Who are you?

Hello, colleagues!

I was chatting with a friend, confidant, and close colleague earlier this week, and we were having a conversation about education and burn-out. It definitely tied into what I blogged about last week! We were discussing that teaching is what we do, but is not the only part of who we are. We were both stressed out and sharing our frustrations. I mentioned how I missed two days of school because I was in New York City! Context: my sister and I are ridiculous Harry Potter NERDS, and she got two tickets to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I told her that whenever she got tickets, I would fly in and be there. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Was I supposed to say no because the school year already started? Yes, I am a teacher, but I am also a nerd and a traveler. I want to see beautiful things in the world. I wasn't sad that I missed school for a fantastic opportunity - I was stressed because I had a lot to make up because I was gone.

If we let teaching take up every piece of our humanness, then we cannot escape when education goes south, when we have a bad day or week or month... I finally figured this out like three or four years ago. Someone told me that if I died tomorrow, there would be another person to replace me.

I would implore you, as part of your self-care routine, to figure out who you are and who you want to be. Being an educator cannot be the only person that you are.

I am a wife. I have a husband who is also a teacher. We have to make time for each other because we're both teachers and education can take up a massive chunk of our time if we let it. We have hobbies together, and we have hobbies that don't match. He is my confidant, he is my person. Without him, I would lead a lonely life.

I am a daughter, sister, and aunt. My family means more to me than almost anything else. If they need me, I should be able to drop everything and get to them.

I am a friend. My friends are my Colorado family. They are the people that make me laugh and get my introverted self out of the house for a drink or a movie.

I am a photographer. I see the world slightly different than the average person. I know how to capture the beauty around me and share it with the masses. I am in my happy place, by myself, with a camera in hand.




I am an out-of-shape athlete. Sometimes I need to spend an hour in nature. Sometimes I need to spend an hour in a hot yoga room. Sometimes I need to spend an hour in the pool. In each of these cases, I tune out everything else around me and focus on the task at hand. The "assignment" might be to not break an ankle on a rock, to not vomit while attempting camel position, or do a perfect streamline off a wall with a powerful dolphin kick.

I am a musician. I can sing. I have perfect pitch. I have specific songs that will change my mood no matter what and I have songs that will make me dance the moment I hear them. Music transforms me in a way like nothing else.

I am a pop culture junkie. I like to read the news and also the "hot goss." I want to be informed so that I can converse with others. I troll Twitter for seriousness and hilarity. I enjoy seeing what celebrities are wearing to movie openings. I fancy taking Buzzfeed quizzes and sharing my results with others.

I am a traveler. I want to see the world. I want to photograph beautiful places. I want to try new foods, and I want to experience new cultures. I love being from Iowa and I love living in Colorado - I have a distinct idea of where home is. I want to, however, experience more than just home base.

This weekend, make a list. Decide who you are and what is essential. Take care of yourself and remember that you are a teacher, but you are also so much more. Thanks for reading! I'll see you next week :)

- Rachel

@historicalipad

My Teacherspayteachers website

Gloomy...

Good morning colleagues! I haven't been feeling great (AGAIN), so I don't have more to share than a sketchnote and a playlist.

Here is the story of my life this year...

I had an "aha!" moment last night. I was drinking tea, while all of my friends were drinking adult beverages (*sigh*), when I said, "I think I'm getting sick so much this year because I'm handling all three grade levels of iPads!" The last few years, I would only mess with my students' iPads. Now I'm dealing with 450 iPads... and middle school students are notoriously disgusting... I need to load up on hand sanitizer and start washing my hands once an hour. I want to be healthy!

In honor of NOT being healthy, I am going to lay back down and read more of Game of Thrones while listening to this chill, relaxing playlist courtesy of Monument Valley.

BTW, have you played Monument Valley? It's not cheap, but it is SUCH a relaxing game! Look into it! I'll see you next week :)

- Rachel

@historicalipad

My Teacherspayteachers website

Looking at a morale problem...

Good afternoon colleagues!  I'm posting this week about an issue (but not a problem) that I'm having in my new position... I've become a sounding board for others. I'm trying to help people sort out problems, both technological and personal. I enjoy being a sounding board and I'm shocked that people come to me for advice! But because morale is SO low at Skyview right now, the majority of these conversations are negative. It's hard to be positive when I'm surrounded by negativity.

So instead of focusing on the negativity, I'm going to provide advice. Is this a step towards positivity? Not sure, but here we go.

I have to start with what I see at Skyview that is causing low morale and poor climate.

1. At the end of the school day, we have an advisory period called REACH. These 30 minutes are meant to be used for interventions, catching up on school work, doing homework, or checking in with enrichment classes. This year, based on state requirements, we had to make a change. REACH time, on Monday and Wednesday, is now used for extra, pre-made lessons. The problem is that the students (and teachers) were not notified much before the school year beginning. This led to animosity from tired teachers and from students who rebelled at their lack of study hall.
2. We have too many programs going on at the same time, so it is hard to focus on what is essential. How do we mix Capturing Kids Hearts, Path2Empathy, and Marzano at the same time without overwhelming teachers and taking up precious class time? How do we also implement high-reliability math and reading strategies, new technology, and design digital portfolios?
3. We have a good administration team that is lacking in some critical areas: transparency,  visibility, and perspective. Part of this is out of their control as our middle school is hovering near 1200 students and we are in a "choice state." I see administration spending more time in customer service than in servicing the building. They are often not transparent with the staff in WHY we are doing something, they are not usually visible in the hallways or classrooms, and they do not have the greatest perspective in what's necessary for teachers (which trickles down to students). 
4. MEETINGS. We have meetings four of the five days of the week and have staff meetings once a month. Most of the time, it feels like we're having a meeting because we're supposed to have a meeting. It feels like forced collaboration which just does not work.

That's a lot. As a "lowly" teacher, there is not much I can do to change the climate of the whole school. I am trying, however, to change the view of using technology. My goal is to move my role from reactionary technology support to proactive technology support. I am doing this by providing technology support through the tech tips newsletter and by making screencasts for colleagues instead of requiring face-to-face meetings. I hate when my time is wasted and feel it is crucial for me to also not misuse my colleagues' time.

What advice do I have to give about these four problems?

• Problem #1 - new REACH lessons: I genuinely believe this problem with sort itself out over time. Teachers will know that this is a future expectation, and students will be less likely to rebel over time. It won't be helped that teachers are tired at the end of the day, but students won't push back. This will trickle up into the high school as well. This year is just an in-between,  learning year. I do think that the administration needs to survey the staff at the end of the year about how it can be improved. It's not going away, so how can it be better? 
• Problem #2 - too many programs: the unusual thing about all of these programs is that they work independently from each other. CKH is a way to build rapport with your students through greetings and dismissals and positive interactions. Path2Empathy are character building lessons that can be connected to content. I would encourage teams to split up the Path2Empathy activities so that each teacher only "loses" one day a year. And Marzano is a way to backward design your units and lessons. Is it a lot? Yes. Is it manageable? Yes. This may be another blog post for a different time, but I feel like teachers can spend time in their classrooms better and can actually prioritize their lessons differently to save time. 
• Problem #3 - administration: This is a sore spot for a lot of the staff, and I know I need to tread carefully here as I could be written up. The administration just needs to listen to the teachers and prioritize solutions. I thought they started to do this earlier in the year when they had us do the post-it activity. Teachers were asked to write down what to start doing, keep doing, and stop doing in the school. Most teachers went all in, and of the post-its that I saw, there were some great ideas. Administration took the post-its to our leadership team, and from what I heard, the conversations were contentious, and some administrators took the discussions personally. I've heard nothing about the post-its since. When situations like this arise, teachers feel like they're not being listened to. Most teachers don't want to complain... they want solutions! I would love to see this post-it conversation continue to show that administration is listening to the staff is that the building is moving forward. I also want to see admin in the classroom more often. I read a blog post from a principal who says that she blocks an hour of time (or more) a week. She marks it on her calendar as a meeting, and for that hour, she's in classrooms. If a parent stops by, the secretary can say that the principal is in a meeting and when the principal will be back in their office. By doing this, administration could have a good pulse of what's happening in the building and in individuals' classrooms. This helps with giving feedback, helps with evaluations, and also makes their presence known to students and staff. 
• Problem #4 - meetings: I'm not sure how to fix this issue. One thing that I've been asking for for years is a pre-made agenda. There has to be a way to replace forced collaboration with reasons for collaborating, but I don't know if I have answers for this. 

My last bit of advice is for the teachers themselves. When teachers have low morale, it leads to burnout, which then leads to teachers switching schools or leaving education altogether. How can you take care of yourself to prevent this? How can you change your attitude? I gave this advice to a colleague and friend the other day. Make a list of what's important to you. Rank everything from most to least important. My guess is that your job isn't what's most important to you, so don't spend all of your time working. I call this my "midnight rule." Like nothing good happens after midnight? Nothing good happens when you're at school past four. It can wait until tomorrow. 

Spend time doing what you love. I want to be healthy and I enjoy reading. For the past month I've been going to the gym and walking on a treadmill for an hour. It's not much, but I'm getting my 10,000 steps a day. I also take my Kindle and read while I walk. So far, I've read 16 books this year. 

Spend time with your family. Have a drink with your friends. Take a bubble bath. Purchase a subscription box. Take your dog for a walk. Light a candle and listen to music. Cheer on the US at the Olympics! Just do something for your. Take care of yourself. Thanks for reading. I'll see you next week :)

- Rachel

@historicalipad

My Teacherspayteachers website

#selfcare: hype videos

Guys, I don't know about you, but I'm TIRED. I know that I've had more breaks than most of you, but I am running on empty.

Teachers spend most days running on empty, right? That's why self-care for teachers is SO. DARN. IMPORTANT.

There is a multitude of ways to take care of yourself, but for me, my #1 way to take care of myself is to listen to music. I've shared multiple playlists throughout the year. Sometimes, however, it's more than music. Sometimes I need to cry or laugh or be inspired.

And that's what YouTube is for. YouTube is not just for your students, folks. There is some phenomenal, non-school related stuff out there.

At times like this, when I'm running on empty, I try to figure out the best way for me to move forward. Often times, I need to cry. Not just a little bit... I need to let out gut-wrenching sobs. I realized this morning, for example, that I needed a good cry to start my day. Please view this entry from ESPN talking about my beloved Iowa Hawkeyes.

Did you cry? Good. Do you feel better? I hope so. 

So, here is a playlist of my favorite YouTube videos to hopefully make you laugh, cry, or inspire the buh-jeezes out of your last few days before your winter holiday.

YouTube can also be for your students. The past couple of years, before I taught 45-minute short enrichment classes, I would show my students videos on Friday, called "Fun Video Friday." I would encourage you to put together a playlist, with your students, of some of your favorite videos. When you or your students need a break, sometimes a quick three-minute video can change your students' or your mood, or just change the climate in the classroom.

Thanks for watching. I'll see you next week :)

- Rachel

@historicalipad

My Teacherspayteachers website