Welcome to my first post! 11/11/2020

Well it is official, the world is on fire. 2020 has created a perfect storm. We are in a perfect storm of pandemic, riots, murder bees, hunker down orders, alien ships, China conspiracies/aggressions, to vaccine or not to vaccine and now voter fraud? We have/do not have a president. Yay, could we be more complicated? Well, my name is Tanya Nault and I am a new teacher in Anchorage, AK at Clark Middle School. Well, technically I am still considered new, this is the beginning of my third year. I teach Social Studies to sixth graders. I am a late in life career changer. 

This year, maybe more than any other, I feel a calling to do this. I feel like we need to be here for our youth. There is so much separation, loneliness and fear, that classes at least can give students a sense of structure and same-ness even in our "new normal." I feel that teaching in a Title I school that is #21 in the nation for "Most Diverse Middle Schools" shows me more than most how much a positivity and energetic presentation is needed. I am not going to lie, I am a lazy person. I don't eat well, at least not since I have become a teacher. My own children have gone without me some days as I have worked to help my students on track as I grade or plan lessons. This year, above others maybe, I have realized I need to balance my personal life, teaching life, and family life way better. I know my students don't often have people believing in them, cheering them on, and being a voice of positivity, but if I give it all to my students I will not have energy for my children or myself. In taking some of the classes I have been cramming in since May of this year, trying to gear up for online engagement and learning how to work more online, I have learned I need to spend some time on me, and more time on my son's. 

My children, like most our kids, are adaptable. They will make priorities of whatever I make priorities of, and although I have signed them up for activities and paid for them, I often had others taking them and dropping them off. I wasn't always present for them. I realized while taking a class that kept trying to refocus me on myself and my family, that I often don't. My focus is often on my students, my co-workers/friends, my kids, then myself. This is not a good balance. I do not want my children to start acting up in order to gain my attention. I don't want them to grow up and wish that I had known them, or have them hating my students for pulling my attention from them. 

I have started by recognizing this need. I need to spend more time being with my kids. Not just present, but participating, fully engaged. I need to re-establish habits for me, and I need to set alarms to stop myself from spending too much time on my students, grading, answering emails, at school, creating new assignments. This isn't a bad thing to love what you do, to feel a connection with the kids I want to serve, and to want to help them better themselves. I do need to breathe. I need to remember my kids need me, and I need to reconnect with myself. I need to do things just for me. I have bought things to do this, but have not activated them yet. I will though. I signed my boys up for swimming and I take them. I swim with them afterwards. I am looking at getting them a dog. We will train him/her together. I am planning on doing things with them and they will hold me to it. I still need to eke out some time for myself, I am getting too that, eventually. 

If you are like me, this is a new and scary world, but stopping and breathing is a good start. Then:

1) Make a list of what is important to you.

2) Are there any you have no control over? (Cross these out) Focus on the ones you can control. 

3) Which are non-negotiable? 

4) Set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time bound) for teaching and home life.

5) Learn to say No. This is actually harder than it sounds. Make sure your non-negotiable items move up         on your list. 

6) Work smarter, not harder. Again, this is harder than it sounds. Get to know others in your school and talk to them about how they do their work. Pick their brains and keep your ears open for new ideas (that may work in unconventional ways). 

7) Create a schedule, work in (or out) times for email, phone calls, surfing the internet or playing video games. Having a schedule, at least for the parts of your day you can control may help make each day make more sense and productive.