It’s time for another Self-Care Saturday! And since it’s Mother’s Day weekend, I vote we have Self-Care Sunday too.

Some favorite self-care activities I will be doing this weekend:
*playing board games with my family
*taking a long walk on the beach
*enjoying a Mother’s Day brunch, cooked up by my husband who is a wannabe chef
*spending time with my adult children (who are some of my best friends in the world)
*reading (always a top choice)
*making more things-to-do lists using cute journals and Flair pens
*opening my Tate & Zoey gift box! (more on that later)

This post is going to focus on some of my favorite go-to books about teaching.

But first — here are some cute things I found this week.

*These tank tops from Target are awesome. I love the longer length and how you can wear them out or tucked in.

*Here is a slim fit version of the same tank top.

*This dressier blouse option from Amazon is really cute. It comes in a great choice of colors and sleeve lengths.

*These joggers from Target are my new work pants.

*I also like these joggers from Amazon that have just a bit of spandex. And pockets are essential!

*If you’re looking for a comfortable dress for your work-from-home uniform, this loose t-shirt dress is really cute.

*I love the stripe and the color of this linen top. It also comes in a yellow stripe and a black stripe.

*Board games we have been loving lately:
Ticket to Ride – our latest obsession!
Quizniac
Sorry!
Yahtzee
Whodunit
Clue

*I love this gingham face mask! If I’m going to wear one, it needs to be cute.

*I love using cute journals like this one and writing with Flair pens to make lists. When I need to use legal pads, I love THESE because the color makes me happy.

*I use my Phone Soap every single day. Sometimes more than once a day since I am on a cleaning frenzy.

Now for some favorite books about teaching. I’m still decluttering, but these are some books I will keep since I use them over and over. Keep in mind: I have been teaching for 29 years, so I have been collecting books for a long time! I have used Amazon gift cards to buy books, I often buy used books, and a few books were gifts. Plus, I never buy any book about teaching that has not been highly recommended to me by others. But even then, pick and choose what may work for your particular situation.

Books about general classroom environment:
~Teaching Children to Care: Management in the Responsive Classroom by Ruth Sidney Charney
I reread this book every single year in August. It gets me in the right mindset for going back to school.

~Fostering Resilient Learners: Strategies for Creating a Trauma-Sensitive Classroom by Kristin Souer
I am still learning about the effects of trauma on children (and adults). This book is a quick read with easily actionable strategies to implement right away.

~Closing the Attitude Gap: How to Fire Up Your Students to Strive for Success by Baruti Kafele
ANY book by Baruti Kafele is my go-to for my equity learning.

~Motivating Black Males to Succeed in School and in Life by Baruti Kafele

~Through Ebony Eyes: What Teachers Need to Know But are Afraid to Ask About African American Students by Gail L. Thompson
This is another book that I have referenced again and again.

~How Children Succeed by Paul Tough
This is a great book for teachers and parents.

~The Curious Classroom: 10 Strategies for Teaching with Student-Directed Inquiry by Harvey Daniels
Love this book! There are so many tips and strategies in this book that make such a positive difference in student engagement.

~Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning by Mike Schmoker
This is another short book with strategies that are easy to implement right away. He breaks down the essentials of effective instruction in a simple format.

~Teach Like a Champion 2.0: 62 Techniques That Put Students on the Path to College by Doug Lemov
The Uncommon Schools Network is a highly successful network of charter schools in the northeastern United States. These strategies are highly effective and easy to implement.

~Teaching with the Brain in Mind by Eric Jensen
Brain research in an easy to understand format

~Kagan Cooperative Learning by Dr. Spencer Kagan
This is THE book for effective strategies to get all students engaged, talking, and interacting with content.

~Being the Change: Lessons & Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension by Sara K. Ahmed
This book is a newer favorite of mine, with a focus on teaching social justice.

~The Essential 55 by Ron Clark
Ron Clark is an amazing educator and the founder of the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. This book and the next were some of his earliest books explaining his story and his methods. They are both fun reads with effective tips.

~The End of Molasses Classes by Ron Clark

Books about literacy instruction:

~Literacy Essentials: Engagement, Excellence & Equity for All Learners by Regie Routman
Regie Routman has been a literacy leader for over 40 years. I have read every single one of her books, and this is one of her latest. This book includes all of her tried and true strategies over many years of teaching and leading professional development for teachers. Her focus on equity for all learners is such a necessary focus for every single teacher.

~The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller
I love this book. It’s another one that I read in August to remind me of the importance of independent reading and effective ways to get kids excited about books.

~Igniting a Passion for Reading: Successful Strategies for Building Lifetime Readers by Steven Layne
I read this one along with The Book Whisperer.

~Who’s Doing the Work?: How to Say Less So Readers Can Do More by Jan Burkins & Kim Yaris
This book is great for pushing students to build literacy independence.

The following books are also about literacy instruction and their titles explain the book better than I could!

~The Fluent Reader by Timothy Rasinski

~The Reading Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers by Jennifer Serravallo

~The Writing Strategies book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Writers by Jennifer Serravallo

~I Read it, But I Don’t Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers by Cris Tovani

~Do I Really Have to Teach Reading?: Content Comprehension, Grades 6-12 by Cris Tovani

~When Kids Can’t Read, What Teachers Can Do: A Guide for Teachers 6-12 by Kylene Beers

~Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters by Kylene Beers & Robert Probst

This next set of books are my latest favorites because they discuss the importance of early literacy instruction and of building background knowledge in our students from day one. They also give you specific instructional strategies and resources.

~Know Better, Do Better by Meredith & David Liben

~Great Habits, Great Readers: A Practical Guide for K-4 Reading by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo

~The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of American’s Broken Education System – And How to Fix it by Natalie Wexler

~The Writing Revolution: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects & Grades by Judith C. Hochman

You need this book. That is all.
~How to Handle Difficult Parents: Proven Solutions for Teachers by Suzanne Capek Tingley

Last reminders:
~The FASTer Way to Fat Loss round for teachers only (at $50 off!) begins this week! If you’re interested, check it out HERE.

~Jordan Page’s Productivity Boot Camp is FREE to sign up through the month of May! You can read more about it HERE.

~I am super excited to join Tate & Zoey as a brand affiliate. Have you heard of Tate & Zoey? It is a new online gift boutique with super cute and super affordable gift selections. We just launched this past week! HERE is a link to the website. If you are interested in learning more about making some extra cash as a brand affiliate, watch THIS helpful webinar to see if it’s right for you!

Have a wonderful weekend and Mother’s Day celebration!

It feels to me like I am working MANY more hours now than when I was in a physical workspace. How about you?

Part of it is the fact that we’re doing so many things that are new to us. Recording (and often re-recording) myself teaching and uploading videos is new. I’m used to creating Google documents and forms and uploading PDF’s but have never spent this much time on doing that. Communicating with students and parents, holding daily “office hours,” having social Google Meets with kids — much of this is new to me.

Part of it is that with my husband and son also working at home, we just get into the routines of having our laptops open all the time. We do pause for meals and usually watch a movie together in the evening, but otherwise, it feels like we are all working, all the time.

And I don’t even have young children at home, as many of you do!

I am also super type A and like checking everything off my to-do list.

But I realize I have got to get myself into a more manageable routine, complete with time “off,” in order to feel at least a little bit balanced.

I have been looking for solutions everywhere and I have a few ideas that I am going to implement this week. I’m sharing these in the hope that some of them will be useful to you as well.

1 – Have a set wake-up time and a set bedtime. That seems pretty basic, but I have been staying up later, knowing that I don’t have to get up as early as I do when I commute and work in a building. I know I need seven hours of sleep so I am going to be strict with myself about getting to bed on time. I need to be in bed, reading, by 10 p.m. so I can be asleep by 10:30 p.m. and up at 5:30 a.m.

Backing up from that set bedtime, I am going to put the laptop away two hours before bed. For me, that means by 8 p.m. My “reward” is getting to play a board game or watch a movie with my family.

(This is what I imagine my sleeping self to look like!)

2 – I am going to set certain times to check email and not respond after a certain time of day. Since a lot of my student and parent emails come in between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., I’m going to be available by email during that time. I’ll wrap up any other emails by 4 p.m. Everything else can wait until the next day.

3 – Are you finding that everything is taking twice as long as you think it should? Me too. I am trying to make my peace with that and just planning for it. (If you’re not feeling that way, please share your tips — I could use some help!)

Here is what I am doing:
~I made a list of ALL the things I have to do in a week (daily assignment posts, SEL check-ins, office hours, recording lessons, plan lessons, “grade” student work and give feedback, respond to email, PLC meetings, PLC tasks, record read alouds, etc. etc.).

~I also put the time of day beside each task to help me see where I was trying to do too much (more than what could be fit into that amount of time) and what I could shift to other times of day.

~Then I made a Monday through Friday schedule and scheduled all the tasks, meetings, etc.

~I always take Saturday completely off from any school work. But I do set aside some time on Sunday to either complete tasks from the week before or to get ahead on tasks for the week to come.

Some people want to work a shorter amount of time on both days of the weekend. And some people want to take the weekends completely off. Figure out what kind of weekly schedule works best for you.

4 – Have you heard of time blocking? If you are not familiar with Jordan Page’s Productivity Boot Camp, I highly recommend it. You can read more about it HERE. Right now, it is being offered for FREE!! (My favorite price) You can also watch Jordan’s entertaining YouTube video where she explains time blocking HERE.

If you don’t want to watch the video right now, here’s the gist:
~schedule time blocks for yourself. Jordan’s blocks are in three-hour increments. Mine are in two-hour increments.

~remember when I mentioned all the stuff I have to do and how I write down the time of day I will do that task? That’s what I do with my two-hour time blocks.

For example: 8 – 10 a.m.: I have two half-hour blocks of time for office hours. During that time, I also “grade” student work and provide feedback. I do other PLC or planning tasks and respond to email. All of these are tasks I can easily start and stop if students come to office hours.

~now — for the fun part — Jordan says that when the time block ends, you stop doing the tasks that were scheduled for that block. She compares it to high school classes. When the bell rings, you leave your biology class to go to your English class. Biology class is “done” for today.

~now — for the hard part — do you ever try to keep going to just finish “one more thing?” Yeah, I do too. Now is a good time for me (and you) to reform those habits and make sure we are taking care of ourselves.

So when my time block is done, so is the work for that part. What if I didn’t finish all the feedback from yesterday’s work? I move it to task #1 on the next time block where I have feedback “scheduled”. If that’s not until tomorrow at 8 a.m., that’s fine.

~the idea with time blocking is to keep you from getting sucked into the trap of trying to finish everything, and then getting frustrated because so many important other things are not getting done.

5 – I’m looking for processes I can streamline so that they won’t take as much time.

For example: even though my students are very accustomed to using Google Classroom, they are having trouble navigating so many more assignments being posted. I am organizing the assignments into “topics” such as “Week 1 Math”, “Week 1 Reading,” etc. I found a YouTube video about how to navigate Google Classroom without losing your mind. I sent it to all my students and parents. Now, when someone asks me a question about Classroom, I refer them to the video instead of having to explain it all over again.

Another example: when students email me with questions that do not need an immediate response, I tell them to come see me at office hours in Google Meet. That way, my time that is already scheduled for office hours can be used for questions without my taking other time to respond to emails.

6 – My PLC and I are working together to ensure that we are not being overly ambitious. In a perfect world, yes, we would cover every standard to the best of our ability, along with providing interventions for students who need more practice and extensions for those who need more enrichment.

But this is far from a perfect world. Instead, we are looking at what is “good enough” for now. That sounds like we’re lowering expectations and it doesn’t always feel very good. But we also have to be realistic about what can be taught well right now and what we are going to have to let go of.

7 – My first priority right now is connecting with my students. Yes, I would like for them to complete the online learning assignments that I am working hard to provide. But I don’t know the realities that some of them are dealing with at home. Now is not the time to be overly worried about holding them accountable for completing work.

Instead, I am checking in with them by phone, email, and regular Google check-in forms. I am checking to be sure they are safe and have what they need. I check to see if they have any questions about the assignments or if they need help with anything.

I have found that the connection time I am spending — making the effort to ensure my students know they are loved and cared for — is motivating some of them to complete assignments when they were not doing so before.

8 – I am giving myself grace and not even trying to please everyone. Some parents will think I am not doing enough or sending enough work for their students to do. Some parents will think I am sending too much and completely overwhelming them.

But you know what? They often think those things when we’re face-to-face with their children in our classrooms as well. I am sticking with the guidelines of our school district, modifying assignments as needed, and providing extensions where possible.

I am also thanking parents for their patience and flexibility as we all navigate this “new normal.” I understand that all parents are worried about their kids right now and I try to keep that in mind when I am communicating with them.

9 – Even though I do not have young children at home, my husband and young adult son are also working from home. I have found it’s helpful to let them know when I am in a meeting or I’m videotaping read alouds or lessons. A simple post-it note with the words “do not disturb” is working just fine!

10 – I am following my usual morning routine. You can read about some of the things I do in THIS POST.

Having time to myself to read, to make lists, to pray, and then to exercise makes me feel energized and ready for the day.

While it is tempting to just wear pajamas all day, I also get dressed for the day. Admittedly, my “work attire” is more along the lines of comfy pants and tops, but at least I got dressed!

11 – Create routines for yourself that help break up the day and give you something to look forward to. Take a true “lunch break” (something you probably did not really take time for when you were teaching in a building!). Sit outside if possible, or on a deck or a porch. Take a short walk. Listen to some music. Do some yoga stretches. But take a true break for yourself.

12 – Give yourself something to look forward to at the end of the day. Since my husband and son are home, we often watch Netflix or movies together at night. Make time to connect with other people in the evenings.

13 – Set up the best working space possible in your home, but don’t be discouraged by some of the Instagram teacher set-ups. Yes, they are gorgeous and I love looking at them to get ideas, but don’t worry about your own set-up not looking like theirs.

14 – One of the advantages of working at home is the opportunity to take more breaks throughout the day. To keep myself focused and motivated, I am taking small movement breaks to do some calisthenics or Yoga with Adriene. This helps me get back to work with more energy and focus, just like it works for kids!

When you stop working for the day, take a walk outside. Just getting outside and getting some fresh air and sunshine helps me feel better every single time. It also helps me to process what I did get done that day (it never seems like enough) and reset for switching to my home life.

15 – Keep it simple. My students are begging for more social Google Meets, but they want to meet in smaller groups so everyone gets a chance to talk. I want to help with that so I started creating all these different groups with all these different activities. Then I realized it was impossible. (Do you ever do that?) So I backed up and chose TWO options for small group Meets. We’ll start with that and I will add on when/if I’m ready.

In case you need a reminder – we have been asked to do the nearly impossible. We have transitioned from face-to-face teaching in a classroom to online classes or recorded lessons. We are teaching our own children at home. We are working from home AND teaching our own children.

Take a moment and give yourself credit for all of this.

Now – take a moment to recognize that you have to take care of yourself first. Keep in mind that if we don’t take care of ourselves, we eventually “hit a wall” in some way. Then we are no good for anyone. Taking the time to care for yourself daily is necessary for yourself, but also for all the people you are helping as well.

After another super busy week of everything Google with distance learning, I am ready for another Self-Care Saturday.

Some of my favorite self-care strategies:
*read a book
*go for a walk
*get some exercise
*drink more water
*drink a cup of really good coffee
*light a candle
*wear something new or something that makes me feel good
*getting my hair done
*cooking or baking something

This post is going to focus on coffee, candles, clothes, hair, and cooking!

This is my new favorite coffeemaker from Cuisinart. I just got it for Christmas and I love it!

I have this cute little Keurig coffeemaker at school.

Peet’s is one of my favorite coffee brands and Major Dickason’s Blend is my go-to.

*This mug is so me!

A student’s family left a gift bag on my porch. It included this candle, which I love!

I love a lavender candle and I especially love the name “serenity and calm”. I could use more of that, how about you?

On to the clothes!

I’m still living and working in joggers most of the day. My very favorite ones are Lululemon (they were a gift), but I also love these joggers from Target and this pair from Amazon.

Occasionally I mix it up and wear a dress!

*I love this shift dress from Loft and just wish they made it in other colors.

LOFT Textured V-Neck Shift Dress

*This colorful tier dress is so cute for spring. It’s also from Loft.

LOFT Bird Tiered Dress

*Another cute shift dress option from Loft.

LOFT Floral Ruched Sleeve Shift Dress

*This dotted flare dress is cute and comfortable.

LOFT Dotted Tie Back Pocket Flare Dress

*Lightweight sweaters are great for this time of year, whether worn on their own or underneath a cardigan or denim jacket.

I love the colors in this sweater.

LOFT Stripe Cropped Sweater

*This cardigan would dress up a plain white t-shirt!

LOFT Floral V-Neck Cardigan

*These colorful everyday sweaters from Loft are so cute! It also comes in green and a soft gray.

LOFT Everyday Sweater

*This striped everyday sweater is also super cute.

LOFT Striped Everyday Sweater

Kendra Scott makes some of my favorite jewelry pieces.

*The Rae pendant is simple and pretty, if you like a long pendant necklace.

*The Elisa pendant necklace is also really pretty and is a shorter option.

*The Lee drop earrings are some of my favorites.

My hair is suffering the effects of the quarantine. How about yours? Here’s my favorite root boost from R & Co, but I also love this one from L’Oreal. I am keeping both of them in business these days.

Now – on to cooking and baking. We may be saving money on gasoline and entertainment, but my grocery bills are skyrocketing. We are doing all we can to support our local restaurants with curbside take-out, but we are also cooking at home a lot more.

I am slowly decluttering different areas around my house and the kitchen cookbook shelves were next on the list. I do not know why I kept accumulating cookbooks over the years, so I have a big pile of books to donate to Goodwill. However, I do have several “go-to” cookbooks and the following ones are some of my favorites.

*Barefoot Contessa – Family Style
I love her Oven-Fried Chicken, Challah French Toast, and Arugula with Parmesan salad. She gives great tips in her cookbooks on planning meals, making a schedule, and presentation of food.

*Barefoot Contessa – At Home
Some of my favorites are Chicken Piccata, Honey White Bread, and Peach & Blueberry Crumbles.

*Barefoot Contessa – Back to Basics
Baked Sweet Potato Fries, Marinated Pork Loin, and Indonesian Grilled Swordfish.

Just like Barefoot Contessa, Pioneer Woman cookbooks are great for all kinds of recipes.

*Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl
French Breakfast Puffs, Roasted Beef Tenderloin, and Flat Apple Pie are favorites.

*Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier
Crash Hot Potatoes, Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce, and Summer Stir-Fry are my go-to recipes.

*Love Welcome Serve
I love everything I’ve tried in this cookbook but her Cinnamon Rolls are my absolute favorite in all my years of trying various cinnamon roll recipes. (My goal in life is to make the best cinnamon rolls in the world by the time I have grandchildren. This recipe is helping me achieve that goal. My kids are not helping on the grandchildren front, however.)

*What Can I Bring? is another cookbook that never disappoints. Her chicken enchiladas are the very best.

With all the extra cooking and baking going on, I have a feeling that my next favorite cookbook is going to be the Instant Loss cookbook!

Thanks for reading, friends! Have a relaxing weekend and make sure to take time for yourself, doing something that makes you happy. Stay healthy and safe!