crazymalc.co.nz - Home Page of Malcolm Trevena

A man can do no better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work.

4th February 2006
The last time I worked hard was about two years ago, doing some project-a-rather at Enabling Technologies. Poor mental health then took over and it became nigh on impossible to work at all, yet alone hard. The high workload and stress levels were not the problem per-se, but they were the catalysts that bought my demons to the surface.

I eventually managed to dig myself out of the hellhole I was in, but I have been very hesitant to start working hard again ever since, just incase the demons resurface.

How My Days Look Now
My timetable has increased since my last school update. Now-a-days, it looks something like this

7:30	Walk to Jeepney station. Catch a Jeepney
7:45	Arrive at Pulao. Prepare for classes
8:45	Teach Grade 4 math.
9:45	Play games with the kids during recess.
10:30	Tutor Grade 5 math.
11:30	Prepare lessons and mark homework.
12:30	Tutor Grade 6 math.
1:30	Teach Grade 5 math.
2:30	Teach Grade 6 math.
3:30	Tutor Grade 4 math.
4:30	Head Home

That's a total of six contact hours a day, plus all the extra stuff that teachers have to do. Ask any teacher in the world, and they'll assure you that six contact hours a day is quite hard work!

The students have some big exams coming up in about three weeks, so I decided to give some extra tuition classes. This has added another two hours onto my days. I decided to drop the computer tuition classes.

So how's the working hard going?
The work is quite tiring. My Grade 6 in particular can be a real handful. Sometimes there is just not enough hours in the day to do all the things I want to do and I have to delay my marking and assignment setting.

I have made a rule for myself that I never bring any school work home. Worktime is for working and Malcolm Time is for doing whatever I want to. I like having this limit.

I may have to bend this rule a little bit though in the lead up to the exams. Some of the kids are really struggling to get up to speed for their exams. Today, for example, I spent about 10 minutes with a 14 year girl explaining to her how to do her one-times table. 1 x 1 = 1, 1 x 2 = 2, 1 x 3 = 3 and so on. Another kid, who is about 18, is repeating the 6th grade for the umpteenth time due mainly to his inability to read or write. He too will be a challenge.

Most of the teachers at Pulao are already doing weekends to try and help the kids that are struggling. I will be working on the two Saturdays prior to the exams.

Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; anyone who does any work on that day must be cut off from his people.

I don't want to put to death or ostracized, so I am going to keep my Sundays free. Probably good for my mental health too.

So far, all this working hard has had no ill-affects on my mental health. There is only another three (!) weeks of teaching to go, so it is unlikely to flare up again.

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(c) 2005 and 2006 Malcolm Trevena.
All the stuff on this site is written by me, Malcolm Trevena. Feel free to link to this page. Heck, you can even copy stuff from here if you want. Just make sure you sight me as a reference.

Working Hard Again