LAUGH
‘Tis the season to raise a glass, ring in the new year and make a whole bunch of resolutions that you plan to keep all year. No really… this time you mean it! Teachers make resolutions too, but as you may have guessed we do things a little differently. So without further ado, let’s do a Top Ten Countdown of New Year’s resolutions recommended for teachers.
10. Going to the bathroom before class starts
OK, let’s start small. This should be an easy one right? You know you’re about to be locked in a classroom for an hour, you know you can’t escape, and you know you just drank 44 oz. of coffee. So this year, resolve to take those pee breaks wherever and whenever you can.
9. Updating our boards more frequently
All teachers start the year with the best of intentions. For the first few weeks we change the date daily, make sure our objectives perfectly match today’s lesson and make sure to post any important information. A few months in, however, our boards are, shall we say… out of date? So this year why don’t we all strive to keep those boards fresh, and not just when you catch wind of a formal observation happening this week!
8. Chewing our lunch before swallowing
Hey, I didn’t say every one of these resolutions was possible. Yes, our lunchtime can be measured in nanoseconds, and it’s usually full of interruptions and side missions. But let’s at least try to take a minute or two to savor the flavor of that sandwich we threw together that morning instead of just wolfing it down.
7. Paying attention during staff meetings
This is a big one. No matter what “educational expert” they bring in to lecture you. No matter how many questions that one teacher just HAS to ask. Resolve to stay off your phone, pay attention and if you’re feeling particularly frisky… actually participate in the conversation.
6. Checking our emails once a day
No, not your personal account, your school email. You know the one that gets filled to the brim with reminders, documents, data, newsletters and the occasional bit of information that actually pertains to you? Yes, it may seem daunting, but if we can resolve to clean that inbox out on a daily basis, we might just stay on top of things this semester.
5. Trying to hold at least 1 adult conversation every week
Sure, we love kids, but if you spend all day talking to them your brain turns to mush. We are adults after all, and we need adult conversations every now and again to remind us of that fact. So, resolve to sit with at least one non-teacher and ask them about their day. Ask them what they’re binging on Netflix these days. Ask them anything that doesn’t revolve around children. You’ll thank me for this one, I promise.
4. Keeping our classrooms clean & organized
Every semester starts out the same. Our rooms are neatly organized, our pencils are sharpened, our desks are free of clutter. Then one week later, our rooms look like fallout shelters after they dropped the bomb. Posters falling off the walls, broken bits of pencils everywhere, and enough shards of paper to hold your own ticker-tape parade. We are buried under piles of paper that range from ungraded assignments, handouts you forgot to handout, and information that someone told you was important but you can’t remember why. So let’s resolve to keep our rooms relatively tidy throughout the year. Better yet, let’s resolve to remind our students to do it for us!
3. Resisting the Target Temptation
Yes, it may be difficult, nay, impossible to pull this off completely, but as teachers on very limited budgets, we need to try. Sure they bombard our email accounts with sales, offers, deals, and discounts but we must remain strong. Yes, it is a one-stop shopping bonanza for teachers but we need to do our best. Ah, who are we kidding? Let’s just shoot for trimming our Target runs down to once a month maybe?
2. Getting a somewhat normal amount of sleep
Sure teachers have to rise before the sun, and rarely get to see the inside of their house during daylight hours, but this year let’s all make a concerted effort to carve out a decent amount of time for sleep every night. Sure, maybe that means only binging 2 episodes of The Office instead of your usual 5, but believe me it’ll be worth it. When that alarm clock goes off to get you ready for another day of school, you’ll be (slightly more) ready to deal with whatever your students throw at you.
1. Taking care of ourselves
Yes, topping the charts this year is resolving to take care of the most important person in that classroom… yourself. If you let yourself get burnt out and worn down, you’re not going to be any good to those kids. So spend an extra 5 minutes in the bath, leave school on time every now and then, and splurge for the occasional massage, because believe me you’ve earned it!
Now those are some New Year’s resolutions I think we can all get behind!
