How to make my day “suck less”?
It was a Tuesday in the middle of February (i.e. the longest month of the year) when I walked into the room of a new teacher I work with and she looked at me with exhausted eyes and asked: “How can I make my day suck less?”
I looked her in the eye and with all of my mentor expertise said, “Try doing something that doesn’t suck.”
Ha. Good one, mentor. How exactly do you suggest I do that?
Let’s zoom out past teaching.
In a lot of areas of life, the actual task might suck (I see you laundry). Even though we still need to do the laundry (or so I’m told), we can pair it with something that doesn't suck. I love to listen to an audiobook or watch the Bachelor while folding laundry. Adding something enjoyable to the task takes out a little of the “suck” and can even make it something I look forward to.
Of course, there are some things in education (any job, really) that you have to do that might just suck. BUT, can you add something to those things (or just to the day in general) that doesn’t suck?
Tips for making your day more enjoyable:
Food-Lover: Are you a total foodie and love cooking? Bring that into your lessons - math, science, reading, social studies - it can fit pretty much anywhere! Heck, baking a cake uses fractions, reactions, states of matter, history, reading and following instructions… I mean, talk about an integrated lesson!
Book-Lover: Love reading? Choose a class read-aloud that you are actually excited to read. I love read-alouds with a little mystery or historical fiction slant.
Music-Lover: Love music? Play some in your classroom - whether that means using actual instruments and making up songs or just playing music during work time. There are often instrumental versions of pretty much any music genre to keep it “classroom safe”. (Vitamin String Quartet is one of my favorite go-to’s for that).
Movement-Lover: Love being active? Choose one day of the week when YOU play the games at recess. I love being the pitcher at kickball or joining in a game of basketball. Talk about a confidence boost: playing a sport with 3rd graders who immediately put you on the same level as Michael Jordan.
Art-Lover: Love to draw or paint? Find a way to add that into your week’s lessons. Create diagrams, sketch characters to work on detail finding, teach styles of note-taking that involve doodling, draw at indoor recess with them, etc.
Organization-Lover: Love having a clean, organized space? Make that a part of your classroom routine at the end of the day. Give students specific jobs on what to pick up and what to wipe down. Bonus: they weirdly enjoy it. Kids love to help!
We all know there are a lot of things in teaching - in LIFE! - that we have to do that maybe wouldn’t be our first choice (i.e. they suck), so let’s choose this week to bring in something that doesn’t suck to maybe make our days, well, suck less.
Want more tips for fun in the classroom? Check out these posts!
