Five Ways To Survive Teaching in 2022-2023
If your anything like me the school year has gotten off to a rocky start but by this time things are starting to settle down and get into a rhythm. The students know what to do in the morning, how the line leader and class jobs work etc... But you are still hanging by a thread. This school year is a demanding one. The students who are now in your class have probably missed a lot of important information that they should have known before they got to you. This makes our job exponentially harder because not only are you teaching new information but your also playing catch up with lower students. That's a tough one but just know we(teachers) are all dealing with it. However I can help you get your mindset right so that coming into your classroom is not a chore every morning.
The minute you enter in the morning you need to feel good that you are there. To do this it’s got to be a place you enjoy being. I personally love a sunny room full of windows that can be opened on a nice Fall day. Make your classroom your own and pleasant to be in. Use your favorite colors to decorate bulletin boards, add rugs, a book nook if you have room. I had my husband make window valences out of cute material. I even have my favorite scented plug in with smells of the season wafting through the room. I personally like a lot of sunlight in my room but maybe you like it dark. I always think how cozy classrooms look with lamps in them. Add some ambience lighting. If you are able I also suggest adding a mini fridge for your Coke Zero. Premier Proteins, airplane bottles of vodka.( JK) Get comfortable.
Morning Meeting: The funniest part of my day is the morning meeting. If you are not doing this I highly recommend it. It’s where you sit around with your students and let them share with you, play a game that radiates good energy through the room. More likely than not you will end up laughing and actually enjoying yourself. It’s a great way to start the day and just sets a good tone for what your trying to achieve which is harmony, respect, good listening skills and the ability to speak coherently and get your point across. What else is there to learn? What other profession can you start the day with some light therapy, a dance off and a silly game? Not only that but you're sitting in a room with people who genuinely adore you and want to please you, so smile and act like you’re here to stay and you will start to believe you are the luckiest person in the world. Laugh at yourself, laugh with your students, just laugh because you can.
Student Mailboxes: This has helped me to absolutely keep my sanity and is a must in any classroom. Simply put, this is where your students go to file their own papers. Yes you heard that right... they do the filing. So at the end of the week you can just pop them right out and put them in their Friday folders. Filing problem solved and this will save you TONS of time.
Let Guilt Go and make Yourself a Priority. This is a biggie yall! (If you haven't guessed it by now I'm from the South). Learn to say NO to helping with aftercare, tutoring, giving tours, coaching a sport, setting up for meetings, curriculum development... The list is endless right? It's not your job, your job is to be the best teacher you can be and to do that you need to make personal time just that... time for you personally. On the heels of the pandemic we are faced with a teacher shortage, which is another word for administration expecting you to pick up the slack for all those people not working. Ummm NO! What are they going to do, fire you? Ummm hard no, they won't do that either because there is a teacher shortage! If someone wants you to cover other things then they need to pay you to do it. If we(teachers) don't start standing up at some point for ourselves and higher wages then the system will continually take advantage of us. #teachersunite
Last but least do not take yourself so seriously, laugh and do it when little Corey asks you to put a band aid on his nose because he is sneezing, or when Clementine says she's allowed to eat crayons at home. Most likely you will probably not get through your entire curriculum this year and that's ok, because not only are you teaching them academics you are teaching them to just be basically good humans. If you accomplish that I say job well done!