Three Things You Can Do for Your Mindset as You Return Back to Teaching This Fall

These are three things that I’ve tried to remember and implement as school returns each fall.

1 - You’re going to be tired. 

Teaching is exhausting and after a summer of later nights and sleeping later than typical during the school year, there’s always a shift to return to the school schedule.  Make as few plans the first weekend before and after school begins so that you can regroup.  A nap on Saturday after the first week is almost a necessity for me and I try to keep that day open so that I can do very little. If you know you’re going to be tired (and you will be), make a plan for how you can do something restful or rejuvenating before you head back to teach on week two.

Pace yourself as best you can with all of the to-do’s on your list. Focus on the day or week in front of you; try not to get overwhelmed by what is coming in the next few weeks. One of the best things we can do is try to get to bed earlier than we think we need to and give ourselves plenty of ‘sleep opportunity.’ Dr. Matthew Walker, author of While We Sleep, talks about how we need to think through how much time we want to sleep at night. If we want to sleep 8 hours a night, we want to build in a little buffer of time so that we give ourselves sleep opportunity time of more than 8 hours.

2 - Choose one thing to continue from summer that brings you joy.

Make healthy lunches, do yoga, play a board game one night with your kids, read for ten minutes each night. You don’t have to do something every single day as you return to teaching. Having something once a week or a few nights a week - even for ten minutes - can do a world of wonders in helping your relax, destress, and keep you from overworking.

I try to find some way to step away from all of the school things that are fighting for my attention at the start of the year. I walk my dog. Stretch, run or ride my Faux-a-ton (I love my Schwinn ic4!). I read a fiction book or watch a tv show. Sometimes all it takes is a few minutes of sitting on the couch staring into space for me to feel a little better. Not sure what to do? Just sit on your couch - you might end up taking a nap and loving that. Go outside for a short walk. Write down three things that went well today. You’re guaranteed to feel better as you find one thing to do away from your teaching.

3 - Give yourself grace

You may have spent time this summer learning from incredible educators and you’re inspired to make changes to your teaching in the classroom and have high hopes and goals for how this is going to go.  Don’t be discouraged if things are slower to change than expected.  It takes time to adjust ourselves and our students to changes.  Implement new ideas one at a time. Celebrate when they go well. And when they don’t go well, don’t give up.  Try it again or try something else new.

You may return to find that things aren’t as you expected. Your schedule has changed. Expectations for performances has changed. Students aren’t responding to the content you’re teaching. What can you control? What can you let go of? How can you reframe the unexpected? What are the positives and negatives associated with the new year? How can you make a plan to deal with any adjustments you’re facing this year? Give yourself grace to try something new, adjust to the unexpected, and decide what you can do to make the situations work best for you and your students.

I hope that as you enter the new school year, you find ways to rest, keep one of the wonderful things going that you enjoyed this summer, and give yourself grace.