Get Ahead and Prepared for Back to School Season: Teacher / Educator Edition
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Hey, y’all!
August is right around the corner (can you hear the tears of all the educators?! I’m right there with you), and you know what that means! It’s Back-to-School season. I swear, this was the fastest summer, EVER.
Anyway, I’ve been in education for 15ish years now, so thought I would throw together a list of the top 10 ways to get yourself prepared for the upcoming school year. These are systems I’ve tried and things I’m planning on implementing for myself.
Start your morning routine NOW.
I know, it is so tempting to stay in bed and get all of the zzz’s that you can before school starts. I get it, I have a soon-to-be-kindergartner who doesn’t sleep past 6:45 most days. I’m tired. However, it’ll be so worth it when August rolls around and you’re forced to get up bright and early. Some of the things that I want to implement in my morning routine this year: get up early enough to get in a 20 minute workout, a 5 minute meditation, and a 15 minute quiet time with the Lord, and get to work looking decent. That seems like a BIG task, but I know if I start working on it, my August-self will be so thankful.
Prepare yourself a “tough-day” basket.
If you work in education, you know there are some tough days ahead - there always are, no matter how prepared you think you are. If you are new to education, this is your friendly heads-up; maybe it’s the full moon, maybe it’s the fair that comes to town, maybe it’s in the water, it literally can be anything and you need to be prepared. I suggest putting together a “tough-day” basket and storing it in your room for when you need it. Think of all of your favorite things that aren’t too expensive, such as your favorite snacks, a yummy-smelling lotion or essential oil roll-on, and your favorite non-water drink. Don’t touch it until you need it. You’ll thank yourself on that hard day. You may also want to create a “tough-day” basket for your work bestie because he/she will need a pick-me-up at some point this year too.
Sunday Prep-Day
Yes, Sunday is a day that Lord intends for rest and you 100% need that time to rest. I will say, my best weeks and mornings in the past have been when I took about an hour each Sunday evening to prepare myself for the week. Simple things, such as checking out the weather forecast and putting together my outfits for the week - this includes ironing and steaming all the required pieces. This system sets up the mornings for success and limits that “I don’t have anything to wear!” conundrum we all find ourselves in from time to time.
Find a Good Pen
Most teachers get this - a good pen can make or break your day. Some of you may think, “A pen, really? You’re telling me to find a good pen?” Yes, yes, I am. Not only one good pen, but STOCK up. There are some good back-to-school sales happening and you will go through pens quickly. My favorite are the Flair-tip pens and the Paper Mate Gel Ink Joy pens. They are the BEST! The ink doesn’t skip and get funky like other gel pens do. Also, find a good pencil. The Ticonderoga pencils are great - they’re not like the cheap pencils that will jam a pencil sharpener! If you’re a mechanical pencil person, these Paper Mate Clearpoint pencils are the best! They don’t make that awful squeaking sound that makes you want to pull out your hair at the end of the day.
Get a Planner System in Place
So, you may be a paper-pen gal and love to write all the things down. You may be an electronic gal and want all of your to-do’s in a digital location. No matter what you choose, get a system down and stick to it! The worst thing is missing a required meeting or deadline because you wrote the deadline down in a paper planner that you ditched over a month ago, or put it online and never turned on your notifications. If you’re a paper planner type of educator, my favorite planners are by The Happy Planner. They are cute and functional.
Boost that Immune System
You are about to be inundated with all of the germs from all of the people and your immune system is going to need a boost and some protection. See my blog post all about why I love the Leefy Immunity drops and how they have worked for me. They are 100% what I plan to use throughout this year to keep myself healthy and ahead of the germs.
Plan Your Lunches for the Week
Depending on what your role is in the school, you may have a fixed lunch time and you may not. I personally take a lunch whenever I can in between IEP meetings. Often times, this leaves me with a less than stellar lunch block and not much time to grab food in between appointments. I will say, there have been days I’ve missed my lunch altogether and those days are the worst. I’m so grumpy by the time I pick up my son, it’s not fun for anyone. So, refer back to #6 and keeping a planner system - make sure to note whether or not you will have time to grab food and if not, make plans to either pack a lunch or schedule a food drop-off. Remind yourself that it’s important to feed yourself - your body needs fuel to keep going! (I’m pretty much lecturing myself…LOL)
Set a Professional Goal for Yourself
Most teachers are required to do this through their continued monitoring, however, you may not be. Whichever the case is, I encourage you to develop a personal professional goal for yourself, in order to push yourself to continue to learn and grow in your profession. I believe if we become stagnant with our roles, that’s when boredom and discontentment may set in. My goal this year is to give my gen. ed. teachers more support and information regarding student evaluation data…wish me luck. :)
Strive to be Organized
One thing people commend me on at work is that I’m able to close out my meetings promptly and have my required documents turned in ahead of time. The ONLY way I’m able to do this is by being organized. This goes to being prepared, working ahead, and keeping EVERYTHING on my schedule/calendar. If this is an area that you struggle, find someone that you feel “has it all together” and ask them about their systems they have in place. This will give you an idea of what area you can work on to improve this school year. One system that works for me is putting EVERYTHING on my calendar and coloring coding each item. I work on multiple campuses, so it’s important for me to be able to glance at my calendar and know what is due and where.
Set Your Boundaries NOW: Prioritize Your Real Life Over School
Yes - I know this is easier said than done. I 100% get it. My first year as a teacher, I was overwhelmed and stayed late A LOT. Back then, we didn’t have children, so it wasn’t as big of deal as it could and would be now. My first few years as a teacher, I skipped my lunches because I couldn’t find coverage and it was easier to “do it myself” then to ask for help. Guess what the lead to? BURNOUT. Y’all. Burnout is real and it sucks. It impacts your classroom and team more than you may realize.
Does this mean you will never stay late? No, of course not, but PLEASE do not make it a habit! For example, my personal boundary around work is that I will leave no later than 4:30 and only allow myself to work “late” one day each week. I allow myself 2 weeks in August, December, and May to bend those rules a bit and work a little later if needed due to the nature of timelines during those months. I DO NOT bring work home. I know that some teachers will say they have to in order to grade everything and some diagnosticians will say the same thing about report writing. If this is something you feel you have to do, set a boundary around it - for example, you will only grade papers on Monday evenings, etc.
My son is only young once and it’s flying by. If you are married, you do not know what time you have left with your spouse. Our lives are temporary and the seasons you are currently in are fleeting. Please do not give all of your best-self to your job. Please save some (or MOST) of your best-self for real life. If something happens to you, you are 100% replaceable at work - you are NOT replaceable within the walls of your home.
I hope this list is encouraging to you as you step into a new school year. I pray whoever is reading this, that this is your best year yet. Be blessed my friends.
