Are Irritating Student Behaviors Getting You Down? Here’s Some Help!

Springtime and the approach of the end of the year can bring out lots of troublesome behaviors in our students. And with some students missing out on so much in-school “socialization” time during COVID, we are seeing more of these behaviors than ever.

This post will be a bit of “when this happens . . . do this.” Please note that this is not a “be all/end all” list of responses. I do base much of this on the Responsive Classroom approach and I encourage you to read more on their website HERE.

(I would love to hear if this type of post helps you! I would also love to hear from you if you have suggested behaviors to add to this list and/or suggestions for how to address those behaviors.)

You’ve probably seen this quote:

“The children now . . . have bad manners and contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. . . . They contradict their parents, chatter before company, . . . and tyrannize their teachers.”
~attributed to Socrates, 469-399 B. C.

In other words: children have always had behavior challenges. They need to be shown and taught what we want them to do.

The Responsive Classroom approach is based on the principle of logical consequences. The three main types of consequences are reparations, loss of privileges, and positive time-out (or taking a break). But Responsive Classroom also teaches the importance of creating a sense of belonging and significance (often fostered through activities such as morning meeting – more on that later) and just plain fun!

Here are some general tips:

*Talk to your PLC first. Sometimes this is a grade-level issue and you all can exhibit “strength in numbers” by implementing the same rules and consequences.

*Talk to your administrators and school counselor. Get their advice and guidance. If they are not supportive, you may need to make some decisions about where you want to teach. (The good news about teacher shortages is that teachers are in high demand. You can go just about anywhere. So take your show on the road if you feel that you are not getting the support that you need.)

*Keep in mind that your students need to know how we “do school.” Realize that they missed out on some of the “practice” that they would have had in the earlier grades. Extend some grace, but plan to spend more time teaching them what you want them to do. If you are expecting to have to do that, the behaviors will not frustrate you and irritate you quite as much.

*Review your expectations for group work and any other classroom procedure. Don’t assume they know it. And keep on reviewing/reminding/reinforcing – even on the last day of school!

*Consider offering extra free time and/or extra recess for your class at a specified time. (This is especially popular in the spring.) But – they have to earn it.

You can have them earn and then accumulate “points” that they trade in for their free time (by keeping their space clean & neat, paying attention/staying focused, completing work, or whatever you need to reinforce). Or you could start everyone out at 10 points (or whatever number), then deduct when they do something they should not be doing. They have to have at least 8 points to earn the free time.

*Do not hesitate to “write up” students (using whatever paper trail your school or district uses) when warranted.

*Social-emotional learning has always been important, but never more so than now. Here are some of my posts on topics that will help you establish (or re-establish) relationships and address your students’ social-emotional needs.

Social-Emotional Learning

Class Meetings & Restorative Practices Circles

Dialogue Journals

My students keep pushing the boundaries, even though they should know the rules, know what to do by now, etc.

Agree. They should know. But clearly, they don’t. So it’s time for review.

*Teach the rules and procedures again, as if it’s the first week of school. Go over every single one. Tell them why it’s important, how it helps them, and how it helps the classroom community. Show examples of what NOT to do (this can be fun if you’re comfortable with acting things out), but then immediately show them what TO do.

*Do this every day, and more than once a day if needed, for about three days. (“About” means if you see improvement before three days have gone by, you can stop the review for now. If you’re still seeing the same stuff every day, keep the review going.) If/when they ask you why you’re still reviewing, explain that good teachers review until their students show that they have learned it. 🙂

*If you haven’t implemented consequences for not following the rules, it’s time to start. Follow your school’s guidelines.

*Now for the hard part: show no mercy and be consistent. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Implement those consequences without getting angry or giving a lecture. Implement them every single time with every single student who breaks the rules or does not follow procedures.

*At least one of these consequences should involve notifying parents/caregivers. Sometimes this takes care of the behavior right away, but not always. Continue to be a “burr under the saddle” of the parent/caregiver anyway. You are acting in the child’s best interest when you continually notify their caregivers about their behavior.

*Document the behavior and the consequence. You can use a simple class checklist for this and create your own codes for how often the behavior and the consequence are happening. (This documentation will help greatly when you speak with parents/caregivers and your administration.)

Most of my class is following the rules, but I have a few students who continue to defy them.

Annoying. I agree.

*Here is a basic “rule” about children: the more adults talk, the less children listen. Also, when we talk too much we tend to sound more like we’re trying to persuade students to behave rather than implementing consequences.

*Keep implementing the consequences, but take it up a notch. You’re going to have to find what matters to them. If they value social time, maybe they need to sit apart from everyone else for a period of time or have silent lunch on the days they need a consequence.

*Continue to teach your rules. Follow through like you’re a robot and implement those consequences.

*As much as possible, let the punishment fit the crime. If they are abusing technology, they lose the privilege of using technology for a period of time. If they are talking at inappropriate times, they lose the opportunity to talk at social times (such as lunch). If they are not getting work completed, they will need to complete it while other students are having free time. (More about that later.)

*Keep in mind that students who continue to act out really do want you to be the grown-up and to be in charge. They are trying to find their boundary lines. Show them where those boundary lines are! That helps them to feel safe and to settle into learning. Say what you mean and mean what you say. This shows all of your students that you are safe and that you can be trusted.

*Contact parents or caregivers. Explain the rule, tell them what the child is doing (or not doing), and ask for their help with the behavior. (Most of the time, they help. Sometimes, they don’t. Continue to contact them anyway. They can’t then say that they didn’t know what was happening.)

*If you haven’t already, you will need to involve a school counselor, your administrators, and possibly a social worker. Tell them about what you’ve tried, the results you’ve gotten (good and bad), and ask them for their guidance and suggestions.

My students talk or blurt out ALL the time.

*Talk to the whole class about the problem. Be sure to describe all kinds of inappropriate talk (blurting out, starting side conversations, talking during lessons, or while directions are being given). Tell them how it impacts your teaching and their learning. You might even ask for their suggestions about how to curb the talking.

*Next you’ll need to implement consequences. You might try having a private conversation with individual students first and see if they can work on solving the problem.

The first consequence to consider would be to take away social talking time, such as during lunch. They have to sit alone and can’t talk to anyone. Do this for only one day at a time.

Another effective consequence would be to move them away from whoever they are talking to. They might even need to sit on an “island” (all alone) for a period of time.

*Finally, contact parents/caregivers about the problem.

My students are so lazy and unmotivated. They don’t do any work! How can I make them want to do the work?

You can’t. The truth is that you can’t make anybody do anything. You can make things uncomfortable for them in the sense of giving grades, removing privileges, etc., but ultimately – it’s up to them.

*Here’s what you CAN do. First, create and teach the best lessons you can possibly teach. Plan for engagement opportunities (see my posts about that HERE and HERE). Be friendly, be encouraging, be as interesting as you can possibly be.

*Next, stop begging them to do the work!

One thing I have done is to have a 1:1 meeting with a student about their work habits and lack of work completion. I tell them what I have noticed and ask what they see. I ask what might be getting in the way of their getting work done, wanting to complete assignments, etc. (I often learn a lot of things in these meetings that I did not know before which helps me gain a better understanding of the student and their world.)

I acknowledge that I cannot make them do anything, but that I want to do my best for them and I want to help them succeed. It is their job to do the learning work. Finally, I ask them to tell me what I can do for them, how I can help them, etc. We make an “agreement” with what I will do and what the student will do.

Does this solve every problem? Not necessarily. But it does make a big difference and is worth a try. For the student to see that you are taking the time to talk to them, listen to them, and to try to understand what is going on with them goes a long way toward building the relationship with the student.

*If they are perfectly capable of getting the work done, try sending the work home with them and alerting parents/caregivers about why they have extra work to complete. Another option might be a working lunch if you’re able to have them sit apart from the class, eat their lunch, and complete the work.

My students are misusing classroom seating. They put their feet up on tables, stretch out on the floor, spin around on stools. They throw the pillows in the reading corner and leave it a mess. It’s driving me crazy!

*A quick lesson on “this is the appropriate learning posture for school” will help. Show them how you want them to sit. Show them what you do NOT want to see them do. Then model the correct way again. Tell them to take notice of how they feel when they are sitting up straight and tall, not sprawled out everywhere.

*If you have a “cozy corner” or comfy reading spot and that area is being abused, take it away for awhile. Tell them that the cushions, pillows, etc. will return when they show you that they can use the area responsibly. (When you see better classroom seating behavior, consider returning just one item at a time.)

*If you see that many of your students are fidgeting or wiggly, it’s time for a movement break! You can use a site like GoNoodle, you can play some music and let them dance or just stand up and walk around, you can take them outside for a quick walk or jog around a safe outdoor area, you can do some yoga poses. This doesn’t have to take a long time, but it can make a world of difference.

My students seem to be addicted to technology. Even when we’re not doing an assignment using computers, they still open them up and go on game sites or YouTube.

*It’s time for a quick lesson on “this is when we use Chromebooks and this is when we do not.”

*If your district provides some sort of technology monitor (such as Go Guardian), USE IT! And implement consequences (such as locking a student’s device) if they misuse technology.

*Make sure that you can see student screens at all times. They should not be allowed to be in unsupervised spaces or with their backs against the wall when using technology. That is a safety concern. If, for some reason, you are not able to monitor their technology use (because you are doing small group instruction, for instance), then don’t allow any technology at all.

My students talk back about EVERYTHING.

*Stop. Fix them with a teacher look. Then say something like, “That was a disrespectful response. Try it again.” If they seem to have no idea of how to “fix” what they said, model a possible response for them and have them repeat it.

*Try not to have this be a public thing, but that may not be possible. Address the disrespect anyway.

*If you will have a chance to talk to the student in private within a few minutes, consider saying something like, “That was a disrespectful response. We’ll discuss it in a few minutes/before recess/at lunch, etc.”

*If a student calls you inappropriate names (it happens), stay calm. If you have a way of having the student take a break, ask them if they need that. Do not engage with them. They are clearly frustrated and not able to be reasonable or respond to you in any sort of positive way. This behavior would be a good example of something that needs to be “written up” and turned in to administration.

*When the student is in a more calm state, have a quiet chat with them (privately, if possible). Assure them of your care and concern for them. Let them know that you are here for them, even when they are upset. Let them talk about what happened and (hopefully) discuss ways to handle the situation differently in the future.

My students seem to have no social skills whatsoever.

*You’re probably right about that. We might need to think of them as being two to three years younger than they really are. If you can see them that way, it will help you to have a bit more compassion.

*Consider some social skills training. Read some books about manners. Some favorites include:
Do Unto Otters by Laurie Keller
Dude, That’s Rude! by Pamela Espeland
A Kid’s Guide to Manners by Katherine Flannery

*Model some social behaviors like saying “please,” “thank you,” and “excuse me” and let your students practice. Model having a polite conversation with someone else and asking them questions about themselves, then allow them to practice.

My students are often talking about inappropriate topics or using inappropriate terms they’ve heard on social media.

*Use Urban Dictionary or just google words/phrases they say. Talk to them privately about what they said and what it really means. (Believe it or not, sometimes they don’t know. They’ve just heard it somewhere and think it makes them sound cool.)

*If they do know what it means and show no remorse, ask, “ “would you say that to your grandma? Then don’t say it here at school.” Another option is to calmly say, “_______ is not a school word. You are not allowed to use that word at school.” The end. (Of course, if they do say it again, your consequences will need to escalate.)

*Call parents/caregivers, preferably with the student present. Tell the caregiver that you hate to call them with bad news, but that their child is choosing to say some inappropriate things and you know that they would not be happy about that and would want to know about it right away. Then put the child on the phone and let them tell the adult what they said. This tends to be pretty effective.

*For more about cursing and how to handle inappropriate talk, here are some helpful tips from We Are Teachers.

I have several other posts that give more detail about student behaviors:
How to Deal with Difficult Students Without Losing Your Mind
How to Do a Midyear Reset in the Classroom
How to Keep Your Students Motivated & Engaged at the End of the Year
What to Do When the Back to School Honeymoon is Over
January Reset for Teachers – 10 Tips for Classroom Environment
January Reset for Teachers – 12 Tips for Resetting Classroom Expectations
How to Re-Focus Your Students
How to Get Your Students to Follow Your Directions the First Time
How to Motivate Your Students to Work Harder Than You’re Working
How to Refocus Your Students

I hope that that some of these tips will be useful to you! I’d love to hear what worked and what you still need help with. I’m here for you!

All of my content is intended to save teachers time and energy. Making good teaching sustainable – while also having a life outside of teaching – is my goal. Let me know how I can help YOU with this quick form!

Need more teacher encouragement? Join our Sustainable Teaching community!

Brain-Friendly Strategies to Engage Students When Everyone is Ready for a Break – part 2

January through April is the best teaching time of the year. But sometimes it doesn’t feel like it.

After the excitement of the beginning of the year, then the fall and winter holiday breaks, we’re now in a long stretch until spring (or summer) break. If you or your students are feeling a little blah, it’s time to increase engagement with some tried-and-true strategies!

(By the way – this is part two of a two-part post. You can read part one HERE.)

David Sousa wrote one of my very favorite books: How the Brain Learns.

This book is worth an entire blog post on its own, but here are a few of his tips for student engagement:

~make learning relevant & meaningful by showing how the content is used or is related to the “real world”
~break up your lessons into smaller chunks
~incorporate novelty or the unexpected
~get students up and moving with physical activity
~add music
~use humor (funny jokes, memes, GIFs, videos)
~let students do a lot of talking

I would also add – make positive connections with your students as much as possible.

GET STUDENTS UP & MOVING

Incorporating movement into lessons is a great way to engage students in learning and to change the energy in the classroom (for the better). It can also be used for formative assessment.

Here are some tips for doing that.

*Use manipulatives during math or science instruction (allowing students to stand if needed).

*Use sorting activities where students match information such as vocabulary words with definitions, sequence events in social studies, etc.

*Have students create teaching or vocabulary word posters.

*Teach gestures for concepts or vocabulary words. Everyone does the gesture or motion every time you or your students use the word. (This is also called Total Physical Response. Here is a video that shows more.)

*Use gallery walks to look at other students’ work.

*Use nonpermanent vertical surfaces to solve math tasks in small groups.

*Incorporate learning stations in math. Or place math problem task cards at each table and allow students to move from place to place to solve the problems.

*Use measurement tools to measure objects in the classroom. This can be extended to finding the area, perimeter, or volume of objects.

*Go outside and jump and move while doing choral counting (by fives or tens, fractional units, decimals, etc.).

*Use a soft rubber band ball to practice math facts or spelling words.

For math facts: you call out a math fact and toss the ball to a student. That student answers, calls out another math fact, and throws the ball to another student. Continue until you have practiced all of the sevens facts, nines facts, etc.

For spelling words: you call out a spelling word and toss the ball to a student. That student says the first letter of the word, then tosses the ball to another student who says the second letter, etc., until the entire word is spelled. The ball is then returned to you and the process starts over. Continue until you have practiced all of the spelling words.

*Take running or walking or other movement breaks between subjects or at appropriate transition times. (Running or walking breaks can be taken outside if you have a safe space right outside the classroom.)

*Use fitness dice for transition times.

Here are some ways to use movement for formative assessment:

*Respond to questions with physical activity such as thumbs up/thumbs down to show agreement/disagreement (or thumbs to the side if they are confused or if they can see both sides).

*When answering a multiple choice question, move to one of four corners in the classroom.

*Allow students to walk around the classroom, stop when directed, find a partner, and do a 30-second share about the lesson or explain a concept.

ADD MUSIC

You can change the energy in your classroom by using music.

Play music when your students enter the classroom, play music during independent work time, or as a movement brain break.

Josie Bensko has some great playlists on Spotify.

Remember how we all learned the ABC’s by singing the ABC song? Or did you learn multiplication facts and grammar from Schoolhouse Rock?

Look for ways you can teach some content through music. YouTube is your friend, but I also love Flocabulary.

(Bonus tip: build your students’ fluency skills by using closed captions!)

USE HUMOR

Humor is another way to engage students, add joy to your classroom environment, and help increase the ability to retain information in long-term memory.

According to this article from Edutopia, neuroscience research shows that humor activates the brain’s dopamine reward system. Dopamine is important for motivation and long-term memory.

Here are some ways to use humor in the classroom.

*Use morning meeting or circle time to tell a funny story, allow students to share funny stories, and share funny jokes or quotes. The Would You Rather Book for Kids by Stephen J. Ellis is great for this.

*Use age-appropriate funny memes and GIFs in teaching resources or student work.

*Show age-appropriate funny videos.

*Share funny literature stories or poetry with your students. Here are some classic funny poetry books:
~Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
~No More Homework! No More Tests!: Kids’ Favorite Funny School Poems by Bruce Lansky
~The New Kid on the Block by Jack Prelutsky

*At the end of the day, ask students to share something that made them laugh. (Of course, you’ll have to include appropriate caveats about not laughing at or making fun of people. These stories to share should involve something that was said or shared that made them laugh.)

LET STUDENTS DO A LOT OF THE TALKING

To incorporate novelty AND get more students talking, try these strategies.

Instead of calling on individual students . . .

*Use choral response. Provide think time first, then cue everyone to respond. This gets your whole class thinking and responding and allows you to hear who is on the right track and who is still confused. (Great formative assessment!)

*Use non-verbal choral response. “Put your finger under . . . “, “thumbs up if you agree.”

*Use partner response. “A partners, tell B partners two things we have learned about . . . “

*Use written response/quick writes. These short written responses increase accountability, focus, and thinking. You might provide a sentence starter like, “I predict that . . .” or “One important thing about ______ is . . . “

*Use whiteboards or signal cards to respond. Give think time, then say, “Show me.” Everyone holds up their board or card for you to see. (Signal cards can be made with index cards. A green circle on one side of the card might indicate “I agree” or “I can explain this.” A red circle on the other side of the card might indicate “I disagree” or “I don’t completely understand this yet.”)

*Randomly call on students (some people call it “cold calling”). However – tell your students that you’re going to do that first so it doesn’t seem like a “gotcha.” Allow them to get help from a friend if they’re stuck.

*Another alternative for randomly calling on students is to use “equity sticks.” These are popsicle sticks (or any other inexpensive tool) that are labeled with student names. There are apps to use for this if you prefer.

A great way to get students talking to is to have them give partner-to-partner affirmations. These sound silly, but they’re fun. Tell your students to turn to the person next to them and say something like, “multiplication is fun!” or “this will be the most exciting topic I’ll learn today!” or something like that. These are good for getting a little positivity going while also injecting some fun and novelty.

Provide opportunities for student interaction. Kagan Cooperative Learning structures are some of the best strategies I’ve ever used.

I hope that you found one tip that you can implement to liven up your classroom routine tomorrow. Let me know how it goes!

Need more teacher encouragement? Join our Sustainable Teaching community!

How to Engage Students’ Brains When Everyone is Ready for a Break

January through April is the best teaching time of the year. But sometimes it doesn’t feel like it.

After the excitement of the beginning of the year, then the fall and winter holiday breaks, we’re now in a long stretch until spring break. If you or your students are feeling a little blah, it’s time to increase engagement with some tried-and-true strategies!

Here are some of my favorite ways to engage students.

A couple of things to keep in mind . . .

1 – implementing strategies by themselves won’t matter if you haven’t built relationships with students. Get to know them. Let them know that you care about them. Work on that part first.

2 – engagement is not necessarily entertaining. Engagement means that students are mentally engaged in what they are learning and their thinking is challenged.

David Sousa wrote one of my very favorite books: How the Brain Learns.

This book is worth an entire blog post on its own, but here are a few of his tips for student engagement:

~make learning relevant & meaningful by showing how the content is used or is related to the “real world”

~break up your lessons into smaller chunks

~incorporate novelty or the unexpected

~get students up and moving with physical activity

~add music

~use humor

~let students do a lot of talking

I would also add – make positive connections with your students as much as possible.

I’m sharing some ways to use these brain-friendly tips in this post and in my next post. Make sure you subscribe so you won’t miss a thing!

MAKE POSITIVE CONNECTIONS

*Make positive connections with your students. Smile and make eye contact. Greet your students at the door in the morning or when you change classes.

Use student names when you greet them. Ask them about their interests and their family members.

*Err on the side of empathy and support, but it’s also okay to be a “warm demander.” If your student (or students) are living up to your expectations, have a private conversation with them, starting the conversation with a question such as, “Is everything okay? I’ve noticed some changes and I’m wondering how I can help you.”

*Be clear about your expectations. What do you expect students to do in order to meet the goal of the task or the behavior you expect? Show exemplars if possible.

*Move around! Notice & comment on positive work and behavior. Show your students that you see and care about what they are doing and how they are feeling.

MAKE LEARNING RELEVANT

*Make the content relevant – tell students WHY they are learning this skill or content (but don’t refer to “the test.”) Tell them HOW this skill or content will help them. Tell a story that they can relate to. Relate the lesson to a current event or to pop culture (that is appropriate for their age).

*To help your students engage with what you are teaching, model your own engagement. Show enthusiasm and tell your students why you are excited about the content. To get your students excited about reading, for instance, talk about books you love.

*Integrate student interests in your lessons where possible. Even if it’s only mentioning their name and the subject in which they’re interested, everyone will take notice that you know your students and you are focusing on them. Use their names in word problems in math. These are small actions that help make learning relevant.

*Provide choice and variety whenever possible. Even within a fairly tight schedule, you can often offer options for when to do something. Have students choose roles to play in small groups. Allow them to choose activities from a menu of options. Let them select topics for their own research, writing topics, or books to read.

BREAK LEARNING UP INTO “CHUNKS”

Here are some strategies to “chunk” your instruction.

*Set time limits for completing a task. Use any kind of timer but a timer on something like Classroom Screen is good for students as a visual.

*Chunk instruction, then allow time to process after each “chunk.” You might have students think and then write about something you just taught or you might have them talk to partners or small groups. Pro tip: make a note in your plans about where you will stop!

*Try a “brain drain” using the Kagan strategy mix-pair-share. (I love this one!)

After reading a text, or listening to a chunk of instruction, have your students walk around the classroom. (You might even play music during this part.)

When you call “pair,” students pair up with someone close by and share three things they learned. Repeat the process a couple of times.

Then have your students return to their seats and “drain their brain” by writing about what they learned. This helps them to process what they “got” from the instruction while also adding more clarification from their peers.

You might set a time limit for the brain drain so that it only takes a few minutes, then continue instruction as needed.

*Use exit tickets. These are popular for a reason. With exit tickets, students respond in writing to a question or a problem at the end of class to assess their understanding of key concepts. This should take no longer than five minutes, but it gives you a lot of information for structuring your lesson (or review or intervention) for the next day.

INCORPORATE NOVELTY OR THE UNEXPECTED

*Incorporate games and friendly competition as much as possible. Games in which students can work together are especially popular.

*When in doubt, read aloud. If you just need to change up the routine or incorporate novelty or change the energy, use a picture book (see my list HERE) or a chapter of a good read-aloud (here’s my list).

*Include art in your units where possible.

Another way to change things up is to structure your instructional blocks differently. Here are some ideas:

*Use technology for instruction. EdPuzzle is great for this (and it’s free). You could also use BrainPop videos, Nearpod, and Actively Learn.

*Change up your math block throughout the week. Use math tasks on some days, and stations or choice boards on other days.

*Start your reading block with independent reading instead of a lesson, then do the lesson after independent reading.

*Incorporate a thought-provoking statement or question at the beginning of a lesson. Or use a video that captures their interest and connects to the content you are teaching.

I hope that you found one tip that you can implement to liven up your classroom routine tomorrow! Let me know how it goes.

All of my content is intended to save teachers time and energy. Making good teaching sustainable – while also having a life outside of teaching – is my goal. Let me know how I can help you with this quick form!

Need more teacher encouragement? Join our Sustainable Teaching community!

10 Weekly Planning Tasks That Will Save You Hours of Time

If you’ve read my post about weekly planning or Friday planning, you already know my process for planning my week in advance. This post will share some task ideas that help you plan and prep for the upcoming week, which saves you hours of time in the long run!

Some of the things that can make us feel “behind” every week are the home tasks (such as meal prep, cleaning, and laundry) and self-care tasks (such as workouts, planning your outfits, etc.).

I find it easier to plan for these things during my weekly planning time, which saves me time during the week.

Here are some examples:

1 – Daily self-care – quiet time in the morning, journaling, prayer and meditation, reading, exercise, personal care appointments such as hair appointments, manicures, etc.

We’ve already talked about scheduling this time (in the “pay yourself first” tip #2 in my weekly planning post). Here you will plan WHAT you will do during this important time. What will help you to feel your best? What will help you take better care of yourself?

This obviously varies from person to person. But planning for the specific times you will do your personal favorite activities helps you to be sure that you actually take the time to do those things that make you feel your best.

2 – Schedule rest & downtime. This is another extremely important part of self-care. Rest boosts our creativity, problem-solving, and productivity. Rest isn’t something you get to when everything else is done – it is a necessity.

Set specific bedtime and wake-up times for yourself. Plan what you will do to help yourself get a better night’s sleep. (This is also included in the “pay yourself first” tip #2 in this post.)

3 – Workouts – what days will you work out, where, and what will you do? “Workout” doesn’t have to mean going to the gym or spending hours on a treadmill. Any kind of movement that makes you feel stronger and healthier counts as a workout.

4 – Plan your menus for the week. This can become a whole ritual unto itself. (Send me an email if you want my tips!) You can take this a step further and order groceries online, which will save you even more time (and money).

5 – Cleaning routine – what days will you do laundry? When are trash & recycling collection days? What other cleaning chores need to be done this week?

(By the way – unless you live alone, you don’t have to do all of this yourself. Delegate the tasks, hire a cleaning service if you can do that, and if you have kids, start teaching them how to do these tasks as early as possible.)

6 – Outfits to wear this week – I make note of the temperature for each day and when rain might be expected. That helps me choose what to wear each day.

7 – Fun things you just WANT to do – grab coffee with a friend, watch your favorite show on Netflix, read a book.

8 – Declutter something – your car, your purse, your desk, your school bag. List an area that is driving you crazy and plan a time to declutter that area.

9 – As you plan, you may notice things that stress you out. Maybe it’s a work event or work task, maybe it’s a social event you have to attend but don’t want to, maybe it’s a medical appointment that has you worried.

Here’s what I do with these: I create a “give it to God” list. These are items that I can worry or stress about, I can plan for them and schedule them, but ultimately I have no control.

So I put them on my “give it to God” list, say a prayer asking for the strength or the wisdom or the grace to handle whatever happens, and I let it go.

Two things always happen:

One is that I feel a sense of peace in knowing that I am not alone and that I don’t have to handle everything by myself;

The second thing is that I somehow come up with ways to handle the task or find the right things to say. That’s God at work, helping me to deal with whatever is stressing me.

10 – Once you make weekly planning a habit, it’s good to start with some reflection every week.

Review your last week almost as if it were a movie. What was good or what went well?

What did not go so well, and what could you do to prevent that next time? You’re not doing this in order to beat yourself up. This helps you to focus on what IS working well for you and what you want to do differently.

I know that ten tips can sound like a lot. Choose one and try it out! Then add another one when you feel ready. I’d love to hear how these tips work for you!

Need more teacher encouragement? Join our Sustainable Teaching community!

How to Reflect on Your Year & Set Goals That Will Make You Happy!

I love the new year and the hopeful feeling of positive change it brings. But setting big New Year’s “resolutions” about all the changes I need to make can make me feel beat down before the year even begins.

So I do something different.

First, I reflect on the past year. Then I think about what I want to keep doing and how I want to be better. (Not “perfect,” just better.)

Here’s how I do it.

1 – Grab a cute journal, your favorite pens, and a favorite beverage. You’re going to use four reflection questions and make some lists. I like using a new journal for this reflection.

2 – Write question one in your journal: What did I do well in my personal life, my job, and my daily routine?

Then start writing. Don’t censor yourself – just write everything that comes to mind. If you’re proud of something but you still want to work on it, put a star or some symbol beside it. And speaking of being proud – brag on yourself, even for the little things!

Feeling stuck? Look back through last year’s planner or calendar. Look back at photos on your phone. That will help inspire you with all of the good things that happened.

Ask yourself, “what else?” until you truly cannot think of one more thing.

3 – Move on to question two: What are the good things I did in other areas of my life? (This might be with friends, hobbies, church or community involvement, extended family, etc.)

Write down everything that comes to mind. Use your planner, calendar, or photos on your phone. Again – brag on yourself and be proud of all the good things you did well or did somewhat consistently. Ask yourself, “what else?” until you can’t think of anything.

4 – Now, move on to question three: What do I want more of in my life?

Again – write it all down without judgment. Use your planner, calendar, or photos on your phone to jog your memory.

Here are some examples. Do you want to leave school earlier every day? Do you want to schedule a weekly or bi-weekly date night? How about hobbies such as reading more books or registering for a course? Do you want to try a new workout routine? You get the idea. What are some things that will add value to your life?

5 – Finally, answer question four: What do I want less of in my life?

Use the same tips for coming up with ideas.

Here are some examples. Do you want to set time limits for doing school tasks? Do you want to cook less and use a meal prep service instead? Do you want to limit your spending on Amazon? Do you want to spend less time mindlessly scrolling social media? What do you want to spend less time doing?

What are the benefits of this process?

*The process of reflecting helps you pay attention to all of the many ways you are doing well. Knowing that you can do hard things or that you can be consistent with your habits inspires you to do and be even better in the future.

Think about how you praise children. When they get your positive attention, they tend to want to do even better (or keep up the good work). You will feel the same when you see all the many ways you ARE doing well.

*Writing things down supports that process of reflection. The process of writing (not typing, but actually writing by hand) focuses your brain. When you write things down, your brain gets the signal that “this is important”. This helps you get motivated and prepared to take some kind of action. It also helps you to focus and clarify what really matters to you.

6 – Make a list of 100 dreams. I learned about this from Laura Vanderkam’s book 168 Hours.

Here is her description of how to make that list from her blog post:

This is a completely un-edited list of anything one might want to do, have, or spend more time on in life.

These could be travel goals, career goals, personal goals, or just general things that would be fun to do or possess. While plenty of people start a bucket list at some point, the upside of aiming for 100 Dreams is that it’s kind of . . . tough. Getting to 100 often requires coming back to the list several times. And while the first third or so tend to be big, long-term dreams (go to New Zealand!) by the last third it might be items like visiting a state park an hour away, writing a white paper on a topic that fascinates you, or owning a nice pair of pajamas. We’re talking fairly doable dreams.

I’m still working on my own list! I would love to hear your ideas.

7 – Last suggestion: even though I don’t make resolutions in the traditional sense, I do love to see lists of other resolutions to add to my “what do I want more of” and “what do I want less of” lists. Here is a list of 35 possible resolutions from the TODAY Show. See if any of these ideas resonate with you!

I would love to hear about your lists and ideas! Email me at stillteachingstilllearning@gmail.com if you want to share.

Happy New Year!

How to Make Your Return from a School Break a Lot More Fun!

So your winter break is almost over (or summer break, spring break, whatever break). How are you feeling?

If you’re feeling a sense of dread or anxiety or a feeling of “OMG, what will we do on that first day back?”, I’ve got some tips. (And if you’re feeling a sense of excitement and eagerness, these tips will work for you too!)

First of all, let’s deal with your emotions and energy level. The only way to be good for your students is if you are feeling good yourself. So here are some ways to get your energy up for being back at work.

These 9 tips are for your last evening of the break.

1 – Pull out every favorite bedtime routine you’ve got and implement that on the night before you go back to school. You need good sleep. Chances are, you’ve gotten out of your usual sleep routine over the break (staying up later, sleeping in later), so getting back to your normal bedtime might be tricky.

Do all the things that help you get a good night’s sleep. (And – even if you don’t sleep all that well tonight, you’ll likely be more tired and ready to go to bed on time tomorrow night!)

2 – Make a list of the morning routine habits you want to do before school.
They don’t have to be big, they just need to be activities that put you in the right mindset before your school day begins.

3 – Plan what you will wear on the first day back. Bonus points if it’s something new.

4 – Pack your favorite breakfast and lunch.

5 – Plan a delicious dinner for tomorrow night. Even if you plan to get take-out, make sure it’s something you love. Then you can look forward to it all day long. (“Delicious,” by the way, does not have to mean “gourmet.” Something simple that you really love counts as “delicious!”)

6 – Plan something fun to do after school. Take your kids to a park? Walk your dog in a pretty location? Go to Target?! Whatever makes you happy and gets you out of the building at a reasonable time.

7 – Plan to get to school earlier than usual in the morning. That may sound difficult, but getting there earlier and having time to get your head together and your room set up before students arrive will help you feel ready for the day.

8 – Make a list of all the good things about going back to school.

It’s normal to feel sad about your break being over and anxious about getting back into the school routine, even if you love every aspect of your job. Think about what (and who) you DO enjoy.

I find it’s helpful to make a list of these people and activities. When I see them listed, it reminds me of all that is good about my job and helps get me in to a positive mindset about getting back to work.

9 – Finally, go easy on yourself this week. Plan things you enjoy doing for your after-school and evening time. This helps you ease back into your routine.

Now – you’ve got your head (mostly) in the game and you’ve got your home life and after-school time all planned. What will you do on your first day back?

1 – Start the day with a morning circle or morning meeting. (Here is my post about how to do that. Now would be a great time to start this procedure if you’re not already doing this!)

It’s always fun to start with a question or something to share.

But keep in mind – not everyone had a happy winter break. Some of your students may not have been surrounded by loving families and lots of presents. Not every student enjoyed a trip or lavish gifts.

So avoid asking your students to share about their winter break. Instead, you can start with “one good thing about being back at school” or “one thing I am looking forward to in January” or “one goal that I am going to work on for the new year.”

2 – If you are not already in the habit, now would be a good time of year to establish daily or weekly check-ins with your students. Dialogue journals are my favorite way, but you could also create open-ended question prompts on Google forms as well.

3 – This is old, but good, advice: review your routines and procedures. I know it sounds boring. But trust me – this is a great time to reset, review, and remind everyone about what is expected. There are lots of ways to make it fun. Acting out what the routine/procedure should look like (and maybe what it should NOT look like) is one way.

I like to make a list on chart paper of what we need to review. Then we check things off when we have reviewed that routine. One good thing about this is that your students will probably remind you of more things to add to the list!

4 – While you’re in review mode, review your class rules and the reasons for the rules.

5 – This is a great time to specifically review kindness and empathy as well. While we often spend a lot of time discussing this at the beginning of the year, we tend to assume that kids have got it and not discuss it again. Discussing it again after the break is a great time to review. Here is a list of picture books that are especially good for this topic.

6 – Ease back into the academic routine. Use games and other fun ways to review your content to get everyone back into the learning routine.

7 – One good way to ease back into the routine is to incorporate a read aloud before every subject. The list of picture books (in tip #5 above) is good for this, but any book that you love and that you think your students would love is a good option.

8 – Talk about the new year being a chance for new beginnings. Discuss the concept of new year’s resolutions, and ask your students to think about goals or resolutions they can set for themselves. If you feel comfortable, share some of your own goals or resolutions, especially if they relate to your classroom. This can be partner/small group discussion or a writing and optional sharing activity.

If you need more help with resetting, here are my best tips:
How to Do a Midyear Reset in the Classroom

10 Tips to Reset Your Classroom Environment

8 Tips to Reset Your Classroom Environment

12 Tips for Resetting Classroom Expectations

And – if your classroom is fine, but YOU need some support, here you go!
January Reset for Teacher Self-Care

I hope you are returning to a job and a place that makes you feel valued and respected. If you would like to talk and share in a positive community, consider joining our Sustainable Teaching Membership on Patreon!

I would love to hear if any of these tips made a difference for you. Email me at stillteachingstilllearning@gmail.com.

Happy New Year!

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