It's October! Congratulations! You made it through a month of school. Our feet are officially wet. We've come off of summer vacation and made it through about 20 days of school. Some cynics might say we've survived, but I like to think we've helped kids (and ourselves) to become 20 days smarter than they were. Awesome!
We might still have a little bit of juice left over from summer vacation, so there is still hope for some of our new school year resolutions to still happen, before we get totally caught up in the hamster wheel of day-to-day teaching. In an attempt to commit to my own resolutions, I'd like to publicly share some of them...my to-do list that I hope to make come true this year...so that I can stick to them and encourage you to do the same.
We might still have a little bit of juice left over from summer vacation, so there is still hope for some of our new school year resolutions to still happen, before we get totally caught up in the hamster wheel of day-to-day teaching. In an attempt to commit to my own resolutions, I'd like to publicly share some of them...my to-do list that I hope to make come true this year...so that I can stick to them and encourage you to do the same.
Make time for something in your teaching life. Think of the thing you realize or remember in January or April and you say, "If only I had time," or "I am definitely doing that next year!" Even if you haven't done it yet, it's still not too late. For me, it's making sure that I compliment someone, whether a teacher or a student, every time I walk into a classroom. Those positive conversations are critical toward building a learning community, and we principals often hurry-hurry-hurry to move along, because there is just so much to do, when this is really the most important thing there is.
This habit of making time for something in your teaching life might be a thing that takes a minute or two each day--adding word to your word wall every day or two, having a vocabulary moment, reading one more short read aloud, sharing a piece of your own writing. You can force yourself to add this in to morning meeting or in the 5 minutes right after lunch.
It might be about something in your teaching that you've sort of neglected because of all the other things you've had to pay attention to recently. Maybe it's making sure you pay a compliment in every conference. Maybe the active involvement of your minilesson has gotten away from you. Maybe the notes you keep during conferring need a bit of an overhaul. Do whatever you can to get that back!
This habit of making time for something in your teaching life might be a thing that takes a minute or two each day--adding word to your word wall every day or two, having a vocabulary moment, reading one more short read aloud, sharing a piece of your own writing. You can force yourself to add this in to morning meeting or in the 5 minutes right after lunch.
It might be about something in your teaching that you've sort of neglected because of all the other things you've had to pay attention to recently. Maybe it's making sure you pay a compliment in every conference. Maybe the active involvement of your minilesson has gotten away from you. Maybe the notes you keep during conferring need a bit of an overhaul. Do whatever you can to get that back!
Make time for something in your learning life. For me, this is making sure that I engage in some of my own professional reading or writing every day. This means that every day, I'm committing myself to blogging, or writing something for school, or crafting something that might become an article, or something else. This means that every day, I'm committing myself to reading the newest issue of Ed Leadership or some other professional journal, chipping away at my ever-growing pile of books that I'm hoping to read, or one of the countless blogs that are on my list of favorites like (here come the plugs!) Vicki Vinton's To Make a Prairie, Donalyn Miller's Book Whisperer, Marilyn Burns' math blog, Chris Lehman's new Educators' Collaborative, or anything on Edutopia, or checking out some TED Talks.
So, what is that for you? What will you do to nurture the learner in yourself? Maybe you want to rekindle the collegial relationship you used to have with a grade partner or someone. Maybe you're ready to dive into a study group or a new network with colleagues. Or maybe, there's an article or workshop brewing inside of you. (Remember, conference proposals for next November's NCTE Convention are due in January, so you're right on time!) Set a goal now...it's only October.
So, what is that for you? What will you do to nurture the learner in yourself? Maybe you want to rekindle the collegial relationship you used to have with a grade partner or someone. Maybe you're ready to dive into a study group or a new network with colleagues. Or maybe, there's an article or workshop brewing inside of you. (Remember, conference proposals for next November's NCTE Convention are due in January, so you're right on time!) Set a goal now...it's only October.
Finally, make time for something in your personal life. Pay attention to yourself, or you won't be able to work miracles in your professional life. Make weekends about weekends. Splurge on an extra 5 minutes after the alarm goes off, a funny movie, or TV time with your family. Go to the gym. Jog. Hike. Breathe. Then breathe some more. Garden. Cook. Scrapbook. Read for fun. Connect with old friends. Some people think you can't achieve balance in your life if you take your career seriously. That's simply not true...you have to do both, and it's not 50/50. It's 100/100. The other part of striking balance is not the total separation of the two...but the melding of them. Be a better teacher because of everything else you do. Be a better everything, because you are a teacher!
Let's all do this together in the name of balance, in the name of learning, and in the name of kids!
Let's all do this together in the name of balance, in the name of learning, and in the name of kids!
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