Go To Sleep!

Not to be a broken record, but I hate bedtime.  I despise it! It is stressful and makes me feel like an inadequate parent. It is hard and it's a constant battle to stay calm and stay patient. People keep telling me I need to enjoy the snuggles and bedtime stories and I try. I really do, but I just want to sleep.

Lately, I have started going to bed after I get Kiddo 2 to sleep. This allows me to get an hour or so of sleep before Kiddo 1 wakes me up so I can put her to sleep. She has decided that Daddy does not know how to run her feet correctly. I never knew I was a master foot rubber and back scratcher.  Tonight, Kiddo 2 woke up as I was trying to get Kiddo 1 to sleep, so I went and tried to get K2 back to sleep. To my amazement, Kiddo 1 stayed in bed and fell asleep on her own.  Miracles do happen! Kiddo 2 is teething or accidently drank a kid's milk cup at daycare or is having a reaction from pineapple or something. It's not always easy to figure out what is wrong with toddlers. Regardless of the reason, it has caused her to wake up 3 times in 4 hours. So my dislike of bedtime was multiplied tonight. 

I know I should treasure these moments when my kids snuggle up with me and when Kiddo 1 tells me she loves me way much as I rub her back. I know these moments are going to be gone before I know it. I know one day they will not want to sit in my lap or give me hugs or want me to touch them. One day, oh, one day they will fall asleep on their own. One day I will get sleep again. I know all of this, but it is so hard to enjoy the moment. It is hard to enjoy the snuggles and not resent the fact that I just want to sleep for more than three hours at a time. It is hard to enjoy the bedtime stories when I just want to have time to myself or clean the house or get work done. It is just hard! Instead of focusing and treasuring these moments, I let my frustration distract me.

How often do we as teachers do this in the classroom? How many moments do we miss in the classroom because we let our frustration get in the way? Why do I have to remind a student to get in line quietly, be kind to their classmates or stay in their spot? Why didn't they listen the first time I gave the direction or explained the project? Why...? I should be focusing on these moments with my students instead of letting my frustration steal my time with them. As a music and PE teacher, I only see my students 1-2 days a week. Our time together is short and the school year goes by quickly.

Today at the Keynote for the Indiana District Teachers Conference, George Couros said that your everyday is your legacy. Everyday we are building memories with our students and our families. What do you want to remember? The nights of frustration because your kids won't sleep or the goofy moments reading books and the sweet moments of snuggles? The light bulb moments when things click for your students, the acts of kindness or the everyday frustrations? I know what I want to remember. I don't think there are many who want to remember the frustrations.

It is a process. It is a struggle. Everyday and every night, I am going to be intentional about enjoying the moment with my kids and my students. They deserve it and I deserve it.

Action Steps (These are steps I have found useful to help me stay in the moment and enjoy the little moments with my kids and students.

1. Breathe: I hate when people close to me tell me to just breathe, but it really does help.

2. Pray: Prayer helps me stay in the moment.  Plus it gives me something to do besides have angry conversations in my head.

3. Put my phone away.

4.  Smile and be present.

Teaching Goals 2017-2018

Since reading 'Burn Your Goals' by Joshua Medcalf and Jamie Gilbert, I have tried to limit my use of the word Goals. In theory, they are a good idea, but I am more focused on how I am going to make them happen. This year I am teaching at 2 schools, a Catholic School and a Lutheran School. For the first time in my teaching career, I had to create goals for the school year. Each school uses different criteria so I have slightly different goals for each school.

What are your goals this year? How are you going to ensure that you have the tools in place to achieve them?

Lutheran School
Create unit assessments and self assessments using Google Forms for all 10 Physical Education Units and use this information to give students specific feedback about their progress.

Strengthen parent communication. Post to Bloomz weekly and send home a monthly newsletter.

Catholic School

Domain 1: Purposeful Planning

1.3 – Develop Standards-Based Unit Plans and Assessments

1.4 – Create Objective-Driven Lesson Plans and Assessments

I will create five Unit plans and assessments that are objective driven and based on standards for each grade.

Domain 2: Effective Instruction

2.8 Create Classroom Culture of Respect and Collaboration

2.9 Set High Expectations for Academic Success

Expectations will be posted and reviewed weekly. Student choice will be incorporated into at least one lesson per a month for grades 5^th-8^th.

Domain 4: Catholic Identity

4.5 Participate in Prayer and Support of Vision and Mission Statement of the School

I will participate in daily classroom and individual prayer and read through the entire Bible this school year.

Magic Bullet

I have always had a fascination with researching and organizing fitness plans. The problem is I spend hours researching the "best" workouts and rarely find time to complete the workouts. One things I have learned is that the best workout plan will not produce results unless I actually complete the program. I would love to spend an hour a day working out, but it is just not possible right now.

As I was doing work on this blog, I was reminded about my previous run streaks. I miss the routine of running everyday and I have decided to start a new Run Streak. Fitness has to be easy or I will not do it. Life is too busy right now with everything else that is going on. So, I am keeping it simple. Run everyday (at least a mile) and add some strength exercises. I am trying to use our treadmill more while we spent money on it and have been doing intervals and using the incline.

Monday - Upper Body

Tuesday - Abdominals

Wednesday - Lower Body

Thursday - Upper Body

Friday - Abdominals 

Saturday - Lower Body

Sunday - Rest (Softball for the month of September)

There is no magic bullet.  Consistency and effort while working on correct skills lead to success. Last year my district had the Quaver Curriculum. I enjoyed using the curriculum and it worked well in the setting I was in. This year I have made the transition to 'The First Steps of Music' with my younger students and project based activities with my older students. This curriculum works better given the schedule constraints of my current schools. Each situation is unique and lends itself to different curriculum structures.

Physical Education Lesson Plans

Last school year I discovered the magic of automatic lesson plans using Google Forms.  Thanks to Matt from Ditch that Textbook! I set it up and was excited to use it but it not work with the way my schedule worked and my school was going to implement Plan Book so I tried that program. This summer my family relocated and I am now teaching K-4 Physical Education and K-8 Music at a Lutheran School and K-8 Music at a Catholic School.

I decided to try using Google Forms for my PE lesson plans and so far I am very happy with it. I followed the directions from Matt to set up the Google Form.  The only issue I am currently having is that my forms won't correctly name the file.  Other than that I am very happy with this tool for lesson planning. It is quick, easy and useful. I am still figuring out how to setup a form to use for music lesson plans. 

Lesson Plans

I Have a Choice

We just finished our fifth week of school.  The honeymoon phase is officially over. Limit testing is in full swing and I have been having conversations with my students about their choices. When I talk to a student about their behavior, one response that always bothers me is, "but Mrs. Wren, s/he _____." A bad choice is a bad choice. The circumstances behind the choice are usually not very important, at least not to me. It does not matter if a kid pushed another kid because they were mad, the bottom line is that they pushed someone and that behavior is wrong. 

As a teacher and parent, it is easy to look at a student or Kiddo 1 and tell them that their behavior was wrong regardless of the circumstances, but man is it hard to look in the mirror and say the same thing. I have gotten really good at making excuses for my anger and yelling. I can convince myself my behavior is justified.  The justification almost always revolves around sleep deprivation. Kiddo 1 was up late or Kiddo 2 was up multiple times to eat.

I know sleep deprivation is a really issue and we are trying to deal with the sleep issues but in the mean time, I have a choice to make. I can continue to let it control my behavior or I can work to control my behavior regardless of how much sleep I got or did not get the night before.  My softball coach in college used to always say we can control two things: our effort and our attitude. Once again those lessons on the field are relevant in the real world. I can control my attitude or I can let sleep deprivation control it for me.

The same is true in classroom. I can let my frustrations control my attitude or I can be the type of teacher/person I want to be regardless of what is going on around me. This is no easy task! Joshua Medcalf and Jamie Gilbert of Train2BClutch have an entire business entity around the philosophy of treating others well and doing your best regardless of your circumstances.

I am tired! I am also tired of behaving in the same ways and it is time to change my behavior and control my attitude. Sleep deprivation is a convenient excuse, but it does not limit the damage that yelling and being rude can have on my family and my own mental health.

We make thousands of choices every day.  Are you going to let your circumstance influence your behavior or are you going to act lovingly and respectful regardless of your circumstance? As my principal says at the closing of daily announcements, have a good day or a bad day, the choice is yours.

A New Way to Do Things

Since I became a Mom three years ago, I have struggled with feeling like I can't do everything at the level I would like.  If I am the teacher I want to be, I feel like I am failing my family and when I am spending time with my family, I feel like I am failing my students.  There are simply not enough hours in a day. The other night I tweeted out a question: Can I be a good teaching only working 7:30-4?  I have only been a mom for three years which means I still remember being able to stay at school late most nights and going in on weekends.  During the no kid time in my life, that schedule was manageable, but it is no longer is possible. 

A few people responded to my tweet and the overall consensus was that I worked too much before kids and it is possible to still be a good teacher and not work crazy hours. One person did say that it is not possible to be a good teacher without working crazy hours. I know work life balance is a struggle for many people.

I have come to the conclusion that I cannot be the teacher I was before I had kids.  I have time to dedicate towards working on school projects that is not taken up by family. I am trying to find ways to be more efficient with my time and to spend my time doing truly valuable projects. One issue that compounds the lack of time for me, is lack of sleep.  I have young children, who do not always sleep when I want them to.  Lack of sleep and lack of uninterrupted time makes getting work done more difficult. 

This school year I am focusing on creating systems to help me get work done more efficiently and to make time for myself, so can be the best for those around me. I may not be able to stay after school until late, but I can use the time I do have more effectively by having an organized list of tasks to accomplish. I am also learning to prioritize tasks for when my kids are awake and when they are sleeping. It is a work in progress. 

How do you balance life and work?