A Teacher's Guide to Surviving the Week Before Holiday Break

T'was the week before holiday break... 

...and all through the school, the kids were super hyper while the teachers tried to keep their cool. The coffee bar was stocked full of strong winter brew, with lots of chocolate and candy to get teachers through. Administration and crisis team had walkie's on and ready to go, preparing for the worst, but hoping it wouldn't be so. The nurse and custodian were prepared too, flu season had come and they knew just what to do. The secretaries were ready with fast hands on those phones, to get the back up guest teacher, good 'ole Mrs. Jones. Teachers were creatively mixing fun with required, finishing up the grading period, and feeling quite tired.  Secret Santa gift giving had started among staff, with little gifts and sneaking around, causing some people to laugh. So, how does this school remain so positive and at ease? They followed these survival tips and it was a BREEZE!

Survival Tip #1- It's OK To Take A Break

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This goes for you and for your students. While you are feeling rushed and hurried and stressed about getting your end of quarter grades done and holiday shopping complete, the kids are also feeling the stress and rush of it all. If you are feeling overwhelmed, take a few minutes before the kids come into your class to listen to quiet music, relax and set your intention for the day. When you see your students are struggling to focus. Stop your lesson. Give them a minute to turn and talk, stretch their legs, or even jump onto www.gonoodle.com for an energizer or a soothing refocus activity. If you are feeling like you are getting frustrated or can't focus, tell your students you need a brain break and put on some quiet music and let them have 5 minutes of quiet free time for drawing, reading, writing as long as they are quiet. Brainpop and Youtube have lots of short educational videos you can even put on to just have a few minutes to regroup.

Survival Tip #2 Plan Ahead!



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Of course you have a plan for your week, but how thorough is that plan? Do you have your materials out and organized? Is that holiday craft sorted and ready for students? Do you know what assessments you will use and which ones you won't? What are your Learning Targets and Success Criteria? The more you have organized ahead of time, the less instructional time lost. This is the week your students will not be able to be quiet during transitions. They will be chatty in the hallway, they will be chatty at their desks. Plan in opportunities for movement and talk. Put the students in charge of their own learning. This is NOT the week to have long transitions between activities while you gather the materials for the next class or lesson. YOU WILL LOSE THEM! Have everything plus extra planned out and ready. Keep the pace quick and engaging and make what they are learning fun.

Survival Tip #3 SMILE



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There is a ton of research on the impact of a smile. A simple smile can brighten someone else's day. A smile goes a long way in making others feel better, but it surprisingly does wonders for your own emotional health too. Try it now, while you are not feeling impatient or frustrated, to see the impact. Put on your biggest, most fake smile, and try to leave it there for as long as you can. If you can, take a silly selfie or get on Snapchat and send a pic to a friend. Next time you are angry or feeling yourself get frustrated, put on your biggest most fake smile and stick with it for a few minutes. It works! I do this regularly, and even though I may look silly or feel strange doing it, it has helped to change my mindset in the moment. Teach this trick to your students when you see one or more that may need it. You'll be so happy to hear the giggles from your class.

Survival Tip #4 Remember, You May Be The Best Part of A Student's Day



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Sometimes the student that drives you the most crazy, is the same student that needs you the most. We don't know what happens when our students leave our room each day, but based on the stories they tell us, we know it isn't the same for everyone. If they are lucky, they go home to loving, caring homes where they are cared for and have everything provided to them. Sadly though, many of our students don't go home to this at all. They go home to a place of stress and chaos. So many of our students will be alone at home over break, due to both parents working or parents not being able to afford daycare.  Knowing this can cause anxiety in many students. They like the structure you provide them and they know they get breakfast and lunch every day at school. They know someone is there to listen to them and guide them. This week, those students, the ones that get to you the most at times, need you the most. They need to know you will be thinking about them. They need to know that is is ok that their traditions may not be the same as everyone else's in the classroom. Most especially, they need to know that you will miss them. Make this clear to them during this week.

Survival Tip #5 Get Involved With Staff Activities




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Does your school do a Secret Santa, ornament exchange, staff lunch, or Ugly Christmas Sweater competition? If they have any activities that help you to bond as a staff, this is the week to jump on board. Everyone is feeling overwhelmed and wants to just get through these last few days. Lord help us if we have a full moon on top of it all. For me, family obligations and my long drive have gotten in the way of me participating in Happy Hour or after school events up through now, but these are things I can participate in while I am at work. Giving small gifts to someone and seeing the smile on their face, or hearing how much they enjoyed trying to figure out who their person is helps to build relationships with your co-workers. If that's too much for you, or it is too late, jump on board for the Ugly Christmas sweater competition, or the staff luncheon. It is a time for you to all talk and laugh and share what you will be doing over break.

I hope these 5 easy tips will get you through this last week before break. I wish you the happiest of holidays! Enjoy your time with family and friends. Drink, relax, and rest up for the last half of the school year!

Help Me, I'm Drowning!

Help Me, I'm Drowning!

I know I'm not the only one that has felt like I was drowning in work and family obligations. While I would love to blame it on our long summer and just adjusting to being back to work after 8-9 weeks, I find that this happens every year. Yes, summers make it a little easier to manage, but even then I am working hard. I read educational books to get better for the next year. I am creating items for my classroom or the teachers I am working with, and I attend trainings. I think I had one week this past summer that I actually didn't work or worry about work, and it took me going to Ireland to make that happen. In other words, we can't blame it on adjusting back to working every day. 

So once I accept the fact that it must be me, I think about me as a teacher over these past 17 years. Have I always worked every night and weekend??? Embarrassingly enough, the answer is yes. This has been something I have struggled with my entire teaching career. In all honesty, it goes back even before that to when I was a student. I have always wanted to perform at my best. I guess, many would describe me as a Type A personality. I was never satisfied with a "B" in class so why would I be satisfied with not giving 110% of myself on a daily basis to my students and school? 

My guess is that most teachers have this same thinking. They want to do their best for these kids. We get 9 months with them to make them their best and get them to their full potential. That is a lot of pressure! To make it worse, teachers have the added pressure of having their evaluations tied to this student growth, along with spending hours and hours of their time finding evidence to support their professional practice as an educator. This is all in addition to planning, making formative assessments, finding engaging activities and tasks for kids, grading, communicating with families, attending school events, participating in their PLC's, and dealing with students in crisis. If you have a family you do all of these things, and then go straight to a volleyball or basketball game, clean up the house, run some errands, cook/eat dinner, and maybe work out of your lucky. By the time you sit down, you are so exhausted that it takes just second for you to pass out!

This past year, I realized that I wasn't any good to anyone at home. My husband got the worst of me. I was so crabby and on edge. I was working all day, going in early and staying late after school only to come home and do more work! I was checking emails every night and replying to parents at 10-11p.m. I was attending my son's games and not really watching because my head was spinning with all of the things I had to get done or could try differently the next day. I was drowning. I began looking for other types of jobs. Maybe I could work at a restaurant and get great tips? Maybe I could be a motivational coach? I could work at the office in town and be off at 3:30 every day and bring no work home. When I talked to my husband about this, he stopped me and asked me if I would feel fulfilled. He reminded me that I got into teaching for a reason. That was all it took to remind me of the passion I had for working with kids and adults. I needed to make some changes to be able to handle all of my responsibilities. 

So, that's exactly what I did. I made some changes that I am still working on today and I started seeing some changes in myself and in the way I taught my kids. When I was "present and in the moment" I enjoyed my time with family and they enjoyed their time with me. I soon found out that if I didn't get to that one item on my list, the world didn't come to an end the next day. I examined the assignments I was giving and whether they needed to be graded or if I could just quickly take data on them right there in the moment. I realized that when I took time to work out 30 minutes a day, I felt happier and had more patience with others. I started writing down each day what I was thankful for, and it made me a happier person.  

I knew there had to be other ideas, so I went out to my Facebook friends and asked what they do to have balance in life. I've created this chart for you to easily print off and keep handy. I hope this helps you to gain more family time and be a more effective teacher this year. It has definitely helped me! Click here for the link. I separated this chart into 8 sections. I suggest you choose one thing from one section to try. If you find success, then try to add another thing to try. If you don't find success, don't give up! Pick something else to try from a different section. Some people just aren't morning people or can't go in early or stay late because of daycare. You have to pick things that will work for you! I wanted to thank Catherine for reminding me of the "Oxygen Mask Mantra" and  my Facebook friends Becky, Paula, Stephanie, Amanda, Kandi, Patti, Brooke, Kelli, Mary Ann, Jen, and Carrie for their suggestions for this post. 

Achieve Balance Chart

If you have any questions about any items on the chart, or would like to add some suggestions for those reading, please comment in the section below! I'd love to hear from you. 

And for your viewing pleasure, one final video abut our role as a teacher.