Dr. Elizabeth Green

Instructional Designer, Writer, and Free Spirit

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Avoiding Burnout – Getting Real About Your Schedule

August 12, 2015 by Elizabeth Leave a Comment

Burnout (2)Educators are some of the most dedicated professionals I know. They spend time and money improving their skills; devote countless hours outside their required work hours preparing lessons and the classroom environment; and attend trainings and take college classes to improve their craft. Many use money from their family budget to supply their classrooms or send snacks home with hungry children. Because of educators’ devotion to service, they often find themselves overworked, tired, and missing the time and energy to enjoy their families.

If an educator desires a long-term profession rather than a temporary job, one must find ways to sustain the energy and finances over time. Trying to do too much at once to the detriment of one’s health, personal fulfillment, finances, or family life leads to burn out. See Self-care for Teachers: A Lesson from my Peach Tree. Busy teachers find themselves helping beyond the school day to sponsor student organizations; attend professional development; coach sports, music, or fine arts activities; serve on committees; sponsor a class; help with the prom; sell tickets or work in concession stands at sporting events; and/or help students raise funds for various events. Because educators have skills and experience, communities and organizations often ask for help with teaching faith-based classes, hosting events, and organizing service projects. All of these activities are worthy of an educator’s time and effort, but it is impossible to do everything at once without burning up and burning out. In order to have an enduring career in the education profession, it’s important to consider request for time carefully and consider the following.

  1. Evaluate your time. Keep a log of your time for several days during a typical week and weekend. Mark each day in 15-minute increments and keep track of how you spent your time. Include planning, teaching, answering emails, grading student work, meeting with colleagues, serving on committees, communicating with parents. Include sleep, showering and dressing, answering emails, preparing meals, eating, exercise, rest, play, and family time.
  2. Evaluate your mission. For teachers: Is it to provide the best possible instruction? For principals and other school leaders: Is your mission to provide services to improve instruction? For all: Do you have a mission or goals for your personal life? If not, consider what you want for yourself and your family and write a personal and family mission statement.
  3. Compare your time log and your mission. Does your time log mirror your mission and goals? If your mission is to help teachers with instruction, yet you more time dealing with angry parents or on management task rather than improving instruction, your actions are misaligned. Which activities need reevaluation? Are there some activities in your personal life that do not add value to your life? Might you eliminate or minimize these?
  4. Consider improvement over time. Which activities will help you improve your professional practice?   Consider how you might complete those activities over time rather than doing too much at once. For example, you might spend 15 minutes a few times a week learning a new skill or connecting with teachers on social media sites to glean new teaching techniques. Alternatively, would an uninterrupted block of time help you improve? An example is attending professional development over a long weekend rather than learning skills in short segments?
  5. Assign teamwork – In order to improve schools, everyone must do some extra duties, such as participating in professional learning communities or providing students with extra help or enrichment activities. How might schools or teams divide the work fairly?
  6. Ask for help. Look for ways for others to help you at home and at school. Is it possible for your older children to help with laundry and meals? Does your school have parent group that can help you with classroom duties? Are some of the teachers doing most of the work? Are there community groups that can send snacks home with hungry students on days when school meal programs are unavailable?
  7. Finally, find joy in your work. Which activities do you enjoy? When we are living our life’s purpose, there is joy in our work and life. While we all have some duties that simply have to be done, how might you minimize the time on those task to do the work you enjoy most? Are there others on your home or school team who would love doing the activities you detest? Could you do some of their tasks in return?

It can be scary to look at your schedule in a new way. But having the resources including time and energy for a balanced life is worth the effort.  Next: The Art of Saying NO

Self-care for Teachers: A Lesson from my Peach Tree

August 3, 2015 by Elizabeth 3 Comments

2010-01-01 00.00.00-312Some years the single peach tree in our garden produces so much fruit that I make enough jelly for our extended family and close friends. Other years, drought, warm winters, or a late freeze prevents the tree from bearing. Early this spring, we were delighted to see hundreds of pink blossoms turn into tiny fuzzy peaches. The bumper crop was due to the right number of cool winter nights and plenty of winter and spring rains. I counted the days until the flesh would ripen and the green fruit would morph to peach and cream, fuzzy, deliciousness. I imagined the first bite of the fully ripe fruit so juicy that the nectar would dribble down my chin. I purchased half-pint jelly jars from the local dollar store, envisioning the delight of my family and friends as we presented homemade jelly as gifts.

This year, the tree produced hundreds of peaches no larger than a golf ball. The tree dropped most of its leaves and looked sickly. I researched gardening websites to figure out what we had done wrong. Did we need more fertilizer or water? The answer was that we should have pruned some of the fruit. To be exact, we should have clipped away much of the small fruit allowing each peach six to eight inches of space on the tree. The gardening experts state that the tree cannot provide enough nutrients and water to grow the fruit the proper size. I’m concerned that our tree might not survive the remainder of the hot Texas summer and fall.
My fruit tree taught me a lesson in self-care. While I’s counterintuitive to prune and discard what looks like perfectly good fruit, sometimes I need to do so. Sometimes I do so many things that I don’t do any of them well. Pruning my schedule and my to-do list helps me focus on quality rather than quantity. What do you need to prune from your life and teaching practice?

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Hi! I'm Elizabeth. ...a researcher, educator, instructional designer, writer, mom, activist, and optimist, and this is my personal blog.  I mostly write about educational issues, but can get sidetracked into issues that I find interesting or timely.   Disclaimer This is my personal … Read More...

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Hi! I'm Elizabeth. ...a researcher, educator, instructional designer, writer, mom, activist, and optimist, and this is my personal blog.  I mostly write about educational issues, but can get … Read More...

From the Blog

  • Experiencing Shame and Compassion
  • Leaving Shame Behind
  • Avoiding Burnout – Getting Real About Your Schedule
  • Self-care for Teachers: A Lesson from my Peach Tree
  • Insist on Educational Excellence

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