constrictions

I'm grading English projects today.  While I don't hate the projects per se, the time involved in grading them, the time away from my family and away from Latin is making me crazy.  This is the part of my job that is my JOB.  Anytime a job feels more like work than an interesting project...well, that's not good.

So if you are thinking about going into Latin teaching, think carefully about what you want your second teaching field to be.  Frankly, I don't know how other English teachers do it, because I always feel like I'm doing an inefficient job.  I wish now, in many ways, that I had another language for a second teaching field--like French.  If you teach Spanish, they'll ALWAYS have you teaching Spanish.  But I often see French/Latin combos out there on employment lists.

The problem with teaching Latin, if no one has warned you, is the number of preps.  Boy, my middle school job seemed cushy compared to this.  And as a parent, I often wonder if this high school job has been good for me. I like my school; I like my administration; I like my colleagues.  What I don't like is the teaching load.

I can get nothing done anymore. I have no time to myself, and it's such a great frustration to me.  I haven't written any articles this year; I haven't done much to update websites, create new posters or materials, etc.  I can barely keep up.  I can't keep up.

(You can ignore this entry if you like as something aberrant... but this is a blog about what it's like to teach....)

Oddly, I don't ever remember feeling RESENTFUL about anything for Latin.  I don't ever feel resentful about the amount of time it takes to write exams or build QUIA reviews.  I didn't feel resentful about making up the Martial packets...  but I always feel resentful toward English.

Well, I have more projects to grade.  I want to quit; I want to work on Latin.  I want to go home to be with my family.  Instead I will get back to grading projects.

***
I wanted to add, after grading another half set or so of projects, that it's not that I hate English.  This project is kind of interesting (take too long to explain for the time I have) and it does give me ideas of how to teach this project better next year.    But what I'd rather do is apply ideas I have for this project to Latin.  Frankly, though, I don't feel I can really do projects--really in depth projects like this stuff--until I free myself of the English projects.

Now isn't that sad?

I keep thinking that if I were single, I wouldn't have any issues with any of this.  I just feel very torn lately.