Fall Fatigue
A #alted reality
I really tried to squeeze out a PBL part 2, but due to health problems, I just couldn’t do it. However, every time this year, it is not just me who is burned out, but for some time now me and my educator community have shared our “Fall Fatigue.” Or that need for fall/winter break that can’t come soon enough.
Some ways I deal with this lack of motivation is to rest and stay cozy. Another way is to celebrate others.
Here are some low-cost ways to celebrate students, adults, or anyone you would like!
Pie day! For the past few years, we have celebrated the end of our term with Pie Day, not to be confused with “π.” We purchase pumpkin pies from Costco (approx $7-8), which cuts about 12 servings. With our small school, we can purchase ten pies and serve both students and staff. To fund this, I usually ask adults in the community to sponsor a pie ($8). Some years, we have had enough donations to buy whipped cream, too! It is a great way to connect with students and have them explore a new taste in some instances. It has always been a fun, lower-cost celebration we have done and love.
Brunch celebrations. This is a little more costly, but our food services allows us to order brunch ahead, and we pay a small fee (usually around $50) to host an extra special brunch. We will sometimes supplement things like syrup or fresh eggs. But we have a small griddle and make the pancakes fresh for students. Food services will cook hashbrowns, bacon, eggs, and fruit, and prepare drinks for us. We let students we are celebrating out like 15 minutes early to our first break, and we enjoy brunch with a few outstanding students. We did this with our amazing attendance students. They really appreciated it. They talked about it for weeks, and it was fun and easy. You can do this for high credit earners, excellent grades, attendance, completion of a cool project, or a PBIS incentive/award. It is just another lower-cost way to celebrate students. Make fun invites and praise in public! It is super fun!
If you are like, Jamie, I need a lower cost. We have done other fun things like Cereal Day. We usually do this in February. Again, I ask for donations in the community for this. I ask people to donate a box of cereal (on sale only) or a half gallon of milk (and a variety of milk). We get bowls and spoons donated, and we enjoy Cereal together. This is a whole school event that we do, and students LOVE it. It is so silly and so fun.
If you want to go really simple, you can have tea time. If you are a clever school that grows their own herbs, you can make your own tea (this is a really cool PBL project). Or you can get donations for tea, hot chocolate, instant coffee and create your own little Starbucks for the people you want to celebrate. If you use mugs, this will decrease your costs, but with a little bit of cleanup.
There are so many other great adult and young adult ways to celebrate others. It does not have to be big. A zero-cost way to celebrate others is a positive phone call home. I have heard of staff doing this for other staff members and calling their emergency contacts to share how amazing they were that day. So besides resting, cozying up, eating soup and lots of root veggies, maybe celebrating someone else will keep us out of that totally paralyzed, unmotivated zone and into the we can make it until break zone for a little bit longer.
Hugs!
-jamie