About November, when I'm buried under papers to grade, desperately trying to get everything done each week, and dealing with all the daily drama of fourth grade, remind me of summertime. It's wonderful.
It took about a week after the last teacher workday, but all of the sudden, I relaxed. I stopped having dreams about teaching fractions, didn't wake up panicking about what I needed to get done before school started, didn't worry about fitting it ALL in in one day. During the school year, I have a hard time relaxing, even on the weekends; lesson plans and student issues are always churning in the back of my mind.
In about a month, I'll start my third year of teaching and my main goal for myself as a person, and not just a teacher, is to stay a little more sane. I'm starting now with a some preliminary planning and organizing for my classroom. I think a little more structure and planning will help me separate my work from the rest of my life (and thus, let me sleep a little less fitfully).
My running has the potential to make a big impact in this plan. I'm thinking about taking my running gear to school, so I can run right after the students leave (or after-school meetings). That might get me re-energized for working on grades and planning for another few hours. Another possibility is running right when I get home. The run could be my official transition from work to home.
We'll see. I have a month left to figure it out. Anybody have any ideas?
I like both plans. I am a big help I know. But honestly you should try both - do each for a week and see which one you prefer. I am leaning toward going home first that way you don't have to pack a bag everyday, but I am lazy.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the whole bag packing thing's an obstacle... mainly because I'll probably just forget.
ReplyDeleteI haven't found the bag packing thing to be a big deal, honestly. It takes all of thirty seconds to grab everything.
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of running in the middle of the day. I would trade packing ten bags over having to get up any earlier for my run.
Teaching is a stressful job because you never entirely leave it, but either plan for runs sounds like good stress relief!
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