“Finals Week”
My favorite thing that we have done this year was incorporating the sense of breathing. Something as small as giving your students a chance to sit and catch their breath so that they don’t feel that pressure creeping up on them, I think benefits everyone. As a student finals week always feels like go, go, go, I never feel as though I have time to just sit for a moment and have nothing else required of me. The breathing activity is short and always makes me feel like I can now address the things I need to, to be successful, rather than pushing through everything just to be done. As a teacher I feel as though I need to remind my students to take small moments just for themselves so they don’t feel the need to overwork themselves and end up making little mistakes.
I also feel like giving them the week before finals in my class to do what they need. If they want to use it to work on things they need to still work on, or if they want to use the period to sleep. I know when teachers hold class the work before and are still teaching and requiring things of myself then I feel even more overwhelmed when I get home and do nothing because I am so worn out from the day. It is their choice whether or not they want to get things done, but then I am not overwhelming the students with new information when they already have so many other things on their plate to finish. This also helps me with having enough time to have one on one with students who need that extra help with studying, or want peer-support when revising their paper. But it allows those students who feel they don’t need help to have a moment where there is no pressing matter weighting them down.
English Education 