5 Best New Year’s Resolutions for Teachers

5 Best New Year’s Resolutions for Teachers

New Year’s Resolutions for Teachers #1:

Be more organised

If you are anything like me then you start the year off really well… but then as the term goes on your clean desk, organised materials and tidy classroom become a mess. 

But! This is a great New Years Resolution to have! Having an organised space and keeping your tasks in order will give you more headspace, help you to feel calmer and help you to keep on top of your workload (which we know is going to be massive).

So how do you do it?

Being organised is all about having a consistent routine. Here are some steps to take each day to keep yourself on track:

• • • Tidy your desk daily
    • Use labels on folders, cupboards, drawers etc
    • Use a diary or teacher planner and write in it / check it every day
    • Use a to-do list and number in order of importance / deadline
    • Look through your school calendar and make note of important dates, assessments, excursions etc
    • If you are scheduled to write an assessment task, put a note in your diary a few weeks before as a reminder
    • Decide on a time of day that you will check your emails and stick to it

New Year’s Resolutions for Teachers #2:

Take less work home

An occupational hazard for teachers is the amount of work that is often taken home. It can be hard to leave work at work so that you can relax when you get home. Often if you do manage to do this then you feel more stressed about not having brought it home with you! 

I get it. But there are ways to combat or at least reduce the amount of work you take home.

Here are my tips:

• • • Set less homework that requires marking
    • Use peer-marking or self-marking during class time
    • Utilise templates to save time
    • Use resources that already have teacher answers provided
    • Buy no-prep resources when you are short on time

You may like to check out my blog post ‘49 time-saving hacks for teachers’.

New Year’s Resolutions for Teachers

New Year’s Resolutions for Teachers #3:

Try new things in the classroom

It can be a daunting task to try a new idea, activity or set up for your classroom. But I admire those who set it as a goal! 

Whether you already have an idea in mind of what you want to try, or you don’t really care as long as you try something new, here are a few things to consider to help you along the way:

• • • Chat with colleagues who might have tried it themselves. They can help you get organised or to know what sort of things to think about during the planning process.
    • Don’t be too hard on yourself – don’t expect it to go perfectly the first time
    • Don’t jump in too deep – set yourself a realistic goal. For example, say you wanted to try embedding Flipped learning into your classroom. Trying to film all the videos yourself and doing them for every lesson is a sure way to burn yourself out. Instead try doing one a week and see how it goes.
    • Don’t try everything at once. If you are wanting to try more than one new thing, separate them out through the term. If you put them all in one lesson it will feel like a lot for you and your students. 

New Year’s Resolutions for Teachers

New Year’s Resolutions for Teachers #4:

Work and stress less

This is way easier said than done. I can be a huge stresser and I also can be a workaholic. So how do you actually put this into practice?

The tips from #2 will help along with these ones:

• • • Set clear boundaries. For me, this matters more mentally than with the physical workload. I would often stress about my students’ wellbeing or things going on for them. By setting myself boundaries of when I am allowed to think about it and when I have to switch off is helpful.
    • Being organised and using a diary where you write in important dates and reminders will help keep those things off your mind and you can trust yourself that you have it covered. 
    • Having some helpful sayings to say to yourself when you are feeling stressed is actually more helpful than it sounds. Here are some of my favorites: 
      • • “I can’t do anything about it right now so there is no point thinking about it right now”, 
        • “I can only do what I can do”, 
        • “students survived for decades with purely textbook driven lessons – a one off wont hurt them”

New Year’s Resolutions for Teachers #5:

Make my mental health a priority

As teachers, we are often wired to put our students first. It can be difficult and often feels selfish to prioritise our own needs and mental health.

However, this is an important resolution to make as it will make you a better teacher, partner, parent, and friend. 

How can we do this as teachers?

• • • Get a hobby, or book in for a class that you are required to show up for each week e.g. ceramics, woodworking (my favorite!), painting, dancing, etc.
    • Schedule regular exercise into your week – something you actually enjoy doing
    • Eat a healthy lunch (for 33 easy teacher lunch ideas click here)
    • Take time to reflect and check in on yourself mentally
    • Schedule in time for friends and extended family (either physically or just a proper phone call)

Conclusion

New Year’s Resolutions for teachers can be a really great way to start the year on a track that leads you to a happier life. But it is also important that you have a game plan of how you will make that resolution a reality and stay consistent with it throughout the year.

If you made a New Year’s Resolution please comment below to keep yourself accountable!

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New Year’s Resolutions for Teachers