STRESS RELIEF

Now that it's the end of Spring Break, I can feel the stress start to creep back.  11 more weeks of school. Teaching, RTI process, after school Reading Camp, student issues, other school issues, etc...it's exhausting!  I'm deeply grateful I'm not in a testing grade this year, that would be even worse!

I made a stop at my favorite store (Mardel!) and stocked up on some good reading material to get me through the rest of the year.  I love reading Inspirational Historical  Fiction! (and only $3 a book in the discount section- what a great deal!)

While I was there, I found a nice pen holder on sale for my desk. This way I can better organize my fancy new pens, Sharpies, and pencils.


I also downloaded a few new songs on my phone for musical stress relief.  Music plays a very important part in my life. If you're feeling stressed, check out these songs:

Casting Crowns: Just Be Held

Jonny Diaz: Breathe

There is one more big change that I am implementing to get through the rest of the school year, which should decrease stress and make tough days more bearable.  Principal Gerry Brooks sums it up quite nicely with "Cups of Blessings".

 So I ran right out and bought some chocolate pudding to keep in my classroom refrigerator. 

I wonder if my principal would be interested in playing "Puddin' Oprah" to "improve climate and culture"?  What a great idea!

Something to think about anyway!

FEBRUARY GOALS

In February, I was feeling very behind and I decided to write two goals to tape above my desk. I figured that if I saw these goals every day, I'd have a better chance of accomplishing them.... in February.

So, as you can see from my happy face sticker, I did catch up on my grading (in February).  Grades were due for Report Cards, so I really had to catch up and post grades.  I thought seeing the happy face sticker would motivate me to complete my second goal: Unclutter Desk.  But as it turns out, that goal was much too broad for February.  

BEFORE

Today is March 16th.  March.  February is over, and my desk is still cluttered.  So when I heard that my building would be open today (yes, during Spring Break), I decided to work on that goal.  I knew I wasn't going to accomplish it all, so my mini-goal was to tackle the piles.  I would feel better if I could just spend some time dealing with the crazy amount of paperwork that continued to stack higher and higher.   It's way past time to work on this!  For some musical motivation, I played Michael Jackson's BAD 25 CD.  If I'm going to really work in my room, I need good motivating music.  Michael Jackson or Garth Brooks usually fits the bill.  So with proper musical motivation, I tackled the piles, filed a lot, purged a lot, and had to leave some for another day.  But I feel much better now!

AFTER

Just think, if I could accomplish that in one hour, imagine how much I could get done in a few more hours!  Wait, I don't have a few more hours to myself in my classroom.  That was a nice thought though!

And of course, I had to give myself another happy face sticker.  Then I promptly ripped it off the wall and put it in my recycling bin.  In case you are wondering, I am not even going to bother putting up March Goals.  No thanks.  I will try to make some time in the next few weeks to tackle more cleaning, filing, and purging because there is still so much more to be done. Maybe I could set aside a short period of time to focus on it, even just 30 minutes or so.  Now that I have some music in my classroom to work to, maybe I'll actually get it cleaned up faster!  Who knows!