Raise your hand if you are #teachertired. I see you, all of you. You're worn out!

I'm sure we can all agree we got into this teaching gig with the same enthusiasm and expectations for our future success as teachers. We looked forward to making a positive difference in students' lives, to helping them to love learning, to help students learn exponentially and to contribute to their become amazing people. It wasn't going to be our job; it was going to be our vocation.

So where does it all go wrong?

Sure we do a lot of what we hoped to accomplish but we're worn to the bone. Why are we so tired and overwhelmed all the time? Well... there are lots of factors contributing to that. We could go on and on, right?! But, let's deal with the ones we can actually control.

Taking Control of Your Wellbeing

Here's the ones we can control (off the top of my head): energy level, sleep, self-care, preparation, knowing how to say no, confidence, time management, classroom management, how much work we...

Brain Breaks

Everyone needs brain breaks throughout their day to be at their most efficient and productive. We know from research that brain breaks reduce stress and increase retention of learning. What’s not to like about that?!

Go Noodle Anyone?

Taking brain breaks works with our students and for us as well. What did we ever do before GoNoodle?! But GoNoodle takes time, something that we don’t always have a lot of.

There are those days (ok, a lot of days) we only have a minute or two for a much needed brain break in the midst of a busy day. Sound familiar? Then there are days we simply don’t have an extra second, much less minutes. Here’s how squeeze those brain breaks in on the fly.

Simon Says Lightening Round

Play Simon Says as fast as you can talk without anyone ever “getting out”. Stop briefly when you get kids to mess up and say “Gotcha”. Then, keep going.

Clap Snap Patterns

These first two are best used for waiting times,...

Teacher tired is a real thing.

No one, except another teacher, can understand that kind of tired. Add in a family and suddenly, the teacher tired gets through the roof.

Teachers, I'm just going to say it.... You HAVE to take care of yourself! It's just not an option to keep putting yourself last. There is a reason the airlines tell us to put on own masks on first. You can't help anyone else if you can't breathe! Let's face it, we can't being our best selves when we don't take care of ourselves.

I know what you are going to say... you feel guilty about taking time for yourself when you have so much to do. Plus, you have parent guilt about not spending enough time with your family because you are always "working" on the stuff you bring home. You can't go on that way. Let me just point out one teeny, tiny thing... that Teacher Tired has a lot to do with lack of sleep, guilt,  and caretaker burnt out.

It's time to make a pact. Repeat after me...

I, (state your name),...

Keeping up with the teacher next door (or our Pinterest Pals) is an impossible task. But, we still try. What is it about all that perfection that is so alluring, even when we know it's not realistic?

Ok, this will date me, but I just have to share this perfect example of perceived perfection. I remember watching The Jetsons's cartoon on TV when I was young. There was this one episode where Jane Jetson gets a phone call on the video phone early in the morning. She quickly grabs her "morning mask", literally a mask that she places in front of her face before answering the call from her friend. The mask looks like her all done up and hides her real "just rolled out of bed making the kids lunches" face. Once the call is done, she puts the mask away and goes back to her morning with her friend none the wiser. 

Let's face it, everyone wears masks. We just don't always know what the masks others are wearing are and what's real.

Well, it's time to put our blinders on. 

Quit...

Survival Mode is for the Birds

I got so tired of survival mode, so I chose a new way to be.  I call it Thriving Mode. It's all about investing in systems to make your life run smoothly. Can you say auto pilot? There are many things we do that need to become habits so we can put them on auto pilot. Why do we train our students, but don't train ourselves? It's time to lead by example.

Auto Pilot

So, the first question is... What can go on auto pilot, and what can't? I'm so glad you asked!

School arrival time is on auto pilot.

Just do it, I told myself. I trained myself in the new habit of getting to school 1 hour early. I say HABIT intentionally. A habit is automatic, no thinking required. This became my best work time- uninterrupted, focused planning time.

The 2 Minute Tidy

I train students in the art of the 2 Minute Tidy. At the end of the school day, I leave 2 minutes to clean up. Set a timer for 2 minutes. Then, everyone works as fast as they can to clean up everything...

There are certainly plenty of things to have regrets about or beat ourselves up about as teachers and as parents. But... here's a few you should never apologize for.

1. A lesson that didn't go as planned. So what. Learn something from it and try again.Show your students how to accept failure and start over. Now, three's a lesson worth teaching.

2. Being really good at something others aren't. If you resumer organized but others aren't and they give you trouble about it, shame on them. Enjoy your strengths and use them. We all have enough faults worry about, do don't add your strengths to the worry list.

3. Not having a Pinterest Perfect classroom. A perfectly coordinated room does not make you a better teacher. Either decorating in your thing or it's not. Make your room comfortable and welcome for you and your students. That's enough. Just teach.

4. Doing things your own way. Being different is a strength, not a fault. In some schools, teachers are expected to go lock step together...

"The language, Lisa! You, the words matter girl, would have been appalled."

My lovely teacher friend was lamenting the recent trend toward whining and complaining in her school's teachers' lounge. She was probably right. I would have been appalled. Additionally, she was right to be concerned. The thing about whining and complaining is, they are habits. Once we head down that path, it is really hard to stop. It gets in our heads and our hearts.

There is an old saying that goes something like this - A few bad apples will spoil the barrel.

I talk a lot about how our words matter with our students. It's also true that our words matter with our colleagues. It's great to share, seek advice and blow off a little steam once in awhile. We need that. However, when talk in the teacher lunchroom turns to whining, complaining or denigrating students or parents, it's gone too far. It can spoil the whole climate of a school or team. Speaking with respect for each individual regardless of our...

Hey! I'm needing some time for self-care here, people. You can't imagine even saying that, right?!

We're back in the swing of things at schools around the country.  Standardized testing is coming up. Grading is piling up, already. Our houses are a mess.  Meetings, planning for next year, appointments, more meetings, baseball practice...

Feeling stressed? Oh yeah! I'll bet you laughed when I said it's time for some self-care. I can just hear you, "Self-Care? Ha! Who has time for that?!"

Teachers are notorious for not taking care of themselves. If you think you don't have time for yourself, think again. You can't afford to not take time for yourself. The kind of pace that most teachers live is not sustainable without serious long-term consequences. The top of that list is serious teacher burnout. Let's face it, there will never be "extra time" to "fit ourselves in" later. It's not going to happen. But if we don't make time to care for ourselves, the consequences are huge....