The Goat Rodeo

Have you ever had one of those days/weeks/months/years where it is just one thing after another and you just feel like it a) never ends and b) couldn't be controlled if you tried?

If so, Congrats, you know the definition of a Goat Rodeo. 

Alright, now, who feels like that sounds like school these days?  What about just life in general?

One of my Teacher Friends recently told me that his year "just feels like constant administrative mandates and paperwork.  Just give a little more...a little more....a little more...."

And all of a sudden, you feel like the school owns your soul and are you are spending FAR more time doing school work for no extra pay (or an insultingly small amount of extra pay), than you ever imagined.

And we wonder why so many teachers burn out so quickly.

The same is true for our students.  Their lives are constant Goat Rodeos, between schoolwork and all the extracurricular activities that they do, sometimes because they enjoy them, sometimes because they "need it to get into college," and sometimes because of both.

How many of us have been there, as students, teachers, or both?  (Last year, one of my Teacher Friends kept track of her hours that she spent working on school related tasks.  I don't find the results surprising, but I do find them...interesting, especially for those who think that teachers get this amazing, Mythical Summer Break.)

It's time for us to defend ourselves.  And yet, the way that The System is organized makes it nigh impossible to do so.  So what do we do?  Well, the word NO is a powerful one.  "No, I'm sorry, I can't serve on that committee."  It's even better when you back it up with reasons, but don't feel like you have to.  I guess the biggest thing I wish I had known as a First Year Teacher is that it is OK to say no.  Admin will often go for new teachers first, since they know that said teachers want to make a good first impression.  But it is OK to say "No, I'm really still trying to get my work and my year organized.  I really would like to do a good job on my teaching and associated responsibilities this year, and feel that now is not a good time for me to take on yet another commitment.  Thank you for understanding."

As you can probably tell, I suck at saying no.  I admit that fully.  But I am getting better!  In order to get everything done, I've had to enlist my skills of making checklists, managing my time, and remembering that I MUST take time for myself.

What skills do you think are necessary to manage the Goat Rodeo? How do we go about TEACHING them to our students and to ourselves, since they do not learn skills like these anymore?