Don't forget to keep your 'teacher-spark' alive!

This blog post was originally published on the Learners Edge Chalk Blog on January 8, 2016, but the strategies were so well received that we freshened them up to share with you again!

It’s January…Christmas break is over, the days are shorter, the weather is colder and you are already counting down the days until summer vacation.  Am I right? But what happens if, or rather, when you catch a case of the blues as a teacher? Teaching is arguably THE most rewarding and completely exhausting profession.  It takes oodles of patience, passion, resilience, and commitment. By January we’re often feeling drained and struggle to find the energy to make it through to spring break, let alone summer!  Don’t worry, we’ve got some tips to help you survive.  Our team has compiled our 10 best strategies to help beat the mid-year blues and keep the spark alive in your teaching.

Avoiding DEVOLSON

We understand this time of year is stressful. The luster of the new school year may now be “lovingly” tarnished, and it is often the time of year that our work as teachers gets real. Students that were a little behind at the start of the year might suddenly feel panicked. The small stack of grading you’ve been trying to manage looks more like a leaning tower. Even Mother Nature seems to be toying with you: Oh look, it’s snowing! Wait, was it too soon to pack away those shorts? Can I wear a raincoat over a parka? And just when you start to get your teacher groove back for the year, daylight savings time ends and the world turns off the lights before you even leave school for the day. Yes, it can be a tough time of the year.