Organizing Your Teacher Prep to Work Less On Weekends

How often do you hear teachers talk about working all weekend? I was one of those teachers too. After several years of working constantly at work and throughout the weekend, I had had enough. Very few other professions have you working 24/7. Why should teachers be doing the same? It's not cool to work all nonstop, nor is it fun.

I decided to make the most of my teacher prep times throughout the week so that I could work less (and sometimes not at all) on the weekends.

Before you say anything ... before you doubt me... just think: What if you could do this too? Think of all the time you'd have to be an actual real human on the weekends!

Have a Plan
The very first thing you'll need to do is make a prep schedule. My prep schedule is set up weekly - Monday through Friday (NO weekends, remember??!!).  It also includes all of the times throughout the day that I could get work done at school. That doesn't mean that I work through every prep time, but I do work through most of them.

The times I have chosen to include on my prep schedule are: before school, prep, lunch, and after school. I'd also like to be clear here. When I say "after school", I don't mean until after 5pm every night. I do have a family I like to get home to and the whole purpose of this is to feel like I'm not living at work or bringing work home with me every day. But more on that later.

After you decide when you'll work, decide what tasks you'll accomplish during each prep time. Here's a peek at what this looks like for me:

Stick to It
Sticking to your plan can be difficult, some weeks more than others. Things come up and we have to adjust. Here are a few tips to help you stick to your plan:

• Print your Prep Schedule and hang it somewhere you'll be able to see it while working throughout the day. 
• Close your door during your prep times. I love, love, love my colleagues, and sometimes we take breaks and chat, but if you want to stick to your prep schedule, you'll need as few distractions as possible. 
• If you are going to have to bring work home, prioritize & pick preferences. Make sure the things you can only get done in your classroom get done. Leave anything that could be done at home or that you don't mind doing at home for last. For me, that's printing and laminating. Who else loves using their personal laminator?? 

Set Boundaries

Set boundaries for yourself. Don't work through every lunch. Don't stay late after school every day. For me, there are 1-2 days a week I might stay later. Those are our team planning days and sometimes one other day. 

Set a rule about when you'll leave. I set a rule for myself that on days I'm not staying later, I'll leave at 3:30. At my school, the kids are all dismissed by 2:45 so that gives me 45 minutes to get a few things checked off my to-do list after school. If I'm focused, there's no reason I can't accomplish a good amount in that time. 

I personally don't mind working through my lunch, but maybe you do! If you don't want to work through every lunch, then don't. At my last school, that wouldn't have even been an option because we had to have lunch with the kids. To make up for that, I tried to get to work earlier so that I didn't have to stay later. At my current school, I am not on lunch duty so I've chosen to use that time to cross things off my to-do list rather than having more to bring home with me.

Reward Yourself 
You work hard. Seriously. Your job can be difficult, exhausting, and extremely busy. You deserve breaks every now and again! When I get everything done on my to-do list, I don't look for more to do. Instead, I give myself a break!

For instance, if I get all of my Wednesday tasks done by the end of my prep time, I don't look for reasons to stay after school. I give myself a break and head home early that day. Why? I deserve it. And you do too. When you get what you need to get done, go home. Or take the rest of your lunch to just relax.

I have 2 editable versions of my prep schedule that you can download and use for free. They can be found by clicking here.

Do you have teacher tips for productivity throughout the week? Leave them in the comments below!

0

AT HOME TEETH WHITENING THAT WORKS & GIVEAWAY

Hey Teacher Friends,

If there's one thing I know about teachers, it's that we all lead busy lifestyles. Not only do we care for and educate our students all day, but we also do have lives outside of school - believe it or not ;) These past 3 weeks have been the busiest for me in a long time. They consisted of traveling 3 times, writing report cards, and preparing for family events. On top of that, I was drinking my usual 2-3 cups of coffee a day to ensure I had the necessary energy to keep up with my students and busy schedule.

I love coffee. I'm one of those people who really can't function or do anything productive until I've had at least 2 cups. There's only one problem with this... no beautiful white teeth. And it's not just coffee that causes unflattering teeth stains. Did you know that foods like black tea, colored soda, gum, and many others affect the color of your teeth? So even if you get your teacher energy from foods and drinks besides coffee, your teeth can still be affected. 

These are just a few reasons that I was motivated to team up with Smile Brilliant to test the effectiveness of at-home teeth whitening on a busy, coffee-loving teacher. Keep reading to hear about the process and enter a GIVEAWAY!

The Kit
The Smile Brilliant Kit arrives quickly at your doorstep! It's packaged with optimal organization and includes everything you need to create your custom-fit teeth trays right away. The kit also includes simple, step-by-step instructions for taking teeth impressions, sending the impressions back, and the whitening/desensitizing process.

I was so excited to get my kit, I had to snap a picture of it! 

Custom-Fit Trays
When I found out that I'd have to take impressions of my teeth, I felt nervous. I was fairly certain that I would mess this up. However, Smile Brilliant made the process easy to follow. I immediately felt at ease. The kit includes step by step instructions to walk you through exactly how to create the mold. They even include pictures to show what the mold should and should not look like. This was exactly what I needed to ensure I completed the first step accurately. Oh, and get this: they even include extra molds in case you do make a mistake. Phew!

To take your teeth impressions, you mix two molds together, press them into the impression trays, and bite. I love that the instructions detail how long to keep the molds in for and what it should look/feel like when they're ready to be removed. My impressions were made in less than 10 minutes! Once you make your impression trays, simply put them in the envelope provided and stick them in the mail. Your custom-fit whitening trays arrive within days!

Whitening Trays
A quick note about these whitening trays. I was expecting to get hard, uncomfortable trays (you know, like the retainer trays you got from the dentist after getting your braces off? Ugh!) The whitening trays from Smile Brilliant are the exact opposite! They're comfortable and fit my teeth perfectly. There was no pain or uncomfortable feeling when I wore them at all.

Whitening
Whitening my teeth was so easy to do, even with my busy schedule! Simply insert the whitening gel into your custom-fitted whitening trays and gently place them on your teeth. Again, Smile Brilliant provided clear instructions for how to place the trays in so that the gel covers the area of your teeth that you're trying to whiten. You can leave the trays in for 1-3 hours and continue going about your day. Easy peasy.

Since tooth sensitivity during whitening is common, Smile Brilliant also provides you with desensitizing gel. After cleaning and drying your trays, you insert the desensitizing gel. Just as you did with the whitening process, you place the trays on your teeth. This step only lasts 15-20 minutes. I experienced very minimal sensitivity during this process thanks to this step!

The Results
Oh my goodness, you guys. I did not realize how stained my teeth were before this process. Yikes!  To say I'm thankful for the results is not enough. Here are my before and after shots after 14 days of whitening:

Top: Before Picture; Bottom: After Picture

Overall Review
Whitening my teeth with the Smile Brilliant whitening kit was simple and easy to do. The team was great to work with and their instructions were very helpful! I loved that it fit seamlessly in with my busy schedule of work, family events, and hobbies. You know what I loved even more though? Being able to love my smile again with whiter teeth.

 

 

DISCOUNT AND GIVEAWAY
Giveaway link: www.smilebrilliant.com/g/teachinglittleleaders
Click to view the kit & apply this 15% off discount code at checkout: teachinglittleleaders15
The giveaway is for a $149 Smile Brilliant credit. It is open for 1 week and open to USA, UK, Australia and Canadian residents. 

Tooth Whitening Gel

1

3 FREE AND SIMPLE WAYS FOR TEACHERS TO PRACTICE SELF-CARE

Hello busy teacher friend,

Self- care is a popular topic among teachers recently. That's probably because as educators, we're constantly giving all of ourselves to the amazing little people around us daily that when we do have down time, we don't know how to use it! Let's face it, as amazing as our job is, it can also be completely exhausting. Because I am so passionate about being a teacher, it can sometimes be difficult to step away and find the time I need for myself. Yes, there are always items on all of our to-do lists, but what good are you to family, friends, or your students if all you ever do is focus on work and you never take time for you?

As I began winter break in December, one of my resolutions was to be more intentional about self-care. Here are 3 totally free self-care activities I put in my planner weekly.

0

DIARY OF A TEACHER ON BREAK

Hey teacher friends,

Raise your hand if you have not taken nearly enough time for yourself in the past (and by past I mean recent present). Are you raising your hand? I am. I've spent way too much time working this year, and while I'm proud of my accomplishments and the growth I see in my students because of it, I also know that focusing on work as much as I have is not healthy.

As I left school for winter break last week, I promised myself that I would not spend my entire break working. In fact, call me crazy, but I am not doing any school work this break. I am blogging and I am working on my TPT business a tad, but still definitely not full time. I am incredibly grateful to have a full 2 weeks off and intend to make the most of it. I asked teachers on Instagram this question to the right... and of course I didn't think to share the results on this blog in time.. but I do remember that most teachers selected "catch up on work" in this poll. 

I did not write this post to share every detail of my break with you. I wrote it to be honest about that fact that teachers NEED breaks. We need periods of time where we don't focus on work and we do enjoy our time off. I wrote it to hopefully inspire other teachers to do the same. If you're like me and struggle to keep a healthy work-life balance, I hope this post inspires you to get started. If you've been trying to be more intentional about taking time for you and for self-care, then please share in the comments how! I'm sure we'd all love to get more ideas on how we can better take care of ourselves :) Teachers are human too and we need rest.

4