Last year I chose Inspire as my #oneword2017. I felt I was able to accomplish this, just not necessarily with the two boys I mentioned in the post. One, unfortunately, moved before I was able to reach him. My hope is that his new teacher would be able to. The other boy is still a work in progress as he is part of the class I team teach with. I think I made some impact into his ability to try new things though. For #oneword2018, I decided I needed to change some things. 2017 was a year of great ups and downs, both personally and professionally. There were many things that happened that were out of my control, but several that I could have done differently. Because of how I reacted to a lot of the downs, I decided I need Balance as my one word this year. As the year ended, I was recovering from the flu. (Sadly this was a common state among many of my friends.) Many teachers I know tend to get sick on vacations. We hold it together during the school year since being out of the classroom is not an easy feat. (See When the Teacher Gets a Cold). A friend reminded me that stress can run you down. Everyone who works in education knows these two things are completely intertwined.
Why is it that every year I get sick in some way during vacation, whether it is Thanksgiving, Winter, Spring or Summer Break? It’s because there needs to be more balance. I am a passionate teacher who gives 100% of myself, almost 100% of the time. I spend my vacation reading teaching books, watching great online conferences (#ditchsummit anyone?!), and finding new things to do in my class (even without trying sometimes). The problem is that I don’t always give myself balance. I spend time with family and friends, but not time for myself. I run out of battery. Then I crash. So with this in mind, even though I already have commitments for most weekends and some school days that are specifically to my teaching related (not complaining at all since I think these will benefit my class and my professional life), I pledge to take more time for me to recharge and balance out the rest. I wish for you to do the same.
1 Comment
Audra Steele
1/1/2018 02:24:32 pm
Good reminder.
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Author20+ year teacher, mother of 2 kids and 2 dogs, wife, lover of all things M&M, interested in tech in the classroom, and changing up my teaching Archives
March 2020
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