Hit the ground….SPRINTING!
It’s been a little over a week since my first post, and there still wasn’t much information to come by for the beginning of the school year…Which means this coming week (pre-service) we are not going to hit the ground running, but more like sprinting! I can envision it is going to be very difficult trying to make sure, as teachers, we are as prepared as we can possibly be. But even with us working from home, we definitely need to make sure to find a balance. This could go for anyone that is working from home right now too. It’s so easy to just continue working way past your “duty day” when work is already at home.
Not to say that you should always ONLY be working between the hours of 8:30am and 4pm-that is just NOT realistic for most teachers. For me, I enjoy putting extra time into my job outside my contract hours. Teaching isn’t only my career, it is a part of me and if it means I need to take extra time to make my Canvas classroom look the coolest with my Bitmoji, then so be it!
But there CAN be a balance. There HAS to be a balance-or else when does it stop? When do you have time for YOU? For your kids? For your spouse, significant other, family, etc? It is much easier to lose sight of that line, that balance, because for right now our home is our workspace.
Luckily for me, I found and established a balance very early on in my career, thanks to dance. As most of you may know, I have been a competitive Irish dancer for about 22 years. When I became a teacher, dance actually became an even bigger part of my life as not only a passion of mine, but my outlet. No matter how many years you have under your belt as a teacher, we all know that it is so easy to never be done working. I knew that when I started my career I needed to make sure to find time for myself among all the work.
So I made time-and have for the last 5 years. Everyone always asks me, how do you do it? How do you have time to plan and prepare for teaching while still making time for dance classes? How do you drive 2.5 hours during a work week to dance class, not get home until sometimes 2am, and then get up for work no problem the next day 5 hours later? Well its not easy, but I make it work. I prioritize what needs to get done for work, use my time wisely during my planning periods, and just deal with being tired-because YES I am definitely tired on those dance class nights getting home at 2am! But it is worth it! That’s been my outlet, my stress reliever, my ME time. It’s hard work, but it has always been worth it.
Not to say that everyone has to be as crazy as me-my midnight drives home from a dance class were always difficult (huge shout-out to my boyfriend for taking my late night phone calls to help keep me awake on that drive). And don’t get me wrong I always said to myself, “Man…I AM crazy!”-but you have to put your foot down. Set aside some time to do something you love, or find something new to try. Or even just set aside some time to do NOTHING. It’s easy to get caught up in work when you wake up and go to sleep in your “workplace” right now (honestly even before virtual learning-late nights at school are SO easy to get caught up in). But schedule that stopping point. Trust me, if it’s not scheduled, it won’t happen. My dance classes were scheduled, so I had to make sure what I needed to finish for work was done before I could go. I’m so thankful I taught myself how to find that balance between work and home so early in my career because it is definitely not an easy balance to find. I’m only speaking from experience as a teacher, but I can imagine that goes for anyone who can potentially “bring their work home”, works from home already, or even is a stay at home parent.
Need some ideas of things to do during your “me” time? I made a list of some I think are great ways to relieve some stress and shift your mind from work!
Gardening (will write a post soon on tips we have found helpful when propagating succulents-promise!)
Baking (who doesn’t love some delicious cookies??)
Playing games (schedule a virtual game night with some friends or family over Zoom, it’s so much fun!!)
Crafts (there are so many different fun things to make!)
Watch a new TV show (have to find that stopping point when it comes to that though too ;) )
Journaling (writing down anything on your mind can help get your mind off of things especially before bed)
Read a book (the teenager in me can’t wait to read the new Twilight series book!)
Yoga or exercise of any kind (GREAT stress relievers)
Post a comment below if you have any other great “me” time activities-I’m sure anyone reading would love more suggestions!
Special shout-out to my teachers reading this: During pre-service week, remember this- you aren’t in it alone. Anything that you are feeling, I’m sure another teacher you know is too. Although that doesn’t make it any easier-reminding yourself of that, you realize who you can turn to when you need something or someone to talk to! As teachers, we all have to lean on each other-we won’t be able to get through this alone.
WE GOT THIS!!
for a little laugh-check out this TikTok (everything that comes from or features this show is like the best thing ever! https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJk1PS8d/
