50th-ish post
In honor of this exciting time, I wanted to touch on the comforts and the potential discomforts of working part-time from the wilderness of my own home. I want to include some tips to make a nice at-home workspace and to use our teacher-planning energy efficiently.
When I first started working from home (or trying to search for work from home) I realized I was doing it all wrong. I liked the novelty of being able to be in my bed, perhaps even in my PJ’s. It was like I had fooled everyone. The problem was that I would loose my motivation in my comfort and be half as productive. I would take breaks to check out netflix or amazon prime (claiming it all as research I needed to do anyhow for sourcing course content). After setting up an at-home office and making a “dress to impress” rule for working from home, I found that I took myself more seriously, leading to more client connections and an overall more positive mindset throughout the at-home work day. Not to mention my husband probably saw me as more attractive and less of a bum. :)
Managing the desk area is quite the task. I probably need to get my desk calendar to resurface every 2 days, but if you stick to some basic rules, it shouldn’t be so bad.
For keeping a clean desk: 1- Remember that most papers can be recycled when you are done reading them the first time. Have a central place (like a day planner or desktop calendar) to write down the important information and then recycle that paper. I keep a recycling bin for paper right under my desk so it’s easy and it just becomes a chore to remember to take it out. Get those people who give you so many papers to send your stuff electronically instead. 2- Plants are super therapeutic and you will not want to clutter around them. Get some plants onto your desk and get rid of things that will stress you out. 3- Marie Kondo always talks about stacking things vertically. This is ultra effective for the desk area. Have a maximum book number and do not let more than (for me it’s 4 because that’s the number of textbooks I’m working from for my college courses) those sit on your desk. When they are there, stack vertically with the spines facing you, calling to you to remember to be productive with them. 4-Chair massager and aromatherapy. Need I say more?? Make your desk a place you never want to leave! I also keep a yoga mat in the home office to allow for a break or thoughtful stretch.
Being connected to the internet is a great blessing-- it allows me to connect with students and field potential clients. It allows me to research and investigate the internet for inspirations to make upcoming classes new and fresh. It also allows me to get pulled into the blackhole of internet knowledge. Somehow, as an English teacher, it seems that just about every text I meet can be helpful in some way. THIS IS NOT ACTUALLY TRUE. In my first year of teaching I inundated myself with practical teaching tools, sources and developed powerpoint upon powerpoint. In spite of having tons of things already prepared, I still want to stay fresh and continue authoring new classes. I imagine a day far off into the future where I will have every class I need at my fingertips, so I keep creating.
I think that there is a strength and danger to what I am doing. My point is that you should try to keep what you have on your computer (or across zillions of flash drives) in check-- stay organized! Although you may want to make something new for each class, the truth is, the classes you have already prepared and taught at least 1 time will be heaps more useful to your student than a class you are taking for a spin. I notice this time and again.
I think that the beauty of designing your own classes appears in the editorial process. Take time to add to your class presentations to make them more applicable to the students you are currently working with. Edit and re-save things, let your class plans evolve.
Now, there is also a lot of research a teacher can do to stay relevant. For example, I take some of the practice tests that my various students will likely encounter. If you do SAT tutoring, I advise taking a practice SAT section at least once a week. This will help you curate your content to provide realistic preparation. The same goes for TOEFL and IELTS. If it is a drag for you to do practice testing, then you understand how it is for your student and you will serve them better.
There are also a lot of articles out there a teacher should read(for example: http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/lifijsal.2016.2.issue-1/issue-files/lifijsal.2016.2.issue-1.xml ) . Don’t try to read them all. Don’t waste your time on questionable sources. There is something new and useful out there almost every day. Do try to scope out some time and dedicate yourself to reading 1 article at a time-- don’t bite off more than you can chew. Try to apply something right away into your teaching practice before you forget about it.
