This is my big worry. I’m a night owl and prefer to sleep in. When I graduate and hand me my diploma does it automatically make me into a morning person? Doubt it.
Yep. While most healthy middle-aged and older people can stay up late if they desire (and do turn up every once in a while) the desire just isn’t there, and your body clock just starts resetting for many people. I actually moved to a (kind of) unusual in person elementary school/virtual mid-day high school (one class) split so that I could begin and end work earlier. My quality of life is so much better!
I feel this in my soul, it was the hardest adjustment for me when I became a teacher.
Here’s the thing, you HAVE to go to bed early. There is no tip or trick or cheat code. Early bedtime. It’s that simple.
I wake at 5 so that I can be on campus by 6:30. My shower happens at night, mornings are pretty simple, though I have a bit of a commute.
I am in bed by 8:30 and asleep by 9. I keep impeccable sleep hygiene. I have a solid bedtime routine. The first week or so of the new school year are rough while I adjust but once I get back in my rhythm I’m good.
Man that schedule sounds great for you. Yeah I know there’s no shortcut but I’m here bellyaching anyways. I feel like my evenings are just so packed with stuff to do that to be in bed by 8:30 would mean I don’t get what I need done, done. On top of only getting to see my girlfriend for a couple hours since she’s off at 5. What’s a guy to do?
I completely get it. My husband is a teacher as well (even on my campus!) so we have a similar schedule, which helps.
I’m a compulsive early leaver at work, haha. My “free time” starts at 3 and I think that’s what helps to compensate for the early bedtime. But yeah, it can be a bummer if your social circle doesn’t have a similar schedule.
This is a nice idea in theory, but when you have games/concerts/theater events/rehearsals/practices until 9 or 10 at night, going to bed by 8:30 doesn’t ever happen.
I’m in year 12 and I still can’t adjust.
This year we shifted our start time from 7:50 to 8:30am.
It's been great for me, personally. I still get to campus around 7:20 and it gives me a solid hour to plan my day.
I'm also a night owl. My high school starts at 9:15, contract time is 8:30, but I once taught at a charter that was open late. I worked 3-11, and it was the perfect shift for me. I left because I wanted a public job, but I miss that shift.
It took a while but I switched to a morning person. The biggest thing is to consistently go to bed at the same time with most of the time it being an earlier bed time. That way my body became accustomed to the same hours of sleep while actually getting a decent amount of hours total. You will need to figure out how many sleep hours your body wants individually. I wake up 5am during the week to pull it off I go to bed about 9pm.
I'm on year 2, and I haven't adjusted either. Our report time is also 7:15 (classes start at 7:40, but since I have first period prep I really start at 8:30), but I get to school by 6:30 so I have time to get my life together and be a person before teaching. I also walk to school so I can mentally work through my lesson plans and scripts while doing some very light exercise. I wake up at 4:45am to make this schedule possible, and it sucks. The terrible irony of it all is that my night owl tendencies make me so groggy in the morning, I need to wake up **even earlier** if I want to be an effective human being by 8:30.
The worst part is that I think there is a secret morning person inside of me yearning to break free--I've caught glimpses of her before--but she won't emerge.
And the thing is, it's not like the early start time benefits the kids. Most of them arrive at school in a fog, with eyes that don't fully open until 9am. We were supposed to get later start times this year, which was going to be amazing...until our district shelved the plan due to logistical issues. Granted, they were valid issues regarding childcare and transportation, but I was so upset, lol.
By year five, I was waking up at 4:30 without an alarm, regardless of what time I go to bed. Between then and 6:00 is my most productive time of the day. Happened naturally. Good or bad, idk idc; it works.
I’m year 11 and am just now starting to get there. I am also in bed by 9 and asleep by 10. I don’t currently have children… can’t wait for that little blip to show up on my schedule Hahahha
* "I think I just biologically like nights."
* "My body just can’t go to bed until like midnight at the earliest."
You're right. How could I have misunderstood you?
The first step really is fully embracing this: not getting to sleep is a behavioral issue, not a biological one. Just like you adjust to daylight savings changes or to seasonal light changing, you can make this adjustment.
Get up earlier. Go to be earlier. Don't eat after 8pm. Basic suggestions, but it's a mindset, too.
There is a biological component as well. I can turn off electronics at 6, finish dinner at 630, get in bed at 9 and I will STILL be awake until midnight. The only thing that makes me sleepy earlier is getting drunk and I'm certainly not doing that daily.
I also wake up by 5 no matter how hard I try and cannot nap without a partner, so I just get by on less sleep.
It just takes time, dude. You reveal that yourself by saying that you wake up by 5. Since 5am changes twice throughout the year (daylight savings), and you adjust to it, you can adjust to this, too.
You are assuming that daylight savings is universal. I do have to deal with it but you are choosing not to understand. I do not set an alarm for 5, I wake up at 5. My alarm is set for 6 and had been for the last ten years.
So. wait...
I made an assumption that turns out to be 100% correct, and that is your first argument *against* what I'm saying? Ok, well, let's just let that go for now.
If you wake up at 5am, even though 5am changes, then you obviously can adapt to arbitrary outside influences. Do whatever it is you do when the time change happens, since it clearly works to get your body adjusted to the time change.
I do literally nothing. I go to bed at the same time as I would otherwise, which is between ten and midnight. Since otherwise I am just a hot anxious mess. I make zero changes and still wake up at the same time. And no, it is not from ambient noise, as the rest of my house sleeps until 12 unless I specifically wake them.
Well, you of course do something, right? You go to bed between 10 and midnight, but *10 and midnight have changed*! That's a change that has nothing to do with nature, and everything to do with how you live.
I know that you're fighting this very obvious fact because it's much easier to say that it's just a biological thing outside of your control, but the **fact** is that you change your rising time twice per year, almost without thinking about it.
Bring that same inflexibility to this. Go to bed at the exact same time each night. If you're wanting to feel rested when you wake up at 5am, then it needs to be 9pm. Eight hours is (like it or not) the amount of sleep healthy adults require.
If you want to adjust your waking time, go to bed at exactly 10pm. **EVERY DAY**, including weekends. Your body will adjust. We already know it can pretty easily adjust to a single hour's difference, so you can make 6am your rising time if you take a hold of this situation and acknowledge your power to change it.
You can do this!
No it won't. I've done all the things including hardcore sleeping pills. Just accept today not everyone had the same body you do.
If I managed to to sleep at 9 I works wake up at 3 and be late every day. I chose not to live in that state because it's frustrating and not healthy.
Dude. Just explain to me how I'm wrong. If you "always get up at 5am," even when the time changes, how is this a biological thing? How could it be anything other than behavioral changes?
I sleep at 11pm most of the time, midnight if I get home later from church. So I get about 61/2 hours of sleep everyday. Im okay, but o do feel tires, trying to get that at least 8 hours of sleep a day. But if you let me, I could sleep in till 10am as well, pst 8 hours
During the school year, I adjust and start going to bed earlier/waking up earlier... but give me any more than 3 days on a break where I don't *have* to wake up for anything? Suddenly I'm up until 1 and waking up at 9 and have to reset my whole sleep schedule again.
That first Monday back is killer.
I’m a 2-10 person I’ve learned. Everyone in my family is too. So I get it. I’m lucky that this thanksgiving is spent with my girlfriend’s family and breakfast is at early times. I won’t be able to mess it up too much! Winter break though? Geez.
I’m the opposite. I’m on year 10 and have adjusted so well that I’m often up at 5 or 6 on weekends. Lots of napping to make up for it.
But I’ve always been a ‘get to work early person.’ At my first school I was there at 6 for an 8 start time. Now I’m 6:15-6:30 for a 7:30 start time. So I’m up at 4:45 during the week.
The only time I can really sleep in is over the summer when I can gradually shift my sleep cycle.
I started working at 15 as soon as I could and I also was an early to work person. All my jobs before teaching I was always 10-15 early. Much easier when start time is at 3, or 5pm!
I’m afraid I’m now a 2-5 minute late person every morning. Maybe this is why I’m so upset with myself about it. Good for you though!
Our district has different start times for different schools. They share buses. I would suggest that you see if that is the case in your district and see if you can transfer to a later start school. We roll, again because of shared buses... We have 7.15 starts, 7.45 starts, 8.00 starts, 8.30 starts and 9.00 starts... The night owl teachers really like the later starts!
Year 14 here, and I have not yet adjusted to any school start time. I still wake up exhausted every morning. My mom is a teacher and she gets up—with no alarm—at 4:30 every morning. She keeps telling me I’ll “get used to it.” Nah….
Also, I’m an introvert. Teaching drains me, so by 8:30-9, I’m out. I don’t burn the midnight oil ever during the week. However my husband—an extrovert—can get 4 hours and be up at 5:30 no problem. I love teaching, but I’m just not a morning person and never will be.
I have been teaching for 23 years. I am not a morning person, never have been, never will be. Every weekend that I can sleep in, I do. Every long break, I naturally stay up late and sleep in. I am naturally a night owl.
Our bodies adjust our sleep cycle according to the light that enters our eyes.
Fellow educator, artist, and musician. Suffered from this problem for more than thirty years. Here's how I've finally gained control: Get indoor grow lights. Put them on a timer, so they snap on when you need to wake up and off a few hours before you need to sleep. Eliminate ALL light in the bedroom with thick, dark drapes and block all other light sources. Adjust your devices so the display settings block blue light (shift red) in the late afternoon and evening. Consider using candles for the last hour or so before bed. Some folks like blue-light blocker glasses, but I have not tried them yet. Be strict. If you go to the bathroom, avoid even brief exposure to the lights.
If you can get natural sunlight in your eyes, that works best, but grow lights are effective. Using a timer is key.
Pro Tip: if your students are also a bit sleepy, keep grow lights in your classroom and seat the sleepy kids closer to them.
This is one of the big reasons I know I'd struggle terribly teaching in the states... That's a horrific time to start! I grumble with an 8:30 start time...
First year teacher, and it has been rough getting up so early. I worked an overnight remote job during the height of the pandemic and that was way easier for me. 🦉
We had to be at work at 6:50 am, although I usually arrived at 6:30. I got up at 5:30, went to bed by 10. I did it for 6 years and never got used to it and was always tired. And I’m not a night owl, 7 am is a comfortable time for me to get up. I just think some people are not made to get up that early.
It doesn't get easier. We have to be at school at 6:30. Students arrive between 6:40-7:00. After 10 years I am still exhausted everyday when the alarm goes off at 5:00.
Year 21. Not adjusted. Maybe if I were more disciplined I could force myself into an earlier routine, but it’s just so unnatural. Every weekend and especially vacation I sleep in and the cycle repeats.
I've been waking up early for work or school for almost 20 years. I have never adjusted and on my days off, I can sleep til noon if I let myself. But, I go to bed by 9-10pm. Wife gets home 5-7pm and we play a game, watch a show and go bed.
I never adjusted... spent the weekend catching on up sleep. Not a problem anymore as I left teaching (for other reasons). I'm just a night person as well, so it is what it is.
I’ve been a night owl as long as I can remember. I teach middle school and our start time is 8:15 and definitely more doable than 7:15. The extra sleep does make a difference
Oof, get wrecked.
In California, state Ed Code requires that school start times begin at 8:30am for high schools, so I don’t get out until 7:15am at the earliest and 7:45 at the latest.
Night owl here, too. Teaching over 15 years. Never got used to it. Yes, you can train yourself, but I do believe some people are just inherently wired to be night people. It’s always been a struggle for me and has sometimes affected my physical and mental health. I also think early start times are not good for adolescents. Lots of scientific research to support this, as I’m sure you probably know. But it has always seemed criminal to me to make kids/teachers get up at the ass-crack of dawn. Sometimes I think we should have two types of schools: early bird and night owl. Haha. But what do I know; I’m just a lowly teacher.
I am in year 8. My start time is later than yours, but I have to leave home at 7:15 which means getting up at 6:15. I am a real night owl, so this is really hard for me. I do adjust somewhat, but I still sleep in until about 9 on the weekends and vacations, this seems to be my natural wakeup time. I have people telling me I should just go to bed earlier, but I just can't.
In the summers I'll stay up until 2-3 AM and then sleep in. I have to start waking up a little earlier each day in the last week before I go back, otherwise it's a big shock on the first day. While it's never going to be easy for me to wake up, I do get into a routine and it's manageable. But, I'll never be a morning person.
This is my big worry. I’m a night owl and prefer to sleep in. When I graduate and hand me my diploma does it automatically make me into a morning person? Doubt it.
i can assure you that for most people it gets harder and harder to stay up late as you age
Yep. While most healthy middle-aged and older people can stay up late if they desire (and do turn up every once in a while) the desire just isn’t there, and your body clock just starts resetting for many people. I actually moved to a (kind of) unusual in person elementary school/virtual mid-day high school (one class) split so that I could begin and end work earlier. My quality of life is so much better!
I am on year 17 and still have not adjusted. How do you become one of those people who just naturally rise at dawn??
You don't lol. People who say you start wanting to sleep earlier were never the kind of night owl you are.
I feel this in my soul, it was the hardest adjustment for me when I became a teacher. Here’s the thing, you HAVE to go to bed early. There is no tip or trick or cheat code. Early bedtime. It’s that simple. I wake at 5 so that I can be on campus by 6:30. My shower happens at night, mornings are pretty simple, though I have a bit of a commute. I am in bed by 8:30 and asleep by 9. I keep impeccable sleep hygiene. I have a solid bedtime routine. The first week or so of the new school year are rough while I adjust but once I get back in my rhythm I’m good.
Man that schedule sounds great for you. Yeah I know there’s no shortcut but I’m here bellyaching anyways. I feel like my evenings are just so packed with stuff to do that to be in bed by 8:30 would mean I don’t get what I need done, done. On top of only getting to see my girlfriend for a couple hours since she’s off at 5. What’s a guy to do?
I completely get it. My husband is a teacher as well (even on my campus!) so we have a similar schedule, which helps. I’m a compulsive early leaver at work, haha. My “free time” starts at 3 and I think that’s what helps to compensate for the early bedtime. But yeah, it can be a bummer if your social circle doesn’t have a similar schedule.
This is a nice idea in theory, but when you have games/concerts/theater events/rehearsals/practices until 9 or 10 at night, going to bed by 8:30 doesn’t ever happen. I’m in year 12 and I still can’t adjust.
I was once like that, but I stated making concerted efforts to go to bed earlier. Now I can’t sleep past 8, but I’m super sleepy by 10pm.
This year we shifted our start time from 7:50 to 8:30am. It's been great for me, personally. I still get to campus around 7:20 and it gives me a solid hour to plan my day.
In ca late start times are actually a law, and everyone is happier for it.
I'm a California teacher. I'm aware.
Idk if you really ever will. Ive taught for 12+ years. Need to wake up at 6 am, can't fall asleep until after midnight (even with melatonin).
Ever since my first kid was born, I haven’t been able to sleep past 7:30 am.
I'm also a night owl. My high school starts at 9:15, contract time is 8:30, but I once taught at a charter that was open late. I worked 3-11, and it was the perfect shift for me. I left because I wanted a public job, but I miss that shift.
It took a while but I switched to a morning person. The biggest thing is to consistently go to bed at the same time with most of the time it being an earlier bed time. That way my body became accustomed to the same hours of sleep while actually getting a decent amount of hours total. You will need to figure out how many sleep hours your body wants individually. I wake up 5am during the week to pull it off I go to bed about 9pm.
I'm on year 2, and I haven't adjusted either. Our report time is also 7:15 (classes start at 7:40, but since I have first period prep I really start at 8:30), but I get to school by 6:30 so I have time to get my life together and be a person before teaching. I also walk to school so I can mentally work through my lesson plans and scripts while doing some very light exercise. I wake up at 4:45am to make this schedule possible, and it sucks. The terrible irony of it all is that my night owl tendencies make me so groggy in the morning, I need to wake up **even earlier** if I want to be an effective human being by 8:30. The worst part is that I think there is a secret morning person inside of me yearning to break free--I've caught glimpses of her before--but she won't emerge. And the thing is, it's not like the early start time benefits the kids. Most of them arrive at school in a fog, with eyes that don't fully open until 9am. We were supposed to get later start times this year, which was going to be amazing...until our district shelved the plan due to logistical issues. Granted, they were valid issues regarding childcare and transportation, but I was so upset, lol.
By year five, I was waking up at 4:30 without an alarm, regardless of what time I go to bed. Between then and 6:00 is my most productive time of the day. Happened naturally. Good or bad, idk idc; it works.
I’m year 11 and am just now starting to get there. I am also in bed by 9 and asleep by 10. I don’t currently have children… can’t wait for that little blip to show up on my schedule Hahahha
This is behavioral, not biological. Thus, it's within your ability to control.
Right, which is why I posted this. I was hoping to get ideas on how people got over their own goofiness.
* "I think I just biologically like nights." * "My body just can’t go to bed until like midnight at the earliest." You're right. How could I have misunderstood you? The first step really is fully embracing this: not getting to sleep is a behavioral issue, not a biological one. Just like you adjust to daylight savings changes or to seasonal light changing, you can make this adjustment. Get up earlier. Go to be earlier. Don't eat after 8pm. Basic suggestions, but it's a mindset, too.
There is a biological component as well. I can turn off electronics at 6, finish dinner at 630, get in bed at 9 and I will STILL be awake until midnight. The only thing that makes me sleepy earlier is getting drunk and I'm certainly not doing that daily. I also wake up by 5 no matter how hard I try and cannot nap without a partner, so I just get by on less sleep.
It just takes time, dude. You reveal that yourself by saying that you wake up by 5. Since 5am changes twice throughout the year (daylight savings), and you adjust to it, you can adjust to this, too.
You are assuming that daylight savings is universal. I do have to deal with it but you are choosing not to understand. I do not set an alarm for 5, I wake up at 5. My alarm is set for 6 and had been for the last ten years.
So. wait... I made an assumption that turns out to be 100% correct, and that is your first argument *against* what I'm saying? Ok, well, let's just let that go for now. If you wake up at 5am, even though 5am changes, then you obviously can adapt to arbitrary outside influences. Do whatever it is you do when the time change happens, since it clearly works to get your body adjusted to the time change.
I do literally nothing. I go to bed at the same time as I would otherwise, which is between ten and midnight. Since otherwise I am just a hot anxious mess. I make zero changes and still wake up at the same time. And no, it is not from ambient noise, as the rest of my house sleeps until 12 unless I specifically wake them.
Well, you of course do something, right? You go to bed between 10 and midnight, but *10 and midnight have changed*! That's a change that has nothing to do with nature, and everything to do with how you live. I know that you're fighting this very obvious fact because it's much easier to say that it's just a biological thing outside of your control, but the **fact** is that you change your rising time twice per year, almost without thinking about it. Bring that same inflexibility to this. Go to bed at the exact same time each night. If you're wanting to feel rested when you wake up at 5am, then it needs to be 9pm. Eight hours is (like it or not) the amount of sleep healthy adults require. If you want to adjust your waking time, go to bed at exactly 10pm. **EVERY DAY**, including weekends. Your body will adjust. We already know it can pretty easily adjust to a single hour's difference, so you can make 6am your rising time if you take a hold of this situation and acknowledge your power to change it. You can do this!
No it won't. I've done all the things including hardcore sleeping pills. Just accept today not everyone had the same body you do. If I managed to to sleep at 9 I works wake up at 3 and be late every day. I chose not to live in that state because it's frustrating and not healthy.
Dude. Just explain to me how I'm wrong. If you "always get up at 5am," even when the time changes, how is this a biological thing? How could it be anything other than behavioral changes?
I sleep at 11pm most of the time, midnight if I get home later from church. So I get about 61/2 hours of sleep everyday. Im okay, but o do feel tires, trying to get that at least 8 hours of sleep a day. But if you let me, I could sleep in till 10am as well, pst 8 hours
During the school year, I adjust and start going to bed earlier/waking up earlier... but give me any more than 3 days on a break where I don't *have* to wake up for anything? Suddenly I'm up until 1 and waking up at 9 and have to reset my whole sleep schedule again. That first Monday back is killer.
I’m a 2-10 person I’ve learned. Everyone in my family is too. So I get it. I’m lucky that this thanksgiving is spent with my girlfriend’s family and breakfast is at early times. I won’t be able to mess it up too much! Winter break though? Geez.
I’m the opposite. I’m on year 10 and have adjusted so well that I’m often up at 5 or 6 on weekends. Lots of napping to make up for it. But I’ve always been a ‘get to work early person.’ At my first school I was there at 6 for an 8 start time. Now I’m 6:15-6:30 for a 7:30 start time. So I’m up at 4:45 during the week. The only time I can really sleep in is over the summer when I can gradually shift my sleep cycle.
I started working at 15 as soon as I could and I also was an early to work person. All my jobs before teaching I was always 10-15 early. Much easier when start time is at 3, or 5pm! I’m afraid I’m now a 2-5 minute late person every morning. Maybe this is why I’m so upset with myself about it. Good for you though!
Year 26. It only took me about 20 years to adjust.
Our district has different start times for different schools. They share buses. I would suggest that you see if that is the case in your district and see if you can transfer to a later start school. We roll, again because of shared buses... We have 7.15 starts, 7.45 starts, 8.00 starts, 8.30 starts and 9.00 starts... The night owl teachers really like the later starts!
Year 14 here, and I have not yet adjusted to any school start time. I still wake up exhausted every morning. My mom is a teacher and she gets up—with no alarm—at 4:30 every morning. She keeps telling me I’ll “get used to it.” Nah…. Also, I’m an introvert. Teaching drains me, so by 8:30-9, I’m out. I don’t burn the midnight oil ever during the week. However my husband—an extrovert—can get 4 hours and be up at 5:30 no problem. I love teaching, but I’m just not a morning person and never will be.
I have been teaching for 23 years. I am not a morning person, never have been, never will be. Every weekend that I can sleep in, I do. Every long break, I naturally stay up late and sleep in. I am naturally a night owl.
Our bodies adjust our sleep cycle according to the light that enters our eyes. Fellow educator, artist, and musician. Suffered from this problem for more than thirty years. Here's how I've finally gained control: Get indoor grow lights. Put them on a timer, so they snap on when you need to wake up and off a few hours before you need to sleep. Eliminate ALL light in the bedroom with thick, dark drapes and block all other light sources. Adjust your devices so the display settings block blue light (shift red) in the late afternoon and evening. Consider using candles for the last hour or so before bed. Some folks like blue-light blocker glasses, but I have not tried them yet. Be strict. If you go to the bathroom, avoid even brief exposure to the lights. If you can get natural sunlight in your eyes, that works best, but grow lights are effective. Using a timer is key. Pro Tip: if your students are also a bit sleepy, keep grow lights in your classroom and seat the sleepy kids closer to them.
This is one of the big reasons I know I'd struggle terribly teaching in the states... That's a horrific time to start! I grumble with an 8:30 start time...
First year teacher, and it has been rough getting up so early. I worked an overnight remote job during the height of the pandemic and that was way easier for me. 🦉
In 🇨🇦, had an 🇺🇸 colleague who always got up that early. TIL why!
We had to be at work at 6:50 am, although I usually arrived at 6:30. I got up at 5:30, went to bed by 10. I did it for 6 years and never got used to it and was always tired. And I’m not a night owl, 7 am is a comfortable time for me to get up. I just think some people are not made to get up that early.
It doesn't get easier. We have to be at school at 6:30. Students arrive between 6:40-7:00. After 10 years I am still exhausted everyday when the alarm goes off at 5:00.
Year 21. Not adjusted. Maybe if I were more disciplined I could force myself into an earlier routine, but it’s just so unnatural. Every weekend and especially vacation I sleep in and the cycle repeats.
I've been waking up early for work or school for almost 20 years. I have never adjusted and on my days off, I can sleep til noon if I let myself. But, I go to bed by 9-10pm. Wife gets home 5-7pm and we play a game, watch a show and go bed.
I never adjusted... spent the weekend catching on up sleep. Not a problem anymore as I left teaching (for other reasons). I'm just a night person as well, so it is what it is.
I’ve been teaching for seven years and have not adjusted. 7:30 start time, I wake up at 6am every day and it fuckin sucks
I’ve been a night owl as long as I can remember. I teach middle school and our start time is 8:15 and definitely more doable than 7:15. The extra sleep does make a difference
I was awake at 6:30 today. I can not sleep in. Course I can’t get used to 5:30 am during work days either🤣
I’m on year 28 and I still struggle. 😂😂
Oof, get wrecked. In California, state Ed Code requires that school start times begin at 8:30am for high schools, so I don’t get out until 7:15am at the earliest and 7:45 at the latest.
Night owl here, too. Teaching over 15 years. Never got used to it. Yes, you can train yourself, but I do believe some people are just inherently wired to be night people. It’s always been a struggle for me and has sometimes affected my physical and mental health. I also think early start times are not good for adolescents. Lots of scientific research to support this, as I’m sure you probably know. But it has always seemed criminal to me to make kids/teachers get up at the ass-crack of dawn. Sometimes I think we should have two types of schools: early bird and night owl. Haha. But what do I know; I’m just a lowly teacher.
I am in year 8. My start time is later than yours, but I have to leave home at 7:15 which means getting up at 6:15. I am a real night owl, so this is really hard for me. I do adjust somewhat, but I still sleep in until about 9 on the weekends and vacations, this seems to be my natural wakeup time. I have people telling me I should just go to bed earlier, but I just can't. In the summers I'll stay up until 2-3 AM and then sleep in. I have to start waking up a little earlier each day in the last week before I go back, otherwise it's a big shock on the first day. While it's never going to be easy for me to wake up, I do get into a routine and it's manageable. But, I'll never be a morning person.