Good Things [MTBOS Blogging Initiative Week 1]

I posted recently that I was thinking about starting a gratitude journal directed at teaching.  The week 1 MTBOS Blogging Initiative inspired me just post my gratitude entries on my blog.  It kills two birds with one stone.  I hope to post good things regularly; we'll see if that actually happens.

Monday:  I connected with a student that I've been having a hard time connecting with.  (The student appreciated my fair grading policy, and it encouraged him to turn in late work. Yay!)

Tuesday:  I gave input for making changes in our math department, and my opinion was valued.

Wednesday:  I've always been susceptible to strong, random cravings.  In the middle of teaching today, I just blurted out that I wanted ice cream really badly.  The next period, one of my 9th grade students came in with an ice cream sandwich from the cafeteria.  I couldn't believe it.  It was the sweetest thing ever.  We also had a two hour delay, and I was so grateful for the extra sleep.

Thursday:  (Two hour delay again!)  A student that graduated last year called to find out when I'm free during the day so he can visit while he's home from college.  I really miss last year's graduating class.  They were the best. <3

Friday:  I had my post-observation for my mini-observation from Thursday.  My principal had awesome feedback and ideas for me.  Then he told me that I am being recommended for tenure this year!  :)

20 Minute Challenge

This post falls under the "Taking Care of Me" theme from my last post.

I hate clutter.  It prevents me from being productive, and distracts me from what needs to get to done.  I tried to eradicate it as much as I could over winter break.  I made progress in my kitchen.  (I still need to go through my cabinets though.)  I made progress with putting away holiday decor.   I made progress in our hallway closet, and I made major progress in my craft area.

The one area where I still need to de-clutter and re-organize is my desk/office area.  This is a little more difficult now that I'm back at work.  I come home and I want to exercise and relax, but I also need to get some work done. (Our mid-year self-evaluation is due this Friday!)  I also need to eat dinner, clean up the daily kitchen mess, etc.  With my work schedule I come home and have about three-and-a-half hours to get everything done before I start getting ready for bed.

Enter my 20 minute challenge.  Every day this week, I am going to come home, and set aside 20 minutes to work on something.  My schedule is listed below.  I will have 20 minutes, and 20 minutes only to complete the task of the day.  By giving myself this time limit, I am pressuring myself, and I move a lot faster that I would without a time limit.  (I noticed that this worked for me when I do laundry, and take the time I have while my load is washing or drying to complete a task.  When I'm really energetic, I like to complete as many tasks as I can in that period of time.)

Monday:  Desk surface and office area surfaces
Tuesday:  Paper clutter and mail
Wednesday:  Desk drawer
Thursday:  Kitchen cabinets

Hopefully, completing these tasks will help be more productive overall when I'm home.  (So I don't end up working on the couch and watching TV because the desk area is too cluttered.)

Taking Care of Me First

This current school year has me feeling absolutely burned out.  I feel like I've done a 180.  I spent my Thanksgiving and Winter breaks without even thinking about work (almost).  I was sick this fall, and was able to take a sick day without feeling any guilt what-so-ever.  Most people would say that these are good things.  Especially the people that know me in real life.

But I just don't feel the love I used to for teaching.  I feel my focus has shifted from teaching to all of the other nonsense that comes with being a teacher.  In other words, more of my thoughts and energy are being invested in all of the paperwork, communications, planning, etc. instead of on what is going on in my classroom when my students are there.  I seriously groan when the bell rings at the end of my preps because now I have to spend my time teaching instead of getting things done.  It used to be the opposite!  

I have done nothing for school over Winter break.  Truthfully, I needed the break.  On the other hand, I now feel that I have wasted time by not making progress in all of the things that I have to do.  Since I am dreading going back to work tomorrow, I wanted to take a moment to adjust my attitude, and reflect on what is going right.  

In regards to burn out, I keep hearing/reading about taking care of yourself first.  The repeated analogy is that when you fly, you're told to fix your oxygen mask before someone else's in the event of an emergency because if something happens to you, you won't be able to help anyone else.  The same principle can be applied to teachers.  We constantly give of ourselves, but when you don't take care of yourself, you will have nothing left to give.  

One thing I've been trying to do is spend time relaxing and doing the things that make me happy.  This has meant more time scrapbooking and crafting!  I've been using yoga to relax.  I had a hard time keeping up with it during the holidays, but I've been doing it more regularly over break.  (I just have to remember not to beat myself up if I miss a day or two.)  I plan on incorporating more strenuous exercise as well starting this week.  Ideally, I would like to get to the gym twice during the week, but when I don't get home until 5, and have to change clothes, and then drive 15 minutes to get there, and it's cold on top of it all, I know it's not very likely.  My solution is to do HIIT workouts at home, I just need to actually do it.  

I'm trying to become more mindful.  I've been reading a book called "Mindfulness for Teachers".  It's helped so much just from one chapter, but I started reading it in November, and I'm still on the second chapter because by the time I have time to read, I'm exhausted.  I need to make time to read.  One thing I'm doing to help me read more is learning how to speed read.  I installed an app called "Acceleread" on my iPad.  So far I'm enjoying it, but I don't know how well or if it's working yet.  I've only done three lessons so far.  (Be careful if you look this app up.  I did the first two free lessons, and then got suckered into buying the full version of the app because I felt I had to continue this program after investing so much time into it.  I really do like the app though.)

Another app I'm using to become more mindful is "Stop, Breathe & Think".  It's a meditation app.  You check in by explaining how you feel at that moment, and the app offers you a few meditations to choose from.  You listen to a guided meditation, and then you are rewarded with virtual stickers.  The app is free, but some of the mediations require a purchase.  The app is fair in offering both free and paid mediations.  I enjoy this app, and plan to use it daily.  (And by "daily", I mean I'm eventually going to end up skipping a day here and there.)

So for now the plan is to do these few small things, and hopefully turn things around for the rest of this year.  I may start some kind of gratitude journal.  I want to focus on one good teaching thing each day.  

Sorry for the rambly, less teacher-y post, but I feel better about returning to work tomorrow, and hopefully I can help someone else out that may be feeling the same way.