Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1527898
1 Organize Your Week Arrive early: Although hitting the snooze button feels great, trying to play catch-up as students are arriving on campus can cause more stress than you need. Consider arriving 30 minutes before your assigned report time so you can get settled in, check your email and grab a refreshing drink to get you through to lunch. This piece of advice is the best I received as a new teacher! Copy materials a few days in advance: It never fails — when a teacher is in need of a copier to reproduce the day 's copies right before school starts or during their lunch break, the copier is either broken or being used. Avoid this stressor by copying as much as you can ahead of time. Use that enrichment section in your teacher's manual: There will always be one or more students who finish early, and for me, it always happened in math class. Trying to work with all students and teach with differentiation was my biggest struggle. As you are copying materials for the week, be sure to copy all of the enrichment activities so you can keep all of your learners engaged. Strategies for Work-Life Balance How new and veteran educators can keep their joy and energy levels on high By Christie Rodgers T E A C H E R B U R N O U T I S R E A L , and it can happen at any time of the year. Balancing school responsibilities and personal life can leave you feeling exhausted and inadequate. This is a side of our profession that teacher preparation programs don't always fully address, leaving many new educators feeling emotionally, mentally and physically depleted. I've been in education for almost 30 years now, and there have been times when I balanced the complexities of teaching relatively well. However, there have been other moments when I failed miserably, struggled, and suffered in silence, thinking that it was weak to complain. To avoid making the mistakes I've made, try a few strategies that have worked for me and many teachers over the years. 49 O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 24 Teaching & Learning