As both a student and an educator, I have always loved the first day of school. I love the rituals and the new school supplies; but I think what I really love are all the possibilities that come with each new beginning. We—including our students—are not the same people we were on the last day of school; summer changes us all. Even more than New Year's Eve, August provides educators with an opportunity to make bold changes in our lives: that we have another chance to create and grow our identities with the launch of the school year. Here are four practices to help you set the tone—from relationships to routines to policies—and sustain your verve and values all year long.
Know Your Why
What brought you back to your classroom this year? What are you excited about? As educators, we've had summer weeks to contemplate and dream what this year will be like. Maybe you've been adding to your Pinterest board or bookmarking Instagram posts that capture your vision. Then you show up to school and it is nonstop meetings rolling out new policies and procedures, with none of the classroom work time you were hoping for. Anxiety and frustration wake up from their summertime slumber and suddenly you're feeling overwhelmed before your students even show up. This moment is when you pause, breathe, and remember your personal reasons for taking on the most important work there is. Write down why you teach and post it where you will regularly encounter this message. Put your "why" on a sticky note on your computer or on a bulletin board in your classroom. Wherever you post it, embrace it and let it guide you when you feel like all the other things are taking over.
Know Where You Are Going and How You Will Get There
In my years as a classroom teacher and now as a coach, I can't emphasize enough the benefits of long-term planning. From my perspective, a fundamental aspect of an educator's personal sustainability is knowing what your entire first semester will look like. Here is one way to do this:
- Sketch out a calendar from day one until your last day in December.
- Fill in what you already know: holidays, school events, and any potential disruptions.
- Take a look at your curriculum—whether district-provided or self-created—and note the number of days per unit. Label the ending days of each unit on your calendar.
- Now step back and look. How many days do you actually have to get through this unit? Here's where you put your own spin on curriculum. As you look at your standards and the essential questions, how do you divide your time? Is there anything you can cut?
Knowing your plans at this level will help ease stress and frustration when there is an unexpected fire drill or schoolwide assembly that reduces valuable instructional time. A mentor of mine long ago once told me, "You can't be spontaneous unless you are expertly planned." When you know where you are going, you have the freedom and flexibility to respond to students' needs and interests and not be frustrated by the unexpected.
Know Your Students
As you begin this school year, prioritize building relationships over everything else. Who are the individuals in your classes? I invite you to engage in this exercise: Make a list of all your students (yep, all). Then, identify one academic fact and one personal fact about each one. Though it is early in the year, what does this exercise bring up for you? Do you know more or less than you anticipated? How will this information influence the way you build relationships with your students? After completing her list, one student teacher I worked with committed to cycling through and meeting with all her students in her twice-weekly "lunch bunches." Add to this list all year and remember that even though it might not always feel like it, our students are our first priority.
Know Yourself
We all have our own signs that we are falling or have already fallen off the self-care wagon. Ideally, this is your year to avoid that moment where you realize that you haven't exercised, had a vegetable, or seen the sun in two weeks. But in case you do get to the point where you're not sleeping and strung out on caffeine, put a sustainability plan in place. Here are a few ideas that might help:
- Have an accountability partner at school. Tell this person your self-care goal, and have this person regularly check in on your progress. Or, make it a point to announce to this person, "Look—I'm eating a real lunch!" Or, "I made it to yoga three times this week." Or maybe your accountability partner will send you on a walk when you start to get into a negativity spiral. Whatever you need, ask this person to hold you to it.
- Make all your breakfasts and lunches for the week on Sunday. This strategy has been a lifesaver for me. Not only did I save a ton of money once I started this practice, but I also looked forward to eating my lunch each day. The effect on my afternoon classes was also extremely noticeable. I was refreshed and energized and not angry about having to resort to a stale granola bar found in my desk.
- Exercise in the morning. I know this one can be tough, but hear me out. My morning run or walk has been a habit for so many years that at this point, my day starts off worse if I skip it. Even on those mornings when a run is the last thing I want to do, I never regret it. This approach also prevents me from skipping the workout later, because it's already done!
- Breathe. OK, so maybe getting out the door for a workout isn't your thing. Maybe you might try starting your day with just five minutes of deep breathing. Don't have five minutes? How about time for five deep breaths? Even if you do it in your car right before you set foot inside your school, it is so much better than running into the building, already feeling behind because you overslept or the copy machine isn't working or your forgot your keys, etc. Try it for a week. See what happens.
This is your year, dear educator. Revel in the possibilities and allow your best self to shine. You've got this.
