calling secondary school teachers who are seriously into their martial art

hey everyone, i'm alive! (just) well i have been doing a teacher training course since sept, and anyone been on a PGCE or GTP will know how ridiculously hard it is!
i want to become a teacher as a starter career, because eventually when my instructor retires i want to open up some TKD clubs and do that. the rubbish thing is that my workload has been so mental, that i've hardly been able to train. i then had a mental burnout, and got very depressed with the whole TKD training issue, because i went from being british champion and stuff from hardly training, which has caused a few issues in my head.

i know these are all irrational, and i have to treat this as if i've had an injury or something, but it has been really difficult because i normally am superwoman and can do many things at once. but not this! i have other commitments involving TKD and not, so i've had to cut down on some of them too.

i'm hoping to get back into training in the summer (6 weeks off of full TKD how awesome is that gona be!!) so that i can make the south east squad for the british/25th anniversary thing (TAGB)

that's my plan. but my actual question, or quest, is for other secondary school teachers.

realisitically, is it possible to train 2/3 times a week when you are teaching full time, and i'm talking NQT year, so still a bit more work than the average teacher. i know as a teacher it's important to have a work/life balance because if you wanted to teaching could be everything in your life.

im willing to sacrifice tkd for the next 6 months (on and off) but have i chosen a career that means i won't be able to concentrate any spare time on TKD? i'm really worried, because TKD is number one, i would have put myself through teacher trainnig for nothing!

oh, and the other thing, my BF couldn't take the stress of me being stressed all the time so broke up with me. cheers, just what ya need!

some advice/positive encouragement would be apppreciated!

michele

 

Im not a teacher myself but my sister recently qualified and is half way through her probationary year. She works a bit some evenings doing lesson plans or marking but she still has plenty of free time. I shouldnt think your career would affect you training more than any other 9-5 job.

 

yay

 

mmm i suppose that's what i was doing before i had my burnout. i just hope i can do it this time. it's bound to be less work in a way, but at the same time more work because i'll have way more lessons to teach and work to mark. but at least i won't have to bloody write 3 pages long lesson plans and evaluations...

 

is it possible to train 2/3 times a week when you are teaching full time,

Hell yeah. Although it won't happen overnight.
My missus is a secondary school teacher.
Every 7 weeks she gets a week off. Sometimes it's a month off. Once a year she gets 6 weeks off. Granted she "prepares" for next term during that time but full time 9-5 work it ain't.
She finishes work at 3:30. If she's well prepared she's home by 4:15.
Once you've taught for a couple of years you basically just teach the same stuff with gradual revisions and refinements and the occasional overhaul.
Heavy work times (reports, marking GCSE's and whatnot) are regular and predictable but will impinge on training time on occasion.

I can't think of many jobs that would leave you in a better position than that to train as much as you want.

I get 25 days holiday a year.
I don't get home until 7pm (which means I can't make many clubs that train at 6:30 or 7).
I have irregular periods of over-time that can happen at the drop of a hat.
All of this majorly effects my training time.
However...the flip side is that I don't have to spend extended periods of time near horrible spotty and obnoxious teenagers. Swings and roundabouts.

Oh and by the way...tell the kids you do martial arts and you'll get more respect and an easier time teaching them.

 

Yes, it is possible! As others have said, it's really a matter of structuring your time. Your first year or two will be the hardest, but once you get a system down it will get easier. But training 2-3 times a week is definitely feasible!

 

In a word -- yes.

Longer answer:

You will have to be seriously organised. And be prepared to miss the odd session because your school drops a twilight or parent's evening on you. I generally find that my training goes in fits and starts, I don't train consistently throughout the year, but in the quite times I train like a beast, so I don't feel too bad during the busy times where I train maybe once a week.

In your first year you will definitely have more to do, and your training may suffer, but it does get easier.

As to the idea of telling your kids - be wary! During my PGCE year one of the teachers at my second placement told my sixth form thinking that it would encourage them to behave. Instead I got half the sixth form rugby team squaring up to me at every opportunity. if you are in a problem school, some kids will see you as a target because of your training.

And as to your boyfriend issue, I would say goodbye to a relationship with anyone who at least doesn't understand teaching -since becoming a teacher I have had so many break-ups because they don't get how stressed we are, how busy we are, and how much work us teachers have to do. Your only other option is to leave all work related conversations and emotions at work.....If you figure out how to do this, can you let me know??

 

You have to . . . repeat . . . have to find something that takes you away from your classroom on a regular basis. Being a teacher is hard enough and it is very time consuming, stressful profession but you must also keep in mind that if you aren't mentally healthy your students will not benefit from you and you will gradually lose any will you have to teach.

One professor of mine used to take a weekend vacation every few weeks or so to a city not far away. Nothing really spectacular about the city but it was away from the school, his students and teaching. Helped him enjoy a very long and fulfilling career. My brother, father, mother (all teachers) have said the same thing and now I make sure I have the time to de-stress myself as well away from the class. Gotta be organized though, and it usually can't happen anytime around report cards or end of the year.

 

work at it dont lose your talents on either front..

as stated time manage ...maybe commit to 2 days training instead of 3 ...

good luck

Smurf

 

My first year of teaching was hard... preparing for classes and the workload as well as attending a University class a couple of times per week. For me, TKD and HKD were the places to see friends, get aggression out and be away from the "school" world. I was able to go twice a week.

Now as a full time "experienced teacher" I have a lot more free time and come to class 3-4 nights a week (double classes too). Then again, I am single so I don't have that to contend with (but I do have at least one night a week for "myself" and I keep weekends open)

Like the others said, you need to budget "you' time, if only to keep you sane. Afterall why should you give up what you love just because you have to work!

Good luck!

 

Interesting thread. One of my best friends, boxing partner and cornerman is a full time grade school teacher here in Hong Kong. Swell dude. He teaches primary in addition to putting in copious hours down at the boxing gym teaching the rest of us lot how to not get punched in the gob. A top athlete and really just one of those guys cut out to teach. I think if more teachers has his personality and ability to explain things the way he does... teachers overall would get more respect. It's refreshing to meet someone who teaches primary school kids that actually gives a damn about how their being taught. I look back at school and can think of only perhaps one or two that were worth their salt. It seems the majority of them were in it because it was an easy gig with summers off. Before anyone bites my head off... I'm just going from personal experience.

As I get older (and that's happening by the second.... lol) I have huge amounts of respect for good teachers. It's truly a calling if ever there was one.

 

thanks everyone, this has made me feel really positive about my future!