At the beginning of the year, teachers are still "high" from the fumes of crayons and new pencils. Our passion for education has been softly simmering beneath the surface all summer, and now it's time to unleash all of that pent up energy and let the creative juices flow! Over the summer break, we have thought of thousands of amazing and creative ways to insure that this school year is the best yet! Through August and most of September, we were excited to come to school. We loved seeing our kids, seeing our colleagues, and getting into the swing of things. Of course, we had a lot of information thrown our way all at once--new programs, new student expectations, new staff members, new procedures and protocols. We handled it pretty well for those first few weeks. As time went on, there were more changes and tweaks, new things to implement. We found out we were "doing it wrong" a few times or that we weren't quite meeting the standard for what-have-you. "Oh, I'm supposed to stand right here when I hold the crossing guard sign? I did not know that!" "I have to check both boxes and initial here? Good to know!" Now, the swing we were "getting into" is swinging a lot faster and it's getting harder to hold on.
Our kids are different, too. They are no longer as excited to be here. They do not greet us with the same enthusiastic smiles, nor do they hang on our every word to see what magic will pour forth. Their energy supply has started to run low as well, not as low as ours but they are no longer running on a full tank.
Collectively, we know that Thanksgiving Break is out there somewhere. We can't really see it from here. It's like a distant dot on the horizon, more like a splotch than an actual form. But we know it's there. We also know that we have a long, long month of October to go before we can even think about tracing little hands and turning them in to turkeys.
So, how do we get from October 1st to Thanksgiving Break without losing our minds? It's not easy. If it were, there'd be no talk of the "October Dip." I have three suggestions that I hope will make your October a little more Spooktacular and a little less Dreadful.
1) Ask questions! If you need help with something, please ask someone. Anyone. And if they can't or won't help you, ask someone else. Everyone has a lot on their plates right now but chance are, the things that are weighing you down are not the same things weighing down a team mate, administrator, or instructional coach. So, ask for help. There are a plethora of people around you who are here to help and support you. Never feel like you are drowning without at least signalling for a life preserver.
2.) Help someone else! Nothing makes me feel better than when I know I have lightened someone else's load. Even when I have a ton of my own work to get done, I never miss the opportunity to help someone else. Gratitude from others goes a long way toward changes our mood and our perspective. Just a few minutes each day assisting someone else is sure to improve your own state of mind and their's as well.
3.) Focus on the kids. Take a few moments each day to look around your room and appreciate the children that you work with. Notice, I used the word children, not students. As I grow older, I notice that time passes by much more quickly. Our kids have not reached that point of perspective yet. For your kiddos, this may be a landmark year for them. You only get to be in kindergarten once. If they celebrate Halloween, they've got a lot to look forward to! This is a great time of year for family outings to apple orchards and pumpkin patches. Let your kids have the opportunity to share their lives with you. Even if they don't have family experiences to share, they will still have autumn moments--crushing through leaves, feeling the changing wind on their cheeks, brilliantly colored sunsets--to discuss. Give them the chance to talk to you about all of the amazing sights and sounds October has to offer and you'll start to remember why it is that we are so lucky to have the opportunity to work with these amazing little people. After all, do you think there's anyone sitting in a corporate office right now who just got 22 hugs because she showed up for work? Probably not!
If you work in CISD, you have 8 weeks until Thanksgiving Break. Make them count. Take each day and make the most of it. And if there's anything I can do to help you get over the October Dip, I'm always a few clicks away!
