Have Lunch in the Lounge

Kids are amazing.  Most people who have become teachers would agree with that statement. 

However, as great as kids are, its important to find time for adult interaction.  Spending time with other adults can remind us of reality, encourage us when we are down, and inspire us with new ideas and perspectives. 

As tempting as it can be to remain in your classroom all day... Don't!  I know the work can pile up and its so easy to just "take a working lunch" and eat your lunch at your computer while grading, prepping for your next lesson, or responding to emails.  It's also easy to end up spending your lunch and recess or nutrition breaks with your students.  You feel like your day is so jam packed you have to take advantage of every opportunity to follow up with that one kid about his behavior, or catch up the student who has been absent, or ask so and so what's been going on in their life because you can sense something is different.  Also, a common habbit new teachers get into is using their lunches and breaks as a type of detention or study hall for their students.  It's important to realize that in the long run, this practice tends to hurt the teacher more than it benefits the student.

Based on my own personal experience (and I'm a very introverted person by the way) eating lunch with other teachers has been an important compenont of maintaining my sanity at school.  No matter how busy things get, I always try to take my lunch in the teacher's lounge.  This practice has been proven to support my overall mental and physical health for several reasons:

1) It forces me to stop working for a moment and enjoy food that will replinish and sustain me

2) I can engage in conversation that has nothing to do with work or school and get a glimpse of reality for a moment

3) I can vent my frustrations and concerns to adults who "get me" instead of taking it out on my students

4) I can collaborate with my colleagues in a casaul way and get advice from insight from others in the field

5) It allows me a moment to take a deep breath and meet my own basic needs so that I can return to the classroom energized and refreshed

Kids say the darndest things...

Throughout my teaching career I have been faced with several moments every single day where I have been forced to choose between laughing or crying...I try to always choose to laugh :)  Sometimes I laugh so hard I cry, but that's okay:)

There have been times when I have had to stop and wonder to myself "Did anyone else see that?", "Did anyone else here that?", "Is this real life?"  There is never a dull moment in the classroom or on the playground and instead of getting flustered and overwhelmed, sometimes it's best to just smile and move on.  I have learned to celebrate every little success, no matter how minor it might seem, and get my students to laugh and smile with me as often as possible.  Humor can make every situation more bearable...for both the teacher and the students :)

Here are some fun links to more teacher humor:

http://www.crazy4teachers.com/

http://teachers.net/mentors/humor/

Education Puns- You feel like you actually taught your kids something if they understand some of these puns :)

Burnout

Everyday is different.  You never know what to expect.  Always exciting!  Full of surprises!  Never a dull moment.  Challenge.

I would use all of those phrases and more to describe a "typcial" day in the classroom.  To be honest, those are the things that make me love my job and those realities keep me in the field of education.  However, those are things that can also make teaching so exhausting.  You could be the most organized person in the world, have a never ending supply of patience, and always have a backup plan number 5 in your toolbox.  However, when working with kids, ecspecially kids with special needs, it is simply impossible to ALWAYS be prepared for every little detail. 

I would say that most teachers probably have high expectations for themselves, and that's what makes them good teachers.  However, its often those impossible expectations that we set for ourselves that make us go crazy and cause unnecessary burnout.

I've realized that in order to give my kids what they need, I have to give myself what I need.  If I don't take care of myself, I can't take care of my students.  When I'm overally tired and stressed, I find myself easily frustrated and low on energy and that's just not fair to my students.

The "valleys" in teaching are inevitable.  As a result, I have found some resources to help cope and some advice that inspries me to trudge on.

Check out these links:

Teacher Burnout

Warning Signs of Teacher Burnout

Someone put an article in my mailbox my first year teaching about the cycles you can expect in your first year.  I remember looking at it and feeling like it was so true!  The feelings, thoughts, and emotions it described were so relatable to me at the time.  I found the website below that describes something similiar:

How to survive your first year of teaching