As winter break approaches, every teacher anticipates a well-deserved pause, but what if you could make it both restful and productive? In this episode, we're delving into practical strategies for not just catching up but getting ahead over winter break. From defining clear goals to theming your days and managing your time effectively, we've got your guide to a rejuvenating and fruitful break.
🚀 Ready to take these strategies into the school year? Join us in the Ready, Set Prep challenge, where we provide step-by-step guidance to keep you ahead without sacrificing your weekends. Teaching is a journey best shared, so don't miss out on making it more manageable and enjoyable.
🔗 Explore more insights and join our Winter Break Reset Mini-Course using code PRESENTTEACHERPODCAST for $10 off! 🎁
Tune in now and let's make this winter break a game-changer for your teaching career!
As winter break approaches, every teacher anticipates a well-deserved pause, but what if you could make it both restful and productive? In this episode, we're delving into practical strategies for not just catching up but getting ahead over winter break. From defining clear goals to theming your days and managing your time effectively, we've got your guide to a rejuvenating and fruitful break.
🚀 Ready to take these strategies into the school year? Join us in the Ready, Set Prep challenge, where we provide step-by-step guidance to keep you ahead without sacrificing your weekends. Teaching is a journey best shared, so don't miss out on making it more manageable and enjoyable.
🔗 Explore more insights and join our Winter Break Reset Mini-Course using code PRESENTTEACHERPODCAST for $10 off! 🎁
Tune in now and let's make this winter break a game-changer for your teaching career!
So it's winter break and you're wanting to get ahead without sacrificing your entire winter break. The first two years of teaching, I was always spending my entire break working. I would plot my stacks of papers in front of the TV and binge watch friends and I Christmas movies, trying to get ahead. But there was just one problem. The problem was that, no matter how hard I worked, by the time school started back up after the break, I didn't feel in the least bit rested, and that's because I had spent my entire break working and grading and creating lesson plans, because I didn't know there was another way to get ahead without sacrificing my breaks to get ahead. So around my second year, I started diving into time management strategies and hacks and I took courses, listened to podcasts and I quickly discovered that there were actually three simple steps to get ahead, and for the upcoming school year or for the rest of the school year, and that's what we're going to dive in. So let's jump in. Hey, teacher Bestie, my name is Helena and I'm the creator of the present teacher podcast. I'm a first year teacher coach and in this podcast you are gonna learn everything from simple, actual classroom management, social learning and teacher wellness strategies. You know that impact you wanna make in the classroom or we're gonna make it happen here.
Speaker 1:So the first thing you wanna do if you're trying to get ahead over winter break is you wanna pick a goal. So what exactly do you wanna get ahead in? Well, yes, it would be nice to get ahead in everything. It's not really realistic and it's a little more easy to focus on one specific thing you wanna get ahead on. So the question is what do you wanna work on? What do you wanna get ahead in? Is that lesson planning? Is that grading? Maybe you want to get ahead in your weekly newsletters over break. Maybe you wanna prep out all your lessons ahead of time. But pick the things you wanna get ahead in and make a goal. So, for example, this could look like I will get ahead or get one month ahead in lesson planning over winter break. Maybe it's I will get caught up with grading, so when I come back I'm not falling behind for report cards. Either way, pick something and make a goal. Now, something I teach often and I know as a teacher you're more than familiar with is to make a smart goal. So make sure it's specific, measurable, actionable, relevant and time sensitive. You wanna make specific goals of what you wanna get ahead on over winter break. The next thing you wanna do. So as a quick review. The first thing you wanna do is pick a goal of what you want to get ahead on over winter break. Now just a bit of a backstory. I once tried to get ahead on my lesson planning, my grading, and I felt absolutely exhausted because I was trying to do it all. That's why I recommend picking anywhere from one to three things that you wanna work on over winter break to get ahead.
Speaker 1:The second thing, second step, you wanna do in order to get ahead is you want to theme your days, assign a theme or a get to do for the day. For example, maybe the first Monday of your break you wanna work on lesson planning. Maybe the second day of your break you wanna work on grading. Now, I'm not trying to do everything every single day. I'm picking one main focus and getting as far as I can in a lot of time. This minimizes the amount of overwhelm it'll run into and it helps you feel more productive.
Speaker 1:And there's this thing called task switching, where your mind has to focus anywhere from seven to 21 minutes when you go from one task to another. So, for example, as a teacher, you're probably very familiar with this. You start writing lesson plans and then a student comes in during your prep and needs help with something. It'll take you anywhere from seven to 21 minutes to be fully, fully focused and at your high efficiency level, deep into that task. That's why, instead, I recommend theming your days. Picking one thing you wanna work on that day minimizes the amount of tasks switching you have to do because you're focusing on one task. This is a lot like Henry Ford in the assembly line If you do one thing repetitively, you'll slowly get more efficient at it, and that's the whole idea of theming your days. So figure out which days you want to work. Now I do want to recommend that you don't work every single day.
Speaker 1:Maybe pick two to three days out of your winter break that you want to work on and assign a theme for that day. So again, an example of this could be maybe my three goals I wanted to work on over winter break was to get a month ahead in lesson planning, to get caught up in grading and to batch out my weekly newsletter to my family's get four weeks worth done. So then, what I'm going to do is I'm going to say, okay, on Monday I'm going to work on lesson planning and I'm going to write four lesson plans, or four weeks worth of lesson plans. On Tuesday I am going to get caught up on grading. I'm going to set on a timer for two to three hours and I'm going to sit there, watch my favorite movie and grade, maybe on Wednesday. Then I want to write out my four weekly newsletters to my family's. So that's an example of what theming your days would look like, going over what you need to do in order to get to work ahead over winter break again.
Speaker 1:The first thing you need to do is you need to pick your goals. I don't recommend any more than five. You want to theme your days, so three should be plenty, maybe five at the max. The second thing you're going to want to do is you're going to want to theme your days, assign one, get to do task for the day. Like I said earlier, monday could be lesson planning, tuesday could be grading, wednesday could be communication. Next, the third step you want to do is to set a limit.
Speaker 1:Now there's a term in the time management world where, or a quote in the time management world where, however long you give yourself to do something, that's how long it's going to take you. So, for example, if you say tomorrow I'm going to lesson plan and I have no amount of time or nothing going on, my focus is just to lesson plan. My goal is just to lesson plan. I'm going to be lesson planning all day, even if it's just to do one week's worth of lesson plans, or maybe two weeks worth of lesson plans. So let's say tomorrow I'm saying, oh, I'm going to do four weeks of lesson planning tomorrow. Well, that could easily, since I don't have a timeframe, take me anywhere from 10 to 12 hours, depending how long I'm working, whereas if you put a time constraint in it say, I need to get four weeks worth of lesson planning in two to three hours, then you're going to get that done in two to three hours, because however long you give yourself to do things, that's how long it's going to take you. You will find a way to fill the gap. So that's why I recommend setting an amount of time you are going to work.
Speaker 1:One way to do this that I love using whether it's in the teaching world or here on the present teacher I like using Pomodoro. Pomodoro. They're like a free timer on YouTube, but essentially it could be anywhere from 45 minutes to 15 minute breaks. 45 minutes working, 15 minute break, and vice versa. It could be 50 minutes working, 10 minute breaks, 55 minutes, 5 minute breaks. You get the idea, but essentially it works on an hour loop, and so you have this amount of time that you're going to work and this amount of time you're supposed to take a break. This really helps with making sure that you're not getting frazzled after the first hour of working. And if you say, oh, I'm only going to work for three hours, you can go on to YouTube for free and find a three hour Pomodoro to work over winter break, and you know when that third cycle of the Pomodoro timer goes off you have to be done. So that's why I highly recommend that step three. You set a limit to how much time you are going to work over winter break.
Speaker 1:So, as a recap, here are the three steps you need to do in order to get ahead over winter break. The first one is to pick your goal. Again, I don't recommend any more than five, because you don't wanna be working your entire break. The second thing you're gonna wanna do is you're gonna wanna theme your days. Pick one focus for the day. The third step is you're gonna wanna set a timer or amount of time that you are going to work. If you say that I have as much time as I need today to get it done, it'll take you literally all day. So don't do that. I highly recommend, or I wanna invite you to set a time as to how much you're gonna be working.
Speaker 1:Now step four I'm giving you a bit of a bonus one, but step four is to reflect on the process and notice what went well and what didn't go well, and tweak this as needed. So, and don't forget to schedule fun time. So, after you do your two to three hours of working, schedule something fun that you get to do, whether it's watching your favorite movie, reading your favorite book. The main focus is you wanna enjoy your free time over winter break, because this is your time to also relax and feel refreshed for the rest of the year. Schedule time off in your day as well, when you're designating that time to do something you love to enjoy your break. Trust me, I've spent way too many winter breaks working myself to the ground and then regretting it and feeling more frazzled throughout the year because I didn't take the time to rest. That wraps up the three steps.
Speaker 1:Now four steps you should do in order to get ahead over winter break. As a quick overview, the first step is to set goals. The second one is to theme your days. Step three is to set in a lot of time and bonus. Step four is to schedule fun time as well and to take a break. That wraps up everything you need to know about getting ahead over winter break.
Speaker 1:If you wanna learn more on how you can continuously get ahead during the work week and during your prep during the week, I wanna invite you, with your permission, to join us inside the Ready Set Prep Challenge. It's a three day challenge, for free, on how to continue this. Continue getting ahead this school year so you can keep up with the work in fact, get ahead so you can teach with ease and lightness and show up in the moment with your students and not have that guilt for being at home and not working as always. Remember we are stronger together and I will see you in the next one. Teacher Bestie, bye. Thank you so much for joining me on today's episode. Have a good day. Have a good day. See you next time, teacher Bestie.