Last week, I got a wake up call from my body.

I was in the ER with my son and his broken arm (Moral of the story there: Don’t ride bikes next to a kid who is texting and biking) and I inexplicably passed out. Whether or not it’s connected, the next day I started the worst case of bronchitis I’ve had in 20 years.

Over the past three months, I’ve been more sick than I’ve been since my three kids were extremely young.

Message received, universe: I’ve worn myself out. I need to take better care of myself.

Obviously, rest is the first priority this summer, but I’ve also had to think about my priorities. I often do “fun” school stuff during the summer. The stuff that isn’t vital to learning. Stuff like

  • Creating new gamification ideas
  • Reading lots of education books
  • Re-designing my physical classroom layout
  • Browsing Pinterest boards

These aren’t bad activities. To some extent, they all have a positive benefit in the classroom. However, I had to re-examine my priorities and what has landed me here in the land of cough drops & cold medicine.

It was time to take an honest look at what took up the most time or gave me the most stress this year. At first, the answers varied. Assessing writing and work. Staying caught up on planning during speech season. Motivating the senioritis stricken. All of it came down to one word.

Feedback.

This is what stresses me the most. When I’m on top of it, my teaching is most effective. I’m in the flow. When I’m behind, I’m straddling water, and it’s easier to lose student interest, and in turn, student learning.

This summer, I’m focusing on these goals:

  • Revamp my peer feedback methods. Teach them to give stronger feedback. The more students can give feedback, the less weight is on my shoulders.
  • Making a visual layout of each unit of learning — and accepting that it’s a work in process. This includes reviewing the “rough” areas of my units the past two years and smoothing them out.

For years, I’ve heard the tired mantra “Work smarter, not harder.” It’s about time I took it to heart.