Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Back to Work I Go...

I just had a wonderful week off of school - gotta love fall break - and now I am mentally preparing myself for an action packed Monday. I teach second grade - BUT (like in most classrooms) my children range from Kindergarten ability to 5th grade ability. I have a really wide gap. I have 4 children with special needs, and 4 children that just moved to the United States 10 weeks ago. On top of that I have 3 gifted children... so let's just say that planning for this group has become very stressful. (It is now the thing that I look forward to the least, even with my beautiful erin condren planner...).
I have no parapro or any other help during the day. Some days I feel like it's amazing that I can keep my head afloat. It's a really good day if everyone is involved and learns something... Apparently from the outside it appears great because I keep getting more and more responsibilities put on plate - but on the inside - I'm one cow away from jumping over the moon myself! :)

I was reading Mrs. Mimi's blog - It's not all pancakes and sausages - and I have to admit that sometimes I don't tell people that I am a teacher - I really don't want to hear the negative comments when I know that I work my tushie off for my kiddos. When I overhear people bashing teachers, I walk away, because I know that if I open my mouth - nothing good will come of it. Especially now that our district is under such criticism, one bad word will have you in front of the board with a formal reprimand in your PR folder. I would love to know how many teachers are medicated due to the stress and pressure of the job - how many have left within the last three years - how many want to leave but feel like they can't????

When I go back to school for my Ph.D. I wonder if my research question could be about medication and teachers - I don't think anyone has a CLUE how much stress and pressure is put upon us...

Sorry - rambling today - :)

Any suggestions?