Establishing Boundaries: 6 Reasons I am Able to Not Take Any Work Home

When I started job hunting back in 2007, it was IMPOSSIBLE to get a job. I'd get tons of interviews, call backs for demo lessons, etc. and would never get hired it was exhausting. When I finally landed a job (which was a maternity leave replacement), I busted my rear end to impress. I worked hours and hours on perfecting my craft. My husband actually helped me grade! My weekends were devoted to planning.

And truly, that was my life ALL the way up until I had my son in 2015. It didn't change a ton, though. I definitely did less on the weekends and at night, but I was still doing it.

Then, COVID hit. I went back to being a pyscho planner, obsessing over perfect lessons plans, impressing parents, and more. It didn't hit me until the masks were finally off that I NEEDED to stop. I realized it when, no matter how much I chased students down, they and the parents just didn't care. I said to myself, "why am I doing this to myself? Getting myself all worked up over other people not caring. This ends here." Not only that, but it was affecting my mental health and family.

So, since then, I no longer take work home. I do ZERO school-related things on the weekend or at night. And I've seen this big shift with a lot of my colleagues. The realization that we simply aren't paid or appreciated enough is not worth the risk to our own livelihoods.

But how? How can I possibly do this? Read on.

The 6 Reasons:

1. I've taught the same subject (exclusively) for 10 years now.

2. I have small class sizes (less than 20).

3. I grade what the students are working on WHILE they're working on it.

4. I don't comment and fix errors on student work..l just conference and show them.

5. I plan units instead of day by day.

6. I use every second of my work day to work, plan, and grade.

Let me elaborate more below:

I've taught the same subject (exclusively) for 10 years now...

It's always been 6th grade, with a few years of 7th in there. Prior to that, I taught 5th grade, all subjects except Science. Being able to build on prior years' experience has been critical to my being able to not take things home. I am able to master my craft.

It's a huge disservice to teachers AND students to continuously change grade levels/content that teachers are teaching.

When your admin is changing you around every year, that certainly does not help at all. So, while this is not an immediate fix for you, it is definitely worth a conversation with your admin and union if you feel you've changed around too much. Teachers cannot possibly be successful if they have to teach something different each year.

I am not saying that I've taught the exact same way all those years, but I was able to evolve what I've already taught. I do think there is value in change. And yes, some teachers DO need to change if they're getting stale and are not willing to evolve themselves.

I do talk about the 5 ways to embrace change here, because that's important, too.

I have small class sizes (less than 20)...

Okay, you're going to say this is another one out of your control, but use this as your ammo when you approach your admin. My students always do well on the state test, as does NJ in general. Now, small class sizes aren't the norm necessarily, but I never hear of anyone near me going over 25.

With these class sizes, I can really reach each students, for the most part. What can you do about? There is a teacher shortage! Get out of your district, shop around; you don't need to run yourself ragged with 30 kids. It's truly impossible to do so with that many students in a class.

This was one of my smaller classes a few years back, but it is typically this size.

I grade what the students are working on WHILE they're working on it...

This one you can have control over! I wrote a whole blog post about this. You should not be assigning a huge writing piece without looking at it while the students are working, like, literally, AS they are working on it. Open your computer, have them do it all in Slides or Docs, and click though them as they work.

Get a sit-to-stand desktop thingy to help so you can bop around the room. This is a really good one to use.

I don't comment and fix errors on student work..l just conference and show them...

Chat with them on GoGuardian, call them over, and have them fix as they go. It's A LOT to do during class time but...it's during CLASS TIME...not your time.

You should be using super basic rubrics to grade; not multiple-choice tests. Stop focusing on mechanics and grammar for everything and focus on what the writing piece is hoping to accomplish. Quit writing tons of comments; students hardly ever read them (unless you do a specific assignment to have them do this, which is valuable).

I have GoGuardian up constantly.

I plan units instead of day by day...

Planning out entire units is the special sauce to saving time. Creating this basic outline of how you want an entire month to go saves you SO much time and it allows you to tweak things as you go.

I do a super simple unit plan for this. I pick my genre of study or writing focus, I list all the major teaching points and lesson ideas, and fix and stretch them out as the days get closer.

So, this may require a solid day to really sit down and map out. Call out sick and do it or ask for coverage. Go to a library with no distractions.

This blog post goes into making your lesson planning easier: Click

This blog post discusses how it's important to focus on units: Click

Here is my 6th grade pacing guide: Click

Here is my 7th grade pacing guide: Click

Sample of a unit plan.

I use every second of my work day to work, plan, and grade...

Guys, I really don't have a work clique or besties. A few years back, my work bestie moved and honestly, I've never really find my groove with anyone else. I get along just fine with everyone I work with and there are certainly colleagues I can relate to more than others, but I just don't really have that "bestie".

Where I am going with this is, due to this, I really don't take any time out of my day to get involved with gossip and chit-chat. The buddies I do click with well, are very like-minded in that we use our work time to work. We giggle about how we sit in our darkened classrooms at lunch, alone. We will catch up throughout the year, but we value our home life more.

Everyone is different and some people NEED that socializing to survive. That's cool! But, for me, I'd rather leave work at work.

Bottom Line

While some of these things are privileges and things you can't avoid, there are definitely some ideas here you can use to help establish boundaries.

Also, let me add one more bit here...going digital has saved me a TON of time as well.

The big takeaway here is this:

Advocate for your time. Ask for sub coverage. Talk to your union. If not, leave. There is a teacher shortage. Find something better.

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