Managing Expectations & Priorities for the School Year

The Overwhelming Reality

Is there too much to do and too little time? Teachers face an overwhelming amount of expectations, especially at the start of the school year. We feel pressured to implement new strategies, new programs, and countless current classroom practices. We want to do our best, but how do we make all this work and still enjoy our work and our life?

Bree Goff, author of “Today Was Fun: A Book About Work,” explores what drives us to work so hard. She says the faster you realize that work is a bottomless pit, the better. There is always more work to do, so we need a better strategy.

PBS: Your Daily Reset Strategy

Try this with me, PBS: Pause, Breathe, and Slow Down. Be aware of your breathing. Move slowly. Look around the room and notice something that makes you smile. Take a moment to put your oxygen mask on first, which may translate to having your cup of coffee in peace and quiet before the kids come through the door, or take a walk around the building at lunchtime.

Clarity Through Self-Care

Consider carving out two more moments in your schedule to care for your mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. Yes, work, especially teaching, is a bottomless pit, and at some point, you have to carve out time for yourself. What will nourish you in this moment? What gives you the energy to move forward?

We can’t do it all, but we can do what matters most. When we can be present for ourselves and take care of our body and mind, we have more clarity. Our prefrontal cortex can filter through our to-do list more effectively, allowing us to see what needs to be done and what can be left undone—at least for now.

Purpose Beyond Productivity

Reconnecting with Your Why

Reexamine what inspired you to be a teacher. Yes, things may have changed, and they may be harder, but what is the spark that keeps you teaching day after day?

While there are countless ways to make ourselves more productive, I invite you to dig deeper. What is your purpose in teaching? Can you connect with your purpose that transcends productivity, test scores, and your end-of-year evaluation? If you were to evaluate yourself, what matters most at the end of the day?

How Purpose Guides Priorities

When we put our purpose at the forefront of our work, it guides us to what really matters and can help us prioritize what is most important. Perhaps your purpose is to create a beautiful classroom community, to inspire kids to love science, or to be a nurturing adult in the lives of your students. You may want kids to have fun, enjoy school, and love learning, or to gain confidence in themselves.

Whatever your purpose, it can give meaning to the more mundane tasks on your to-do list and let you decide which directives you can let go. The expectations will always be there, and connecting to our purpose can give us clarity. We need to prioritize what’s most meaningful to us.

Mastering What You Can Control

Sure, there are aspects of every job that are less than desirable. We can’t do it all, but we can take care of ourselves and reignite the spark that drives us to wake up every day. When we are purposeful, we can take care of our own well-being and discern what works for us in our classroom. We may not be the masters of everything, but we can be the masters of ourselves and our classroom.

Resources:

• Professional Development: Andy Smallman on Connecting People to Their True Nature
• Professional Development: Mindful Practices for a Calm and Connected Classroom
• Article: Mindful Moments: A Lifeline for Busy Teachers
• Article: The Teacher Burnout Crisis – And How We Can Fix It