A Day in the Life

There are many of us teacher-writers out there – for some reason it is a popular choice. But what does the average teacher-writer day look like? Maybe a little something like this…

• 5.45: Alarm rings. Groan. I can have five more minutes, right? Pleeease? Alright then. Five minutes later, haul carcass out of bed and pull on work clothes.
• 6.10: Eat breakfast while catching up on twitter or reading the week-old copy of the Evening Standard on the kitchen table that I’ve already read four times.
• 6.40: Realise I still need to make my lunch, pack my bag, find my shoes and put on some make-up…all in the next five minutes
• 6.55: Get on the tube, along with nurses, builders, people going on holiday and anyone else crazy enough to be up at this hour.
• 7.05 (if I’m lucky): Bus time! And time to read a bit on my Kindle or scribble down some ideas in my notebook, until I fall asleep.
• 7.20: Get into the school building as dawn breaks. Boot up the computer and get all my resources ready for the day.
• 8.00: Meet in the staffroom for a much-needed morning chat and maybe a drink + grab my register and check the cover board.
• 8.15-2.30: Teaching…with about 10 mins for break and 15 mins for lunch, quickly grabbed in the staffroom. Also: fight prevention, relationship counselling, clothes repair, pen/tissue/plastic bag provision…
• 2.30-3.00: Detentions 😦 and assorted catch-ups.
• 3.00-4.00: Meetings.
• 4.00-6.00: Planning tomorrow’s lessons, emailing staff about incidents during the day, marking and catching up with some of my favourite radio shows on iplayer. I have to sign in over at the main building if I want to stay past six, so if I can I try to leave on the hour before the caretaker catches me!
• Some nights a week I have other commitments after this – e.g studying for my MA in English teaching, which takes me to 7.30, or my Greek dancing group, which runs until 9.15. Of course, there are also parents’ evenings and other such events too. However, most nights I get in at about 6.45-7.00 and make my dinner straight away. Then it’s time for a little bit of t.v., ONTD (my guilty pleasure) and either more work for school or, if I’m lucky, the chance to type up some of my writing from the bus journey. I try to go to bed at 10.30, but by the time I’ve washed my hair it’s more like 11.15.

So, when do I get time to write?

It’s tough, but I try to write at the weekends (although Sunday is also dedicated to schoolwork) and in the school holidays. I also managed to write 18,000 words in November by pushing myself to get something written on the bus every single day. I need to get back on that and be ultra-disciplined next half-term.

Just don’t tell me teachers don’t work hard enough…!

Tags: day in the life, teaching, work, writing