Teachers need to develop habits and routines across their entire day where they know what to expect and less decisions need to be made. In the classroom, this looks like having a clear classroom management plan where the student knows and the teacher knows what will occur when certain behaviors happen. At home, this looks like simplifying meal prep/menu for the week, having a basic wardrobe without a lot of bells and whistles and developing a consistent morning/evening routine.
I do think online learning has minimized many of the classroom management decisions. I've felt overwhelmed this year for sure, but it's a different kind of stress online than in person. In fact, I'm grateful that the masters program ended up being this year as I think I'm able to juggle it a lot better than I would if I was in-person.
My guess is that decision fatigue impacts everyone differently and some people benefit from the strategies listed in this article more so than others. I can see how these habits would be especially helpful when one has a family and not only are you making decisions for yourself, you’re also making lots of decisions for little ones. I did not grow up in a house that had well established habits to simplify chaos, so this is something I continue to push myself to better develop.
My guess is that decision fatigue impacts everyone differently and some people benefit from the strategies listed in this article more so than others. I can see how these habits would be especially helpful when one has a family and not only are you making decisions for yourself, you’re also making lots of decisions for little ones. I did not grow up in a house that had well established habits to simplify chaos, so this is something I continue to push myself to better develop.
This is an excellent and applicable article and I would encourage peers to read it.
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/teacher-decision-fatigue/
I know what it is like staying late to do "one" last thing. Which then turned into one of a few last things. Being the technology teacher I have the responsibility take care of the technology in the building and fixing a simple problem became a 45 minute endeavor. So I had to learn to pick a time to drop what I was doing and go home, or take it home and fix it when my family goes to sleep. It is a black hole of teaching that we can get sucked into and don't know it until someone points it out.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you've established a very healthy and reasonable boundary. I can see how your job would involve unexpected tasks. I agree that it's much easier to notice a black hole in someone else than ourselves.
DeleteThank you for sharing this article Grace. There are many times that I get focused on "just finishing up a few things" and I look to the clock that reads 5:00, ugh! As educational teachers we all need another 12 hours per day to feel satified with our daily wants and needs. This is a great reminder to make yourself a schedule and create a routine that puts you at ease and allows you to manage your stress in a healthy way. The sun will always come up tomorrow with or without those papers graded :-)
ReplyDelete-Alicia G
Yes! And I think everything becomes so much clearer and more doable after a full night of sleep. I do think I've gotten much better at going on the fly when needed as I've gotten a couple of years of teaching under my belt. That first year was so hard.
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