the marking mountain

Two weeks ago, I set all my classes an assessment task, which is all well and good until I remember that means I’ve just given myself 150 books

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stepping back is never easy

flames wallpaper
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It feels so soothing, stepping back

Away from lapping flames that lick

At body parts, scorching, scolding,

In a vicious way.

But then recovery is so much harder

That I’m sometimes left to wonder

Would it be much easier

To let the lot go up in angry flames?

I wrote the other week that I had a bit of a tricky situation in my tutor group when when of my tutees had a meltdown and started screaming that she was going to kill herself, to later go to a teacher and say I’d told her to go ahead and do it.

I decided to take a bit of a step back, for my own mental health. I’ve had terrible trouble trying to create boundaries in my life and it’s led me into some really dark places. So this time, I decided that I would give myself space as I was feeling really overwhelmed by that behaviour.

I still believe that it was sensible of me to do that, but now that I’ve been missing from their sessions for two days I wonder how easy – or hard – it is going to be to integrate myself back in?

When I’m stressed, I feel paranoid and like everyone is whispering behind my back, so I worry that they’ll all be whispering about my disappearance. I feel like I made the right choice at the time, but now I realise that if I’d just sucked it up and carried on, I wouldn’t have the drama of making an entrance.

This is a fine balancing act that I am still learning and I hope that I have done the right thing by myself this time around. And I need to keep reminding myself that the decisions I make need to be for myself so that I can serve the kids. If I make myself sick, trying to see things out, I’m no good to anyone. And this needs to be kept in the back of my mind at all times.

Much Love

Rachel xx

too much admin

binding books bound colorful
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The paper waves are slowly closing over

A gaping mouth that gasps for air

But only manages a desperate breath

That sucks in numbers mixed with emails for

The heads of house and senior ones

Who seem to have it all together

At all times they steer a ship

Successfully through OFSTED watch

And other things that surely kill

The drowning ones like you and me.

Bloody hell, the paperwork and the planning that goes alongside teaching is somewhat scary. It comes in waves and I sometimes find myself wondering why I have nothing to do and then the next day I am so snowed under, I don’t know where to start.

It doesn’t help when twenty out of thirty members of a class decide that completing their homework is something they can do if they feel like it. It feels like rounding up sheep while also juggling with my feet as I stand on my head.

I will not let this beat me, but I feel like I am going to run out of air very, VERY soon. Anyone else feel like this? Because it doesn’t help when everyone around me is experienced and has this all under control!

Much Love

Rachel xx