Hello, World Changers!
I hope you are finding some calm after the B.O.Y. storm. I feel like I BLINKED and we’re already HALFWAY through October. Time is flying by!
I wanted to make you aware of something:
Yes, I said it. There is also no award for “Working on school work every Saturday” or “Staying up super late during the week to plan.”
If there was, I would have that award every month in my first year of teaching.
Teachers: TAKE BACK YOUR WEEKENDS. Make time for yourself. Make time for your family. Make time for your friends.
Last year, I was full-time teaching while trying to balance a weekend job. I felt like I had no purpose. I woke up, went to work, came home and completed work then went to sleep. I barely had time for friends (because I was BURNT OUT) and I didn’t dedicate time for myself. At the end of the school year last year, I WAS DONE.
That’s when I decided something had to change. I ended up quitting my weekend job, finding hobbies & completing a goal of mine: enrolling & being accepted into Graduate school (I start in two weeks. Excited & nervous doesn’t even cover it!) Since I have been there, done that, I have some tips for you:
- Make a Schedule & Stick To It:
This was the first & easiest step to “taking back my weekends”. First, I decided ONE (or two) days out of the week I would stay late at school. I decided my two days would be Wednesday and Friday. I chose Wednesday because on Tuesdays I plan with my team and then I go home to create my “skeleton” lesson plans. This helps me find activities & worksheets I need for the next week. On Wednesday, I make copies & gather all the activities I need for the week from my file cabinets. I place these on a shelf behind my desk. Once my copies are made, I GO HOME. Unless my teacher bestie is at school & we start talking and I look at my phone and it’s almost 5. (It’s always worth it though. It’s like hot soup on a rainy day, good for the soul! ) On Friday’s, I get all of my worksheets and centers organized. This takes me MAYBE an hour. I get everything prepared on Fridays because Monday Ms. Hilburn doesn’t like to walk in to see that Friday Ms. Hilburn is a slack individual. 😉
2. STOP TRYING TO REINVENT THE WHEEL
Did you find something that works for your class? Then don’t change it. My literacy centers are always prepped because they are simple.
- Independent Writing: At the beginning of the year, the students were given a sentence to copy and draw a picture to match. Since we have worked on sentence structure and stretching words, the students are given a sentence starter and they must write the sentence starter and stretch out a word to complete the sentence. Then, they must draw a picture to go with the sentence. SIMPLE. We having “Writer’s Workshop” every day so the independent writing is to see what they can do independently. Easy prep never changes.
- Word Work/Sensory bin: I have a Word Work center that rarely changes because it has so many materials. They are all hands-on (no worksheets) so I never have to prep anything. All I have to do is pull out the materials I want students to use for the week and it’s DONE. Examples of things in my word work center are: magnetic letters, whiteboards, and markers, dry erase handwriting sheets (HWWT), chalkboard, sensory bin (pull a sight word), stamps & salt bins (for tracing sight words).
- Guided Reading with Ms. Hilburn: Obviously this changes each week and is differentiated depending on my groups. This is where I spend most of my time planning for Literacy groups. I include several skills in my lesson plans such as phonics, phonemic awareness, reading strategies, decoding skills, guided writing & the list goes on and on. These lesson plans depend on what each group needs, what book they are working on & what their goals on.
- iPads: They are working on a program that our school purchased for us. Once my assistant logs them on, they are independent. She is able to walk around the room to help students in other groups.
- Independent Work: This is the most flexible group withing my literacy centers. Each group has its own bucket. Depending on what skills we are working on for the week, this could change. If I notice my students are struggling with handwriting, I might choose to put handwriting sheets for them to practice letters we have learned so far. If we are working on a literacy skill such as Beginning, Middle, End or “The Important Questions” (who, what, when, where, why, how), I might have them write or draw the different parts of a book we read aloud the day before.
- Game Center: I also have a game center that allows groups to practice skills that they need more help. I have a rainbow cart and each group has its own drawer. During this center, they will pull out a game and play it together. This is an easy prep game because I pull out games that are already prepped from my file cabinets. If you do not have games already prepped (first-year teachers, teachers switching grade levels) this might be your more time-consuming center to prep for. I love having a game center because it reinforces skills and it also gives students a chance to talk and opportunities to work as a team.
*Note: If my students are getting “bored” of a center, I always have a center prepped to replace it. For example, if students are not getting along or have a hard time playing a game as a group, I can change their game to the “listening center” until they are ready to play a game. Or, you can also practice playing the game in your guided reading group and reintroduce it to their game center when they have shown they can play it as a group.*
3. Your List Is Never (I repeat NEVER) Going To Be Completed…
Every day before the day starts, I write a to-do list of things I want to be accomplished. I divide this list into “Must Do” and “Optional”. This helps me prioritize things that must be completed today and things that have more of an expiration date. For example, the end of the quarter is coming up and I have assessments that must be completed. But also, we have a Fall Review day & Halloween party coming up. Instead of spending my time looking for games and cute things for those events, I finish the “must do” list before I move on to the next list. I will not move on from the “Must Do” list until they are finished. If it’s time to leave school and they aren’t finished, they go on the top of the next day’s list. It is ok to go home even if your list is not completed. You aren’t a failure. You are human with only so many hours in the day. Be gentle with yourself.
4. Make Every Minute of the Work Day Count
If only there were 1.5 billion hours in a day. Oh man, the things I could get completed. But there isn’t. But, there is “downtime” throughout the day that you can complete small things. Do you have a 20-minute lunch break? Same. (more like 10 but it’s fine.) Enjoy it. Spend it with a teacher bestie and talk. It helps to see other humans throughout the day. But, you may also have 20 minutes after school before it’s time to go home to complete one small thing. Make some copies. Email parents. Find activities. Make that to-do list for the next day. Something! I know, I know. My brain is DEAD by 3:30 p.m. and all I want to do is sit in my chair. But spending the time to complete small things saves you time on the weekend. (and after school)
5. Ask For Help:
If you are staying till 5 every day of the week & you are also spending time on the weekend to work on school stuff, reach out and ask for help. In Kindergarten, we are blessed to have assistants to help us complete the things we need. But, what if you don’t have an assistant? Create assistants within your team. If you work on a team, delegate things for each teacher to do. Maybe one teacher can make the copies for the team while one plans the whole group lesson. Or one teacher can find the books and math games for the week while the other finds resources for a writing lesson. Reaching out for help does not mean you are struggling or not a great teacher. Reaching out for help means you are trying to accomplish things for your students to better their education. I am always willing to help a co-worker if they are struggling.
Of course, if you are a teacher that enjoys staying till 5 every day and working on the weekends, these do not apply to you. There is nothing wrong with staying after 5 or spending your weekends finding amazing resources for your students. If you enjoy that, you go Glen CoCo. But, I was feeling burnt out. I need self-care time. I needed hobbies. I wanted to do other things like writing this blog for you! 🙂 As teachers, our jobs are stressful. We take on 26+ students’ stories each day. We feel their stresses as well. We are constantly working. Take some time for yourself. Find a hobby. Cook a new meal (hahaha right? Like who has time for that after school). Go release some stress by working out. Whatever it may be, make sure you make some time for you. Like I always say, you cannot pour from an empty cup!
*If your week is thrown off by missing school one day, sickness, you are out or if ANYTHING comes up during the week, this may be difficult to maintain. It’s not a strict “to do list”, its suggestions.*
I hope you all had a fabulous weekend (spending time for yourself, right?!). I wish you all the best week back at work! 🙂
-Ms. Hilburn
mshilburn 