I feel like I can not shut my mind off....I get home and I grade papers and I get prepared for the next day and I always feel as if I am thinking about school. Any recommendations? I want to be more relaxed when I get home.
2007-10-24 13:29:03 · 27 answers · asked by sacabeans00 4 in Education & Reference ➔ Teaching
I am a middle school teacher...6 grade/sections...3 subjects....I use all of my prep time effectively. I work during lunch as well!
2007-10-24 13:36:21 · update #1
I also do an after-school club and responsible for yearbook.
2007-10-24 13:38:02 · update #2
Here is a little something to think about:
A Motivational Story with Wisdom-
The Trouble Tree
by Author Unknown
The carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farm house had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire had caused him to miss an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pick-up truck refused to start.
As I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. When we arrived he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked to the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. When opening the door he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles; he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.
Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed by the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.
"Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied. "I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing's for sure, they don't belong in the house with my wife and children. So, I just hang them on the tree when I come home in the evening and then I just pick them up again in the morning."
"Funny thing, though," he smiled, "when I come out in the morning to pick 'em up, there ain't nearly as many as I remembered hanging there the night before."
______________________________________________
Being a teacher is not an easy job now days and it is difficult to seperate job/home in the mind especially with kids, issues etc... you may even think of meditation tapes to cleanse the mind or a yoga class, something you can train to direct your mind to stop pressing the play and FF button in your head at the same time. Meditation does help a great deal.
2007-10-24 13:36:35 · answer #1 · answered by brandy2007 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You might try to separate a specific area that is for grading papers and such and not for anything else. Try putting a table in a quiet out of the way space and tell yourself that this is the only space you are aloud to think about school. Then keep to it! Because certain jobs require to take your work home, being able to separate relaxing and working can get tricky, but if you can use a whole room for an office and keep the door shut when you aren't allowing yourself to think about work! Draw a thick line in your thinking and stick too it and you will be able to relax and leave your work in that space and not all through your personal space!
2007-10-24 13:40:32 · answer #2 · answered by l_nehs 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I did that my first two years. I would lie in bed thinking about what I did what I need to do, etc. Something changed last year. One thing that I have done, and this helps a lot, is I don't work from home. They don't pay me to grade at home. So if I can avoid it, I leave work at work. I don't volunteer for extra stuff unless it truly interests me or is fun. I say no a lot to meetings, committees, trainings, etc. Since I don't grade at home, I avoid chit chatting on my preps and utilize lunch times to get stuff done. I had trouble the first few years, because my boyfriend didn't really want to hear about my job because he didn't understand it or the attraction to teaching. Good luck. Take care of yourself.
2007-10-24 13:41:35 · answer #3 · answered by dee g 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Grade papers in your office and don't let yourself leave until you get everything done, but when you're done . . . you're done! You'll probably work quickly and more efficiently doing the work outside of your home, therefore you won't spend as much of your "home life" doing it. You didn't say what type of teacher you were, my advice is more suitable for college or community college profesors. If you're a high school teacher, fuggetaboutit as you have probably spent 8 hours in the office to begin with. Maybe grade the papers between classes or during your lunch period.
2007-10-24 13:34:21 · answer #4 · answered by leecrook 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You need some class for YOU of something you love to do between school and home grading papers. go work out for an hour or take a spinning (on bikes) class, or kick boxing>>>something to burn off some anxiety, good or bad. If you have no anxiety then all the better for you to start with none....but you say you can't turn your mind off, so I think you are anxiety riddled even in a good way. You need some "me time".
2007-10-24 13:36:26 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
stay after school to grade papers. make saturday or sunday your day where you just relax. when schools are on delay take a deep breath and relax. Go out to a spa, read a book. okay you have to grade papers and you have to prepare. prepare for the next day doing planning period or recess then when you get home your finished with everything about school so you can relax.
2007-10-24 13:34:12 · answer #6 · answered by bunnygrl43 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Don't leave any lose ends. When time is 'up', either at school or at home after grading papers, anything that is not completely finished goes on a list. You put it on paper so that you don't have to carry it in your head. AND it helps with the next day's 'to do' list!
2007-10-24 13:38:49 · answer #7 · answered by Germ 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What do you teach? If you have a planning period, use that time to grade papers or to plan for the next day. Maybe take some more vacations. I'm probably talking more high school, so if you are elementary or something else, sorry; but have a T.A. grade papers for you too.
2007-10-24 13:34:27 · answer #8 · answered by gone crazy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Stay after at school to do your grading. My sister is a teacher, this is what she does. This will also help you to see if you are in need of assistance. Maybe you could talk with Administration about it. If you are work, it will show how long things are taking. Also, at work, there will be no distractions like phone calls, etc., that can prolong the process.
2007-10-24 13:33:59 · answer #9 · answered by Gardener for God(dmd) 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Anxiety, work anxiety. Is it rational or not, most likely it is. Get done what you know you must do, then go do something physically demanding like lift weights or jazz a size (aerobics dance). What grades are you teaching; perhaps you could take some of your home life to school.
The Will is positive, the Judgment is negative.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow#Maslow_hierarchy
Maslow's primary contribution to psychology is his Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow contended that humans have a number of needs that are instinctoid, that is, innate. These needs are classified as "conative needs," "cognitive needs," and "aesthetic needs." "Neurotic needs" are included in Maslow's theory but do not exist within the hierarchy.
Maslow postulated that needs are arranged in a hierarchy in terms of their potency
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow
2007-10-24 13:39:24 · answer #10 · answered by Psyengine 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋