7. Clean and organize every desk in the room—even yours!
   Have you ever watched your students clean out their desks? Most of them take everything out and then stuff it all right back in! Here’s the best way I’ve found to help students REALLY clean out their desks. Tell students take everything out of their desks. Then, call out items that should be in the desks. When you call out an item, such as one pair of scissors, students put that item back in their desks. When you are finished calling out items, students are left with items to be taken home, discarded or put elsewhere.

   Why not take the extra step and have your students clean their desktops too! Spritz a blob of shaving cream on each desktop. Let the kids “finger paint” with the shaving cream. It’s a fun way for kids to really get their desktops sparkling clean!

   
   Set aside 15 minutes after school to tackle your desk! Now is the time to tame the mountain of paper work covering your desk. Do you keep a survival kit in a desk drawer? This is a good time to restock items like mints, band aids, lip balm, and lots of chocolate!

   What a treat to walk into your room in January and have every desk clean and organized!

8. Tackle the grading that’s been haunting you!

Have students’ papers been piling up? The last thing you want to do is spend your winter break correcting papers. Get these papers out of your life during school time! It may be worthwhile to spend part of recess or lunch time catching up on correcting so you can walk out empty handed on the last day!
9. Plan and prepare materials for first two weeks of school in January.

One of the best ways to put school behind you when your break begins is to be 100% prepared for the first week or two of January! Right now block off two after school times on your December calendar and devote that time to planning for your first two weeks back in January. It takes a bit of extra effort but you’ll be so glad you invested the time!
10. Time for a file cabinet round up!
    Is there a huge stack of papers and file folders precariously balanced atop your file cabinet? Is your back to school file still on top of your file cabinet? Could you or a small child be buried neck deep in paper if your file cabinet is bumped? Don’t let yourself leave for the break until you’ve put everything back where it belongs. It’s worth the extra effort! You’ll come back to a file cabinet that you can actually use!

The best way to stay energized and enthusiastic about teaching is to use the breaks as a time to relax, rejuvenate and re-energize! Is your classroom exactly the way you want it to be? Don’t you have huge lists of all kinds of things you could do in your classroom? I bet you could spend every day of your winter break working in your classroom and still have a long list of things to do. Don’t do it! Instead, use this gift of time to take care of yourself.

Here are my favorite surefire ways to make your winter break restful and relaxing so you can head back to school in January refreshed and ready to go!

1. Make every day special! Do something you truly enjoy every day.
   Get back in the groove of doing the things you love to do that you just don’t have time for during the school year. Read juicy novels, take long walks, chat on the phone for hours with friends, stay up late, read that stack of magazines you’ve been saving, don’t set your alarm clock and sleep in!
2. Count your blessings.
   Do your best to avoid getting drawn into the stress of the holidays. Focus on what’s really important to you at this time of year. Reflect upon the positive things in your life. Don’t waste time agonizing over things that can go wrong. For every one thing that does go wrong, dozens of things go right! Spend some time savoring all that is right in your world!
3. Get together with friends you haven’t seen since summer.
   Now is the time to meet friends for breakfast. Get together with friends and catch the latest movie! Invite friends to your house for a potluck dinner. It doesn’t matter what you do; the goal is to reconnect with friends you don’t see as much as you’d like during the school year!
4. Allow time everyday for some peace and quiet.
   The life of a teacher is hectic! Use this time to slow down and reflect. Every day find some quiet down time, even if it’s only for five minutes. Take the time to close your eyes and listen to your favorite music, turn off your phone and let the answering machine take your calls, soak in the tub, or take a walk. You’ll find yourself looking forward to your daily quiet time!

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