I won't deny that it's very nice to be able to work when you want to work during the nicest months of the year. I also do not feel ashamed to say that I believe that I have earned the right to relax in the summer. People who complain about teachers getting "paid too much for working only 9 months" should try being a teacher. Fifty percent of all teachers leave the profession by year 5. It is definitely harder than it looks.
As I am reflecting on this past summer, I am seeing that I didn't work nearly as much as I thought I would. I had big aspirations about getting many different units completed, but time got away from me and I ended up being very busy doing all of the things I had denied myself over the previous 9 months (when I was working 12 hour days). Over the course of the 10 weeks, I worked a total of 61.5 hours. This brings my total number of hours worked from August 20, 2012 until August 15, 2013 to 2117 hours.
As stated in my last post in June, a normal full-time worker who sticks to a strict 40hr workweek will work 1952 hours in 1 year (this already takes into account 2 weeks of vacation plus 6 days of holidays when they don't work). As of June 6th, I had already clocked 103.5 hours more in 9 months than the average full-time worker does in a full year.
Now add my 61.5 hours from the summer, and my total number of hours worked is 165 hours MORE than the average full-time worker, which means that I worked the equivalent of 13 MONTHS of work in about 9 1/2 months.
There is no doubt in my mind that my career will get easier as time goes on. In fact, now that I am starting my 3rd year, I am seeing that I am much more efficient with my time than I was last year or the year before. I am also much more relaxed than before. So I understand that while this blog has been a serious endeavor, it should be noted that not all teachers experience the same things I do, and others could be in situations that are much easier or harder than my situation.
This blog has been a very fun and interesting experiment, and I plan to do it again in a few years when I am more experienced. I hypothesize that my hours will be lower the next time around, but I will know for sure when I pick up this experiment again (maybe in 3-4 years). I thank everyone who has followed and supported this blog, especially those of you who shared it with friends and colleagues. You all are great!
And with that, A Teacher's Life 2013 comes to a close. :)
Summer hours:
| Day | Date | Start | End | Total Hours |
| Sat | 6/15/2013 | 3:30 PM | 6:30 PM | 3 |
| T | 6/18/2013 | 8:00 AM | 3:30 PM | 7.5 |
| 9:00 PM | 12:00 AM | 3 | ||
| W | 6/19/2013 | 8:00 AM | 4:00 PM | 8 |
| 4:45 PM | 5:30 PM | 0.75 | ||
| Th | 6/20/2013 | 8:00 AM | 3:45 PM | 7.75 |
| M | 7/8/2013 | 3:00 PM | 6:30 PM | 3.5 |
| Th | 7/25/2013 | 11:15 AM | 1:15 PM | 2 |
| F | 7/26/2013 | 9:00 AM | 1:15 PM | 4.25 |
| 2:45 PM | 4:30 PM | 1.75 | ||
| 6:00 PM | 8:00 PM | 2 | ||
| Sat | 7/27/2013 | 4:30 PM | 5:30 PM | 1 |
| Sun | 7/28/2013 | 4:45 PM | 8:30 PM | 3.75 |
| T | 7/30/2013 | 6:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 1.5 |
| Th | 8/1/2013 | 10:45 AM | 3:00 PM | 4.25 |
| M | 8/5/2013 | 12:45 PM | 3:45 PM | 3 |
| W | 8/7/2013 | 2:15 PM | 3:15 PM | 1 |
| 5:00 PM | 8:30 PM | 3.5 | ||
| Total | 61.5 |
