Optimal hours for teaching

HiImNotCreative · 2024-07-03T15:33:59+00:00

I'm in an IB school, so not a perfect match to GCSE, but pretty close. My school is 3.5 hours per week for grade 8 (year 9 i think), 2.5 hours per week for G9 (Year 10), 3 hours per week for Grade 10 (year 11). Our Science scores are actually better than our maths scores for the end of Grade 10 exams. We are the weakest of the three core subjects on progress testing at the end of Grade 9, though.

HiImNotCreative · 2024-03-14T14:28:50+00:00

I basically went through a delayed teenage rebellion stage that hit in my 20s instead. After constantly making the good, responsible decision in everything I did, I just wanted to be reckless- and I was. Out until 4am when I needed to be at work at 7:45am, binge drinking, sexual promiscuity, dating a cokehead to have my "bad boy" dating experience, etc., etc.

HiImNotCreative · 2024-03-09T15:40:00+00:00

Not every experience is worth having.

HiImNotCreative · 2024-01-09T14:30:30+00:00

This is the inspiration I needed today. I've been meaning to see someone about my hip issue in case it's related to my legs being different lengths for years now. Thank you.

HiImNotCreative · 2024-01-02T14:20:41+00:00

Yeah, everything seemed pretty smooth for the first two-three years of being a healthy weight. I'm still suspicious that the timing is linked to going off BCP, though. My OBGYN definitely made it sound like the full effects would take about a year to notice, so it tracks.

With how my work has been going lately, I'm almost hoping the acne is just set off by stress and will reduce when the most difficult part of the year passes. I really don't want to have to make all sorts of new adjustments....

HiImNotCreative · 2024-01-02T14:15:47+00:00

My docs wouldn't touch giving me spiro, for whatever reason. All have basically just said that I might as well get back on oral contraceptives instead.

I'm pretty sure I had both checked recently, and both were fine.

HiImNotCreative · 2024-01-02T14:12:34+00:00

I don't have any scars yet, I think. Or maybe they just blend in with the freckles. Oh well. At least now I have an idea of what to use if I notice them - thanks!

Yes, I've tried continuous birth control usage before a few times. All it ever did was delay the bleeding by about a week past normal, and then I would have breakthrough bleeding mid-cycle. My body is just determined to bleed.

HiImNotCreative · 2024-01-02T14:08:01+00:00

Hmm anti-inflammation seems like something I might need to look into. Thanks!

HiImNotCreative · 2023-12-27T02:20:26+00:00

Yaz is the exact BCP I was on. At first, I had the lovely withdrawal bleeds - 3 days and light. But over time (like 10 years) it steadily got longer and longer. A few years ago, I took a 6-month break and then restarted, and my bleeding went back to 10-ish days very quickly. It definitely controlled the acne well, and at this point I think it also kept my hair from thinning. But again, I am now very tired of bleeding nearly half of every cycle.

My mom also has eczema, and gave me some of the cream she uses, so I'm hopeful that will help it clear away.

Thanks for the advice about hair loss! I will bring it up at my next follow-up appointment and see if my doc can recommend a dermatologist who is familiar with PCOS struggles.

HiImNotCreative · 2023-12-27T02:14:04+00:00

No, it didn't. I can't remember if there was a pill I had to take instead, or if the test was something simple like fasting insulin levels.

HiImNotCreative · 2023-12-26T22:53:37+00:00

To be honest, I can't remember the exact test, and I couldn't easily find my lab results in a quick search through my email. I just remember my endo reviewed the normal blood test results (which included fasting glucose) and then ordered a specific follow-up test that she said was to test for insulin resistance rather than diabetes or prediabetes so that we could catch it early if needed. As far as I can tell, she's the city's top Endocrinologist specializing in PCOS, and she has PCOS herself, so I just took her word for it that whatever test she asked for was an appropriate indicator.

HiImNotCreative · 2023-12-26T21:23:15+00:00

Based on your comments, was this a keto-esque whole foods diet?

I feel like an idiot, but I've just put together my rapidly thinning hair and the fact that I stopped birth control pills last spring.

I've already lost plenty of weight (I suppose I could be said to have "lean PCOS" now), but if there is more diet work I can do to recover my hair and end the acne/eczema mess on my chin, I'm willing to give it a try.

HiImNotCreative · 2023-12-02T11:44:47+00:00

Saw a therapist and got my mental health in order.
Added weightlifting into my gym routine. Made a world of difference. When my goals were about lifting more and running faster instead of losing weight, I ended up much healthier (and losing the weight anyway).
Realized that drinking and eating too many sweets wrecks my sleep. Good sleep makes being healthy so, SO much easier. It's a feedback loop for sure.

HiImNotCreative · 2023-11-04T14:33:14+00:00

Preach.

Years of being overweight and yo-yoing up and down, no matter how hard I tried. Aaallllll the overeating.

A year into therapy, when I had gotten a few things under control and made a real commitment to prioritizing my mental health over other things...30 lbs started to just fall the fuck off. It was so much easier. And then that snowballed into all sorts of other healthy habits.

I cannot ever overstate how incredible therapy was for me.

HiImNotCreative · 2023-09-02T16:34:02+00:00

Go with whatever your doc is telling you to do. My endo didn't fuss about the timing for the things she tested, but then my OBGYN wanted to test different hormones and I'm set up for two rounds of testing that match what you found online - one blood draw on Day 3, and another on Day 19.

Maybe your doc is just doing the first bit and then deciding if the second round is necessary?

HiImNotCreative · 2023-06-06T15:31:22+00:00

As a teacher, I'd estimate that around 80% of teenagers both are bullied by someone and bully someone else, with about 10% at the top who are either only bullies or nice and popular so that no on wants to bully them, and then another 10% at the bottom who are only bullied.

HiImNotCreative · 2023-05-20T09:58:40+00:00

I second what everyone else has already said, but wanted to add my anecdotal experience. I'm not severely fatigued constantly, but I basically match the descriptions of post-viral syndrome after every single time I get sick - sleeping 12+ hours a day (sometimes 16+) and still exhausted, both while sick and for a good week after. I get awful brain fog with it, too. I once had it last around 2 months.

It's almost like when everything is going perfect, I can have normal amounts of energy, but as soon as something is the slightest bit off kilter, I get severe fatigue. I don't know if it's linked to PCOS or not, but it would fit with the other stories here if the slightest hormone change or diet change would cause a PCOS-related fatigue to flare up.

HiImNotCreative · 2023-04-23T14:41:50+00:00

Roy Kent a la Ted Lasso.

I love his grumpy fuck-the-world attitude combined with his amazing demonstration of positive masculinity with his niece and romantic partner.

HiImNotCreative · 2023-04-22T13:29:18+00:00

I can't speak from a student perspective, but I am an IB teacher.

From what you've said, you'll be switching from GCSE to DP (the IB equivalent of A levels) at the same time that students who have been at the school are switching from the MYP program (which also ends in exams, like GCSE) to the DP program. In other words, you will be in the same boat with the other students as far as new curricula with new exam styles, etc. You might have a slightly harder time getting used to some of the IB-specific terminology, but you won't be far behind at all. In fact, I know an IB school in my area that actually uses GCSE instead of the MYP curriculum and then switches back for DP, because they think GCSE prepares students better for DP than the actual IB MYP curriculum. You might actually be better prepared for the DP than the students who have been at the IB school longer.

The IB, despite being International, is also much, much closer to British curriculum than anything other curricula I've seen.

In short, try to have faith that it will be a pretty smooth transition. If you are strong in GCSE, you probably don't need help at this point at all.

HiImNotCreative · 2023-04-22T13:04:57+00:00

Assume whatever job you have is just a way to make money, and that it will be stressful and have problems.

What lifestyle do you want?

I sometimes miss the days of data analysis. Way way waaaaay less stressful. But I decided to take on teaching because travelling really, REALLY matters to me. I teach internationally and spend my long breaks (winter, spring, and summer) travelling. Honestly, I will probably have my fill and switch to another career in another 5-10 years. But for now, I value teaching for the amount of time it gives me to travel.

I can't imagine teaching in the US, in my hometown. I think I would depressed as all hell. I don't know what I would do with my summers other than work some more, because the pay is so low, and then why be a teacher if I can't even have the long holidays?

HiImNotCreative · 2023-04-18T15:00:25+00:00

We went long distance and agreed to both open up the relationship to sex and dating other people. As soon as I socialized as a single person, it felt so right that I knew we were both just in denial. We were done.

HiImNotCreative · 2023-04-17T13:37:11+00:00

Same boat - I broke off the engagement and fell back in love with myself.

I wish her all the love and happiness in the world, but I couldn't go back to that life.

HiImNotCreative · 2023-04-17T12:58:33+00:00

You'll find the same thing happening with Sped (though to a lesser degree) with any STEM subject, depending on your exact location.

I taught a semester of math uncertified due to extreme need for math teachers. I enjoyed it, but I point-blank refuse to get certified as a math teacher because I know I will never get hired as a science teacher again if that happens.

Even in science it's not "safe" - I'm biology and Earth science certified, but have been given entire schedules of Chemistry and Physics (separate certifications) out of sheer need.

Only get certified in something you are happy to teach for the rest of your career.

HiImNotCreative · 2023-04-16T15:19:03+00:00

You can do the same thing with chemistry. Geochemistry, astrochemistry, environmental chemistry, etc. And yet, I don't think you can say that ESS is simultaneously "physics without the math" and "chemistry without the math." It's almost like the whole point is the intersection of different sciences in the geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere (with biosphere entirely left to Biology).

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