Not having a way cool year...

So, this year is not going the way I thought. During the summer, I thought this would be a great year. A normal year. No major issues, business as usual. Then, an unexpected medical issue (like, who expects those??) in September knocked me out for two full school weeks. Not cool. I thought I would be fine after this Christmas break (two weeks of sleeping, yoga pants, mimosas and the smell of that tree! Come on!), but this (medical nuisance, really) is really kicking my butt. Now I am looking at Spring Break as my "maybe I will feel like myself again" goal.
So. Not. Cool.

I am having a "B" year.  Ever have one of those? Psh, lemme tell you, they're a real treat.

To be clear, for me, most school years are "A":

• I love my job!
• Having a blast with the kids!
• Look at this cool project we are doing!
• Smiles and sunshine!
• Leadership opportunities! Oh yes!
• Lesson plans are always awesome and on time!
• Staying on top of blogs, websites and class Facebook page!
• Lots of awesome art displays!

Here's a "B" year:

• Lots of sick days.
• Lots of Dr. apts.
• Receiving phone calls, during the day, you know, while we're teaching.
• Stressed, tired, worried, annoyed, sad.
• Not changing out bulletin boards enough.
• Not grading art work fast enough.
• Not staying on top of classroom social media.
• Feeling like a loser because it's a "B" year.

Teach long enough and that "B" year will hit you. I hope you only experience this once or twice during your career. But let's face it, whether it's a divorce, illness- family or yourself, major family issues, etc... something is going to happen that will knock the wind out of your sails. We all have bad days, months, or an entire school year. Good news (cliche news?), it will get better. It does. 

The trick is getting through this year with successful lessons for the kids, and your job (and reputation, sorry, that matters to me) intact. Unfortunately, this is not my first "B" year, my first was 1995. Then, 2011. Now this year.

Here are some tips to help you manage a bad month, semester, year:

1. Talk to your administration. No matter your relationship with your principal or supervisor,  make an appointment, close the door and tell them your issue. You never know the level of support you will receive. Doesn't matter. Tell them anyway. If you are a private person, ask them to keep it confidential. I cannot stress how important this step is for you. If you keep your issues to yourself, and let your classroom slide, you might find yourself with official reprimands. Your job could be at stake. Keep your administrators in the loop, update as needed. Make sure they see that you are taking care of business at school. 
2. SUBMIT YOUR LESSON PLANS. Do not, DO NOT let this drop. 
3. Have sub plans ready. One day, one rotation, 2 weeks. Do it now. See this link: I need a sub!
4. Focus on your students. When you are at school, they are your priority. Plus, they will take your mind off...things...
5. Have a support system in place. I'm not a private person, but I hated asking for, or accepting, help. What I learned: Never say no to a helping hand. You need help to get through this tough time. Turn to your team, or another teacher, or your friends and family outside of school. Notice. I did NOT SAY PARENTS. I do not recommend turning to your students' parents for help. This is very unprofessional and could come back to bite you. 
6. Speaking of... Remain professional on social media, if you have a classroom Facebook page, Twitter, blogs, sites, etc. This is not the forum to rant about your troubles.
7. And... Be careful what you say to or around your students. This is your problem. It is not their problem. Your emergency is not their emergency. Yes, that stings to hear. But no 7 year old needs to hear about your divorce. 15 year olds cannot empathize with your diagnosis. Tell them enough to answer basic questions, reassure them, move on to art making.
8. Did I mention having a support system in place?
9. Treat school like occupational therapy. When you're at school, be at school. Focus on the kids, your lessons, your displays. Clean a cabinet, a closet. You may not have control over the crappy part of your life, but you can control what's in your cabinets. 
10. However, if you are ill, sit. Chill. Don't get in the kids faces. Wash your hands all the time. You can teach art sitting (I hate it, but I had to. It was boooooring, but I did it).
11. Don't text or take phone calls during the school day. Escape from your issues for awhile. Except when it's that super important Doctor or Lawyer call you have been waiting forrreeevvver for. You have to take that. Get someone to cover your class, and go hide in a closet, bathroom, whatever. 
12. Use your older kids as helpers. Whatever kind of school you teach in, you have some older kids who are awesome, responsible and capable of hanging art in the halls, preparing and prepping art supplies, running paperwork errands. I have about 7 5th grade "Art Helpers" who come in once or twice a week during their recess. I put them to work! USE. YOUR. KIDS.
13. Use your waiting room time to update social media. If having a digital presence is important to you, your students or your school, Dr's waiting room time is a great time to update. Pop in some text and photos. It doesn't have to be elaborate. Plus, it takes your mind off..things...
14. Remember. This is temporary. This will end. And next year, what kind of art room or art program do you envision? Focus on that. You will get through this. 

Hang in there, peeps. I hope you stay happy and healthy. But as some of us crawl towards Spring Break, some just hoping to make it to summer, send a kind thought our way. 

Updated! The realities of teaching: I NEED A SUB!

 A week and a half into the school year and I got knocked out for two weeks by a kidney stone! Are you kidding me?

***********************************************************************************************
I need a sub.
Worst sentence ever.

The reality of teaching is that sooner or later, you're going to need a sub.

It might be because a freak winter storm has shut down your neighborhood and you cannot get to work.  

It might be because your kid is sick.

It might be because you have to attend a wedding or a funeral.

It might be because you desperately need a mental health day.

Huh. It might be because you are sick. 

(See how I put us last? Because most teachers HATE preparing for a sub and would rather just go to work.)

The reality is that you teach hundreds of kids and they are spreading their funky germs all over you. And you are allowed to have a life outside of your classroom. 

Full disclosure: your first 2 years of teaching? Yeah, you're going to be sick. A lot. You might even believe you have the plague.

New teacher, this is you. Nah, I'm joking. But not really.

Did you know that teaching is one of the most stressful professions? (Constant stress, year after year, can really mess up your body and mind. Take care of yourselves.)

Listen to me. Trust me. For the love of all that is good and holy, YOU MUST PREPARE FOR A SUB NOW. 

For the kids

I know. Planning for a sub is a PAaaaaiiiiiiiiiiIN. You run the gigantic risk that they won't follow your plans anyway, throwing off your entire week or rotation. 

Which is why most teachers would rather just come to work. 

And then we get run down. 

And then we get sicker.

And then we get REALLY sick.

And then it's too late.

So what do you do? You can't NOT be sick, or NOT go to your sister's wedding, or NOT take care of your sick baby.

There are two types of absences: 

The Planned Absence looks like this, if you are crazy like me:

All directions, student shout outs and materials are neatly laid out. Stress free! Life is awesome!

The Unplanned Absence looks like this (me, the very next day):

...ugh i don't even want to care. 

Why am I apologizing? Because it was a Friday, at seven am. If a sub did not pick up the job, my classes would have been split between the rest of the Specials. That means our Music, PE teachers and Librarian would have had seven to eight extra kids. Which is like a thousand.

Which means their classes/rotations are all thrown off. Domino effect.

But this is what teachers DO. We step in and help each other. We are flexible.

Here's the deal:

You need to be prepared. Right now, right now, if you are feeling healthy, start making emergency sub plans. 

• Prepare one day plans for all your classes for those single days. Try not to make it a movie, unless it is relevant to what they are learning. 
• Prepare 1 and 2 week or rotation plans for your kids, complete lessons with exact directions and anything the sub might need (where to find materials, prints, books, etc.) for if (God forbid) you are out for a week or more. 
• After 2 weeks, your district probably has a Medical Leave Policy, which you would talk to HR about.
• Consider having Free Choice Centers: free draw, mosaics, modeling clay, finger weaving, magnets, rods and connectors, collage, etc! Pre-train the kids on what to do and your sub will only have to deal with classroom management.

KEEP ALL THIS IN A BOX OR BINDER IN AN OBVIOUS PLACE.

Make sure someone (teammates, dept chair, teacher friends, anyone) knows where this is. This seems silly, but this is very important. Your teacher friends do not know your classroom like you do.

 Include, if applicable:

• Seating charts
• Weather, disaster and fire drill plans, etc.
• Student health and special ed info if your district requires it. Keep it confidential.
• General info about your philosophy and student expectations (do not assume your sub will be Art Ed certified).
• Information about the school: 
• Where to find staff bathrooms and lounge, if there are vending machines, closest restaurants or coffee shops, who to talk to if there are questions and their room number, anything else that might be helpful.
• Information about your room:
• Where to find necessary materials, what materials are "off limits", appropriate noise and behavior levels, class rules and procedures, how much time to allow for clean up, end of day procedures, your duties, where to put student art work, anything else that might be helpful.

If your district offers a Sick Leave Bank, join it. I can't tell you how many people tell me they don't join "because they never get sick". And then they do. Or their kid or spouse does. And it comes back to bite them.

Hopefully you will never, ever need to use any of this.

 I do hope that is the case. I really do.

But should you find yourself overwhelmed with the realities of life, it is nice to know that you don't have to worry about your students.

Stay healthy, my friends.

More:

the art of ed why-centers-make-the-perfect-sub-plans/

the art of ed planning-for-a-long-term-sub-before-during-and-after/

The realities of teaching: I NEED A SUB!

Updated! A week and a half into the school year and I got knocked out for two weeks by a kidney stone! Are you kidding me?


I need a sub.
Worst sentence ever.

The reality of teaching is that sooner or later, you're going to need a sub.

It might be because a freak winter storm has shut down your neighborhood and you cannot get to work.  

It might be because your kid is sick.

It might be because you have to attend a wedding or a funeral.

It might be because you desperately need a mental health day.

Huh. It might be because you are sick. 

(See how I put us last? Because most teachers HATE preparing for a sub and would rather just go to work.)

The reality is that you teach hundreds of kids and they are spreading their funky germs all over you. And you are allowed to have a life outside of your classroom. 

Full disclosure: your first 2 years of teaching? Yeah, you're going to be sick. A lot. You might even believe you have the plague.

New teacher, this is you. Nah, I'm joking. But not really.

Did you know that teaching is one of the most stressful professions? (Constant stress, year after year, can really mess up your body and mind. Take care of yourselves.)

Listen to me. Trust me. For the love of all that is good and holy, YOU MUST PREPARE FOR A SUB NOW. 

For the kids

I know. Planning for a sub is a PAaaaaiiiiiiiiiiIN. You run the gigantic risk that they won't follow your plans anyway, throwing off your entire week or rotation. 

Which is why most teachers would rather just come to work. 

And then we get run down. 

And then we get sicker.

And then we get REALLY sick.

And then it's too late.

So what do you do? You can't NOT be sick, or NOT go to your sister's wedding, or NOT take care of your sick baby.

There are two types of absences: 

The Planned Absence looks like this, if you are crazy like me:

All directions, student shout outs and materials are neatly laid out. Stress free! Life is awesome!

The Unplanned Absence looks like this (me, the very next day):

...ugh i don't even want to care. 

Why am I apologizing? Because it was a Friday, at seven am. If a sub did not pick up the job, my classes would have been split between the rest of the Specials. That means our Music, PE teachers and Librarian would have had seven to eight extra kids. Which is like a thousand.

Which means their classes/rotations are all thrown off. Domino effect.

But this is what teachers DO. We step in and help each other. We are flexible.

Here's the deal:

You need to be prepared. Right now, right now, if you are feeling healthy, start making emergency sub plans. 

• Prepare one day plans for all your classes for those single days. Try not to make it a movie, unless it is relevant to what they are learning. 
• Prepare 1 and 2 week or rotation plans for your kids, complete lessons with exact directions and anything the sub might need (where to find materials, prints, books, etc.) for if (God forbid) you are out for a week or more. 
• After 2 weeks, your district probably has a Medical Leave Policy, which you would talk to HR about.
• Consider having Free Choice Centers: free draw, mosaics, modeling clay, finger weaving, magnets, rods and connectors, collage, etc! Pre-train the kids on what to do and your sub will only have to deal with classroom management.

KEEP ALL THIS IN A BOX OR BINDER IN AN OBVIOUS PLACE.

Make sure someone (teammates, dept chair, teacher friends, anyone) knows where this is. This seems silly, but this is very important. Your teacher friends do not know your classroom like you do.

 Include, if applicable:

• Seating charts
• Weather, disaster and fire drill plans, etc.
• Student health and special ed info if your district requires it. Keep it confidential.
• General info about your philosophy and student expectations (do not assume your sub will be Art Ed certified).
• Information about the school: 
• Where to find staff bathrooms and lounge, if there are vending machines, closest restaurants or coffee shops, who to talk to if there are questions and their room number, anything else that might be helpful.
• Information about your room:
• Where to find necessary materials, what materials are "off limits", appropriate noise and behavior levels, class rules and procedures, how much time to allow for clean up, end of day procedures, your duties, where to put student art work, anything else that might be helpful.

If your district offers a Sick Leave Bank, join it. I can't tell you how many people tell me they don't join "because they never get sick". And then they do. Or their kid or spouse does. And it comes back to bite them.

Hopefully you will never, ever need to use any of this.

 I do hope that is the case. I really do.

But should you find yourself overwhelmed with the realities of life, it is nice to know that you don't have to worry about your students.

Stay healthy, my friends.

More:

the art of ed why-centers-make-the-perfect-sub-plans/

the art of ed planning-for-a-long-term-sub-before-during-and-after/