The result of an overloaded schedule is stress, and that kind of stress does no one any good. As I discussed work challenges with a friend the other day, it was clear that the teaching/learning schedule was overloaded thus resulting in too much stress. So yesterday as I began a more realistic schedule, I found myself continually coaching myself against adding to the daily routine and instead completing the efforts already scheduled and planned, efforts such as cleaning all the science materials.
When students' schedules are too full, they experience the kinds of stress teachers who are overworked feel too, and we have to resist that temptation especially in an age where learning potential and resources are everywhere you look.
Our team has a full teaching/learning load and a great rest of the year planned for students with many, many wonderful learning events. There's truly no more room for more, but there is space for better. So as the year continues, I'll focus on refinement rather than additional teaching/learning events. This is a good focus at this time.
