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Easy Wins: Start the Year with These Tools
Back-to-school season: that magical time when your classroom smells like Clorox wipes, your email inbox is giving anxiety in 4K, and you’re just trying to remember how to function before 10 a.m. without iced coffee and a morning nap. Let’s be real… no one is looking to reinvent the wheel in August. You need easy wins. Tools that actually work. Things that help you survive (and dare I say thrive?) in those first few chaotic weeks. Whether you’re wrangling eighth graders like me, navigating IEPs, or just trying to remember your computer password, I got you. Here are my go-to tools to start the school year strong — with your…
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7 Things to Do This Summer
Take a Course This summer you can take a course. I try to take courses often. Learning about teaching helps me stay with the research and up to date on all the new information. Personally, I use Learners Edge to take courses, their courses are reasonably priced and well designed. Reflect on Your Year What went well this year? What didn’t go so well? Reflect on the year that you had. Your successes, your failures, and everything in between. What can you do differently this year based on what you learned last year. Do you always feel rushed before homeroom so you may benefit from getting to school a little…
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Create a Morning Routine!
Having a morning routine is the key to starting your day off on the right foot. Prior to creating a morning routine, I hit snooze three times, scroll social media, and then freaked out that I wasn’t going to have time to get ready. Because of that, I was starting my day rushed, panicked, and feeling like I was playing catch-up. Creating a morning routine will help you start your day off in a way that makes you feel prepared and productive. Decide what you want to prioritize in your morning routine There are a million things that you could add to your morning routine. Obviously you can not fit…
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Setting Goals as a Teacher
I am always trying to grow as a teacher and as a person. Because of this, I am always setting goals for myself to help guide myself to betterment. Also, in the state I teach in, the teacher evaluator tool requires us to set goals to meet over the evaluation cycle. (The cycle is either one year or two years) Here are some tips for setting goals for yourself whether you are required to by your district or you just want to be your best. Setting Professional Goals A professional goal is something that you want to change about yourself as a teacher. Whether it has to do with the…
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Be the Teacher Your Students Need!
Teaching can take a lot out of you. This Friday I came home from school and I was so drained that I think I was beginning to make myself sick. Every day at school, you have to give so much of yourself to others that it can be depleting. This is why we all need to be careful that we are taking care of ourselves. I find when I am not taking care of myself, I have less energy, I have a shorter temper, and I am not living up to my full potential. To be the best teacher you can be, you need to make sure that you’re putting…
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How to Prevent Teacher Burnout
For me, I am less than a month into the school year, but it has been a long month! I am already looking for tips and tricks to prevent burnout. Work Out Taking a little time for yourself everyday is a great step toward keeping yourself calm and collected. I like the Rachel Hollis theory of making your body move for 30 minutes every day. Whether you do a half-hour intense workout, or you go for a 30 minute walk after dinner, just let your body move! Working out sends your body a rush of endorphins. This allows your body to feel good and also gives you something to be…
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Stop Trying to Multi-Task and Focus!
In today’s world, I constantly find myself trying to do too many things at once! Even right now, while writing this blog post, I am listening to a podcast, making lunch, and folding laundry. But really when we are multitasking and focusing on multiple things at once, we are never really giving all of our attention to any one thing, and we are not giving it our best effort. If you want to put in your best effort you have to focus on one thing at a time! Here are some tips to help you focus your attention on one thing at a time. Keep Paper Handy When I am…
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What to Do When You’re About to Lose Your Cool
We’ve all had those days. The days where you are so frustrated at your class that you feel like you’re about to hit your breaking point. Don’t let this get to you, it does not make you a bad teacher or person. We are all human and sometimes we get frustrated with the situations that we are in. Working with students can be exhausting! Maybe you’re running off little sleep, and little Susie WON’T STOP TALKING during your lesson. Maybe you don’t feel good and your class just isn’t listening! There are so many situations that can bring out the worst in us and you can’t let it get you…
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My 5 Favorite Self-Care Books
I am currently in a period in my life where I am really focusing on self-care. I am trying to surround myself and my social media with positive role models, and books that are going to help me to be the best that I can. Here is a list of my 5 favorite books for self-care and self-betterment. You are a Badass by Jen Sincero I can not say enough good things about this book. I am actually eagerly awaiting her other novels to be available at the library, I have them all on hold! This book is right up my alley with some sarcasm, a few cuss words, and a lot…
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5 Tips for Self-Care for Teachers
The school year can get rough. It is important that we take care of ourselves and keep ourselves healthy and relaxed. Here are my best tips for self-care. Stop Comparing Yourself to Other Teachers There is always that teacher on your floor that seems to have everything figured out. They have a perfectly decorated classroom, her class seems to behave like angels during assemblies, and she leaves work before the sun goes down every day. All you think is that if you could be a little more like her, things would be better. Humans have a habit of constantly comparing themselves to others. You want Carrie Underwood’s legs, a Kardashian…
