Here's an example of a teacher's mind:
(It's 1:10. Remember that Austin has speech at 1:15. Do I have recess duty? Yes, I do. Oh, it's snowing outside. Did I bring a coat? I'll have to excuse the class a little early so they can get their snow gear on.)
"Let's blend this word. b-oa (Remember to stop talking so they're not just copying you) t. Good! What spelling pattern did the word boat have to make it have a long 'o' sound? (Let's see, who should I call on? Remember to wait five seconds to give the kids plenty of wait time. Hmm...not enough hands are in the air.) "I want to see at least fifteen hands." (Oh, it's already 1:15.) "Austin, go to speech. On the count of three, tell me what spelling pattern it has. 1, 2, 3." (I didn't see Elizabeth and Stephen say the answer. I'll have to work with them in small group. Am I helping the class too much? Maybe I need to gradually release the responsibility more.) "You did a great job blending words with the 'oa' spelling pattern. Now we're going to practice spelling words with the 'oa' spelling pattern by doing a worksheet in our Skills Book on page 132." (Write page 132 on the board in the same spot.) "Please turn to page 132 in your Skills Book in the next minute. Ready, go." (Walk around the room to make sure everyone is getting their book out. What am I going to have the kids do once they get there? If I don't come up with something quick, they'll become disruptive.) "Once you get to page 132, write your name on your paper and give me a thumbs up." (Phone rings...run over and get it.) "Allison, you need to walk home with your neighbor, Brooklyn, because your sister went home sick. You should all be on page 132." (Why doesn't Nick have his skills book out yet, AGAIN? Everytime....He's just sitting there playing with his pencil. I need to talk to his parents and perhaps the the school psychologist about him. OH NO! ASHLEY JUST THREW UP ALL OVER THE DESKS!)
Every time I substitute I remember having "teacher brain." My last year of teaching, I was pregnant so I also had "pregnancy brain." Boy, that was rough! I constantly felt frazzled and seemed to forget lots of things.
So what's the cure to help teachers not have an overload and to drop all of the balls juggling in the air?
Try to get organized the best you can.
My first year of teaching, I constantly felt like I was nearly drowning. I hated that feeling! I worked through the whole Summer reorganizing files, now that I knew what I needed. I made copies. I planned. I created lesson plans for small group. (All for Free....)
So here's my advice:
1. Make a list of the top five things that are stressing you out as a teacher that you tend to forget.
2. Now try to come up with ways to fix these problems. Ask some other teacher friends what they do. "Google it." Look on Pinterest. Look in a book. Look for products that would solve the product and see if you can create the product yourself to save money. If you don't have time, just buy it! Ask family and friends. Even if they're not educators, sometimes they have great ideas that are out of box.
3. Implement the idea A.S.A.P.
4. Let the juggling ball or internet browser close in your mind. Don't worry about it anymore.
What are your top teacher, mommy, or woman items that you constantly try to fix, but haven't yet?
1. This was one of mine: Rewards & Consequences
At the school I worked at, we had consequences when children broke rules. They would go to "Stop and Think." They would go to a desk and to have a time out to think about their behavior. Couple of problems: The students were supposed to sit there for about five minutes. I'm embarrassed to report, but sometimes I got so into my lesson and trying to juggle all of the balls in the air that I would drop one by forgetting the kid was over there for ten minutes. Whoopsie. So I tried to fix the problem. I had a kitchen timer (you know the white ones that you would turn and then ring). I would have to stop what I was doing to to set the timer, which would ruin the flow of me lesson and then the child would receive more attention for their bad behavior. Also, it made one kid cry one time because they weren't expecting it and it was LOUD! Then I tried a digital timer. I still had to set it and then it made noise. Some kids didn't know how to turn it off....blah, blah, blah. As a teacher, you live and learn. Then I found this great product at Lakeshore, a Giant Sand Timer.
It was big enough for me to see from across the room, the kids knew how to work it, and it was quiet. Did it solve the problem every single time? No, but I would say about 99% of the time. I was able to "close the tab" in my brain which made me happy.
2. Another problem I had was CENTERS. By my third year, I figured it out...thanks to my mentor teacher, Maria, friends, and my team.
I typed up a schedule for each day so I didn't have to think about what I was going to have my students work on. Reading centers started right after lunch, so it was perfect that I could set up centers during lunch time. I had all of my games organized by topic. So all I had to do was grab a game under whatever topic we were discussing that week (example: If I was teaching them about synonyms, they would play a synonym game.)
Here's some of the information in my family planner:
1. Emergency Information-including if the power goes out
2. Medical Information- all doctors numbers, addresses, and last visit
3. Family & Friends Addresses- I like to send birthday cards and thank you notes and this saves me time having it in one place.
4. Two week meal schedule
5. Cleaning Schedule
Do you have Teacher Brain or Mommy Brain? What is that one thing that has helped you??
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