Today marks my first day back at school, the start of a brand new school year. There's a new classroom to decorate, new names and faces to learn and more opportunities to say "the diet starts Monday!"
I always feel nervous on the first day back at school, even though I'm the teacher! Will I have forgotten how to teach? Will I remember how to write? Will the children be nice to me?
Every year, I try to have some 'new school year resolutions', things I want to improve and change from last year. So, in order to be more accountable, I thought I'd share them here:
Drink more water. Take a water bottle into school, fill it up, actually drink it.
Tidy and sort out the cupboard. I know it's not a fun job, I know there will be old test papers in there from 2003, I know you'll have to dodge spiders (both dead and alive), but trust me, it'll be worth it when you can actually see what's in it.
Use your lunch breaks productively.
Get into school earlier in order to be more organised for the day ahead. Maybe even set things out and print resources the night before.
Leave school at a reasonable time. You don't have to stay so late that the cleaners kick you out every night. Set a night or two to work later, and leave early the rest of the time.
You will never complete everything on your to do list, so don't stress about it. Get done what you can, and the rest can wait.
Stop saying "yes" to everything. You are allowed to say no to things you don't want to do.
Regularly assess your mental health. Speak up if you need support. Don't keep it bottled up, otherwise it will keep getting worse and worse.
Let's see if I can keep those up for the whole school year! As I am now back at work full time, it means I'll have less time to blog, so posting will go back to my usual schedule of TUESDAYS, THURSDAYS and SATURDAYS at 6PM.