It's May.

Enough said, right?

I want wine.

Now this blog post can be done.

Just kidding... about the blog post being done.  Not about the wine.



I'm here to encourage you to keep going and finish strong if you are like me and still have YEARS of school left.  By years, I mean 14 days, but it will be the longest 14 days of my life.  Okay, that's probably a little dramatic, too.

Here are a few reminders for you (and let's be honest...mostly for me so I don't take all of my sick days to finish the year)

1. Self care is not selfish.  If you have a routine that you follow (exercise, eating healthy, meditation, prayer, etc), don't let the long stretch to the end of the year throw off your routine.  Make time for you.  You deserve it.  Probably now more than ever.

2.  It's okay to give the children things to do independently.  Silent reading for a little (or a lot) longer than normal? WHY NOT! Book projects? GREAT! Illustrating storyboards? YES! Sr. Wooly nuggets? FOR SURE. All of the assessments where they are forced to be quiet? IS THAT EVEN A QUESTION?  Your sanity is worth it.  No one is judging you.  At least I'm not.

3.  Even though you might have a short fuse (says the person who was a little too harsh and a little too loud on Friday), try to remain calm and speak life to your students.  Take some extra breaths and remind yourself of the awesome privilege we have to influence the future of our world.  We want to leave a positive mark.  Maintain those positive relationships, especially if you have the same kids next year! It will start your year off stronger.

4.  Make lists of things you want to change/try for next year.  You'll forget all those awesome ideas over summer, so write them down now.

5.  Drink wine. Or eat chips. Or drink lots of sparkling water.  Or binge watch your favorite TV show.  Or eat too many cheese curds.  Or whatever it is that you may enjoy.  Enjoy it, use it to feel refreshed so you can get up and fight another day on Monday.

Let's GOOOOOOOOOOOO!

P.S. All joking aside, I enjoy wine, but if alcohol is something you do not drink or should not drink, I'm 100% on your side and support you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Benefits of Using the Daily Lesson Framework

Image
3 years ago, I began using a daily lesson framework in all of my classes to provide comprehensible input. It changed my life.  As many of you know, I had polyps surgically removed from my vocal cords 2 years ago. I will have to use a microphone to teach with for the rest of my career. As someone who never participated in theater or choir, I had never learned to use my voice correctly. So when I began teaching with CI and almost felt as though I was putting on a show every class for my students, it killed my voice. This daily lesson framework helped solve that issue for me as well.   Here are 4 benefits to using this daily lesson framework: 1. Creates Routine We know that brains crave novelty, but they also thrive with routine. This framework allows teachers and students to have the same routine every day while still allowing for freedom and flexibility within that routine. 2. Gradual Release of Responsibility The daily framework has a focus of "I do, we do, you do" with t...
Read more

Scaffolding Student Writing with Word Card Sentences

Image
>>This activity is not input focused.<< The purpose of this activity is to help kids process the language they've been acquiring in class and create their own sentences and thoughts without having to come up with the words themselves. It helps build confidence before the first writing assessment.  I am always looking for new ways to scaffold student writing. This word card sentence activity was inspired by my talented and smart friend, Nissa Quill. Check out some pictures of the students working at the end of this post! I also recorded this podcast episode to really explain the purpose of this activity and share more about how we discussed it in class. Main Idea:  Students are given cards with familiar words in the target language and work in groups to create as many sentences as possible with those words. They are given some blank cards to write their own words on as well.  We did this activity after spending about 4-5 days on calendar talk in class.  H...
Read more

4 Days of Lesson Plans FREE! (Individually Created Characters)

Image
If you are a fan of class-created characters (OWIs) then you will LOVE this project! I've created a 4 day lesson plan with handouts for students to create their own characters. I will admit that this is not completely input focused, BUT I would argue that giving students chances to show their learning, do some art, and let their imaginations run wild are worthwhile, too! (Especially if you are crawling trying to make it to a school break like me.) This could be done in person or virtually as long as your students have the ability to insert pictures of their characters in the slideshow! Here's the general idea of the lesson plans. Make sure you check out the full lesson plans with handout links here ! *These plans are flexible enough that you could continue things like free choice reading or calendar talk each day. I have found that working with students (especially when they are writing in L2) takes longer than I always expect and I want us to get it done in class, so there may...
Read more