I did this exercise today, where you sort your work into urgent vs. important, and honestly? It was kind of eye-opening.
Most of my day is spent dealing with whatever’s loudest – schedule changes, last-minute requests, all that stuff that feels urgent but doesn’t really help my students learn better. Meanwhile, the things I actually care about – like really connecting with kids, planning lessons that don’t suck, having real conversations about their learning – those keep getting pushed aside.
The surprise wasn’t that I felt overwhelmed. The surprise was seeing how much incredible teaching I want to be doing, and recognizing that daily scrambling was stealing my creative energy before I could focus on what matters most.
So I’m trying something different this year. Instead of just reacting to whatever comes up, I want to protect time for the stuff that actually makes a difference. Better planning so I can create lessons that engage kids. More time to build relationships. You know, the reasons I became a teacher in the first place.
It’s not about being perfect. It’s about putting my energy where it counts.
That is very true! At the beginning of every school year, we have these big hopes and dreams of the things we might accomplish. Then, the school year begins and everything we planned is pushed to side in favour of reacting to all the things that happen. Unfortunately, we do need to react sometimes. I wonder what sorts of systems you can put in place to balance your time.
Marc André,
Thank you for sharing this. The way you described spending most of your day dealing with whatever is loudest really captures that feeling so many of us have, especially when the urgent keeps winning out over what actually helps students learn.
I really appreciate how clearly you have named what you want to protect at Ashbury. Time and energy for better planning, for lessons that feel engaging rather than just getting through the period, and for real conversations and relationships with students. That line about wanting to get back to the reasons you became a teacher in the first place really stood out.
I also like that you are not framing this as trying to be perfect, but as choosing to put your energy where it counts. That feels honest and achievable. I would be very interested to hear, as the year goes on, what you notice shifting in your classes and in how you feel at the end of the day when more of your time is spent on the work that matters most to you.
Gareth Jones
Yes! This! I think embracing not being perfect (and modeling that for our students and each other) is so key! Especially if it allows us to shift our energy and focus. I really appreciated your post – and I feel like you have landed in a similar place to that of a few others in our group, and I think what you are currently grappling with is akin to @ehenderson @smatthews @varhin in some connected ways.
Looking forward to hearing what space you have been able to make for the incredible teaching moments you are craving, and if you have noticed a shift in your focus over the past couple of months!