Learning to Say No

It is very easy to get swamped in all the demands on a teacher's time. There is always someone who "needs" you to do something. Most of the time they "need it done immediately." Last year, I let all those needs take over my life. I ran from one thing to another, trying to get it all done. I drove myself bonkers, get very flustered, and didn't do things well because I was trying to do it all. I want that to change this year.

Because we're at the beginning of the school year, there are students and counselors coming in to my classroom when I am teaching asking to talk to me. Last year, I would drop everything and make my 40 students wait while I dealt with this one person. This year, I tell them they'll have to come back when I'm not teaching. I'm making my students my priority and making people who need me come to me on my time. The up side of this is that often they don't come back. So clearly it wasn't important and I didn't waste my or my students time on something that wasn't important. My students stay my priority.

I'm also trying to say "no" to unacceptable demands. This week I was asked to spend students funds on facility upkeep. That was not a demand that I should meet; student funds should go to student needs not to keeping the school clean and running. So I refused to do what was asked of me and said as much.

Finally, I'm trying to remember that it is okay to take a breather. It would be very easy to spend y whole weekend grading papers, lesson planning, taking care of the auditorium, worrying about my students, etc., etc. I did that last year and got really cranky and my relationships suffered. It is okay to make myself and my relationships a priority during off time. I don't have to dedicate everything I have to my job. I can't. So I'm saying no to trying to do it all all of the time.