A Day in the Life of an Inner City Teacher

When I first started teaching, I pictured myself driving into the suburbs through greenery and past parks, tennis courts and well kept houses with white picket fences. I imagined I would walk into the school and see smiling faces, ready to give me a big hello and welcome. I imagined I would have a moderately sized class, around 20 or 22, half boys, half girls whose work would give me the perfect bell curve.

I was wrong. Instead, my life in education is vastly different than I ever could have imagined. Growing up, I heard that the greater the work, the bigger the reward. God, I hope that is right.

I initially chose teaching because I believed it would be a great fit with my life as a mother of two beautiful boys. I could work a 7-8 hour day, including travel time and be home in time to make a healthy and delicious dinner. I might even be able to pick my kids up from school.

My day begins at 8:30pm the night before. I take my shower, lay out clothes (both for myself and my kids), I pack lunches (for myself and for my 4 year old who is in preschool) and pack backpacks (also both for myself and my 4 year old.) I also take some meat out of the freezer to make for dinner the following night.

I am in bed by 9 and asleep by 10 (assuming my kids are asleep. If one is sick or having trouble sleeping, I am up too). You might be wondering why I am doing this all on my own. My wonderful, amazing partner in crime, my husband Wesley, works night for TSA at Logan Airport. He is the ultimate dad – works nights, goes to school and takes care of our two boys while I work. Oh and he also runs a photography company as a side job. More later on how little I see my husband and how we make that work!

When my alarm clock goes off at 4:30, I try very hard not to wake Wes who only came home from work 4 hours prior to that. I also try very hard not to wake the kids who share a room right next to mine. I quickly wash up, dress and am downstairs and out the door by 5.

I walk swiftly to the train station (only a few hundred yards from my house). I always have just enough time to buy a coffee and wait for the 5:13 am train.

I arrive in the inner city, just outside of Boston, by 6:05am. The inner city where I work is less than 2 square miles and has a major poverty epidemic. I step off the train and am hit in the face with a wall of stink—trash. The train station here smells like trash. I walk past some freshly painted graffiti from the night before which only covers old graffiti. It is still dark, so I walk very quickly to the school, which is very close to the train station. I walk under the highway overpass on my way. 

I am in my classroom by 6:15, one hour and 10 minutes before the students arrive. This is how I like to do my prep work. The building is quiet (except for the security guards doing their rounds and the principal and vice principal in their offices, custodians, plus a few teachers). I whip around the room planning for the day.

Promptly at 7:25 the early bell rings and a barrage of students clamber up the stairs from the cafeteria where many of them have just had breakfast. I watch as my students enter the classroom, one by one. I very rarely get a smile from them this early in the day. Until all 3 are in the room. Yup, 3. I teach an alternative middle school program. I teach students who haven’t been successful in the mainstream classroom and need alternative teaching methods, one on one and sometimes, a probation officer.

The blocks we teach are 63 minutes long and the students are with my assistant and me most of the day. At some point, I have a team meeting while the students are with another teacher. The meeting is comprised of myself, two other teachers, two paraprofessionals, a social worker, an outreach coordinator and the director of our program who is also a social worker (clinician). The members of the team have fewer teachers than social workers … even the two paras are social work students (BTW they are amazing).

At 11:30, I go to lunch – I get 25 minutes. I usually eat in my classroom to allow me some quiet time to decompress. Some view this as anti-social and that it makes me unapproachable. But I feel I would be very difficult for my team and students to be around if I didn’t have that time to myself.

During my lunch, I call home and talk to my husband and 4 year old, and now my family members have started putting the phone up to the ear of my 11-month old so he can hear my voice. Not being home when they wake up is a huge adjustment. This is the first job I have had where I leave before the kids get up.

The students are dismissed at 3:36pm. I quickly clean up, shut down my computer and rush to make it to Dunkin Donuts before my 4:12 train home. I make it home around 5:15, and immediately get in my car and go pick up my kids. If I am lucky, my mom invites us to stay for dinner. If not, I pick them up, go home by 5:45 and get dinner together (FYI: The crockpot has become my best friend!!)

After dinner, I dump plates in the sink and take my two boys up for a bath. This is my favorite time of day. They LOVE having a tubby! We splash, play, color on the walls, and scrub the long day off. Then it’s pajamas, playtime for 30 minutes and bed for my munchkins.

Then comes the rounds of “mommy, I need some water” or “mommy, will you lay with me?” or “mommy, are you going to leave without me?” My poor 4 year old has been having anxiety at bedtime, knowing when he wakes in the morning I won’t be there. I believe he will adjust and having his dad home every morning has been helpful for the transition.

Once the kids are settled and hopefully asleep, I start all over again!! It’s a long, tiring day, but I believe the rewards that will come throughout the year will be worth it...at least, I hope!