Stressed & Excited: Life of a Teacher at the Beginning of the School Year

Real teacher talk coming at you, because I know so many of you will understand.  As I sit down to write this blog, my mind is going a million miles a minute thinking about school and all the things that I need to start doing.  Anyone else have that happening to them?  It’s like on August 1, a switch gets turned on in my brain and I go into school mode.  I want to enjoy the rest of my summer, what little is left, but school starts to take over my thoughts.

The beginning of the school year comes with so many mixed feelings.  The top two… excitement and stress.  If you’re like me, you get excited to set up your classroom, meet your new students, catch up with colleagues, and have that sense of refreshness and new beginnings.  But there is a flip side to that as well.  You start to feel a bit stressed as the to-do lists get longer, the time in your classroom to work gets shorter, and the laminator breaks! 😉  Add to that a new grade level, new team members, or a new school and you have a stressed out teacher before students ever enter the classroom! ​

We all want to start the new year with our best foot forward.  So we put together a few ideas that help us minimize the stress and keep the excitement level up! We hope this might help you as well! ​

Free Planner

Planning Resources:  A huge stress point at the beginning of the year is not only getting your classroom set up but planning!  One thing that helps us is using the IntegratED Framework and planner to help keep us on track.  If you are needing more information on the IntegratED Framework, go check out our past blogs here.  Also, we have a FREE sample planner on our website!  Click here to get your copy.  ​

 Setting Boundaries:  This is one thing that I (Kara) had to learn the hard way when I first began teaching.  I did not set boundaries at all when I first began my career and almost quite within the first 6 months of teaching. You need to set up boundaries for you and your family.  School does not need to become your end all be all.  Is it important, yes but it cannot take over everything.  Set a time that you are going to leave everyday and stick to it.  It will help you utilize any planning time more effectively and prioritize what needs to be done.  Don’t bring it home!  Don’t bring home a crate full of things to work on every night.  I know there are certain times when it does happen, but don’t make that your habit and your norm! 

Gratitude: Look for at least 5 things that you were grateful for during the day.  During this time of the year because of the stress we experience, we can become quite hyper focused on the negative.  Take a moment to breathe and think back on the day.  What are 5 things that you were grateful for?  It could be something as simple as a coworker complimenting your outfit.  When we focus on the good, the good only gets better! And then the negative doesn’t take as strong of hold in our lives. When we can be grateful, we can have joy!

Plan of Action:  When I have work time in my classroom, I always like to have a plan of action to minimize those moments of standing and staring at the piles accumulating in my classroom (which still happens… lets be honest 😉).  I try to prioritize what needs to get done as best I can and it always feels so good to get something crossed off the list! ​

Flexibility: No matter how good of a plan you have laid out, we know as educators there will always be something thrown at us that we didn’t expect!  Flexibility is an attribute that good educators possess and the beginning of the year is when we have to bend and flex the most.

Team Building:  This year we have a brand new team.  I am so incredibly excited for it, but it can be nerve wracking thinking about how to make it all work with new team members.  See… stressed but excited! 😉 Even if you have a veteran team, it is always good to start the year off on the right foot.  Think of different things that will encourage one another and support one another.  If you don’t have a team, those in your building.  Small beginning of the year gifts, coffee runs, quarterly breakfasts, their favorite candy or drink stashed in your desk that you could give them if they are having a bad day, collaborative planning times, and shared resources are just a few small gestures that could go a long way in building up your team.  

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FUN:  Plan for some FUN!  The beginning of the year is the perfect time for those fun icebreakers and games (also great community building activities).  Oftentimes we can bombard students with the drill and kill of routines and procedures.  It can make for long days, off task students, and tired teachers.  Yes, of course routines and procedures need to be taught, but there are so many creative ways that it can be done. Task cards, class contests, board games, mentor texts are just some ways you could teach routines and procedures while adding in some fun!  If you are excited for an activity, it is contagious and the students will be too!  ​

Grace:  Give yourself grace as easily as you give it to others.  There is a lot to be done in a short amount of time. And if you’re anything like me, a bit of a perfectionist and can get down on myself when things are not all crossed off the list or something didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to.  We just need to remember that students are not needing perfection, they are just needing YOU! ​

As the school year gets underway, here at IntegratED we are wishing you the very best school year!  

Also, if you are starting the school year and feeling a bit overwhelmed with knowing what and how to plan, there are still two spots available in our cohort!  Check out our website for more information! ​

Two teachers for teachers, 
​                                Meg and Kara