Saturday, June 2, 2007

The Balance Challenge

As the school year is winding down I find myself wondering not only where it has gone, but how I could do it better. My husband is looking forward to summer because his view is that I ALWAYS have schoolwork to do at night and now that should get better; but then I have to wonder . . . . will it?

I just don't know. I know that having multi-age, hands-on classrooms is a lot of work and that I find it mentally challenging and very rewarding - but the balance is tough. The balance of my classes, communicating with parents, communicating with colleagues, paperwork (IEP's, etc..), trying to support a positive community of practice at school, working with LDA; as well as, taking care of our household, my kids (and looking into what learning supports our older daughter might need as she gets ready to venture into 1st grade), communicating with family, coordinating birthday parties and holiday parties and completing my practicum to finally get the LD endorsement for my certificate. WHEW - we made it and while it was worth it, I just keep wondering, what could have made it better?

How do other working moms do it, especially teacher-moms? Our job is not a finish-your-work-at-work kind of job. I know how much time many parents spend helping their kids with their homework, and how much time I spend with students' work, not to mention planning for their next batch of work. How can we set things up at our house to prepare for the time we will now have to add in for our children's homework, sports/play, etc..? I know I have some ideas and I'm sure it will work out, but I am wondering if anyone has any words of wisdom for this next section of our lives...... :)