It took me a long time (years) to wrangle my teacher planning routine into something that looked slightly healthy. When I began my career, it was a badge of honor to be the last car in the parking lot.
Each day, I got to school when the head custodian opened the doors. And each evening, I was one of the last teachers to leave. On the weekends, I squeezed family time in between chores, errands, and lesson planning. Most nights, I went to bed around midnight and woke up at 5:00 AM. And that’s how it went. For years.
I was tired, but I thought that’s the way it was supposed to be. I thought that meant I was dedicated. Professional. And an adult. I set very few boundaries, if any, and I definitely didn’t know how to say no. Talk about a sure fire way to burn out.
And I did.
Burn out.
Those low points, though, are when you’re forced to sit still for a while, reflect, and reset. I started thinking differently about time, priorities, and systems. Learning to say no to a few good things meant I could say yes to the best things. I knew there would be no longevity if I didn’t set a reasonable pace for myself.
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
This is a pretty common teacher narrative and I’m guessing you’ve already nodded your head a few times in agreement. It’s part of the school culture. I remember receiving this message loud and clear as early as when I was doing my final internship in college. My mentor teacher and her teammates began writing my story during our 18 minute lunches in the lounge:
- There’s never enough teacher planning time.
- They just keep piling more stuff on our plates.
- You’ll have to do a lot of lesson planning at home. Get used to it.
- And don’t get us started on emails, faculty meetings, and committees.
- No wonder we can never leave on time.
- We’re so tired.
And there it was … the foundation for my future. It was too late to run the other way, so I took a deep breath and braced myself for the impact.
SINGLE-ME SURVIVED … FOR A WHILE
I managed fine at first. I was single, super euphoric about finally having MY OWN classroom, and driven by an amazing amount of creative energy. No problem. What were my mentor teachers even talking about? “This job is so fun,” I told myself. But then I joined a committee (or two or three), got married, became the team leader, went back to school, had kids of my own, thought national board certification would be a cool thing to try, and so on…. life happens. And it keeps happening, until or unless you take control of what you can.
TEACHER PLANNING
I wish teacher planning and productivity had been a topic of conversation in any of my college courses, but it wasn’t. Nobody ever talked to me about time management. I mean I was always “on time,” and usually early, but the idea that there were ways I could be working smarter, not harder, was a foreign concept to me. I was a product of the 80s and our basic life motto was grind.
It doesn’t have to be this way though. If you’re a new teacher, or a soon-to-be teacher, or a tremendously tired teacher, I’m writing this mostly for you. My daughter is in her senior year of college and just one year away from becoming a teacher herself. What if she didn’t have to wade through as much of this as I did? Or you either. What if you could take your weekends back so you could (oh, I don’t know) maybe relax and recharge … read a book, lie in hammock, buy a new outfit, reorganize the junk drawer, binge a series, build a table … whatever floats your boat. And if weekend lesson planning floats your boat, that’s ok too, as long as that’s your choice and it makes you happy. But if you’re begrudgingly bringing work home and it’s costing you time with yourself and your loved ones, then a change is definitely in order.
There are no special prizes for the teacher who stays the latest. And there are no gifts awaiting the one who takes the fullest cart home. So let’s make a mindset shift and balance our lives.
THE TEACHER TIME PODCAST
Stephanie Palovchik is a primary teacher who recently started her own podcast, The Teacher Time Podcast. You may already know Stephanie from Instagram as Teaching Little Leaders, and if you don’t, you’ll want to.😊 I don’t remember how I found her podcast, but I happened to be mowing my yard at the time and ended up listening to every single episode while I was cutting my grass. (Either my yard is that big, or I mow that slowly.)
Her episodes are short, but direct. And they’re full of actionable teacher planning tips that you can begin to use right away. I texted my daughter as soon as I finished blowing the driveway and told her she needed to listen to this podcast BEFORE she graduated and started teaching. Proactive > Reactive, right?
This is a little part of Stephanie’s story (her words):
In 2014, I was a first-year teacher, fresh out of grad school, and living in a new state. I seriously struggled with sticking to a daily or weekly schedule. I had such a difficult time crossing things off my never-ending to-do list at school, that I spent every night and my entire weekend working. To put it lightly, I was overwhelmed.
After that first year, I made it my mission to find a way to work efficiently. I’ve always loved organization, planning, and efficiency. Let’s just say, Staples is another one of my fav stores. I knew I was capable of skipping the teacher overwhelm if I could just nail down a system. I tried out routines, organization ideas, and found a productive workflow that allowed me to live a life with more self care.
NO SPOILERS
I guess I could keep writing about this, but I’m with Stephanie … your time matters. If you’re frustrated by the challenges of teacher planning and want it to be different next year, take time this summer to rethink and reorganize your systems. Listen to Stephanie’s podcast, grab her free productivity guide, and envision the changes you want to make. I’m not sure anything will ever be perfect, but I am convinced it could be better.
A lot better.
Happy teaching!
PS: In case you missed the first two posts…
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