Okay, you can stay under the bed or locked in the bathroom, but please read this blog even if you’re trying to go off the grid. I won’t be the one to tell you resistance is futile and hiding is useless…you’ll figure that out soon enough on your own.
Yes folks, the vacation is winding down and while we’d all like to live on another planet where school doesn’t exist, we can’t. So instead,some of us are opening the closet, dusting out the ‘teacher’ clothes, seeing if shoes haven’t dried-rotted and reluctantly, trying to log back into LMS Platforms we’ve forgotten the passwords for.
Adjustment is hard, especially after the blissful joy of waking up later, not having to get the children ready for school, pack lunches and the whole list of other things that make up your work/ family routine.
Still, looming closer, is the day when we have to step back into that place we haven’t seen in two months. Although, in full disclosure, I’ve been into school twice during the holidays. Someone cleaned my desk. I don't know who, but THANK YOU, cuz it ain’t ever looked that neat before.
Which gets me into my blog post for this week: Tips for Starting the term right (yes,that’s what I said: term. We’re chunking, just like in our teaching. Academic year sounds too ominous and daunting right now. In fact, let’s micro-chunk; let’s just focus on the First week back.
Clean your desk: People, it’s been two months and the staffroom is home to lots and lots of paper. You may not be as lucky as me to have someone do it for you, but paper clutter can make you feel stressed from the moment you see it. Also, please look out for creepy crawlies…a lot of bugs can hide in between those papers. Walk with garbage bags, gloves and bug spray. Point to note: let people know when you’re going to spray for a bug, in case you set off someone’s allergies/ asthma. Yes…we’re back to co-existing with our colleagues, so be NICE.
Sanitize everything: Whether you swear by Lysol or Clorox, invest in either the spray or pre-moistened wipes. Clean all surfaces down, your desk in the staffroom, your homeroom, your whiteboard…everything. COVID is still real, MonkeyPox is trying to make an appearance and every teacher knows that flu viruses are more clingy than your ex (come on, smile even a little at that one).
Familiarize yourself with your timetable: As soon as I get my timetable, I block classes with a highlighter. Each class has its own color and it makes it easier for me to see which class I have and at what time. Which also leads to my next point:
Memorize & Adjust to your school-day class times: You haven’t been there for two months and most of you, are like me…you haven’t had a set schedule for the vacation. You just ate when you wanted, used the restroom at leisure and basically enjoyed the freedom of not having to respond to bells like Pavlov’s puppies. Unfortunately, it’s not advisable that you leave a class unsupervised to grab a quick bite or sadly, to go potty. Of course there are times when it’s an emergency, but as much as possible, train yourself to be in class, when you’re supposed to be.
Get a weekly & monthly planner: There are so many gorgeous ones out there! But if you’re on a budget, there are free templates online that you can use. You can even customize a plain notebook if you want to get creative. Point is, you need to be able to get a bird’s eye view of what’s coming up weekly and monthly. School events/ public holidays/ health & safety training, all of these things can affect your teaching time.
Mark out due dates for your deliverables on a calendar: You can do this digitally as well, but for me, there’s something about writing that actually makes me remember what I need to do. Around this time of year, we’re being asked to submit our exam analysis, our Schemes of work, our Weekly breakdown, Unit plans…ok, before I send you into panic mode, I’ll stop. To keep on top of things, mark the different deadlines on your calendar and start working on what’s most urgent and important first.
Consider how your deliverables’ deadlines affect your colleagues: Of course, most of us use the first week of the term, for revision and settling students in, and I do too. Still, I like to know where I’m starting, so I can begin sourcing resources and preparing lessons. It’s frustrating to have to wait on someone who hasn’t met the deadline for the Scheme/ Unit plan he/she’s working on. Once again, be considerate or at the very least, communicate, if you won’t be able to meet the deadline.
Organize your class lists/ compile your student data-base: During the planning week, I like to get the list of student names for each of the classes I’ll be teaching. If I don’t get it directly from admin, I approach the form teacher and ask them to email me the list. If it’s a returning class (as in one I taught before), I try to get the information regarding students who might have transferred both in and out. It helps to compile these names as soon as possible, because you’ll need them for attendance/ punctuality registers, grade entry etc.
Team up & collaborate: Professional Learning Communities are indispensable in Education and yup, they should also exist in your very own staffroom. I’m not just talking about your department members, because you’re supposed to be part of that team anyway. During the first week, meet with the teachers who’ll be teaching your Form class and liaise with those, whose classes you’ll be teaching. Mix, share, collaborate. In this way, you’ll get a broader perspective of the classes you’ll be teaching and their individual students. You can exchange strategies on how to engage classes and adopt similar approaches to dealing with discipline issues. It’s about ‘on-boarding’ with your colleagues for the new academic year (sorry!)
Mentor/ Ask for support: Teaching is hard and it’s not for the faint-hearted. That’s why it’s important for veteran teachers to reach out to new teachers, who may struggle with classroom management or sound pedagogy. But don’t think it’s a one-way street. Veteran teachers must also be able to ask for support from the new ones, especially as relates to technology integration/ innovation. We’re on the same team and we should form mutually beneficial relationships.
I hope these tips help you to re-adjust, and ease you back into educator mode.
But for now, you’re free to go ‘radio silent’ again, and enjoy what’s left of your precious vacation time. I hope though, that when you do get dragged out from under the bed (possibly kicking and screaming), you’ll be comforted to know that we’re in this together. And as always, the team at 21st Century Educators is going to have your back.
Enjoy the week!!!