It is hard to believe that March is already here! The end of the school year is just around the corner. I guess when teachers enjoy what they do, they lose track of time--I know I do:)
So how can teachers make it to June without burning out? Let me first share with you what continues to work for me with great success.
1. Find time to meet with colleagues. Friendly chat lowers stress. Also, a little laughter over the ups and downs of teaching this time of the year is good for the soul (it also lowers blood pressure I am told). This could be a time to discuss issues which drive you crazy or praise colleagues for successful teaching strategies that they have tried in their classes. Talk about plans for the spring or summer break. Make lunch dates with other teachers to get you out of your room:)
2. Start cleaning out your room. Throw out the activities that didn't work (and that you found unsuccessful). Brainstorm some new approaches to lessons that have become a bit too routine (i.e. boring for you and students). Challenge yourself to try something new with the next few months being the trial phase (I did that with EDMODO). This way with the new year, you will be ready to go!
3. Involve students a bit more in the decision process for a project or two to take them to May. When students know that their voice has meaning and their decisions valued, they are more enthusiastic about the project! I am starting such a project tomorrow for my ELLs. They will pick the topic and have a variety of options to complete the task. They will also create a scoring rubric with me by which their projects will be scored.
4. Don't be hard on yourself for plans that fell awry. It happens to EVERYONE at some time in one's teaching career. Time to lick one's wounds and move one:)
Here some additional ideas with
3 more months to go:)
Denise
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