Today, we’re gonna talk about the first person teachers should help each day.
       Watch the YouTube video here >>> https://youtu.be/Nq9OQy4Vwmc
       If you’ve flown on an airplane before, you likely remember the presentation the flight attendants give showing you what to do if there is an emergency. Seatbelts, flotation devices, all that. And the breathing masks. Do you remember what they say about putting on the mask?

“Remember to put your own mask on first before trying to help anyone else.”

        I love that. It’s so simple and clear … put our own masks on first. It’s so easy to forget that day to day. Especially for us teachers. We teachers are super giving people. We’re sacrificial. Most of us became teachers so we could make a difference in the lives of children and the future adults they’ll become. We care. The trouble comes when … in our caring so much for others … we sacrifice caring for ourselves.
        And we’ve actually had this topic in our list for a while, so today felt like the perfect day to discuss it because he’s sick. :)
        Yup, two weeks ago, I took an overnight red-eye back home, got sick later that day, and have had some version of something for two weeks now. As I look back, it’s likely because of a combination of choices to not care for myself first.
        So what could this look like … this “caring for ourselves first”?
        In no particular order … Food is crucial. It’s our fuel. If we’re putting bad fuel into our bodies, we won’t run well. We’ll be tired, won’t be able to focus, and all kinds of other things.
        Exercise. So many studies show that exercise gives us physical energy, and stimulates our minds, and helps us sleep better.
        Sleep. Gotta sleep. I love me my sleep. They say 7 hours minimum for adults. I know many of us buck that system a lot and might even believe our bodies and minds are different. We’re not going deep into that here today, but we are going to ask if we’re “putting on our own mask first” by getting enough sleep.
        Mental health. Shakespeare said, “To thine own self be true.” We’ve gotta know ourselves. How is our mind doing? Our emotional state? Our psyche? Are we good? Do we need to talk with an expert about it? There isn’t any shame in doing so, even if it feels like there is.
        Balance. We’ve talked about it all through our series of videos on HOW TO LEAVE ON TIME AND NEVER TAKE PAPERS HOME AGAIN. We’ll say it again … we have to set boundaries and stick to them. We need to zoom out and examine if it feels like a certain part of our lives is taking over the others. Is it? If so, we likely have a balance issue. It’s hard work, but we’ve gotta wrestle things back into alignment. Put our own masks on first.
        If we don’t, how will we expect to pour everything we’ve got into our moments teaching and with our learners? How will we be balanced enough to pour into our teaching colleagues? To respond well to parents? To respect and collaborate with our admin? To handle the daily looming tide of teaching pressures?
        Put our own masks on first. So what does that look like for you today? Where do you need to start? What’s your next step?
Conversation of the Day: What does “putting your own mask on first” mean to you today?
       Hop on over to watch the video and share your thoughts in the conversation.

First off, if you haven't watched the original video, do that now. Unless, of course, your favorite weekends are the ones you spend grading papers ... in that case, as you were.
Then, if you haven't seen or used our super practical Essay Revision Checklist for learners to use with their essays, you can purchase the rubric/checklist here (and get the video for free).

      Ever have trouble getting your students to do their homework over holiday? Today, we’re gonna share the magical secret to get EVERY STUDENT to do their homework over the holidays.

       Watch the YouTube video here >>> https://youtu.be/ItQBp7Jpvz0
        Whether you’re in Australia with 4 holidays (I love year round schedule) or Britain with 6 or the United States with a bunch of various length holidays, the holidays are coming and so is your decision … Do I give them homework over the break? And if I assign any, is there a snowman’s hope in hell of them actually doing it?
       We assign them projects. Essays. Reading assignments. Group projects. Bundles of practice work. So the question is … Why? Why do we assign them the homework?
       We feel guilty that we’re behind in our lesson plans and need them to catch up, so we feel better. And we might even be blaming them for our plans being behind.
       We want them to keep progressing along.
       We feel some unseen pressure from someone to keep our kids doing stuff all the time or we’re a bad teacher. Is this an imaginary pressure?
       We just know they’re going to waste all that time watching movies and playing video games, so we need to give them something worthwhile to do with their time.
       Whatever the reasons are, the day after we return from break has the same result every time. The smart, responsible kids did their homework. And they feel good about themselves because they know there’s a good 40% of the students who didn’t do anything and are feeling like failures, so they get to feel good. They also likely hate you, teacher, just a little bit for making them feel guilty enough over break to do their work so they wouldn’t have to feel like those losers over there.
       The reality for those responsible kids is that they are always responsible like that, so they needed a break. And with honors kids, we needed to force them to shut off and take a break because they won’t do it on their own.
       And for the usually “not responsible” kids, if we’re honest we knew they weren’t going to do their homework. They’re just not. And we’re either hoping they’ll do the right thing for once or that they’ll feel bad about not doing the right thing so they’ll do the right thing next time.
       Well, and then there are all the complexities of our students’ home lives, the possibilities are too many to list, but maybe the “not responsible” kids have enough stress to handle at home without homework being added. Often the students that struggle with or don’t understand homework, don’t have support at home that would make the homework valuable practice anyways. This isn’t said to shame the families, juggling family life responsibilities can just be chaotic.
       Now, as parents, we’ll be blunt, we don’t like the responsibility looming of making sure there is time for our kids to do their homework. We’re planning festivities, traveling to see family, trying to remember to do memorable traditions with the kids, juggling childcare and work, encouraging a heart of thinking of others, and practicing parenting shame resiliency . . . the last thing I want to do is make my kid complete homework.  
       So are you ready for the magical secret to get your every student to do their homework over the holidays? Here it is …
DON’T ASSIGN ANY HOMEWORK.
       Every kid will do it. They’ll survive. Heck, they might thrive. They’ll come back refreshed. They’ll come back not feeling guilty. They’ll come back loving you because other teachers gave them homework. You won’t have a pile of busy work to grade. You won’t have to dive right into project presentations. You won’t have to have those tough phone calls with parents about why their kid didn’t do homework over break.
       So we give you permission, in case no one has given you permission before or you’ve been feeling that unseen, unspoken pressure … You can assign ZERO homework over break and still be a good teacher! In fact, you should leave all your papers at school too. No homework for you either! Leave them all at school, and you’ll still be a good teacher. Make sure you’ve got things planned for those 1st two days back after holiday, then walk out with NOTHING.
       Or if you’re going to assign anything at all, maybe just a little reading. But even then we’re going to feel like we need to assign a whole book or 5 chapters of the novel we’re studying in class. Then we have to deal with the 40% of them who don’t read the chapters and now what do we do because we’re not all in the same spot in the novel.
       So we give you permission to fight the urge … don’t assign any homework … for the rest of your teaching career you can make sure your learners always do their homework over holiday.
Conversation of the Day: What is getting in your way from assigning ZERO homework over holidays?
       Hop on over to watch the video and share your thoughts in the conversation.

       Today, we talk about how we teachers can still be excellent while holding firm boundaries between work and rest ... and how we can model and teach our students how to do this too.
       Watch the YouTube video here >>> https://youtu.be/RZgBYb3lshk
       This conversation is very unscripted and covers a lots of mini topics within this whole conversation. Enjoy! We'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic and where you're at in your journey. Let's travel this together. :)
       Conversation of the Day: What task do you feel like you must do during the summer so you can survive the next school year?
       Hop on over to watch the video and share your thoughts in the conversation.

        The 20th installment in our series: How to Leave on Time and NEVER Take Papers Home Again ... Today, we’re gonna look at why Monday mornings suck! Or do they?
       Watch the YouTube video here >>> https://youtu.be/PgAQFTD2poQ
       We can count on it. Sunday evening and Monday morning … our social media feed fill up with a dozen memes about how horrible Monday mornings are … but the truth is that for a while now, it’s been making us sad for teachers.
        So we wanted to dive into why Mondays suck. I know I am one of those people that struggles with dreading the alarm clock. I’m tired and there is no chance to sleep in, responsibility buzzes and I gotta get going. Can’t be tardy. Gotta survive. But I want to do more than just survive.
        We want to say that we love our fellow teachers, we know the feelings you have about Monday, we’ve been there, but we just can’t sit back and watch everybody so sad and complaining every week. We can all do something about our Mondays. So let’s get into it.
        First off, this is about self-awareness. Do you actually want Mondays to NOT SUCK? Or do you just want to complain that they suck? Or do you know that your colleagues hate Mondays and you know you earn social kudos for tapping into how everyone else feels by complaining too?
        Have you really thought about why you don’t like Mondays? Have you made a list of why you don’t like the start of each week? Do it now. That’s the first step to fixing something is actually seeing it. Put it down in front of you. What things are in your control? What things are out of your control? See what’s going to come at you, then prepare your attitude. We have control over our attitude.
        And let’s be real here, there’s a lot to complain about the teaching profession today. Unions, no unions, low pay, admin that expect too much, testing testing testing, helicopter parents, kids’ shorter attention spans, single family struggles, lack of parent involvement, lower student respect, rampant after-school activities, the out-of-control entitlement attitude of students, the overall lack of respect for our profession. On and on and on. We could talk about those things, sure, but not complaining. We’re teachers. We’re better than complaining. We get crap done. We change the world every week … every day.
        Every Monday, we have the opportunity to make an actual difference in the future of this world. You GET that. THAT IS EXCITING. You ARE that. Do you realize who you are? Do you remember why you became a teacher? We know the system has lots of things in your way of doing that, but you have a career where you actually get paid to change the future on Mondays. Not only the future, but you get to change each kid’s today. As much as you’re able and energized to do, you are the ones who are going to do it.
        And we get to change each others’ Mondays. We already are. It really bums us out how much our attitude collaboration seems to be dragging us all down. What could Mondays feel like if we were all firing each other up and cheering each other on?!
        Are we motivating each other to be stronger or are we encouraging each other to live into the criticisms of stereotypical burnt-out teachers?
        So let’s get back to why Mondays suck. Maybe you’re dreading the worst class of students in your career? What if you’re on a staff that has a poisonous atmosphere? What if you’re not a morning person and hate the alarm clock?
        Or is it cause you’re tired? Saturday and Sunday flew by and you’re wishing you could have another weekend. We’ve been there, for sure. Working on the weekends, working at nights, working over breaks, working over summer. No wonder we’re wanting another break to rest after our breaks … because we didn’t rest during our breaks. We need the rest. You might be burning your candle at both ends and it’s killing you.
        I want to do more than just survive. I want to be around people that are more than surviving. I chuckle at some of the online complaining memes, they’re funny and I connect with them. I’m becoming more aware, though, that not all of them are just funny, they are actually tearing us down. They are making us worse instead of stronger. It reminds me of the saying, “You show me your friends, I’ll show you your future.”
        You show me your memes, I’ll show you your future.
        So how can our collective voice as teachers be empowering, not just for our students, but for each other?
         So fellow teachers, we want to re-empower you with Monday. Each week you get a new opportunity of growing up humans who will change our world. Which means you get to go to bed Sunday night and wake up Monday morning and go to the best job in the world. Remember why you chose this calling and this calling chose you. You are awesome. You are the change. You are the ones who can encourage your fellow teachers. You can encourage your students. Your admin. Your custodians. Your parents. You are the change. So let’s stop the collective complaining and take charge of our Mondays again. We got this. 
        Conversation of the Day: What do you love about teaching that you get to do on Mondays?
          Hop on over to watch the video and share your thoughts in the conversation.