Chris over at Rude Cactus posted an entry mapping out his typical day. It struck me as an interesting idea, so I’m stealing it. So for all you folks who wonder what a typical day in the life of a guidance counselor is like, here ya’ go:
6:ooam: Phone alarm goes off. Turn it off and curse the fact that it’s so damn early.
6:03am: Potty time and then take my synthroid. Yay thyroid dysfunction.
6:05am: let the dog out, watch news and quickly check email and some of my favorite blogs.
6:12am: Nakey time… hop into shower and get sparkly and clean.
6:30am: Nutritious breakfast
7:00am: Drive to work, rocking out to whatever is on my iPod or 96 Rock.
7:15am: Check my work email and respond to questions/concerns of coworkers, parents, etc.
8:00am: Carpool, my assigned *evil* morning duty.
8:25am: If we are in a testing week (as we are now), I immediately begin signing out materials to teachers eager to inflict state mandated testing upon their students.
9:00am: Office time. I meet with individual students, prepare lessons, answer phone calls, make phone calls, and am readily available for any testing debacles. If there is testing going on, I must remain in my office and available until all testing is completed. Otherwise I can make contact with teachers during their planning time.
11:00am: Collect test materials; usually testing doesn’t take more than 2 hours. I use this time to double check that no issues arose, and that all materials are accounted for. That’s 327 test books and answer sheets, in case you were wondering.
11:30am: lunch with the specials teachers
12:15pm: meet with one of the resource teachers regarding assistance team follow up
1:00pm: This is the time I use for either more individual counseling, meetings, or trips to the testing office to return/pick up materials. This is a 35 mile trip, and takes at least an hour. If I don’t have to go anywhere, I also use this time to do research and read up on issues that are pertinent to my field.
2:00pm: I try to catch my principal around this time with any questions, things I need signed, etc. This is also a good time to call students down, return phone calls, have parent conferences and double check my test coordinator calendar and feed to be sure I’m not forgetting anything.
3:15pm: Carpool, bus duty, or meetings… depending on the day. If I have carpool or buses, this means wrangling hundreds of children, giving out many hugs, and smiling lots at parents. This is sometimes not so easy after a long day.
4:oopm: I either have a meeting or tie up loose ends. If there is no meeting I’m usually on the way home by a little bit after four.
4:30pm: If no meeting, I’m home and changed into comfy clothes… and the dog is let loose on the yard. If it’s nice out, I play kong with him for awhile.
5:00pm: clean up around the kitchen and living room… start getting ready for dinner.
6:00pm: Jake is usually home or nearing home. I have dinner started.
6:45pm: Spend time with Jake and Merlin, relax, watch some TV, check websites that aren’t appropriate for work.
9:00pm: Usually I’m in bed by this time… I know, that makes me lame. My lack of thyroid gland causes tiredness, and no amount of fiddling with the medication has helped it. So I just go to bed early so I’m well rested!
For me “typical” doesn’t really happen. Like this morning is a testing morning, so I’m stuck in my office waiting for phone calls. I also have had a situation where I had to try to translate some things for one of our ESL students, and another situation that will likely lead to me calling DSS. I’m also going to spend a good chunk of the day organizing test materials to go back to the testing office tomorrow, and then at least an hour in 2nd grade taking photos of their wax museum to send in to our district publication. Also, this month I have no classroom lessons scheduled, but next month my days will be drastically different because I’ll be in classrooms at least an hour and a half every day.
What do your days look like? How do you balance all that you have to get done and not lose your mind in the process? How do you make sure to do the things that keep you sane?
