Laundry Math

Doing some loads of laundry also presents an opportunity for some fraction practice. This type of activity allows students to think abstractly about what information they will need to solve a problem.

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!