Reducing Decision Fatigue or Embracing the House Dress

Every year...since forever, I start off early fall on a new mission--I'll work less, I'll walk to work every day, I'll take care of myself, manage stress, I'll......screeech--crash! (the sound of my plans spinning at high speed off the road by mid-October)

I was determined to not follow this same habit again this year(no, really!).

At the end of summer, I read this great post by Gerard Dawson at Cult of Pedagogy on decision fatigue in teachers.  It was the first time I'd heard that term, but it named the overwhelm I'd been feeling in my work and home life, and described many behaviors I had unconsciously continued doing as I careened toward burnout each year.  I recommend taking a look at it.  The author made me think about the many distractions and decisions built into my routine, and examine how I could minimize them.

I took the author's suggestions seriously and put some of his ideas into practice and...things are indeed different for me this year.  While I still have many stressful days(hello, I'm still a teacher and single mom), I feel more sane, but it meant some changes in my thinking and habits.

• In the classroom:
• I collaborated with colleagues to establish some simple, clear expectations, especially at the middle school level.  We use the CHAMPS model, but I don't think it matters which model we use, as long as expectations are clear, fair and followed consistently. My blood pressure has gone way down, being able to use the simple language built into these expectations to respond to situations instead of trying to always figure it out on the fly.  I'm pretty sure my students would say I'm a lot nicer to be around, too.
• Work routines: Instead of my old habit of doing something new and different everyday, I have daily routines--different content, same procedures. Practices like FVR Friday, Music Monday in elementary, and individual CI activities for the first few minutes of class as middle school students trickle in(listening to a recording, podcast, short video, read an article--all can be used for interpersonal tasks or for thinking routines during class). My students know what to expect, and so do I.
• I've put limits on my innovation by choosing some practices, activities, units, technology(you name it) that work and save big changes for summer or other breaks by pinning ideas to Pinterest and archiving ideas for the future when I'm not in the midst of a full teaching schedule.

• In life:
• Unless it's really an emergency(really), I don't work from home. It was hard for the first 6 weeks, and sometimes that means staying late or coming in early to make it happen, but it's a firm boundary. I feel more focused and fresh at work as a result, and am a more present mom at home.
• My morning routine is only about getting ready for school(no work until I actually get to work!), and my daughter and I have enough time most days to walk. 
• Food: I pretty much eat the same thing everyday for breakfast and lunch, shopping for the week and bringing items to work so I don't pack a lunch everyday. 
• Finally, let's talk about the house dress.   I couldn't afford to replace my current clothes with a capsule wardrobe, BUT I did downsize my collection(I'm a thrift store hoarder) and treat it like a uniform. When I'm at home, the uniform is off and I put the house dress on.  This practice is a concrete reminder that I'm at home and not working. Plus, it just feels amazing.

My biggest take away from Dawson's post was that it's not about having one way to address the stress and decision fatigue, but finding habits that would work for me.  I feel a little exposed blogging about these new habits, but I'm hoping that by posting this, I'll have to keep holding myself to them.

 So for now, I cling to my house dress.

Teach Better/Work Less: Slow Down on Innovation

I continue to be inspired by Elizabeth Dentlinger and her goal of Teach Better/Work Less, which I've adopted as my own.

While I've got lots of moving parts to the Teach Better/Work Less plan, one area I've had to take a close look at is innovation.  Why do I feel like I must have new and better ways every year, all the time?  There's no doubt that our field is full of learning and innovation right now--making the shift from learning to acquisition, from memorization to proficiency, new ACTFL standards, new research, better ways to spend our class time.....There's a lot of great work to be done.  But I don't have to do it All. At. Once.

After writing a couple of new units for upper elementary and middle school and adding FVR, I started talking about creating stations--after the school year had started.  My good friend and colleague, Siobhan, didn't even look up from her work when I laid out my plan. She simply said, "For next year."

She knows. I'm an innovation junkie. In reflecting more about this penchant for change, it became clear, quickly, that my focus on (rapid) innovation was the cause of a lot of stress and additional pressure on my work load--all brought on by me. I'm now asking myself, "Am I really reflecting on each major innovation? How does it work? How do the children respond? Is the innovation responding to their needs?  Is it too fast for them? How does this change focus on the bigger picture and program goals? Given the time limitations, does it make sense?"

So, I'm committed to what I've started and as far as innovation? I started a Pinterest Board with ideas for stations so when I feel the strong urge to start changing things I can pin ideas to the board and then let it go...for now. Same for unit ideas. I'll take some time to sit with the changes already in place, and respond as needed. 

Conference Going/Conference Burnout

Last weekend, I had the fortune to attend the Central States Conference here in Chicago--a great opportunity to network with teachers from the region, present and get in some needed learning.  I left the event feeling  energized and so positive about the work happening in our community.

That has not always been my professional learning experience though. Let's talk openly here about CONFERENCE BURNOUT.

I used to go to conferences wide eyed with eagerness and wanting to take in as much as possible--especially if the presenters were well-known. My preparation consisted of going over the conference guide, circling every possible session I could hit--highlighting topics that seems familiar and interesting.  Once there, I would go from session to session, collecting a pile of handouts, taking some notes, then moving on to the next.  Heading home I was awash in disconnected ideas of things I would/could do in my program.  However, once returning to my classroom, without any time to reflect or digest, and having too many topics to try and put into practice, those handouts and ideas made their way to my storage closet...and then the recycling bin.  It was too much to take in, and too unfocused for me to integrate into my practices.  In the end, I'm not sure how helpful those conference experiences were.

I left Central States feeling so good because I went in with a plan for my participation that was focused....and limited.  I knew going in that I was going to be presenting with colleagues, so I carved out plenty of time to prep and meet with them.  Then, I looked at my goals for this year.  I set out this fall to focus on getting better at comprehensible input,  becoming familiar with a variety of techniques to be able to provide lots of different kinds of input for my students.  One strategy I knew I needed more information on is using video content in a comprehensible, culturally relevant way.  With this goal in mind, I looked through the conference guide and found two sessions that fit the bill--one on an introduction Movie Talk  and another on making authentic film/video comprehensible in elementary(shout out to Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell!).

That's right, two sessions. I added to that a networking session with NNELL, that used an unconference format, allowing us in elementary language to meet in small groups to connect around topics we wanted to talk/learn about.   

When I came back to school, I met immediately with a colleague to continue processing and sharing--and she added some other great ways we could use the techniques from the sessions, and we're putting a plan in place to do it.  This was the first time I had used such focus going in, and let go of any guilt about limiting the number of sessions I attended.  In the end, this was one of the most meaningful  conference experiences I've had...and no handouts in the cabinet or recycling bin.

Teaching for Proficiency...a Career Long Journey

Proficiency refers to the ability to do, to function. Language proficiency refers to one’s ability to use language for real world purposes to accomplish real world linguistic tasks, across a wide range of topics and settings.    
-Language Testing International

A few years ago when the idea of teaching for language proficiency came into my world, I felt energized and on-fire--it put words to what I felt  deep down about being a language teacher.  Language for real life use--of course!  Why hadn't it occurred to me before? When I thought about how that would play out in my classes, I felt overwhelmed, anxious and guilty. All of these feelings came up during the few hours I sat in that one proficiency focused workshop!

At that point I had already been teaching Spanish for about 10 years.  I doubted my previous decisions, and I was racked with guilt about failing my students all those previous years.  With little planning time I had no idea how I was going to shift my focus to proficiency in my classes for 1st-8th graders.  Feeding my anxiety was working as the only WL teacher in a small private school with few proficiency focused materials available or colleagues with which to collaborate.

Why hadn't it occurred to me before?! I wish someone would have told me then, "Give yourself a break! Be gentle with yourself. You don't have to know it all."  I grew up in language programs that were based on grammar driven textbooks--from middle school through university.  The modeling I received didn't focus on proficiency.  Nor did many teachers I met along the way. 

It has taken several years, working step by step, to build a program (and mindset) that focuses on developing proficiency, and it's still a work in progress(and always will be!).  Along the way, I've plugged into meaningful PD,  and forged relationships with colleagues outside of my school community, who support this way of working. 

 Here's what I wished I had known when I embarked on the proficiency journey:

• You're not alone.  
• There are lots of teachers who are working on this and want to collaborate, share and support you as they grow themselves.  These teachers are blogging, tweeting, and presenting at conferences. Find your people. #langchat is a great place to start, as is your state language teacher organization.  This post from Amy Lenord is a rich resource for teacher-bloggers.

• Be generous and forgiving with yourself and others.
• You're doing your best. You love your students, care for them and want the best for them.  We all want the best for our students and are learning along the way.  Reserve the harsh judgment-of others and yourself.

• You're never done.
• There is no proficiency finish line.  We're all continuing to learn and innovate. And we'll likely never be done.  

For my colleagues who might be a little further along the proficiency journey, what would have helped you at the beginning?