I spent most of my first 3 years teaching feeling overwhelmed. Like I would dream of getting into just a teeny tiny accident just to have days off work. And at the beginning of every semester I would reinvent myself.

I'd spend the break scrolling Pinterest and blogs trying to find the perfect set of routines, procedures, and activities that would magically make my students be excited to learn science and take ownership of their own learning.

Two weeks into the school year, I'd feel defeated again. My students were still rolling their eyes at the activities, I had given up on enforcing (or forgotten about) half of those new procedures, and I was more stressed than before.

It felt like trying to make my classroom feel manageable was a waste of time.

Here's what the mistake was:

I was trying to do too much all at once.

If teaching science already feels like your lost alone in the middle of the ocean struggling to stay afloat, then fully revamping your classroom is not the solution. Instead, you need to make one or two small changes that will make your day feel lighter.

That's what we're doing this week. For the rest of this week, you will get one email a day with one small task you can do to start making your classroom feel more manageable. This is the exact same approach I took to build a science classroom where 149 out of 150 students turned in completed, well done projects on time even though I had been absent for half of the time they were working on it. A classroom where students held each other accountable and teaching felt energizing instead of draining.

 

Welcome to the Classroom Reset - Day 1

Today's task is simple. Make two lists. Do your best to be objective and make your notes from a 3rd person POV. (Ex. In Dr. J's class... instead of In my class)

List 1: What's going well in your classroom? Nothing is too small. Your answer could be attendance, welcoming students into class, the ten minutes before students come in the room, whatever.

We have a tendency to focus on what's going poorly so it's important to note what's gone well. Especially, because there are typically things you're doing well that you can leverage to make other parts of your classroom run more smoothly.

List 2: What's driving you up the f***ing wall? What makes you feel overwhelmed? What do you wish was different?

Again, nothing is too small. It could be as simple as 'when students walk in the door without speaking'.

Why Make the Lists

Teaching is a big job. It feels overwhelming af and it's easy to lose track of what is actually make your life hard. Lists of specific things makes it feel tangible.

 ​If you're in Rockstars, click here to drop your lists inside our community. We can go a bit more in depth about the classroom reset and address your specific needs.​ 

Tomorrow, we'll talk about what to do with these lists to make your classroom feel more manageable and joyful in the spring.

If you want more in depth support with resetting your science classroom, you got options baybee.

Option 1: Join us inside of Rockstars. This is custom group instructional coaching. It's community so you know you're not alone. It's individualized feedback from me so you get exactly what you need. And it's instant access to all my resources and masterclasses.

 ​Click here to join monthly for $47 per month. ​ 

 ​Or click here to join annually. Save $100 on annual this week only with code SAVE100.​ 

Option 2: Book a one hour incubator call. This is me and you chatting and coming up with a plan. We can troubleshoot a specific lesson or make a plan to make your classroom feel less overwhelming. You leave more at peace and an email with a breakdown of what we discussed and our plan.

 ​Click here to save $150 on one session this week only with SAVE150. ​ 

 ​Or click here to save 4 months of 1:1 science teacher coaching. ​ 

Coaching that feels like mentorship not micromanagement. Includes custom resources, an individual chat to get responses Sunday - Thursday, access to Rockstars, and 2 incubator calls a month. Save $1000 this week only.

See you tomorrow for the next step of the Classroom Reset.

 

Stay curious,

Dr. J