Keeping your COOL during Back to School

I love my job, I really, really do…and for the most part, I’m super excited to hit the ground running…but, the reality is, there are lots of things that are making schools around the country a tough place to go back to.

Teachers have more work to do that has nothing to do with actual teaching today than ever before. It’s making more teachers anxious. And some are even leaving the profession altogether.

So..what do those of us who are going back into this do?

We adjust our sails, turn our faces to the wind, and move forward, chins in the air…ready to take on the world.

I just wrote a post not too long ago on teacher courage. It is the perfect counterbalance for this post.

So, when I start to get overwhelmed with the magnitude of minutia that gets thrown at me…especially during the back to school season, here are a few things that I do to keep my COOL.

I love getting together with other teachers that have the same kind of passion that I do for education. Get together with some of your teacher faves…either on line or in person and share ideas and resources that will make the year better. I have a few really special girlfriends that I get together with to ‘pray in the year’. I connect with bloggy friends in small groups, or even in local meet ups and discuss how to get the year off on the right foot. Several of my teammates and I got together last week to look at the new math series and jot down any areas of weakness so that we can discuss it when everyone else comes back this week. All these examples are self-directed times…with folks that I enjoy…and that makes me happy! 🙂

Know that teaching is all about change. I’ve been teaching almost 20 years, and I can honestly say that just about everything comes back around after a while. Change is part of deal in teaching. What helps me is to just accept that each year, something new will probably be thrown at me. Just receive it. There will be times where you wonder if the changes that you are being asked to make are best for kids. These are the times where you start to come up with viable solutions and work with your team or administration to see if there are things that can be worked out in a different way. If all else fails, I like to follow the Tim Gunn principle:

This is huge! A great way to minimize anxiety at the beginning of the year. Start fresh. De-clutter. Send off copies and get your papers prepped.

Here‘s a great post from Angela Watson on classroom clutter that really got me on the right track! 🙂

Here are a few ideas from Katie over at Teacher to the Core about organization!

There are lots of things that we can’t control about our jobs, our lives, our families. These things undoubtedly will bring additional stress at the beginning of the year. I know this song is cliche, but I can’t tell you how many times on a really bad day, I belted it out in my classroom…or at my house and sang at the top of my lungs. You know what…when I was done…the situation wasn’t always different…but I had a new perspective! Singing and music almost ALWAYS get me course corrected if I’m going down in the dumps.