teacher stress Archives - Faulkner's Fast Five

What the COVID-19 Pandemic Did Not Change about My Classroom

The 2020-2021 school year was the year of the unexpected, the year of changes, the year of disappointments, the year of frustrations, and certainly the year of loss. It goes down in my book as the hardest year of my teaching career — that includes the first year I taught in middle school, the first year I was a lead in an inclusion classroom, the year I taught while building a house, the first year I was the new yearbook adviser, and the year I taught while having multiple surgeries for some serious medical issues. And let’s not forget that I actually contracted COVID-19 THE. FIRST. DAY. BACK of teacher in-service. However, I didn’t quit. I did survive, and I’m going back. That said, I am choosing to look at the positive — shall we say, “COVID Positive” — Bad pun. Anyway, despite all change that occurred this year — schedules, classrooms, assignments, students, and more, there were a few things that I’m thankful that the COVID-19 pandemic did not change about my classroom.

1) Flexibility

Plan A in teaching is always to be flexible; it’s basically the first thing you learn in pedagogy classes in college. This year, though, really put that to the test. In past years, being flexible might have meant needing to bring in a few more chairs at the beginning of the year when new students enrolled. It might have meant giving a few days extension on an essay because of snow. However, those examples of needing to be flexible were nothing compared to this year. Teaching in a pandemic looked more like planning lessons for half in-person learners and half distance-learners – multiple formats for materials and instruction. It looked like rolling deadlines, paper packets, Google conversions, video chats during planning, last-minute schedule changes, walking in to find your classroom closed for cleaning, sudden quarantines, and the list goes on and on. With every new challenge that the pandemic presented, I had to remind myself that I was thankful to be here for –and with– the kids. Without everyone’s willingness to bend and sway like a willow, there would have been moments when the entire tree would have snapped. The changes brought by COVID-19 might not all fade, either, and going forward, it will always be the year that taught how flexibility is a vital piece of the educational system as a whole.

2) Building Relationships

I realized very quickly the importance of seeing students’ faces. With masks on at the beginning of the year especially, it was so hard to get to know my students. That goes both ways, too. With my mask on, they couldn’t really see if I smiled or made a funny face (which I often do). It made it harder for me to learn their names quickly. Plus, at the beginning, I only saw them every other day. For some, I only saw a blank screen. Not being able to see their entire faces left me feeling confused and isolated. This taught me how much I depend on seeing their reactions when I teach — do they look confused, concerned, or checked out? I knew they must be feeling the same way about me, so I stood farther away from them than I normally do so I could take my mask off while delivering instruction. Nonetheless, even though it felt like it took longer to build classroom rapport and relationships, we got there. Before long, students were laughing and conversing with me, hanging out before or after class or school, and stopping by to say hello. According to a study conducted by West Point Academy for Teaching, “The rapport between instructor and student can be a significant factor in the overall learning and success of individual students. […] It can minimize anxiety, increase student participation, structure and encourage social interaction, foster a positive learning environment, and increase learning.” That “no smiling before Christmas” rule we tell new teachers just got the boot. Nothing can replace a warm expression on someone’s *full* face – no empty words, no cute classroom posters… nothing. I’m not a math teacher, but there is something to “face value” in teaching.

3) Differentiation

Whether I was the regular education lead in an inclusion classroom or not, differentiation has always been a top strategy in my classroom. We must meet students where they are and grow them. This growth occurs with carefully determined differentiation. Whether I am modifying reading assignments, offering choices, providing extended time, reading aloud, using rubrics, or consulting with students, differentiation is inherently part of the process. The COVID-19 pandemic did not change that about my classroom. If anything, it pushed me to evaluate that even more: I asked myself, ” What do students really need the most, and how can I do that for them in the most effective way?” There is no doubt that not all students were met this past year with best educational experience that they deserved, but by continuing the educational process as best as possible under the circumstances, students were given more than the pandemic tried to take away.

4) Collaboration

When you have to maintain 6-feet of distance or when some students are joining via a computer screen, it might seem like the perfect set of excuses to just cancel any kind of collaboration or group work at all. Confession: I just can’t function that way and neither can students. They are social creatures — and whether they’d like to admit it or not, that doesn’t mean social media, either. I like to use this process when teaching to maximize comprehension and analysis:

Read About It.
Think About It.
Talk About It.
Write About It.

Step #3 might have been easily thwarted in a COVID-19 classroom, but with certain safeguards in place, we successfully collaborated in my classroom this year. Sometimes I carried Chromebooks with online students to groups in class, so they could chat. Other times, we set up groups online and shared Google Docs for students to create together. There were online “escape rooms” or Kahoot competitions students logged onto to join in with the fun. We used digital task cards and participated in online gallery walks. (See tips for using digital task cards here.) It took a bit of extra work and planning, but allowing students the opportunity to hear from each other always enhances learning — and that’s a huge part of life. Through the quarantines, closures, and sheltering in place, we have more social isolation now than ever before, but that’s just not what humans really need. Dalai Lama the XIV said, “We human beings are social beings. We come into the world as the result of others’ actions. We survive here in dependence on others. Whether we like it or not, there is hardly a moment of our lives when we do not benefit from others’ activities. For this reason, it is hardly surprising that most of our happiness arises in the context of our relationships with others.” Thankfully, I wasn’t willing to skip Step #3 above, and that bit of stubbornness forced me to learn new ways to collaborate that I’ll be able to use going forward.

5) Delivering Critical Content

It would have been very easy to make excuses about cutting out material. Honestly, some things did have to go. But, more than that, what I realized was that I had to make the most of the time that I did have with my students. Therefore, I planned a skeleton outline of the most important parts of my curriculum: grammar, reading, writing, and research. Perhaps that doesn’t seem like a very short list! I admit, it was hard to reduce; I did, though. For example, instead of including three texts for a unit, I just chose one. Instead of requiring four sources for a project, I required one or two. Instead of teaching full-length writing lessons, I supplemented with videos students could watch at home, then we used our time together to conference individually. Even when I couldn’t meet with them personally, I provided personal writing instruction for them via Google Classroom. (Watch this video here of how I did it.) Video lessons also helped with grammar instruction, too. (See my Ten-Minute Grammar Post about how I use videos for covering grammar.) I closed my classroom library for a short time, but still read to students on First Chapter Friday and encouraged them to load free library apps their devices. (See also my tips for digital book clubs and free materials for a classroom library.) At the end of the day, the educational process needed to continue. Back in August, all we could hope was that in a short time “things would go back to normal.” Normal would be students taking standardized tests, graduating and going to college or the workforce, or selecting classes for their next year of school. In order to do all these things successfully, they needed the critical content that I and their other teachers were so desperately trying to provide through all the challenges.

This year brought many challenges to our classroom; we met those challenges with the vigor that educators do. The COVID-19 pandemic changed the scope of the educational system as a whole, but I’d be willing to bet that some of these things I mentioned above didn’t escape your classroom as a result either. The COVID-19 pandemic did make teaching difficult and often impossible, but it didn’t mar my outlook and calling to teach. I’m thankful for the things this year taught me and for the things that the COVID-19 pandemic did not change about my classroom.

Love this content? Join a group! There are already tons of ideas, freebies, and fabulous teachers in my new groups, and joining is simple. Just click over to the following links, answer a few questions, and voila! Thanks again for following along my classroom stories and small-business journey. I really do hope you to see you over in my new “backyards” where we can chat and share all things English and Yearbook.

Written by: Julie Faulkner, 2021

Tips for Grading Essays to Save Time

Aaaaah. The grading essays burden of the English teacher. It’s a very real struggle for sure. A little while back I did a series on teaching writing, so I’d like to think of this post as an encore to those ideas. (Get started reading that series here at the first post.) Below I’m sharing five practical tips for managing the load.

– Working Those Deadlines:

First is planning time in the writing process to have check points that students submit via Google classroom – or whatever method works for you. Students submit thesis statements, works cited drafts, or even first paragraphs. Then I have a day in class that I “virtual conference” with them. While I’m leaving notes on their drafts, they continue with research typically. They can fix mistakes early and that saves me time later. Plus I’m already familiar with the essay to a certain degree.

Offer extra credit to kids who want to turn in the papers early, and then you can grade them as they trickle in. That helps alleviate the pile of material that comes in all at once.
Last, plan to show a movie or do something hands-off after the due date to carve out a little time in class to grade. I can spend 8-12 mins on a 500-700 word essay, so I have to plan and block that time off to the best of my ability. I usually choose a film of a novel that I won’t have time to cover in class but that I know students would benefit from seeing. Read more about how to make showing movies in class more productive here…. and take a look at my collection of no-prep literary movie guides here.

– Scoring Like a Pro:

I have a carefully crafted rubric that is specific to the task, so it’s easy and quick to mark and when students get their grades back, they can see the areas of strength and weakness. I use a separate rubric for grammar. This might seem like it takes longer, but I score content, Grammar, and MLA separately. For me, it’s actually faster that way, so I can just focus on one thing at a time. Those rubrics are in my complete writing curriculum.

Next, I made a codes sheet to make marking quick and easy for the same mistakes or remarks over and over. I have a quick and easy codes sheet that I use for printed essays, but I just created a codes sheet that I loaded into my Google Comment Bank. I added video tutorials so students can click over and receive more thorough and customized instruction. Get those digital and printable fast and focused feedback materials here!

Last, even though it may not be the “English-teacher” way, I don’t always mark every single error, and if an error is made over and over, I usually just mark it and take off points the first couple of times. That saves time, but also it’s not necessary to “rub it in their face.” In this department, I try to show a little grace. Then in the final note (see what else I say in final notes here), I remark that it’s something to work on for next time.

– Setting Essay Requirements:

If you have any control of the word or page requirements, make that work for you. I set word minimums and maximums. Struggling writers need those minimums to meet the requirement, but my excelling or over-achieving students have trouble with the maximum barrier. I hold students accountable at both ends.

– Giving Yourself a Break:

Be honest with students about how much time it takes to grade an essay, and don’t promise grades back in a short amount of time.
Try to space out your grading during the day or over a few days, so your brain doesn’t get tired. When I try to grade straight through a stack of papers, I really start to lose my focus after a while.
Practice self-care. Really – stay hydrated, and sit in a comfortable position with good lighting. I love to score papers on my front porch early in the morning, or by the big window in my office.

– Go Green:

If it works for you, have students submit papers electronically. Sometimes typing comments can be a lot faster than writing them. You can even use apps to leave audio feedback as well.
I use Google Docs and have students share with me or submit to the classroom. In this format, you can switch to suggesting mode to leave comments along the side of the screen.

Students get instant feedback.
I will still have students turn in the hard copy of their rubrics for me to use as a I grade, but you could also use a virtual rubric as well.

Just remember, that not everything works for everyone, but the most important thing at the end of the day is the fact that students do need more than just a number or letter on their essays. That’s certainly part of the package, but in order for student writers to become stronger, they need solid feedback from the pro – that’s you! In that process, though, we can’t overwork ourselves because it takes more time and effort to go that extra mile. This essay-grading burden is unique to the high school English teacher (and that is not to say that no other teacher has stacks of papers to grade). However, most other subjects aren’t assigning 500+ word essays as their unit’s culminating task multiple times a semester. The reality, though, is that teaching students to write well sets them up for a better future, and that is burden worth bearing.

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A Teacher’s Guide to Having a Stressful School Year

It’s 2.5 weeks into the beginning of the school year, and I have three to-do lists going (and I can’t remember where one of them is). I’ve already had a migraine, stomach bug of some sort, and I’ve not been getting enough sleep. Sound familiar year after year?

What’s the culprit? It’s simple – stress. A teacher’s life will always be stressful to some degree because that’s just nature of the job — even more now than ever — but there are a few things that tend to add more stress than others. If you don’t want to repeat another year filled with stress, take a look at this teacher’s guide to having an UNstressful school year.

1) Recreating the Wheel Produces Unnecessary Work

When I first started teaching over a decade ago, most of the time when I sat down to plan, I pretty much had to start with a tabula rasa because I had no textbook ancillaries, no Pinterest, or TpT. I was also in a district that I was new to, so I had no teacher-friends there. Now days there are so many resources and opportunities for collaboration that there is no reason to develop every single lesson for every single day from scratch. Certainly there are new ideas that come along for a great project or assignment, and it’s nice to feel a sense of accomplishment when you’ve created something new. I get bored easily with the same lessons over and over, so I’m always trying new things. However, when you’re to-do list is growing by the minute, and you can’t get a single thing marked off for new things being added, using ready-to-go lessons from another teacher frees you up to do the many, many other tasks that you face. There’s also something to be said for using materials, lessons, and ideas that other teachers have classroom-tested and tweaked. Experience, they say, is the best teacher. And, the best teacher is the one who isn’t stressed.

2) Worrying About Things You Can’t Change Produces Unwanted Stress

There are so many things in education that are beyond the control of the classroom teacher. The short list includes class size, students in the class, class length, the administration, and federal mandates. We all wish for things we don’t have – the grass is always greener on the other side. I’ve been reading the First5 messages each morning since summer, and THE VERY FIRST ONE I read was geared specifically toward this major stressor in my life. Worry – and worrying about things I can’t change. The key quote said, “Contentment is the key to success.” If I’m always wishing I had different students, for example, then I’m not doing the ones that are right in front of me justice. Shifting your focus from the “what ifs” to the “what is” will definitely provide more success than stress.

A Teacher’s Guide to Having a Stressful School Year

3) Listening to and Sponging Up Other People’s Negativity Breeds More Stress

In the morning you get coffee from the community pot, and two coworkers pull you into their conversation about last night’s basketball game loss. They can’t believe that coach’s bad call. Then, at lunch you sit down to eat in the lounge where a couple of teachers are gossiping about the way new teacher dresses and how another teacher is always late. At class change a student comes up and tells you all about how she and her best friend are in a huge fight and she needs to hang out in your room until it blows over. At the end of the day you have a headache, and you can’t concentrate. It’s a slippery slope if you are constantly subjecting yourself to this kind of environment. Studies show that negativity leads to a bevy of health issues including heart problems, high blood pressure, and anxiety. Of course, you are concerned about your students and coworkers, but protecting yourself first is key to a healthy year. Having a truly helpful and healthy support system, friends and/or family, is the best way to survive a tough year or rough patch in this job. Thankfully, over the years, I’ve found a happy balance between showing concern and sponging up other people’s problems. It sounds harsh, but it’s a fine line. A genuine smile and an open ear go along way with upset students, but their issues don’t come into my classroom, nor do they go home with me. Their issues are ones pray about, but I work really hard to chose that instead of the worry. Even harder, was the tough choice to avoid the teacher’s lounge and other areas where Negative Nelly or Downer Dave hangs out. Breaking away was awkward, but now I look forward to my quiet time in the middle of the day. Fostering healthy, positive relationships is valuable and sharing your struggles and bearing each other’s burdens is critical, but soaking up other people’s problems to the point that you internalize them is only going to weigh you down.

4) Working Without a Plan Leads to Chaos

I like to plan: my lessons, my meals, even my outfits. However, so many times I’ve sat down to plan a lesson at the last minute and found a cute idea, but didn’t leave myself enough time to get the supplies or make the extra copies. There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to finish a project or task because of lack of planning. Most of the time, a lack of planning leads to procrastinating or being rushed at the last minute. I also think planning helps with that feeling of how to eat the elephant. I tend to see everything I need to do as one big overwhelming pile, and then I can’t get started anywhere. Reminding myself I can eat that elephant one bite at a time is a huge stress-reliever, and then I can make my plan to go forward. The best plan to have is the one that is flexible and takes into consideration that things change — if it’s one thing that we’ve learned from teaching through a pandemic, it’s this one. I do like to have a plan B for my lessons. You never know when the projector bulb will blow or when there’s going to be an emergency fire drill in second period. Planners gonna plan. However, if you aren’t willing to commit to some sort of plan, there are so many opportunities for stress to take over.

Busy Teachers - Too Many Tabs, A Teacher’s Guide to Having a Stressful School Year

5) Thinking Everything Has to be Perfect All the Time Sets You Up for Failure

I’m definitely a “Type A” person, so trying to achieve perfectionism in everything bogs me down very quickly. In our district, teachers are given a rating – a number. I’m sure that’s similar to other districts, or maybe they have other “incentives” to keep teachers on their toes. Unrealistic expectations and perfectionism can make unfulfilled goals
feel even more stressful. To me, there’s nothing worse than that feeling of not doing the best. But the question comes down to “whose best?” – “not who’s best?”. Once I decided that it’s my personal best – not in comparison with anyone else – and the growth and achievement my students are making based on what I can see in my classroom, my entire
paradigm on perfectionism shifted. The thing is, it’s not reasonable to be a “5” everyday in everything. Today might be a “5” day at school, but not at the game, or at home, or vice versa. Also, I think realizing that there are a few things that teachers work on to the point of perfection that may not really need to be at the top of the list could help relieve some undue stress. They (cute bulletin boards, the perfect wall hangings, grading every single thing, etc.) take up valuable time, brain space, and energy. The reality is, we are teachers – not robots. No one wants to be a slacker, but sometimes cutting yourself some slack can eliminate the stress.

Maybe you can add to this list. I’d love to hear how you’re coping with the stress of school.

Love this content? Join a group! There are already tons of ideas, freebies, and fabulous teachers in my new groups, and joining is simple. Just click over to the following links, answer a few questions, and voila! Thanks again for following along my classroom stories and small-business journey, and I really do hope you to see you over in my new “backyards” where we can chat and share all things English and Yearbook.