socks, my feet freeze all day long. I can only wear flats/heels when it's hot. Don't ask me why this is, I live in Southern California where the average is 75 degrees this week. But I do walk to work in the morning when it is 45 degrees and I wear a parka like jacket and a scarf.
7:50am: I have brushed my teeth, washed my face, put foundation on, and done something with my hair. I almost always have my front, short layers out of my face, or they will drive me crazy all day long. My kids get picky and aren't afraid to tell me when I look like crap.
7:55am: I take my 3 vitamins (yes. 3. and I still am sick as a dog). I eat breakfast. My favorite cereal is brown sugar maple frosted mini wheats from Trader Joe's. If I am out of that, I have Special K. Cereal is the easiest for me. I NEVER skip breakfast. I would feel sick if I did, and it gets your metabolism going for the day.
8:05am: I walk to school. I talk with the crossing guard in Spanish. This week we are talking about how I am sick and she was sick last week. She tells me to "cuidense" and I say "y tu tambien."
8:15am: I am in my classroom. I pray for my day, and look over my lessons for the day. Sometimes a parent stops in with something they think they need to tell me. I go online for a few minutes.
8:30am: I go out to get my class. One of my favorite parts of the day. We do our pledges (American flag, Christian flag, Bible) and then pray.
8:45am: chaos. We start calendar. This takes 10 minutes alone for them to figure out what day it is. We count our days in school. We talk about the weather. We practice our memory verse.
9:00am: Bible. Right now we are on Jesus and His disciples. They love Bible time.
9:25am: Prayer and Share time. They can talk about prayer requests but they usually just tell irrelevant stories, which I love.
9:30am: snack time. the snack prayer person prays for snack.
9:35am: I use the bathroom, eat my snack (usually a banana and string cheese). I go online. I get out everything I need for the next lesson.
10:00am. Kids come back in. There are usually 1 or 2 crying after they got hurt or fought with a friend. It's always something new. We start language arts now.
11:15am: LUNCH. It's usually soup, but I allow myself to eat carbs at lunch, because I get so hungry working all day and it's early enough to burn them off. They are one of the only things that really fill me up too. Today I had a spinach salad, cup of pasta, an apple, and hot tea. I go online again, check parent emails, catch up on work and get ready for after lunch.
11:55am: bell rings, I get my class again. This is one of the hardest parts of the day. They are tired or too crazy and complain about everything. I am trying to get kids to finish their worksheet from before lunch and my aide takes her lunch, so it is always chaos and I am alone. They all work at different paces so the kids that are done are causing trouble and I am trying to work with the slow ones so they get to learn everything too. Once we finish that, we do math.
1:00pm. NAP TIME. I usually make some tea and have another snack (eating every 2 hours is the best for your metabolism). I take a walk to fill up my water bottle (I go through 3 water bottles a day. One because it's good for me, and two because my voice needs it.) My aide brings me a mini chocolate bar from the office usually. I write notes home during this time for the trouble makers. I enter grades. I assess/work with kids that need one on one.
2:00pm: Nap time over. We finish whatever we need to, sometimes we have centers, sometimes social studies, sometimes a craft. All of it chaos.
2:40pm: I start calling kids over to write in their folders on how they did. This just started this week. I have a new classroom management plan where their behavior is based on a traffic light. So if they ended on red, I write about their severe behavior. If they ended on green, I get to praise them. The parents get a daily report.
2:55pm. GOODBYE CLASS.
3:00pm: I talk with my aide about whatever crazy things happened that day. I get things cleaned up and ready for tomorrow. The other Kinder teacher calls and complains about something and then usually wants to meet. Today I was stuck there until 5 going over curriculum for next year (we are switching, so everything I am learning this year is pointless because it's all going to be new). I usually eat again after school because I am starving. Usually a bowl of oatmeal.
5:00pm: This is usually the average time I leave and walk home. I call my mom sometimes on my walk home. I get home and do my dishes from the day and I make myself a smoothie to get myself another serving of fruit and to feed my hunger until I make dinner.
6:00pm. I make dinner. I usually know what I am going to make based on what I have. I try to have a lot of lean protein/veggies for dinner, so I will thaw chicken or fish or a turkey burger and marinade and cook it. Last night was my favorite dinner in awhile. Whole grain pita with hummus, mediterranean chicken, lemon, and spinach. Tonight was fish (you LOVE that, Jess Pugh) and rice. My health is a direct result of my eating habits so I only have 1 day a week where I eat whatever I want. All the other days I stay strict and really try to eat good/all natural, because anything artificial or preserved will work against my immune system even more. I really try to think about the food pyramid too and try to get my dairy/whole grains/fruits and veggies in.
7:30pm. Ready to veg online and catch up with friends and television.
9:30pm: I start winding down. I get ready for bed, read my Bible, write in my journal for a few minutes. I try to be asleep by 10:30 but it depends on how I feel.
This is pretty much it, Monday through Friday. Pretty lonely, which is why my weekends are so sacred to me. I am sick right now and hate living in Long Beach, where I don't have anyone to bring me treats or keep me company. It's lonely here a lot. But I'm content. I have a lot of things that keep me busy and a lot of people to talk to. and I know I am doing exactly what God made me to do, which makes me so happy all the time.
