"It'll be different this year."
Famous last words - right, teach? Every back to school season I say this to myself because by the time spring break rolls around, I am running on fumes. But no matter how many times I say it, I always seem to sell myself short. I spend a tremendous amount of time working outside of the classroom. Some of it is out of my control - because well, I don't have a classroom and I spend a lot of time making sure my plans are mobile (Any other cart teachers out there?).
What should I do about the things I
can control? I'm going to take a few cues from Shawn Achor on this one. After reading his book,
The Happiness Advantage, it's become painfully apparent that I've been doing this teacher overtime thing all wrong. So, what's a girl to do when she's not seeing results? Do something different! It's kind of sad actually, because I tell my students this all the time. If you're not getting the results you want, do something different! Then I usually follow up with the definition of insanity. But, I digress.
So this year I am trying something different. I want to increase my productivity and decrease my "teacher guilt." In Achor's book, he talks about the importance of changing our mindset, investing in small successes, and the value of the 20-second rule in helping us reach our goals. (If that last one intrigues you, you've got to
read the book!) So to capitalize on these ideas, I bought myself...
a planner!
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| My New Happy Planner - Teacher Edition |
A planner? Hear me out. At the beginning of the summer I put myself on a strict schedule of product creation and improvement for my Teachers Pay Teachers store. I discovered that when I wrote down a schedule of things I needed to get done - I ACTUALLY DID THEM. You're probably saying, "Can't you just write this stuff down on post-its?" Of course, and I have, but I definitely didn't take as much pride in my list of things to do, nor did I feel as much satisfaction when I went to cross off each of my tasks. I mean, when your planner could look like this, wouldn't you want one too?
How can you make this year less stressful and more productive than ever? Well, Shawn Achor's answer would be to make sure you take time for yourself -
journal, take a bath, have a nice glass of wine...
and my two cents would be to do it in style. And, speaking of a glass of wine and a bath: Enter my giveaway below to win one of these, and many other items!
A total of five winners will be selected! (Click the arrows below or watch my YouTube video to browse the different prizes and stay close to your e-mail on August 18th because that's when the winners will be chosen and I will need your shipping information.)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Need some more help getting rid of the teacher guilt? Seventeen secondary science sellers and I are getting together to celebrate back to school season with some pretty fantastic giveaways!
Win 1 of 4 $100.00 Teachers Pay Teachers gift cards! To enter: blog hop to all the blogs shown below, construct the secret sentence, then enter it in the Rafflecopter giveaway box. My word is #16 - world.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks so much for reading and good luck with the giveaways!
Ms. Razz is an enthusiastic chemistry teacher in New Jersey. She often counts herself to sleep at night using molecules or by reciting Avogadro's number. (For real.) She believes that every student has the power to learn anything, even chemistry. After all, she remembers this hustle didn't always come easy to her. She's also a Teachers Pay Teachers seller and you can view and purchase her lessons here.
