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Handling the Overwhelm in First Years of Teaching and Beyond.
I am sure like me, you have been driving home from work, your head buzzing with what you’ve been trying to digest from the school day, and you had a thought, “Is what I am doing sustainable? Can I continue doing it for year and years?” The answer was probably, “Oh my gosh! It’s insane…” You probably have been waking up early like me at 5:30 a.m. for the fifth day in a row, feeling absolutely exhausted, dragging yourself to the kitchen to gobble your breakfast and empty a cup of coffee into your stomach in less than twenty minutes. You probably felt like calling off sick, but then you…
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33 Ways to Save Time and Money as a Teacher.
I have recently listened to the episode “What would your life look like if you valued your time as much as you value your money?” by Angela Watson from www.thecornerstonefroteachers.com. It made me think about hours and hours of time lost in my first year of teaching. I started reevaluating my time input and the value of my time during the second year of my career at a high school. Yep, second-year new ng teacher become smart! Unlike in a community college where I would teach the same course over and over again to different students, in high school, I would experiment a lot with a variety of materials and…
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10 Lessons I Learned My First 2 Years of Teaching.
Hello! It’s almost the end of the school year, and although a lot of you are stressing our because of coming or ongoing observations, planning finals and trying to keep children on task, it’s a great time to reflect and pat yourself on the back having survived one more year! Hooray! In this post, I’m going to share ten lessons I’ve learned in my two years of teaching in a public school system. For some of you who don’t know my struggles as a new teacher, read this post about my struggles. I need to say, a person and a professional I am now is due to the constant reflection…
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Why I Stopped My Contributions to 403b for Teachers.
From the author: In this post, I will list 5 reasons why I stopped my contribution to teacher’s 403b plan. Hi there! This is quite an intimidating topic to write about. You see, I’m not a numbers girl, but I do go far and beyond my uncomfortable situation about numbers to find out where my pennies are going. Being aware of how your money is spent has nothing to do with stinginess or even frugality. I would say it’s a trend that everyone is following now. For me, it’s looking for bargains, finding natural products for a reasonable price, appreciating simple things and getting off the consumer society bandwagon. Let’s…
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Rich Teacher, Poor Teacher
The choices I made in my life have not always been conscious and pre-planned. Many times my decisions were made because I didn’t see another way of doing something or be someone else. And if you ask me how I became a language teacher, I will tell you honestly: language was the best thing I could do. I never regretted being in an educational area; however, I have always felt there was much more to being a teacher than just teaching students. I never felt completely happy or unhappy about what I am. I never felt fulfilled or empty. I am just convinced that what I knew and heard about…
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How to fight impostor syndrome.
In this post, I am going to share four tips about how to fight impostor syndrome. Most commonly impostor syndrome is defined as a psychosomatic (syn.: psychological, stress-related, irrational) pattern in which people doubt their accomplishments and have persistent, often internalized fear of being exposed as a “fraud.” I hope these tips will help you learn something more about you and the journey you might have ahead of you. In my second year in a public school system in the US, I understood one critical thing: all the teachers, whether you are a beginner or a spiced, experienced one, – all of us can relate in one way or another.…
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Best Transformational Books!
In this post, I will share some of the excellent books I gobbled recently. These books have been transformational to me, the best of my reads for the year, offering an enjoyable past-time. I know that books can be an enjoyable read, or they can be the beginning of something more significant in your life. So as a dedicated bookworm, I am giving you a gift of these remarkable, compelling self-help books that made me a much happier person with a mission! Disclosure: There are some affiliate links below (I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post), but these are all products I highly recommend. I won’t…
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Confidence Quotes for Powerful Women.
“Fake it until you become it,” – I heard and read about it so many times but was never truly able to understand the meaning. The part about “faking” didn’t quite make any sense, and it was not appealing to me. Nevertheless, in social and professional situations I would quite often spot incredible confidence radiated by people, and then I would overhear that those confidence-radiating individuals were somewhat lost or knowing as much about what was going on as other lost people. I’m tough, ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay.Madonna This idea about people with confidence came to me again in…
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Failure is (NOT) an Option In the Teaching Profession.
I can’t swim. I never learned, never felt the need for it. When my husband bought a family gym membership, we started our weekly trips to the pool, which has become my getaway from the everyday grind. During one of those frequent trips to the pool, I had a revelation. It literally happened in the pool. I was standing next to the 4-feet mark contemplating my plan B and C and D in case I happen to be drowning. I can scream, start grabbing floating Barbies, and stereo foam dumbbells for seniors, or even any hands and legs in my proximity. That could have been probably unnecessary since lifeguards watched…
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6 Effective Teacher Practices That Will Lower Your Anxiety.
Has anyone ever told you before you made a decision to become a teacher that your weekends might be jeopardized for life, you will have to cope with anxiety, your mind will always keep working on unit and lesson plans even during vacation, anything you see in life will be subconsciously evaluated towards the possibility of using it in a classroom? When I was pregnant, I would read “What to expect when you are expecting” manual that would make me even more nervous. The “after-life” after having a baby is dramatically different from the book although I still felt I had a good “101 mom life” course to prepare mentally.…
