The start of the school year can be exciting. Well the actual shopping and new stationary part anyway. Starting the new school year is overwhelming. There are dates, meetings, documents and parents throwing information at you. Of course, you do not want to miss a thing. Being organised at the start of the new school year is essential and necessary. It can be the difference between feeling utterly, desperately and hopelessly overwhelmed or just overwhelmed. Whatever planner or diary you choose to use, it doesn't matter. Here are few things that I do to ensure that I love my planner and want to use it to help keep organised:
1. Use stickers and document all school events: I use stickers that I created to add in school events. This is the first thing that I do when I get my new planner. Adding in school events for the year also means that I can wrap my head around what is coming.
2. Record all public holidays: Secondly, I always record the public holidays and days off school for the year. It helps me to plan my holidays as well as give me something to at least look forward to. Now I know my countdown days!
3. Decorate, decorate and decorate: Making your planner attractive may seem like a waste of time to some people. I find it calming and I find that it means I am proud of my planner. I want to use it! I actually want to look at it and use it. 
4. Try and match your planner to your classroom theme: this year my lovely teaching partner and I chose the theme of Harry Potter. So a quick search of Etsy and I found some Harry Potter quote stickers. Then I simply cut them and stuck them in. I may sound (scratch that, I do sound) lame but I love a good classroom theme that is applied to every aspect of the room as well as displays.
5. Keep a great stash of sticky notes handy:  Sticky notes are a vital key to keeping organised. Having a stash in your planner or close by means that you can quickly jot down notes. Someone give you a date? Jot it down on your post it note.
6.  Design your own post its to suit what you need: I created a heap of post it note templates that suited the things that I need to do every week or even every day. I chose to add things like research, read, emails that I need to send as well as a space for things that I need to organise. I find these easy to print and the best part is that I can take them off and move them anytime that I need. If I don't do what is on the list for that day, I simply move it to the next.
7. Have a space for envelopes or pockets: Pockets and envelopes come in very handy because it means that you can store important information. I tend to store documents or passwords or things that I need to access frequently. 

I know technology can do all of this at the drop of a hat. But there is something about creating and enhancing your own planner that works for me. I find it helps my memory because of the physical effort that I put in. I also find it relaxing. Whatever planner or diary you use, make the most of it. Play with it and enhance it in a way that you like! We would love to hear what others do with their planners. 

#twocreativeteachers #planner #teacherplanner #organise #plannerstickers

​I have one golden rule for my teaching and home life. That is NEVER bring work home. I used to bring all of my work, corrections and reports home. My tables were piled high with work stuff. I would walk past it all of the time and feel guilty on my time off, knowing that I had to do all of this. This created stress and no space was free from the demands of the job. So one day after my husband suggested he still needed room for his place to eat, I vowed never to take work home again. At first, it was dreadful and challenging. I felt like I worked longer hours at work. I also felt that I wasn't working hard enough. But over time, I looked forward to coming home. Not wheeling in trolleys, or carrying in bags of work.
 
I hear many of my co-workers say that they cannot stay and work at school. I used to be like that. I did like just coming home, getting changed and finishing work. However, it wasn’t healthy. Our job as teachers is demanding and time consuming. It shouldn’t impact our house and home. A happy healthy and positive teacher is better for students and relationships within a school community. When you walk in that door, you need a space that allows you to unhook, unwind and relax from the day. How can you do that when the day has followed you home and is sitting in your study, on your kitchen table or on your coffee table? All it breeds is a sense of guilt. Your body and mind want to be in the safe comfort of your home but your mind is looking at that closed study door or table full of work and feeling guilt.

It is just not worth it. I need to be present in my home and house. Attentive to my family, husband and friends. In short, a work life balance. Whatever doesn't get done today, can be done tomorrow. I learnt very quickly how to prioritise tasks and let other stuff go. I know how it sounds. Like a ridiculous, unrealistic and impossible task. It can be done. If you set your mind to it and make it a priority. 
 
So try and see how my golden rule works for you. Even for just a month. After all, fight club had it right when they said “What happens at fight club, stays at fight club”. So my golden rule is “Leave work and what happens at work, at work”.
#twocreativeteachers #goldenrule #leaveworkatwork #homelife