There are exactly 24 Fridays to Christmas, according to my daughter who is constantly on the countdown to the festive season. Given her birthday is ridiculously close to Christmas Day, I kind of get the sentiment. The poor thing has all her momentous celebrations over and done with in a matter of days, so it’s not really a surprise that she is always looking forward to the end of the year. She is already writing her present wish lists and updating it regularly.
But for the rest of us, those 24 Fridays might not fill us with excitement. For many teachers, it may feel like a ludicrously short amount of time. You may be thinking; how am I going to get through all we need to in the curriculum? Is that enough time for my students to prepare for end of year exam? Will that one kid’s disruptive behaviour improve at all in two terms?
At this time of year, as most of us try to catch our breath and get ready to go again for Term 3, it is easy (and understandable) to think about all the goals you and your students haven’t reached yet. To ruminate on the things that have not gone as well as you had hoped.
But what if more has gone right than you think? Are there wins that you are forgetting to count?
When you cast your mind back to the beginning of the year, how has the classroom culture that you have intentionally created changed over the months?
Think about the relationships with students that you have built and continue to invest in. And the ways in which you have leveraged those relationships to help your students experience success.
What about the routines you worked so hard to establish, that students now carry out without a second thought?
Which student doesn’t need your support quite as much?
How have you become more skilled, calm, patient or efficient over the year?
In what small ways are you different from the teacher who walked in on day one?
It’s easy in this job to focus on the to-do list, on all the milestones that haven’t been reached and the shortening time frame we find ourselves with to achieve it.
Especially when we are in the thick of it all!
So, while most of us find ourselves with a little more time to reflect over the break, I wonder, what things are better than they were in February?
I reckon that’s a list worth writing down.
Check out other articles Kirsty has written here.