This post is sponsored by The Wright Stuff Chics.  All opinions are my own.

Outfit Details: Teacher Tee (get 20% off with code “everydayellis”) ||  Leather Jacket (different color that I love here)

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Being a kindergarten teacher is something that not many people will ever truly understand.  Imagine yourself smiling for 3 hours straight, being overly excited about everything (especially when it comes to following rules), and herding cats all while having to go to the bathroom.  

When I saw this shirt from The Wright Stuff Chics, I instantly knew I needed it! The whole shirt told my daily life story.  Teach.  Target. Sleep. Repeat. So in honor of this shirt, I thought it might be fun to do a quick, run down version of a day in the life of a kindergarten teacher…..me!

Mornings are rough for me.  I love my sleep and I wake up everyday feeling pretty sick (no I’m not pregnant, I’ve felt this way since I was in Jr. High).  So when my alarm goes off at 6:45 am (I know not early at all compared to all my other teacher friends) I end up snoozing it for another half hour.  I jump out of bed at about 7:20 and hurry to get ready.  I quickly do a small amount of make up, brush my hair (that I haven’t washed in 3 days) and use a straightener to fix any curled ends.  I put on a cute outfit, but make sure that I’m able to move around, jump up and down, and bend down without any problems.  Once I’m ready to go, I grab my bag and rush out the door.  I use to live 7 minutes from the school, but since we bought our new house it now takes me about 20-25 minutes to get to school, so I end up leaving my house around 7:50 am without any breakfast (trust me, I know that’s not good and I’m working on it, but mornings are rough for me).  

On my drive to work I call Kyle and we chat as he drives to work as well.  Once I get to work I check that I’ve responded to all my emails (which I daily respond to on my phone when I’m not at work) and grab any papers I may need to make copies of for the day.  I walk down to the work room where I wait for a copy machine, but it’s alright by me because it is one of my only chances of the day to talk to actual adults.  

I go back to my classroom, put the schedule on the board so the kids know what we are doing today and make sure everything is ready to go.  The bell rings, and my day really begins.  

The kids come in the classroom and they can give me a hug, a handshake, or a high five to start the day.  I want them to know they are loved and that school can be a safe place for them.  Immediately I have someone crying because they left something outside, another kid is mad because he can’t find his whiteboard, and another girl is pulling my arm trying to tell me about what she did with her grandma last night.  I finally take roll and we move to the mat to have phonics time.  We go through the rest of the day, calendar, math, read aloud, another kid crying, 3 kids feel sick, and another kid peed his pants. It’s only been 45 minutes into school.

We stand up and do 20 jumping jacks because school is hard and we have to get our energy out at 5 years old.  Phonemic awareness lesson, practice counting, 2 kids tattling, 4 kids with the biggest bubbles in their mouth I’ve ever seen, and 1 kid shouting out that she loves me and thinks I look pretty.  

Then my aide walks in and thank goodness! She takes the class while I pull for small group and then the bell rings.  Recess. I’m on recess duty so I bundled up while the wind is blowing in my face and the snow is everywhere, but it is funny to watch what the kids do.  I have 3 girls huddled around me wanting to play penguins because that was our unit last week.  Apparently I’m the mama penguin and they just follow me around.  The next bell rings and I can finally go inside and feel my feet again!

Reading groups is next, which is my favorite part.  I get to teach kids to read.  Kids that came to me knowing 0 letters and 0 sounds, now reading books and discussing what they mean to each other.  It is truly amazing.   

Specials is last and that means the music teacher is in my room.  The kids are singing, dancing, moving around and I can’t get much work done, but it’s fun to watch them.  Then at 11:30, they shuffle out of my room all giving me a hug and yelling “bye” or “I see my mom”.

I head back to my room and finally there is silence, which is weird, so I turn on Pandora.  I clean up the room, get my lesson plans ready for tomorrow, talk to the other half day kindergarten teacher (because I’m desperate for some adult conversation) and then it’s time to head home.  

I hurry home, say hi to Lou, and make myself a quick lunch.  At this point it is around 1:15 and I have to hurry because I’ll be teaching piano soon.  I turn on Netflix, grab my laptop, and begin to eat while I answer blog emails and catch up on a Netflix series.  Once I’m done eating, I clean up the kitchen, do some laundry, and get ready for my piano lessons.  During this time at home, I try to constantly stay updated on Instagram.  I’m commenting, planning what to post, and then repeat.  It has been a hour since I’ve been home and I decide to play with Lou for 15 minutes, until it’s time to head to piano.  I bring Lou with me to piano because my piano students love to see him and he loves them too.

I teach piano from 3:00 – 7:30 (unless it’s Wednesday, in which case I begin teaching at 1:30, so I don’t have time to go home that day).  7:30 rolls around and I clean up all the piano games, extra sheet music, stickers, and update my piano program software with attendance for the day.  

Since I teach piano at my mom’s house (because it is closer to where my students are), I say hi to my family and then head back to my house.  Kyle is home normally, except for during busy season (which is right now).  If it is busy season, he works until about midnight, so all of this is by myself.

As soon as I get home, I say hi to Kyle and he knows it is “Instagram time”.  I hurry and post to Instagram, scroll through my feed, and then repost it to my other social media channels.  We begin making dinner and at this point, we don’t eat until 9:00 pm.  We clean up, do our daily house chores, and watch a Netflix show together.  I tell him that I have to do a few more blog things, so he plays with Lou while I work.  I comment back to anyone who has commented on my post, scroll through my feed again, and try to comment on other’s posts as well. At this point it’s about 10 pm. 

If it isn’t busy season, Kyle and I hang out and run errands (hello Target at 10:30 at night haha), take Lou on a walk, or work on a house project.  When I first started my blog, I let the blog run my night, but a few months ago I knew I couldn’t let that happen anymore.  So Kyle knows I have my “Instagram time” right when I get home, and then I try hard to stay off of it.  It’s important for me to spend time with Kyle and I know that although I could always be doing more for my blog, being with him is the most important thing I could be doing.

At this point it is a little after 11:15 pm, and it’s time to start getting ready for bed.  I normally shower at night because you all read how bad my mornings are.  Once we are ready for bed and the lights are out it’s after midnight and I’m pretty tired.  I’ve been going nonstop all day and let me tell you, 21 five year olds wear you out!     

Photo Credit: Analise Porter Photography