Last week was our February break. As a teacher, February break, or any break, can be a much-needed reprieve from the hustle and bustle of the school year. It's a chance to catch up on life and even take a little bit of time for yourself. Here are a few ways you can spend any break from school. 

1. Rest and Recharge: One of the most important things to do during a break is to get some rest and recharge your batteries. Take some time to sleep in, relax, and do things that you enjoy. Whether it's reading a book, binge-watching your favorite TV show, or going for a walk outside, make sure you take some time for yourself to recharge.

This was how I spent most of my break. My kids were away on a trip and my husband was working on a house project that I couldn't really help with much, so I had a chance to really rest and take it easy. This time was so important and needed for me. 

2. Catch up on Grading and Planning: While it's important to take some time for yourself during a break, it's also a great opportunity to catch up on grading and planning while you have a little more time and space to think. Using this time to get ahead on your lesson plans, grade papers, and make sure you're prepared for the rest of the school year can help ease anxiety while school is in session. 

This is something I used to do quite regularly. It was a time to get ahead and give myself some space during the school day. It can be helpful, but also can be a slippery slope. When we have a break, it is important to really give ourselves a break. I think setting boundaries about when to work and how much is really important to protect the time we have on our breaks. 

3. Spend Time with Family and Friends: A break is a great time to spend with your family and friends. Take a trip, go out to eat, or just spend time together at home. It's important to make time for the people you care about, especially during a busy school year.

This was another thing I was able to do. I love the extra time and space to spend time with others and not feel rushed or worn down from a busy week. Meals and activities with family and friends was a highlight for my break. 

4. Try Something New: Take advantage of the extra time during a break to try something new. Maybe it's a new hobby or activity you've been wanting to try, or maybe it's a new recipe you've been wanting to cook. Trying something new can be a great way to break up the routine and give yourself a mental break.

5. Reflect on Your Teaching: Finally, use a break as a time to reflect on your teaching. Think about what's working well and what could be improved. Consider reaching out to colleagues or attending a professional development session to learn new teaching strategies or techniques.

I like using time away from school to reflect on how things are going. Often taking a walk clears my head and allows me to look at things from a different perspective. I think the space gives us room to think and reflect creatively. 

In conclusion, a break is a great opportunity for teachers to rest, recharge, catch up on work, and spend time with loved ones. Make the most of this time and come back to the classroom feeling refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the school year. I know truly turning off my teacher brain for awhile allows me to fully engage and enjoy what I'm doing. Yesterday as I sat in my room, with my students around and engaged in learning, I was reminded again how much I enjoy what I do. I think taking breaks, whether for a week or a day on the weekend or even an hour, allows me to do this.

How's it Going with My Commitments?

Before this school year began, I sat down and established some goals and commitments to myself. For years, I have been a "yes" person. I sign up for everything, I volunteer my time, effort and skills. I love to help others. This is still true, but as I have learned over time, this can take a toll on me. It can impact my sleep, my time outside of school, and it can leave me feeling stressed. 

So I set up some commitments to myself to help prevent burnout. In many of the books I've read by Brene Brown and different podcasts I've listened to, boundaries is a reoccurring theme. I love the idea of boundaries and have often stated my boundaries, but keeping boundaries is hard. Here is what I set up for myself. 

I put them right next to my computer at work to remind myself. As I reflect on the fall and early winter, I can see a lot of progress in some areas. I would say I am showing up for my students and really enjoying them. I am working to build relationships, design instruction that meets their needs, and really get to know each individual. 

I've done a lot better with not working past my contractual time, but sometimes it is a struggle. It's almost a habit that I have to continually work to break. I will say that my thoughts are not always on work when I'm not there, but there are times when I want to develop a lesson or work on a presentation or a different approach that I think things through while at home. I don't know if that will ever go away.

It was weird to have extra time initially. My goal is to be present for my family and myself. I've always been a busy person. As I intentionally have put in some extra space for myself, I wasn't sure what to do with myself. That is a work in progress. 

I feel like overall, I am growing in my ability to follow through on my personal commitments. When I have time to rest, restore myself, be present at home and with outside interests, I come to school more present and focused. I'm not overwhelmed and can appreciate the joy of teaching and connecting.  

 

Responding to Needs

One thing that can be both refreshening and simultaneously exhausting about teaching is the fact that we as teachers are constantly adjusting what we are doing to meet the needs of students. Effective teaching does this. Though we are teaching the same thing year after year, if we are at the same grade level, each year the students are different and they bring their own set of strengths and needs.  That means we make adjustments to meet the needs of our current students all of the time. It can be tweaks with a lesson or designing whole lessons to address a need.

This year, based on the reading levels of many of my students, I have been using a Close Reading format with several of my reading groups. This has been fun to really dig into texts and hear how students are responding to literature. If you are interested, check out my Close Reading for Younger Students bundle on TPT. With a close read, students go back and look closely at excerpts and then answer text-based questions. While my students have been showing comprehension verbally, when we got into written responses, I noticed they struggled to write complete sentences. I realized I needed to backtrack and explicitly teach them how to answer questions in complete sentences. This was something I did often in 3rd grade, but with 2nd graders I haven't done as much because I have been focusing on decoding and different forms of responding to text.

I put together some passages for my students to read and explicitly taught them how to answer a question using a complete sentence. Then we read a short passage together and responded with complete sentences. Today, the same group will repeat the process with a different text, but with a little more independence. I noticed one student seemed to do better with responding the 2nd day we did this. When I questioned him about what was different, he said that time he paused to think before he responded. That was the first step we talked about. Many of my students were rushing to complete the response, rather than thinking it through first.  

If you want to try this lesson with your students, check it out here. This will take me 3-4 days with my reading groups. We started with just writing complete sentences for one reading group and then the next day responded to a text. I have three different reading passages for the students to use. 

Many times, we as teachers expect students to do something that they may never have been taught how to do. Or they have been taught, but need more practice to make it a habit and really use those skills and strategies. That is the heart of teaching: finding the needs, responding, assessing how the students do with interventions and then repeating. It can be exhausting at times, but can be truly rewarding.