There have been many situations throughout my teaching that have required a number of things to be done at the same time. Some examples that they talk about in the chapter maintaining balance could be teaching/coaching or teaching/personal life. The example that I am going to use is similar, but a little different. My example is teaching/double majoring. I have two majors in college, one is PETE and the other is sport and exercise psychology. Juggling these two degrees has been a challenge throughout my time learning to teach. It is very demanding teaching and taking college courses related to my SEP degree. However with proper preparation and dedication it is nothing that can’t be overcome.
The very first thing I did when dealing with maintaining a balance between my college courses and teaching was to lay out my schedule for all my college courses and my teaching schedule. By doing this it allows me to be completely prepared for all upcoming events related to both school and teaching. The second thing I found out to be very helpful was to determine my time management. Teaching can be very demanding as well as college can. However teaching is far more important therefore a lot of my time management had to be spent on planning, preparation, and lesson plan development. I laid out a set schedule in which I divided up my time. I would set certain times for my teaching, planning, and any other work related to teaching, after that was filled out I would then fill in my schedule with the my college work. This way I had my priorities completely in line; it was a very beneficial tool. Some other issues that I had to do at the same time as my teaching included handling multiple tasks simultaneously and dealing with potential conflicts. Handling the multiple tasks at the same time never really was a problem for me, I have a pretty set schedule and I tend to over plan to avoid not being prepared. Also because I have been a double major since entering college dealing with multiple tasks simultaneously has become almost an everyday thing for me so I tend to be better at it than most people. The main way I handled dealing with potential conflicts was to either handle them ahead of time or let whoever it may affect know about it. One example of a conflict I had was I had a paper that was due for one of my SEP classes; however it was due during a time in which I had to teach. So I talked to my SEP professor and he was fine with me turning the paper in early to avoid any problems. My over planning and set schedule I have is what helped me avoid this problem. If I had waited until the last minute or didn’t have my schedule laid out, I could have had a big problem. Also I am very good at thinking on my feet, so if a problem arises quickly I can generally fix it fast, one example of this was when I was teaching in a elementary gym, and one day I came in to teach and it was makeup picture day so I couldn’t use the gym. However I always write my lesson plans so they can be used both inside and outside, so it was a problem, but one that was resolved quickly.
The main result of me juggling my teaching/double majoring has been very successful in my opinion. I have been able to complete all of my classes needed to graduate for an SEP degree and it has not hindered my development as a teacher in the PETE program. I am currently finishing up my student teaching as well as only 1 semester away from my SEP degree. By being a double major it has helped me in a lot of ways regarding maintaining balance, I have to give the same amount of effort in both subject matters in order to be successful, just like a teacher/coach would have to or a teacher and their personal life would have to.
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