Teacher Versus Student Role

     Being in an elementary education classroom is a different experience depending on whether you are in a teacher or student role.  Being a student, you often do not know what is going on the next week, month, or year.  You often live in the day, and potentially the week if you were like me as a child.  However, once you become a teacher you are forced to think in planning terms 24-7.  You have to plan your daily lessons, have back up plans for those lessons if something goes wrong or something comes up, plan weekly or monthly units, and a whole school year of standards and strategies.  The list is endless and you always have to stay on top of your work, otherwise the learners that depend on you, the school that depends on you, and the parents that depend on you will not be successful. 
     When you are a student you only have to worry about your own school work, and maybe a couple others' if you are completing a group project.  This is completely different as a teacher. You have the people mentioned above, and many others, depending on you to be on top of everything and be successful at it.  It is quite a load of stress to carry as a teacher. 
     Stress level and the amount of tasks that have to get done each and every moment of every day is exhausting and it becomes hard to enjoy the lessons and projects that you complete because the deadline is always looming overhead.  You never have enough time to complete a project at a normal and enjoyable pace.  I am not a fan of this.  I am also not a fan of how little sleep being in a teacher and student role causes.  As both a pre-professional teacher and a student, I rarely get more than four hours of sleep a night this semester and it is extremely taxing. 
     On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are many things I enjoy about being a pre-professional teacher and getting a chance to act in the role of a teacher.  I really enjoy when you can see on a student's face that they understand the material or understand a concept that was a challenge for them beforehand.  I enjoy decorating classrooms and designing/putting up new Bulletin Boards in and around the classroom.  I also enjoy the little quirks that make each student unique. 
     Overall, it is a constant balance of what you enjoy and what you do not enjoy, and hopefully, a majority of the time you like aspects more than you dislike them and you are able to get a decent nights' sleep. 

     Thank you ,

     Olivia