Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Teacher ADD



I really think I have ADD. I'm in the middle of marking test papers. The couch is cluttered with geometry and calculus exams. The floor is also covered with papers. My lesson for tomorrow's geometry class is also somewhere in that mess and I still have to decide what I want to do in calculus. Here I am, taking pictures, downloading pictures and writing this meaningless dribble.

I have papers to mark, lessons to write and I walk the halls of the school. I use any excuse to wander around and not sit still. This is the reason my house is in the condition above.

Do other teachers ever have this problem?

12 comments:

ChiTown Girl said...

HELL yes!!! I'm seriously afraid that one day, Oprah's people are going to knock on my door and want to clean my house!!

JT said...

Wow, I have that problem, too. I think I have ADD. During my free period, I almost never get things done. I'll either be walking around outside enjoying the weather, or, well, anything else really other than what I should be doing. I end up doing all my grading and planning between the hours of 8 pm-2 am.

The worst is when a student raises their hand to ask a question. I look straight at them as they ask it, then I have to respond, "I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

By the way, your blog is so amusing :D

Mr. McGuire said...

I'm with you on this. The worst is sitting in a class listening to someone lecture.

But everyone knows, teachers are the worst students. :)

sandi said...

yes. I am just as bad. I need to be grading papers now....

Mr. Talk said...

What problem? I think of it as a lifestyle.

17 (really 15) more years said...

This is exactly why I take hours to lesson plan- I have to do 20 other things instead.

Let's face it- who the hell likes doing all this paperwork? I think of the multitasking as keeping sane.

Anonymous said...

I can TOTALLY relate. I am a big Sunday-afternoon-type person myself with planning and grading. I can plan during my free periods, but it's very hard to grade because there are so many distractions. I sometimes stay after school and grade for an hour or two; that seems to work. But I do not grade in the evenings, and plan only if am in the direst of straits. I hate working on school nights.

nbosch said...

Hasn't there been something recently in the press about kids suffering from "partial attention deficit"? One eye on phone, one eye on IM, one eye on computer screen etc. OK--that's too many eyes but you get my point.

Here's what happens to me---do paperwork on computer (yes I write those dreaded IEPS), realize I need test scores and go to test score site, see the name of another student and remember I wanted to email his mom about something, open Outlook and see other emails have some in, type email to parent, read another email, find info that person wants,that reminds me to send something to a teacher, go back to fill in paperwork, phone call, etc etc etc. I've gotten so overloaded that I make dozens of notes to self (or email myself from home school or school home)Forced ADD.

ms-teacher said...

I can relate completely! You are NOT alone :)

Anonymous said...

Hey, as a teacher you need ADD to get through the day...

care020 said...

I am so glad to know that I am not alone!

Anonymous said...

My husband sometimes says I have ADD, like talking about one topic and I reply with another :)

I do this when teaching too. I'm one of those teachers who likes to actually talk WITH her students, not at them. We get off track sometimes but at least they're communicating.

With grading I'm more like an organized ADD person :) When students turn in work it immediately goes into a file folder for that class labeled (to be graded). After scoring they go back in the folder and get transferred to the folders "to be returned".

If I try to grade at home I HAVE to sit at my desk or kitchen table or I'd be in a mess. English teachers have too much paper...if we're doing our jobs :)

Another thing is if I'm at home grading, there is a good chance I'm simultaneously tweeting, facebooking, blogging, emailing, SecondLifeing, IMing, AND watching the news and petting the cat. Working at school is far more productive :)