The Teacher Leader Podcast:
Setting Boundaries to Take Back Your Time with Stephanie Palovchik Teachers can still be productive without always being busy. It is better to work on something wholeheartedly than to only put half of yourself into what you are working on. Getting enough rest and time away from work helps us to do better when we are teaching. We become better motivated, even happier and can work harder during the allotted time. It's not about being busy 24 hours of the day. It's about being a great teacher and a great person in and out of the classroom. It is important to take time to let that growth happen. As teachers, it is important to set boundaries for yourself such as when you plan to start and end your workday and when you will check emails or post to social media. This allows us to give our whole self to what we are working on in the moment with less distractions. We can be more committed to our students and give them the time they need to learn and grow. It also gives us adequate rest and recovery time in between lessons and workdays. Setting those boundaries and sticking to a routine is key to growth as an educator. Don't just look at teaching as a to-do list. It is about giving ourselves to our students while we are with them. Sometimes we won't get through all of the topics we wanted to in a day with our students. The importance is that we are allowing our students time to learn and grow. It is important to get through the material, but it is even more important that we are giving our students an environment that is the most suitable for them to learn. Setting boundaries allows us to create a better learning environment for our students because we are not becoming burnt out and can give ourselves to them fully during the regular school day. Re-establishing Classroom Routines, Norms, and Group Behaviors Webinar
This topic is something that can be applied to the household as well as the classroom! Establishing routines, norms, and behaviors is so important! These increase student engagement, decrease bad behaviors, and make your teaching style much more efficient. Efficiency leads to success in all aspects of life. When you are teaching and training classroom routines, you want to define the routine and brainstorm the best ideas to keep your students on task. It is important to model and practice this with your students as much as possible. Be consistent. Provide visual prompts and aids, and always reinforce students as they begin to correctly follow the routine. This may be new to your students. Don't get frustrated so easily, have patience, and take time to practice routines with your students. Routines can be very simple or very complex. One of the first basic routines to teach young students is how to line up in a line when they leave the classroom. This may seem very basic, but for kindergarten teachers, it can be very challenging at first. This may take a long time for students to master, but when they do, it is such a reward for the teacher. Take things slow and look for the little wins each day. Other routines include how to take tests, learning to run through a course schedule each day, and knowing what's expected from each individual teacher in each individual class. Note that students are trying to learn and stick to many routines usually all at once, so always be patient and use reinforcement when teaching a new routine. |
How Networking Has Helped Me
As a future teacher, networking is so important because it gets you "out there" digitally before you can be out in the classroom. It is a great way to connect with educators, administrators, and other future teachers that are going through the same thing as yourself. You will develop an online community that will guide you into your teaching and prepare you for situations you will face in the classroom. It is one of the best options for you to reach out to others and get connected early on.
My social networking through Instagram and Pinterest have allowed me to connect with others as well as to develop ideas that I would like to use in my future classroom. Pictures are my greatest tool! Looking at pictures of crafts, assignments, or decorations for a classroom is so helpful, and these can be seen all over social media. I have an abundance of ideas for my own classroom and cannot wait to get started! Being connected so early in my career has been so helpful, and I recommend that all teachers get active on social media. See what things you can use in your own classroom.
As a future teacher, networking is so important because it gets you "out there" digitally before you can be out in the classroom. It is a great way to connect with educators, administrators, and other future teachers that are going through the same thing as yourself. You will develop an online community that will guide you into your teaching and prepare you for situations you will face in the classroom. It is one of the best options for you to reach out to others and get connected early on.
My social networking through Instagram and Pinterest have allowed me to connect with others as well as to develop ideas that I would like to use in my future classroom. Pictures are my greatest tool! Looking at pictures of crafts, assignments, or decorations for a classroom is so helpful, and these can be seen all over social media. I have an abundance of ideas for my own classroom and cannot wait to get started! Being connected so early in my career has been so helpful, and I recommend that all teachers get active on social media. See what things you can use in your own classroom.