Big Jobs

There is no doubt that teaching can be a big job. I was talking to a friend not too long ago and expressing to her my fear of grading papers and assignments, having anxiety over not having enough time and possibly giving poor feedback as a result. Jokingly she replied, "Just simply get a bigger pen!" I chose this photo (not altered in photoshop in any way) to represent the size of a teaching job. Being married to a teacher myself, I know the amount of work that can go into the profession. When we first moved up to the Elk River area and she took a teaching position where she had to build her own curriculum, I cannot begin to tell you the amount of hours she spent prepping. Often we would hear people comment, "Oh, teacher's have it so easy... you only work 9 months of the year." This drove my wife crazy! Sure, you get some time off in the summer, but when you put in long hours the rest of the year, I think it balances out. With this photo, I am also expressing what I forsee to be one of my own greatest challenges in teaching, time management. How do you balance the amount of time to grade papers, and do a quality job at it, and prep for up coming classes?