When I first started teaching, I would be the first car in the parking lot and the last to leave at night. I was burnt out, exhausted, and had nothing left for my life outside of teaching. Something had to change. I started doing 3 things that changed the game for me and helped me stick to only working my contract hours β¬οΈ 1. Advocated for my planning time. This will look different for everyone, but check your contract! See exactly what you are entitled to getting and advocate for yourself to get it! That is part of your contracted time! 2. Made my classroom centers based. I lesson planned a month at a time typically so having my classroom set up in centers made it so easy to prep and plan activities for several days at a time! 3. Utilized weekly checklists for extra tasks. We have about a million things on our to do lists at any given time, plus there are always things that need to be done just to keep our classrooms running. I made weekly checklists for me and my paras to complete throughout the week whenever we had a few free minutes. Anyone that had time could pick something from the list to tackle so we always stayed on top of things! Think thinks like laminating, disinfecting toys, rotating task boxes, organizing supplies, etc. Of course there were times here and there I would come in early or stay late, but I really tried to stick to these things to help me spend less extra time at work! Saving teachers time and energy is something I am so passionate about! I share tips, resources, freebies, and so much more in my email newsletter. Youβll be the first to know about new resources, blog posts, and when my course opens! Comment LIST to get access to my newsletter! π
#specialeducation #specialeducationteacher #specialeducationclassroom #spedteacher #iloveteaching #teacherlife #newteacher #newspecialeducationteacher