Stress & the End of the Year

How are you all doing? Are you hanging in there? With the countdown in full swing it is really easy to be overwhelmed and stressed out. I always feel like my plan periods are filled with good intentions, but my to-do list never seems to get any smaller. How do you handle the stress of wrapping up the year?

One of the things that I have recently become passionate about doing for me, (yes I actually found a way to get some me time!) is going to the gym. Yes, it has to happen at zero-dark-thirty (otherwise known as 5:00am) but it is the only time that I don't feel the burden of my other 'hats' of mom, wife, and teacher. I can actually focus on me.

My gym that I found here is amazing. For anyone who is local here is a link:

http://www.kinetik-fitness.com/

I started going last April to their outdoor boot camp. I was originally only going to go for the 5-week program but ended up staying all summer and then moving into their indoor program in the fall. I love it, okay I hate it sometimes, but mostly I love it because it's fun and different and it energizes me. I feel like sweating my butt off (hopefully literally!) makes me a better teacher because when I am healthy and take care of myself I tend to stress less. That doesn't mean I'm a perfect teacher, I would never say that! But it does keep me more grounded. And now I ponder how I could incorporate bootcamp into my classroom..okay, I kid..but wouldn't that be something? No pencil...10 burpees haha. 

My biggest areas of stress at this point seem to come from trying to wrap up loose ends, finish big projects, and work with parents who have expectations of how the remaining few days should go for their child. Trying to accommodate that, plus have meetings, grading, report cards, a field trip, and more sometimes seems overwhelming. But at the end of it I know I'll look back and remember the good things from this year. Which is exactly what my students did today! We are making a movie about our memories, I'll update you with more information once we solidfy our plans!  Happy Monday everyone.