Have you ever found yourself staring at your alarm clock, desperate for a day to just hit pause, maybe to catch up on sleep, tackle the mountain of laundry, or just breathe.
Today we continue our year-long series with Berit Gordon, tips for new or newer teachers.
In this episode, Berit talks through ways to show up at school for your students, even on those days when you just want to call it in and have a day to catch up. She has tips for how to do this without burning out, and most importantly, you'll save your sick days for when you are actually sick. Whether you're a new teacher wondering how you'll make it to spring break or a seasoned educator looking for a refresh, this episode is for you.
Transcript
Berit Gordon:
What I want to talk about today for new teachers is what you can do when you're feeling completely overwhelmed and at your wits end and you are desperate for a day on your sofa. You're desperate to call in sick and have a day where you can catch up on everything. You can sort of catch up on your life and on your teaching and your sleep, and then when you go back into school, it's going to feel so much better.
And I want to give you some tips for what you can do so that you do show up tomorrow and you save your sick days for when you're actually sick. But how can you go in without making it add to that feeling of fatigue and being overwhelmed? So first thing I'm going to talk about is the why this is so important, not just for students. I mean it is, it's important that they have a consistent adult who shows up, but that's not my big reason.
This is really for you, new teachers. Why it's going to help you and your sanity and your well-being to show up even if you have to teach at 50%. And then I'm going to give you some quick things you can try so that you can do this. And first of all, I don't judge. I live in the Northeast. I would be lying if I didn't say, I checked the weather forecast constantly looking for snow in the forecast, and we just had a huge snowfall and I was so bummed out because it happened on a Sunday, no snow day. So I don't judge. I get it. I get that feeling of just wanting that day to catch up on things.
But here's what happens is when you are thinking, if I just could avoid this or catch up on this, what happens is when you come back to school, everything is harder. It really is. There are so many reasons why that magical day off never feels that magical when you come back in. First of all, you have to create and send in sub plans and those never get followed the way you want them to because you weren't there to teach it and to supervise it.
Second, you probably have colleagues who are covering your classes and that builds resentment. After all, they were the ones who showed up and are taking care of things. Also, it creates extra work in the front office. And they might not say it, but they don't love that either. But really the big thing is, is if you are struggling because you have some challenging behavior issues or a tricky class, what happens when you come back is those behaviors are even trickier. The challenges are even harder. The routines that you work so hard to establish have unraveled and it takes longer to get them back into place.
And so instead of having that setback, what I would suggest is that you do show up again, even if it isn't pretty, you might not have your best teaching day, but you show up. So here's what I want you to try. If you're at school right now and you're sort of starting to create that email and manufacture, you're laying the groundwork, you're going, "[inaudible 00:03:43], I have a tickle in my throat." If you're doing that, here's what I want you to try instead.
First of all, do not assign or collect any student work today if you can. If you're sitting on a bunch of work, if you can just pass it back and mark it for completion, do it. You are going to leave as soon as you can at the end of the day, and you are not going to bring any work home because this is a sad reality in teaching is that it will never all get done. It will never all get done. You'll never have that day where you take it home and Oh, I'm all cut up. I'm all done. So you're going to leave it at school today, you're going to go home.
You are going to maybe take care of a couple simple tasks that help you personally. Maybe you run a load of laundry, maybe you pack a good lunch. Maybe you lay out your outfits for the next few days. And you're going to do something that feeds you. You're going to call a friend or go out for a walk, and then you're going to order takeout. You're going to tuck yourself in as early as you can, and you're going to show up the next day again, even if that means you're showing up and not having a great teaching day.
But this is what that might look like. It might look like you have a very bare bones lesson. It might look like you show a movie or you pass out a word search or you let things like independent reading or choice time or starting their homework, you let that run a little long. And you let it go because you will know that you were a consistent adult who showed up, but also that you really will make your life easier in the long run if you save those sick days for when you're really sick. And also, the harsh reality is that as a new teacher, you're exposed to a million viruses and you are going to need those sick days for when you're really sick.
And then if you're listening to this new teacher and you're thinking, I did show up today. Maybe it wasn't pretty, but I got there. Pat yourself on the back. Now, I always like to give an offshoot of the strategy for how coaches and administrators can support their new teachers. And for this one, I would say administrators, check in with your new teachers before they get to this point, because a lot of new teachers don't know they have permission to admit that they are flailing.
And in fact, I want to add one more thing you can do if you go in and you need that kind of teaching at 50%. I work with a middle school teacher and she was very brave and she went to her administrators and she said, "I am really struggling. I am so behind. I am desperate for a day off. I'm going to show up tomorrow. Is there any way I could have a catch-up day where I get caught up, my students get caught up?" And they said yes. And she did that. Her students got caught up. They cleaned up their backpacks, their desks, their folders. She did the same. They helped her organize some classroom areas and it was better, and she admitted it.
So I hope you're checking in with your new teachers so that they know they can have that kind of honest dialogue with you. I also think it's important administrators, to say publicly, we all have a moral obligation to show up when we're healthy because your new teachers who are showing up, even when it's hard, they need to hear you say that. They want credit for that. They want to be seen.
But then the other thing is that if you see new teachers who are doing the bare minimum, I understand the reaction of wanting to tell them to fix that and get better. But thank them for being there and for showing up and do your best without judgment to get curious about what is making their teaching life hard. And perhaps maybe there are things you can do. You can take things off their plate that are not in the service of students. That doesn't have to be forever, but we want to help them get through these hard times.
Edie:
Thanks for tuning in today. To listen to more episodes in this series and read a full transcript, visit blog.heinemann.com and for 30% off any Heinemann professional book, use code PROFBKS30P.
About the Author
Berit Gordon brings many years of teaching experience in New York City schools as well as in the Dominican Republic to her literacy coaching work. She is a graduate and former instructor at Teachers College, Columbia University. Berit is the author of No More Fake Reading, and The Joyful Teacher. Whether running workshops, leading literacy coaching sessions, or working in classrooms, Gordon strives to help students fall in love with reading and writing, and to lay the groundwork so they are experts at both for life. She lives with her family in Maplewood, New Jersey.
You can connect with her on her website at BeritGordon.com.
