Taking Time Out

What’s New? I’m not going to lie. Taking time out is hard for me. In recent years I have learned how to give myself moments of rest and respite during the work day and I have learned to not work on the weekends (and do my best to not even turn on a computer). I have learned to build in days of respite into a semester calendar and to really take Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring breaks. But resting during the summer is hard for me. In some ways I blame the National Writing Project. Summer is high season for writing project work and while most teacher leaders can step away that is not so easy for a site director. I have learned to clump my official duties as much as possible (summer institute and summer camps), but my love of Write Across America does make it difficult to take a full break. Even so I have managed to carve out time away with my husband and days devoted just to reading for pleasure. I have also luxuriated in multiple writing communities this summer to fill many many pages of my journal and to craft 17 poems. Reading and writing bring me so much joy and I delight in writing with others. As the serious work of the fall semester kicks off in less than two weeks I worry that I have not rested enough or that I have not given myself the right kind of rest. But I do know that I have learned how to design my academic year so I can land softly. Fingers crossed that I have done both. Maybe I will finally learn how to do both before I retire.

Original: This week the Kentucky Writing Project took me on a retreat to Cumberland Falls State Park. It was everything a retreat should be: A lovely place with good company and delicious food and support for my work. However, the real gift was the time built into our schedule to work and to think. I have written before about the need for reflection – both for ourselves and our students.

I value reflection so much that I make it an assignment and regularly dedicate class time to reflection. While I do spend time regularly reflecting on my work and planning, one important element that is missing is giving myself significant chunks of time just to think about a specific project. This week was a wake up call to remind myself that the gift of time is the greatest gift that I can give myself when I am working on a large and/or thorny project. But it was also a reminder that my students live equally frantic and full lives and I need to set aside more class time for simply thinking and working.

We often hear that this gift of dedicated time to write and reflect is one of the highlights of our Invitational Summer Institutes, but all too often the leaders don’t take this time and instead use it to plan and prepare for the next day or deal with other leadership issues. I think this is a trap that we all fall into. There are always things that need to be done and life crowds out the opportunity to think and reflect and focus on just one task. However, this summer I am going to do a better job of making sure I take more time for myself to think, write, and reflect. Maybe I can get back in the habit of dedicated time to focus on just one project. Hopefully I can give this gift to my students as well.

Do you dedicate significant chunks of time to think and work on your own projects? Do you plan significant time for your students to work on large projects? Do you think we all need a time out?

Author: Deanna Mascle
#TeachingWriting and leading #NWP site @ Morehead State (KY): Passionate about #AuthenticWriting, #DeeperLearning, #PBL, #Ungrading, and #HyperDocs.

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