Elementary teachers are generally charged with teaching multiple subjects. In this day and time of standards based content, teachers are expected to achieve a certain degree of expertise in their subject matter. This challenge has become increasingly difficult in elementary school where teachers are often self-contained. How does one keep their day and week balanced in order to meet the needs of their students, teach the curriculum, and get grades without completely running out of steam?
One way to accomplish this task is to think ahead. As you plan your lessons, avoid falling into the one subject at a time trap. There are certain things that you need to be mindful of during your planning in order to avoid a day of complete chaos or a huge stack of writing assignments to grade on the weekend.
Balance in Activities
Imagine a day that goes like this: Students begin their day presenting independent reading and research projects on PowerPoint. Afterwards, students have a writing celebration. You plan for students to display their pieces on decorative paper that requires cutting and pasting. In social studies you are going to conduct a simulation. In science you are conducting a messy science lab experiment. And in math, you plan to finish up a huge shopping project. At the end of the day you are totally and completely and utterly exhausted!
You might consider setting up a weekly planning calendar in order to map out your week and see your time as a whole rather than individual parts. Think of the time you have allocated for each subject and whether or not you can accomplish your goals for that day. Consider the number of cooperative activities you planned in one day. Perhaps you can move some things around so that everything doesn't land on Monday. How much prep work will it take to get ready for everything you need to do? Look at the activities you have planned and ask yourself how necessary those activities are to your student's learning. Sometimes you need to let something go. Create a balance of low prep and heavy prep lessons, as well as cooperative work versus independent work. The main goal in keeping balance in your daily and weekly activities and to not over plan a day that leaves you a frazzled mess by dismissal.
Balance in Assignments
Authentic assessments are wonderful, but there comes a point in which you need to balance out your assignments. If you assign all writing work for every subject, you will spend every waking hour grading papers. A well rested teacher is a happy teacher. A happy teacher is a more productive teacher. Don't burn yourself out by taking on more than you can handle. Plan out your graded assignments with care. Use your planning calendar to determine that you've planned the required number of assignments during the week, distributed the assignments throughout the week (you don't want to overwhelm your students either), and varied the assignments so that your weekend bag doesn't cause you to dislocate your shoulder.
Creating a balanced week is key to keeping your sanity and avoiding major burn out. If something always needs to give then perhaps it's time to change your planning strategy. It's kind of like going to the grocery store without a list -you will end up spending more money on things you don't need. If you write your lesson plans one subject at a time without looking at the whole of your week, you will end up planning more than you can handle. In the end, you plans won't be as effective because you won't have the energy to carry them out.
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