Keep Going

The blog post this week was written by Ruth Ayres. She is a full-time writing coach for Wawasee School District in northern Indiana. She blogs at Ruth Ayres Writes and is the coauthor of Day by Day, available through Stenhouse Publishers.

Keep Going If you have a positive attitude and constantly strive to give your best effort, eventually you will overcome your immediate problems and find you are ready for greater challenges.                                                                                                                  Pat Riley What happens when your email is bulging and the paperwork is mounting and your conferring notes are sloppy? What happens when you’re overwhelmed and unsure of the next step? What happens when you feel like you’ll never catch up? If you have a positive attitude and constantly strive to give your best effort, eventually you will overcome your immediate problems and find you are ready for greater challenges.  You keep going. It is challenging to meet the diverse needs of a classroom of students, while at the same time attending to the demands of all the other things a teacher must do. The work load is heavy and the time commitment is significant. It is inevitable that at some point you will feel overwhelmed. Instead of giving up, you keep going. Make a List Quickly write down each of the tasks you need to complete. Make a fast list and chances are the most pressing needs will appear. When you have nothing else to add, go back and select three tasks to prioritize. Think Small Break big tasks into smaller chunks. By thinking small, we are able to accomplish big tasks. Set a Timer Often when feeling overwhelmed it is easy to believe there isn’t enough time to complete anything. I often avoid tasks when I’m stressed because the task seems so big and my time is limited. I’ve found by setting a timer for 15 minutes, I’m able to get started. Fifteen minutes isn’t overwhelming; it is possible. I work diligently and efficiently, knowing when the timer goes off, I can take a break. Surprisingly, I often complete a task in 15 minutes, while other times I get into the zone and will continue working after the timer rings. Getting started is the first step to catching up. Read It might seem counter intuitive to spend time reading when you are struggling to keep up with your work. However, I’ve found by reading an article or a blog post, I gain energy. It’s important to keep grounded in our core beliefs, and one way to do this is through reading. This is a great reward for working until the timer rings! Look for the Growth As teachers we are constantly pushing students to learn more and read harder texts and write with more sophistication. It is easy to become overwhelmed by everything students don’t know. When we take our focus off of what students aren’t able to do, we are able to gain energy. Instead of being bogged down by students’ needs, consider completing this statement: “My students used to need ______________, but now they know ______________. “ Find a Celebration When we look for the positive, our attitudes become more positive. If we are worried and stressed by everything we aren’t doing, then our attitudes can become more negative. Expecting to find something to celebrate is enough to change our focus and make catching up attainable. You are going to be overwhelmed, and when you are overwhelmed, you keep going. Being overwhelmed doesn’t make us failures. Rather, it is an opportunity for perseverance and determination. This how strength is built.