22d • General discussion
Welcome to May
Mama May-a, here we go again!
I’ve been out of the classroom for a few years now, but May still brings a tightness to my chest. Not an overwhelming feeling, necessarily. Just the sense that there are one million balls in the air and it is somehow my responsibility to juggle every single one. This, and every ball is more important, more impactful, more shiny than the one before. And they’re all on fire. Between graduations from Kinder to 8th to high school, spirit week, field trips, end-of-year exams, final grades, and tying a bow on the year that was…teachers are in the thick of it.
So fine, maybe it feels a bit overwhelming. But it’s a celebration! It’s high fives and good vibes. It’s a pat on the back for a year well done. May’s theme is eustress, not distress, but we can be transparent here- stress is stress is stress. It’s a lot.
May is fueled by caffeine, sugar, and sheer delusion. If I ever needed a spotter during the zombie apocalypse, I would dibs a teacher who is running on a triple espresso from Beans and Brews and still has glitter in her hair from Crazy Hair Day. She is unstoppable, she is fearless, and she can feel no pain.
In the blur of the month, it can be tempting to make some tasks an “August problem”. Don’t fall for it. It’s a trap.
As exhausted as you may feel right now, do your best to set yourself up for success once you return to school. Your future self will be thankful that you invested in her now, I promise.
A few tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way, for May:
Classroom Hygiene
I have inherited a few classrooms over the years. Some were left in sparkling condition. Desks as clean as clean could be, considering they belonged to first graders for 180 days, stacked neatly in the middle of the room. Walls left as a blank canvas, inviting new children to share their inspiration the following year. These teachers are literal angels on earth and will enter heaven through the VIP entrance, with merely a wink and a nod to St. Peter as they float on by.
I also inherited classrooms that were extremely cluttered from their previous owners, and it took all of August (and into the first quarter) to sort everything into “crap” and “keep” piles. Looking back, it was all crap. However, the dumpsters couldn’t hold it all at one time, and it had to go…somewhere. I’m not sure whether this teacher thought she was being helpful or had simply given up, but either way, it was an experience I will never gift to a fellow educator.
All that to say, spend real time cleaning your classroom throughout May. Grab some shaving cream and have your students help you with desks. Choose one wall a week and focus all your efforts on that section of the room as you’re able.
Pull in reinforcements- parent volunteers, TA’s, or family members. If you wouldn’t keep it for yourself, get rid of it.
Invest in your future self today. She will thank you in a few short months.
Vertical Alignment
It’s so funny to me when teachers say they feel siloed. Education can, of course, feel like a microcosm day in and day out, but the work we do impacts every single corner of the world. It’s like the root system of the wild fig trees in South Africa…the impact goes on further and more deeply than we can see with our own eyes.
Nothing highlights this point more than vertical alignment between grade levels. Some of the most insightful meetings I’ve ever had were with the second-grade team as a third-grade teacher in May. They shared student profiles, ways they differentiated for them, and any behaviors or quirks that would be helpful to know the following year. Then, they let us know how far they got on their standards and how well the students mastered them. These were fairly quick meetings, no more than an hour, but they gave us an invaluable head start with our incoming students. The third-grade team would offer the same insights to the fourth-grade team, and that process was followed throughout the school.
Over time, the notion of “my kids” or “my grade level” became a misnomer. As a third-grade teacher, I understood my responsibility to have a basic grasp of the second- and fourth-grade standards. I needed to understand where my students came from and where they were going. Their third-grade year is only a quick, 180-day stop on their educational tour, not the main event.
Vertical alignment invites teachers to practice collective efficacy, which is that crazy belief that everyone in the building plays an active and crucial role in students’ education. When teachers de-center their own grade level and focus more on student growth as a whole, it helps move us away from the idea that our impact lasts for only one school year and toward the understanding that we are all part of a student’s long-term growth and success.
“Too-Muchness”
Think back to December. The glitz and the glamour and the sparkle and the shadow. May mirrors December in many ways, though the weather is nicer and flu season is a distant memory. There is just…so…much… Give yourself permission to prioritize events that require your attendance and send your regrets (without regret) to the things that can go on without you. Use this helpful flowchart to guide your event planning this month.
Be aware of your input/output balance throughout this month. Oftentimes, we catch ourselves spending way too much of our time and energy (input) into things that have very little impact (output). Pinterest boards are lovely, but none of your students truly care about the craft that you spent hours on the night before that could’ve been spent relaxing. What they do care about is a teacher who has a somewhat regulated nervous system, the last few weeks of the year. Because that is who they will remember years down the road. If you start to feel out of balance, do a little gut check.
Ask yourself- “How much will (insert task/situation/dilemma here) truly matter in one week? One month?” If the answer is minimal, give yourself permission to balance the scales and reprioritize.
Finally, remember that your students are having the best time right now. Let them.
Join in on the fun, too. Have a blast. Celebrate. You’ve earned it.
Be silly for me,
Kell
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Welcome to May
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