I've
got a confession to make – I am a recovering addict. What was I addicted to? Overworking. And worse than overworking – believing that
the harder I worked, the better teacher I was. It's a narrative many of us have
fallen into—the belief that our value as educators is defined by the number of
hours we pour into our profession. But,
let's be real. Is working ourselves into the ground truly the hallmark of a
good teacher, or have we been caught in a cycle that needs re-evaluating? Intellectually,
I KNOW the latter is true.
Realistically, it is hard to shift that workaholic mindset.
Since
I returned to the classroom 10 years ago, I have lived teaching night and day,
7 days a week, 365 days a year. Okay, so
that’s not TOTALLY true. I’d take
a day off here and there, but most days, even on weekends and holidays, I’d
work on something at some point most days.
The problem? My brain NEVER truly shut off. This warped mindset did a number on my sleep,
which negatively impacted my energy, my focus, my mood, and my health. After a health scare last year (which turned out to
be minor, for which I’m thankful), I knew it was time to shift my mindset. Something had to give – and I knew it had to be the amount of time and energy I spent focusing on teaching.
At
the end of last year, I sat down with my principal and discussed shifting to a
one-prep, part-time position. Luckily,
I’m in a position to be able to do this, and I figured what did I have to lose
by asking. The administration was making
some other shifts in positions, and my request actually helped them to achieve
what they desired. So, it was a win-win
situation. My first lesson learned – don’t
be afraid to ask. At worst, you’ll be
told no. At best, you may get lucky like
I did. Of course, I realize that most
are not in my position to shift to part-time, but one thing you have absolute,
100% control over is your mindset.
With
my shift to one prep (for the first time in my 20+ year teaching career), I can get almost all of my work done at school. One prep IS still a lot of work, and I could
totally still be overworking everything as per usual. It’s not the workload that’s making a
difference, it’s my mindset. I am
still VERY passionate about teaching; I still create content that is rigorous
for my advanced-level students, and I still give 100% of my energy and focus to
teaching – AT SCHOOL! How did I make this change? Read on for my 5 best tips.
5 Tips to Thrive as an Educator in 2024
I know this seems obvious. You’ve probably heard this quote - "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein. The first step to making a change is making the decision that you will make the changes necessary for things to be different. Otherwise, nothing will change. One way to do this is to set priorities. What are the things you want to do with your time and energy? Focus your attention there – do WHATEVER you have to do to make it happen. Get an agenda, and not just any agenda – find one that becomes an extension of your goals and aspirations. Make a commitment to those priorities and let that commitment guide your decisions. This is exactly what I did so that I have it all in black and white. Are you a digital person? That’s fine too. But find a way that works for you to be able to break free from the cycle of routine and embrace a new path—one that aligns with your aspirations and brings about the change you seek. The decision to do things differently is the catalyst for a transformative journey, and it all begins with setting clear priorities – and then (here’s the tricky part) – STICKING TO THEM!
Now, on to specific, actionable tips specifically geared to teachers…
It's
easy to fall into the trap of overplanning - spending endless hours crafting
intricate lessons. I’m absolutely 100%
guilty of this. As a matter of fact,
planning is my absolute favorite part of teaching – but it is also one of the
biggest time sucks of the profession. Here
are the things that I’m doing to stop over-working in my planning:
a. Focusing on the essentials: Identify key learning objectives and design activities that
efficiently achieve those goals.
b. Accepting that Good is Good Enough: Have you met the objectives from a? Look away from
the screen – quit tweaking that activity or searching for more ideas. Good is good enough!
c. NOT reinventing the wheel: Use the resources at your disposal. Collaborate with your colleagues – in your
school, your district, and online. Chances
are more than likely someone, somewhere has taught it before. Do what you’ve done before with minimal or no
reworking. I am SO GUILTY of this
one. I’ll rework something to death even
though it worked just fine in previous years.
I’m working on it!
d. Rinsing and Repeating student-centered activities. You found something that works well? Great! Use it and reuse it time and time again. My students love things like journal swaps, hot seat discussions, station activities, chapter topic discussions, etc. I use these again and again with little to no preparation.
3. Don’t do More Work than your Students!
It
sounds simple, but as educators, we often find ourselves deep in the trenches
of lesson preparation, creating materials, and grading, sometimes to the point
where we're doing more work than our students. It's time to shift that balance.
Start by delegating certain tasks to your students. For instance, engage them
in the creation of classroom materials and presentations. How? Let them come up with the questions or
topics for discussion for that novel chapter or short story? Ask them to create
presentation slides for their fellow students on a topic. For example, if you are teaching parts of speech,
you can assign groups of students a part of speech and have them create a lesson
and practice worksheets. This not only
lightens your workload but it also fosters
a sense of ownership and responsibility among your students. By redistributing
responsibilities and encouraging student involvement, you create a
more collaborative learning environment while freeing up valuable time for
yourself. Remember, your role is to guide and facilitate, not to shoulder the
entire workload. Working smarter, not harder, benefits both you and your
students in the long run.
4. Streamline Your Grading Practices:
Be strategic about your grading. This
one is big for me - not everything needs to be graded! When planning activities
and assessments, take into consideration the time it will take on the back end
to grade Here are a few other tips to rethink your grading practices:
a. Grading essays: Use rubrics! Set
expectations on the front end and stick to grading only what’s on the
rubric. Use a coding system for essay comments. Another possibility:
conference with students during the writing of their essays and do informal
checklist assessments throughout the essay writing, then compile those
assessments into a final grade.
b. Rethinking Essays: Can you meet the assessment
goals with another activity instead of an essay? For example, could you have
students complete a research project where they create an Infographic and give
a presentation as an alternative to a research paper? They can still do one or
two short, related pieces to demonstrate proficiency in MLA format, embedded
citations, and other research elements.
This would significantly decrease your grading time.
c. Use Self-Grading Technology when Possible. Use a Google Form or other self-grading app such as
Socrative or even Quizizz for tests. I
still prefer to give paper and pencil tests – I’m just old school like that! I
absolutely love ZipGrade for quick
grading of multiple-choice tests. It
costs $6.99 per year for unlimited grading but is worth EVERY penny as in
addition to grading a set of papers in less than 5 minutes, you have a multitude of
extra features like analytics that provide insights into the specific questions
students struggled with. This data-driven approach not only saves time but also
informs my future teaching decisions.
d. Regularly incorporate peer
review and self-assessment. This not only lightens your workload on the backend but also
encourages students to take an active role in their learning. Be sure to have clear and specific guidelines to ensure the effectiveness of these processes. Encourage students to provide
constructive feedback to their peers, emphasizing the importance of both
positive remarks and constructive criticism. Simultaneously, guide students in
reflecting on their own work through structured self-assessment tools.
*Extra note on grading: be sure to take into account due dates. You never want to have a huge project or
essay due right before a break or long weekend as you don’t want the pressure
to grade them during your time off!
Even
with the best-laid plans, there are times when work will have to be done
outside of the 8-hour teaching day. It
won’t feel like such a burden when the work is something you enjoy. For me, that’s planning. I am a super early riser, so while I’m fresh
and relaxed, if I have work to do, that’s when I’ll get it done. My least favorite task is grading (especially
essays), so that’s what I focus on when I get to school before the school day begins
and during my prep period. Also, I set a timeline for completing my grading. I determine when I
want the grading completed, and I set a hard number to grade per day to accomplish
that goal. I also strategically choose
which papers I’ll grade each day – mixing in students’ papers that
traditionally need more time and feedback with those stronger students who consistently demonstrate stronger proficiency. This deliberate approach
ensures a fair distribution of attention and allows me to offer targeted
support to individuals across the spectrum of academic strengths.
*Bonus
tip*: Before you leave school, always at least TRY to have everything ready for
the next day – the agenda made, Google Classroom assignments scheduled, copies
made, etc. This will allow your mind to
turn off knowing that you are prepared to walk into the classroom and "Go!" the next day.
Cultivating a new mindset to recover from overworking is an ongoing journey. I’m not perfect - YET, but as I implement these strategies, I’m finding that my brain can turn off more often. I’m getting better rest at night and feeling more energized and positive during the day. Cheers to the road ahead, where each decision propels us toward a more mindful and enjoyable teaching experience!
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Coming up in my next blog, I’ll discuss in depth some zero prep strategies designed to limit your working hours and ensure you stay true to the mindset of working smarter, not harder. Be sure to follow my blog and join my email list to be notified when new blog posts are released. Joining my list will also give you access to exclusive tips, discounted (and free) resources plus special giveaways that are shared only with my email subscribers. Let's continue this conversation and build a community that thrives on mindful teaching and lasting inspiration.
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