Wednesday, August 29, 2012

the 40-hour week

Teaching requires a great deal of energy. As a teacher, you're always "on" during work hours: always in performer mode. Teaching three students at a time in three different subjects is both a struggle and a juggle: at YB, you're essentially a waiter, catering to different tables'/customers' needs-- now pre-algebra, now SAT prep, now college essays. When your students happen to be overly chatty or overly complaining, this fact sucks even more of your energy out of you, and by the end of a grueling, eight-hour day, you're a ghost of who you were when the day began.

That's how it's been with me for the past few weeks. Summertime is intensive time at YB, so we've got plenty of students and chock-full work schedules. On the bright side, this means more money for yours truly, but in the battle between money and sanity, I find that sanity wins. As worried as I am about my own finances, I'm more worried about succumbing to the pressure and losing it in class.

This might be a good time to get back into meditation.


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3 comments:

John from Daejeon said...

I think you misspelled medication. It's an easy mistake hitting the t instead of the c.

Kevin Kim said...

Har har.

John from Daejeon said...

I try.

It's funny how my kids think my o-t-c meds are actually candy, but I guess that is par for the course when Halls throat lozenges/cough drops are sold candy in stores here. Usually, once or twice a week when I am knocking back some tylenol or aspirin after a long day, I have one or two of them wanting some of my "candy."