Most teachers get that Sunday scaries feeling as July quickly turns into August and summer comes to an end. While I’ve actively planned my Pinterest-perfect classroom and lessons and the school year has started for most, I will not be starting my school year until November.
My reason is Emerson, my sweet baby girl I had this past June.
Being a mom and a teacher comes with similar feelings…fear of not doing enough, fear of not being fun enough, fear of not meeting standards or milestones. Basically, lots of fear and anxiety, but being a momma is the most important work I will do, so I refuse to feel guilty about maternity leave.
I am not excited about coming in midway through the year to what I am imagining could be controlled chaos. Being a type-A boss babe (hence all the fear and anxiety), it’s difficult for me to relinquish classroom control, but I feel differently this time around than I did with my son and hoping I can come back to a pretty organized space.
With this pregnancy, I was able to crank out 12-week sub plans before last school year ended. I didn’t want that looming over my head with a new baby and summer. Balancing baby names and lesson plans may seem like quite the conundrum, but our workbooks really were the solution that put my mind at ease. I was able to framework my time off with different units that I knew were sequential and easy to follow.
I don’t want to go as far to say that the workbooks are a stroke of brilliance… but maybe they are. I’m confident that with our workbooks, my classroom will run as smoothly as one could hope.The workbooks are packed with creative writing opportunities, poetry analyses, close readings, short stories, and more. I was able to leave these workbooks and know that my long-term sub has day by day plans.
Because I’m out at the start of the year, I started with our Diversity and Identity workbook. There are so many stories to represent different backgrounds and even more opportunities for students to express who they are. It’s a perfect “get to know you” workbook. It will take students through 4 weeks and little to no prep from my substitute.
I like to print out these workbooks all together, so students can reference back to what we have accomplished throughout the unit. They have really liked how interactive the workbooks are and having ownership over something larger scale. Here’s a peek at the inside of this one:
Maternity leave brings a whirlwind of baby giggles, late-night lullabies, and multi-tasking–there’s no need to stress how the classroom is running (and no time!).
We create everything with the intentions to make a teacher’s life easier, so the hope is that whether it’s for maternity leave or otherwise, you find our workbooks as useful as we do.
Chat soon–I’ve got a baby to snuggle,
Brittany
Check out our other workbooks that could make your life easier:
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