Skip to main content

"Fun you" versus "school you"

I have this phrase I use with my family & friends, where I say I'm "Fun me" or "School me". I use this because when I'm on break, or it's summer, I have a tendency to do more! I stay up late (ugh I just HATE 6 am), I go out with my friends, I'm generally way more relaxed...I think we can all relate. Well I started thinking about how we're starting school soon, and how I hate that I lose this feeling. The feeling of being relaxed, rejuvenated, and ready to take on the new year. Right around February in particular, it feels hopeless! 

I've always wanted to have a great blog to share, and to be honest I get so wrapped up in school, that I don't' devote the time. Even when I was in college and especially today, I heard about teacher burnout. These great, amazing teachers that dedicated a LOT of their personal time to the profession. Then, poof! They're retiring, or choosing another profession. That's why I think it's vital to remember to be your "fun you" once in a while. So here's my version of Glamour's "Hey it's ok if..."

Hey it's O.K. if...

 you take YOU time.
  • I try, key word TRY, to make at least 1 day a week where I leave work early & just come home. No gym, no extra curricular, no Twitter chats. I like to come home, and just do what I want to do. Cook, read, spend time with family / friends. Now, obviously if you have a family & other responsibilities this may be different. But the key is to take a break from school related materials. I love teaching, but I am also a person with other facets. 

 you don't work too hard on a Monday. 
  • One of my coworkers always says this. Some of us are probably thinking, "What?!" That's a busy, busy day! I agree. However, if you've traveled abroad I think of it like that. Her Dad is from Italy and I think he's instilled this into her. I think it's great! I know when I studied abroad in Spain, my Sra. would come home early some days & go to the beach. Maybe this day is your "you time". 

 you eat takeout. 
  • One of my favorite things is not having to make my lunch! I make my lunch every day, and when we have an institute or a 1/2 day, I love that freedom! It saves me time at night ,and time in the a.m. when I'm leaving. Why not set aside some dinero, even if it's $5 & order Jimmy John's at least once a month. Or, come home & order that Chinese you've been craving. 
every lesson isn't perfect! 
  • This one's a hard one for me. Teaching Spanish 1 is a constant battle of trying to engage & enlighten students into your love of the language, so that they continue on with their language journey. I love the honesty I've read in the blog community about the journey to becoming a better teacher. I've wanted to have a proficiency based classroom for some while now. I started to slowly implement this, and now I'm finally getting there. Will it be 100% perfect? No, but then again nothing in life is. Relax. It's ok, we'll get there. 
you get sick.  
  • Last year in May, I had to miss 4 days due to a sinus infection. I even tried to go in one day & was so dizzy I had to go home. I've always tried to keep my health up, and it's gotten better with more years of teaching. However, it's ok to be sick! If you truly can't focus to teach, then you're doing more harm than good. Not to mention it's not cool to spread the germs. So try to remember that when that guilty feeling comes over you that you're missing work. 
I'm sure I could come up with a lot more ideas, but why not continue this on Twitter?! Use #heyit'sOK to share some of your ideas to stay sane and maintaining your #funyou during the school year. 


Also, for those days when you feel so drained & don't know why you're in your profession read through a "Good News Folder". I love this idea I read from Martina Bex's blog:


Hope you all have a great school year! Thanks for reading! :)


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cuaderno Interactivo Estudiantil (Interactive Student Notebook -ISN)

Well I can't pretend that the last couple of weeks haven't been INSANELY busy. This weekend is much needed. This year I've decided to teach my jr. high kiddos with an Interactive Student Notebook, or as we say in Spanish: Cuaderno Interactivo Estudiantil. If you're interested in setting up one up, here's a great site that I used: http://everybodyisageniusblog.blogspot.com/p/interactive-notebooks.html   It is a LOT of work putting together the notebooks, and we've had our classes reduced by 20 minutes this year. However, what I love the most about this, is that it's challenging me as a teacher to come up with new, unique ideas. I find that I'M enjoying this as well. My advanced students are more vocal about this than my intro, but they seem to love it. Here's some pics of my notebook (I use this to teach the students): Front cover This is the syllabus page. This is a page that I created for Subject Pronouns.  Also, I...
5 comments
Read more

Spanish All Around You!

I'm finally starting to get in the swing of things again this year, and I, of course, got the infamous "back-to-school-cold"!  So sorry for not updating in a while. I wanted to share with you a wonderful project that I love having my students complete.  Now, my students do not live in a town that has a high population of Hispanics, especially in our schools. So I created "Spanish All Around You" project.  They were constantly telling me that they didn't see Spanish in our town, or that they didn't know anyone, so I needed to change that!  It's pretty basic, I have them go around THEIR community and collect 6 items in Spanish. It can be anything they have at home (cell phone instructions, xBox instructions, hair straightener, etc) or they can go around the community (restaurants, library, grocery store, etc.) to find the items. I even had a student find some Spanish on a visor in their parent's car (the air bag warning). It's always awe...
Post a Comment
Read more

Beginning week of Spanish class (jr. high edition)

I was inspired by Allison's post over at Mis Clases Locas about what her first week lesson's are going to be, that I thought I'd share mine. I'm utilizing the same format/idea to present my info. **I'm also using many of her ideas, and adding those of others I've gathered. I've tried to make links to everyone so that they can receive credit. If I've missed anyone, please let me know. Gracias**  I've been changing towards a proficiency path for a couple of years now, and truthfully I do really enjoy it! My students this past year were just an AMAZING group, so engaged, and eager to learn the language. I'm not sure if that is a reflection of this particular group, or the fact that I changed up class a bit by trying to make it more exciting! I just attended a conference from my high school about proficiency and the new Seal of Biliteracy that IL is implementing. Check it out for your high school, and see if this is something you can push for in l...
2 comments
Read more