4 Habits for Elementary Teachers to Get Into Every Sunday Night
Here at Lalilo, we value our teachers and all the hard work they put in each day. Sometimes during the school year, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and overworked, so in honor of a New Year and new resolutions — we wanted to offer some tips for getting back on track!
First impressions are everything, and that goes for the beginning of the week too. Most people aren’t a big fan of Mondays, but regardless of how you feel about them, they are an important aspect of the week! Mondays set the tempo for the next 6 days, and if you can get that right, each day just seems *that* much better. However, what most people do not realize is that a large part of having a successful Monday has to do with what you do on Sunday night. Establishing a Sunday-night ritual is a powerful tool. Sports players, business people, and individuals in almost any creative domain use rituals to help set the tone for their day. Teachers are no exception. Let’s explore 4 habits that elementary teachers should get into every Sunday night!
Prepare a Fun Activity to Kick Off the Week
Again, most people don’t like Mondays, and elementary students are no exception. Coming from a weekend full of TV, video games, and sleeping in isn’t easy for them either, and starting off the morning with something fun can make a huge difference for your class’ mood moving forward in the week. Circle time in the morning is perfect for boosting the class morale, and it is something that you can get really creative with. Whether it is a fun arts and crafts activity, an outdoor activity, just make sure it’s fun!
Okay, maybe not that fun, but there are endless possibilities for Monday morning activities. Need ideas? Well, one common activity is “good things”, where students (and teachers) share how their weekend went, what they are looking forward to this week, and pretty much anything “good”. A couple of other ideas for great activities are board games or other indoor games like Simon Says, Balance Beam, Rock-Paper-Scissors-Royale.
Plan Your Outfits for the Week
You’d be surprised at how much time planning weekly outfits saves. There is a reason why corporate executives like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates keep it simple and wear similar outfits on a daily. That doesn’t mean you will need to start dressing like a cartoon character, but it definitely shows that planning outfits ahead of time helps save plenty of time and contributes to a generally less-stressful day. So next time you have a little extra time on Sunday night, take a look at your closet, grab some hangars, and prep some outfits!
Spend “Me” Time
Being a teacher isn’t easy — it is a job that takes a lot of love, care, and patience to be really good at. On top of that, it is also very time consuming, and it is easy to forget to take some time out of the week just for yourself. If you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of your students. With that said, spend at least one hour each Sunday night doing whatever isn’t considered “work” that you really enjoy and wish you had more time for.
For some people, that could be taking a bubble bath using herbal oils in a dim bathroom. For others, that might just mean going on a much-needed Netflix binge. Whatever it is for you, do it each week and put it on your calendar! For workaholics, this could seem like a daunting challenge — who else is going to grade homework? But it sure won’t be you if you do not spend the time to take care of yourself.
Set Up Your Morning for Success
This one might sound obvious, but you would be surprised at how many people underestimate the power of having a great morning before going to work! Eating a balanced breakfast, waking up at a reasonable time, and having enough a time to get dressed makes for a powerful start. Whatever it is that you need to do in the morning to consider it a success, try to optimize for it on Sunday night.
For example, if breakfast is an especially important aspect of your morning, meal prepping for breakfast on Sunday night might be a great way to optimize your time in the morning. If getting to the classroom a bit early is really important to you, try going to bed a bit earlier and shave down your shower time to a few minutes (timers are great for that). Picking what to wear in the morning also tends to take a lot of time, but there are definitely ways to expedite that process (hint, hint).
Bonus: Don’t Leave School on Friday Until You’ve Prepared for Monday Morning
I know some teachers that get up really early in the morning on Mondays, head to the classroom an hour or two before class actually starts, and tidy up the room for the week. Although this might work for some people, it could easily tire you out (and you’ll probably already be sleepy from early-rising) and might be a rough start for the day. Counterintuitively, making the next week better involves putting a little more work at the end of this week. Setting aside an hour after school each Friday to tidy up before Monday is a great habit to get into.
At the end of the day, Sunday night rituals are as useful of a tool as you make it. Every person is different and the habits you decide to start building are totally up to you. Hopefully you decide to try out some of these habits, I promise they’ll make Mondays much more exciting!
Please message me at tiffany@lalilo.com if you’re a teacher who’d like to be a part of what we’re doing here at Lalilo.
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