Teachers already have a stressful job while in school. They shouldn’t also bring that stress home and let it continue on their time off. Every worker should prioritize living and relationships over work. We work so we can enjoy our lives, we don’t live to work. Living to work is a formula that might ruin one’s relationships. Life is too short to spend free time on anything but family, friends, and hobbies. Every person has their own tricks and habits that work for them, but here’s what works for me:
Put away the phone and computer
This is a message teachers constantly tell their kids, but addiction to technology is a thing for adults, too. I find it amazing how much time can pass while completing a simple task online. It’s because it’s so easy to go down the rabbit hole of looking something up or taking too long to respond to an email. I still assign most work on paper so I don’t get distracted online while grading. I also keep my grades on paper and then transfer them to the computer once I finish. This allows me to just take a set of papers and leave my computer behind if I grade somewhere around the school. When I was in college, I would do my work at the library so I wouldn’t be tempted to go on my computer. I try to keep that habit of creating a separate space for work even now.
Avoid conversations and find a quiet space
Conversations are the same as technology – it’s a distraction from finishing work. I hate to be the guy that says don’t have fun at work and build relationships, but this is about prioritizing our family and friends over our colleagues. If you want to have a conversation with a colleague, establish a time and date outside of school to get together. It’s important to have people at work to trade teaching ideas and get advice, but there’s also no feeling like walking out the door and not having anything work related in the back of your mind. I used to lose sleep over the checklists in my mind, but now I peacefully rest knowing that work is for work.
Chip away at grading
As a young teacher, I would grade like I studied, for long periods of time. I spent all day Sunday at my local library because I couldn’t get the work done at school. Now I chip away at work, squeezing in a paper or lesson plan whenever I get the opportunity. Grading a set of essays doesn’t have to happen in one five-hour chunk on one day but could get done in a few days in between classes.
Use rubrics and verbal feedback
I cut down on the number of comments I left on essays by taking notes on their issues and lecturing on the topics in class for five or ten minutes. So instead of making one hundred comments on the same thing, I would just need to address it once and use an example to demonstrate. In addition to full essays, I assign daily, small, ungraded writing to quickly provide feedback. Rubrics are also a quick way to give lengthy feedback instead of writing out full sentences.
Assign a reasonable amount of work
At some point in my career, I realized that I was to blame for the fact that I brought work home. If I couldn’t grade the work I assigned at school, I figured, it’s probably because I assigned too much. When I gave less work, my students performance on the AP exam did not go down. I did not notice any change in their ability to write and speak. I also started distributing and collecting work in bundles so I could cut down on the number of individual assignments I had to grade and enter online.
I go over these techniques in more detail in my online course.
Teacher's Workshop, professional development for secondary ELA teachers
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