Teaching Tuesday

Back to the grind.
Nuova Lazio opened for business yesterday, and after a full day teaching, I'm knackered.
No more coffee breaks when I want to.
No more quick catnaps on the couch.
No more couch.
Continuous personal interaction for 5 hours.
I think this is why we get so tired. I think I've mentioned this before, that I've never felt so exhausted as I do after a day of teaching.
Why?
It's not particularly physically arduous.
I've spent long days doing hard physical activity, like a 30 km march with full kit, or sawing up a bloody big fallen tree for firewood. These activities leave muscles aching, a bone-deep weariness that a nice hot bath can fix.
A day of teaching leaves you drained, not so much as physically, but emotionally and mentally.
You have been trying to control a pack of kids, relating and emoting to over 200 individuals in 5 hours. I think it's the one area misunderstood by non-teachers.
I mean, how hard can it be to stand up for 5 hours and talk to kids?
They have no idea of the levels of interaction taking place, and the constant mental alertness which is an essential part of a teacher's armoury.
Think back to when you were at school.
Do you remember how it seemed that your teacher had eyes in the back of his/her head?
That's the situational awareness being expressed.
A good teacher knows what's happening in class wothout always having to turn around.
It's a survival tool.

(I do remember a teacher in my first school in Scotland who used to glue mirrors on the wall beside her whiteboard, so she could keep a constant check on what was happening behind her. I thought it was a bit extreme. When I heard her mention to a colleague that she could see if any of her pupils were sneaking up to stab her in the back with a knife, I realised she was quite mad. Paranoia is quite normal in teachers, with endless suspiscion, but this was a bit extreme.)
Back to the grind.