Whisper House Press

Knowing many students and teachers are struggling to maintain stability through the holiday season, I volunteered at our UMLA last board meeting to find an article to share with our membership this month. When I began my search, however, I found the most accessible articles were also sales pitches for particular educational products—I didn’t want to send you those. On the other hand, the most informative and reliable articles, coming from academic journals, weren’t exactly perfect for chunking in a newsletter note.

I decided to take another tack and write a note from my experience, informed by research, to assist teachers help themselves and our students. Consider this a reminder letter from one member of the profession to another practitioner what we probably already know (but often forget). So without ado: here’s my advice for keeping it together through the holiday season.

We are a stabilizing force for good in students’ lives. Students often get their most reliable meals and most predictable adult interactions at school. Remember that even if students complain about the work, the weather, their social lives—whatever it is—they also rely on us to be present for them. For this reason, they may not love the idea of being home for two weeks. They might not know how to say this aloud or even be aware of it, themselves.

Students need continued reason to be here. If you’re shifting into “It’s makeup week!” mode, remember that you’re not giving students a reason to be in your class. Make it valuable. If you treat it as junk time, they will, too. That’s not to say they can’t work on missing or revision work, but be intentional about the purpose of this time and take care not to communicate that you could take it or leave it—they’ll follow your lead on this.

Leave on time, and take breaks during your day. Especially as the nights have gotten longer and the daylight shorter, it’s important to keep your boundaries and, except in unusual circumstances, leave school when your contracted hours end. Also: Some of us type-A-personality folks tend to want to power through our days, never stopping—not for lunch, not to connect with colleagues… not for anything. We can forget to eat, to use the bathroom, and to stand up and move around. If you’re like me, you need to hear this: take a break. Be intentional about it.

Your colleagues need you, even if they don’t know how to express that need. We don’t all need the same things from one another, but a kind word or a thoughtful act will go a long way to demonstrating our care for our fellow educators. Tell someone you work with what, specifically, you appreciate about them, and see how they respond. It will make you feel good, too.

Take a deep breath.

I hope this reminder note is helpful, and I wish you all a restful holiday season.

Steve Capone, Jr.