reflections on the week

 Oh geez, this was a week. My husband and I went to a fantastic meditation workshop on Sunday all about "radiating metta," or lovingkindness. At the end of the day I was feeling very relaxed, and I was maybe even radiating some metta, when the teacher casually mentioned that we should look out because metta practice often also brings out its opposite as well. Monday hit me like a ton of bricks. My schedule is such that on Monday and Wednesday I get a 25 minute lunch break, and then my prep is last period at 2:00, and other than that I'm on with kids. I have a lot of preps on Tuesday and Thursday, so that makes up for it, but given the way my ADHD tends to operate and teaching a new grade level, I find that I get overwhelmed and overstimulated on Mondays. On this particular Monday, it felt amped up, and I was feeling a lot of agitation.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we were giving the MAP test, so we were out of our routine, then Thursday I had meetings during all of my planning periods. And on top of it, my husband's birthday is this weekend and I was (very happily) getting ready for that. So life was just doing the life things and I was resisting and wanting to go back to the cozy meditation center. The news these days also feels very chaotic and troubling to me, so that has also been in the background. By Friday I felt a lot better, though, and I finally have a sense of a daily schedule and planning routine that I think is going to help me establish more of a rhythm.

Years ago, I read Martin Seligman's book, Flourish, and one of the exercises I liked was What-Went-Well as a way to focus and build on successes. While this week felt challenging there were a lot of things that did feel like wins!

What-Went-Well
  • Metta / lovingkindness practice: Even though a lot of agitation was coming up, I think it was pointing me towards some habits I have that are unsustainable. One of the phrases I use in my practice is, "May (I / you / we / all beings) live with ease." Because of a lot of my conditioning and ADHD I have a very hard time taking breaks, especially if they aren't structured into my day. I kept up with the practice each morning, and as I was feeling agitated I was able to use it as a signal to check in with myself in a more nurturing way to see what I need. As the week went on, I built in more routines that can add predictability and that have a flow of up and down time so that we can all get breaks as we need them in the classroom. I also was able to communicate more clearly what was going on when I was feeling off. I told my students that I was feeling a bit irritated and overwhelmed at one point, and I noticed that students have been sharing more of what's going on with them so they can get more support. It's been really wonderful.
  • Circling back to Words Their Way! I completed the diagnostics using the Modern Classrooms Approach. Students were able to take them on Google Classroom during work time, and I graded them later. I realized it was going to be unsustainable to analyze all the data by hand, so I purchased a very expensive but excellent tracker on TPT and it helped me create groups in about 5 minutes. It feels amazing to have students doing legit word study, and they are so engaged with the sorts, dictionary work, and journal writing that we have rolled out so far. It brings me so much joy to see some students working with advanced vowel patterns while others are working with inflectional endings and still others are working with Greek and Latin Roots because they're getting what they need and it's not a lot more work for me.
  • Establishing a consistent daily schedule. I have been shifting things around a lot this year as I'm learning 4th grade content and what kids at my particular school really need. I don't have a ton of time with my students, so it needs to be high leverage. Here's where I've landed:
    • 8:00 Arrival / Class Jobs / Reading or Work Catch Up
    • 8:20 Morning Meeting
    • 8:40 Independent Reading
    • 9:00 Word Study
    • 9:20 Take 5 (just a short break for students to chat / reset ... they can eat snack anytime they are at their seats, so they don't really need a dedicated snack break)
    • 9:25 Language Arts (this is largely Project Based Learning with Social Studies integrated)
    • 10:20 Recess
    • 11:10 Math Fluency, Slate Math, Math Review (IXL for some students and targeted slate math with me for groups)
    • 11:55 Handwashing, Lunch
    • 12:25 SEL on Mondays, Enrichment on T / Th, Reset on Wednesdays (Reset is when we take fluency and spelling tests, get new homework, clean the classroom, water plants, etc)
    • 1:10 Math Lesson Work (this is self paced and I'm still working on my routine for this time, but I think I need to be circulating and nudging more and keeping small groups to a minimum)
    • 2:00 Enrichment
    • 2:45 Dismissal / Extended Day (I check homework during this time, too. Students who are leaving right away get their belongings and line up for a homework check, then I call students who are staying one by one for their check)
Intentions for the Coming Week
  • Keep up the daily meditation practice focused on lovingkindness. This seems to be supporting me with feeling the range of emotions (even difficult ones) and responding with care. I'm a big fan of Responsive Classroom, Dr. Becky, and others who advocate a warm, caring, and clear approach. I find that this practice is helping me to be more consistent with those values even in times of stress or difficulty.
  • Create more of a sense of routine for myself and students. I'm liking the schedule, and I think it will feel reassuring and beneficial to stick with it and create that sense of predictability for everyone involved.
  • Get into more of a routine with planning and prep so that I can close my laptop and walk out of school on Friday knowing that I can walk in on Monday morning ready to go. I'm getting closer, and having more consistent instructional and planning routines are really helping with this!

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