Tired

I'm on MC today. :)

It feels good because I badly need a break from the crazy schedule. I've been working from 7.15am to 5.30pm every day of the week, with a 15 mins' break to buy, and gobbling up, the brunch. When I get back, I do my marking until 8pm or 9pm. I think it's very unfair to expect teachers to burn their lives working this kind of hours. It would have been fairer if we get to have some time off during our ' stipulated office hours' (which is non-existent) to do our marking. Isn't marking part of our job? It would have been fairer if our training or workshops are conducted within our 'office hours'. Don't other organisations operate this way? If you go for training, you don't come to work. Since when do their employees work from 8 to 5pm, and after that rush off to attend a 3.5 h workshop? Since when does attending workshops and training so much a part of our job that it takes precedence over everything else?

No teacher would mind if the workshops and training take place during our working hours. It's above and beyond our working hours and we have to delay our marking to after the workshops. And honestly, 3 days of workshops in a week are way too much!

Monday: Workshop (1.30 to 4.30pm)
Tuesday: Remedial and House Practice (1.30 to 4.30pm)
Wednesday: CCA (3.30 to 4.30pm)
Thursday: Workshop (2 to 5.30pm)
Friday: Workshop (2 to 5.30pm)

I really think it's too much. After our in-house workshop, we usually don't go home immediately after that, because we still have other admin work to clear. It's funny how teachers are not able to explain what 'admin stuff' they need to do when others ask them. I reflected on why this is so and surmised that it could be because the admin work is so mundane that we decided that the public would not be able to understand or it's not worth mentioning for fear of being accused of whining as the admin work is made more mundance by the inefficiencies of the school. In private organisations, it's likely that there are specific departments handling tasks specific. But in schools, very often, there isn't a specific department or person handling a specific item. And if there is, it's often very difficult to find that particular person, and you're not allowed to leave the items, or paperwork on the person's desk. We spend a lot of time trying to locate the person responsible for certain things.

Just the other day, I had a 30-min break. I had marking to do, but I had to fill up a 'Do you like this aspect?' survey form on the Total Defence Day Event: What are the 3 things you have learnt? Can you recall the 5 components of Total Defence? What other activities would you suggest? After that, I had to nominate a 'Star Pupil of the Month' for the quality 'Self-discipline' and word a few beautiful reasons why the child was nominated. After that, I was required to find another teacher to pass this piece of paper down to make him the next victim.

After all these are done, I was left with 5 to 10 mins for my marking, which was barely sufficient for 4 books. And it was back to the classroom again.

And come to think of it, I haven't done my weekly lesson plan which was due on Monday.

I'm a very prompt person. I believe in finishing the task before the day ends, but this school has made it impossible for me to finish my work because it loads me down with the irrelevant training and workshops that I don't have time to implement. I don't even have time to teach the items in the syllabus for goodness' sake! My kids don't know how to solve the word problems in the Maths workbook, but I don't have time to teach them. My kids don't know Comparatives which I am testing them for the CA, but I don't have the time to teach them.

I spend the bulk of my time chasing after the forms, letters, files, homework and worksheets I've given them. If I don't chase them, I will have problems when it's file-checking time. But these kids ... even if I chase them, they still don't do their work, still don't bring their books. Call their parents, parents say 'tell the sister', 'tell the father', 'tell the mother', 'tell the grandmother', 'oh, don't know la', 'oh, teacher, I don't know what to do with him lah. You help me.'

It's hard not to give up on these kids.

I did think about the 'how' if I take an MC today,"I've not finished their homework books and worksheets with them. I've not gone through the answers with them. They haven't got back their worksheets."

But like all sane teachers, who have gone through the ministry's grind, I managed to convince myself,"One day of absence won't make a difference. If they are good, they are good. If they are lousy, that one day of me being there won't help. And it'll do me some justice if I take time off from these rascals. At least I don't have to feel angry that they are not bringing their homework back, which I know for certain they won't. I need some rest." :)