20 ways in 20 days: enjoy teaching…no matter what

Has spring fever hit your school yet? If so, you’re not alone. April’s on its way, and it can be a tough month to stay motivated. There’s a long wait between spring break and Memorial Day, the testing crunch is often at its peak, and the promise of warmer weather is enough to make all of us want to put away the school work and head outside.

I think everyone can use a little burst of encouragement, motivation, and inspiration this time of year. In my new book Unshakeable, I’ve identified 20 different strategies for enjoying teaching on a daily basis. And now, I’ve invited some teacher bloggers to help me share those strategies with you.

Each day from April 1-20, a different blogger will share one of the 20 ways to enjoy teaching from Unshakeable. You can visit their blogs to learn actionable tips and strategies I wrote about in the book, plus additional ideas and reflections from the bloggers’ own teaching practice.

We’re starting on Wednesday, so if you need some extra motivation right now, make sure you get the book or eBook and follow along with us! You can even turn this into an informal online book club: read a chapter a day and participate in the discussion in each blogger’s comment section.

Our schedule is below–until a post is published, the link here will just go to the blogger’s home page. I’ll add links to the individual posts when they’re live.

April 1: Share your authentic self to bring passion and energy to your teaching.
April 2: Allocate your time and energy wisely through productive routines.
April 3: Establish healthy habits for bringing work home and decompressing.
April 4: Determine how to do what matters most and let go of the rest.
April 5: Go the extra mile for families (but don’t take forever to get there).
April 6: Learn to say “no” without guilt and make your “yes” really count.
April 7: Do your part to create a positive school culture.
April 8: Take charge of your own professional development.
April 9: Let your vision define your value and measure of success.
April 10: Uncover the compelling reason for every lesson you teach.
April 11: Create curriculum “bright spots” you can’t wait to teach.
April 12: Incorporate playfulness and have fun with learning.
April 13: Build in periods of rest and downtime throughout your day.
April 14: Construct a self‐running classroom that frees you to teach.
April 15: Motivate students to take charge of their learning.
April 16: Connect with kids and gain energy instead of letting them drain you.
April 17: Choose to love kids most when they act most unlovable.
April 18: Be truly present and look for the light bulb moments.
April 19: Re‐write the story you tell yourself about teaching.
April 20: Innovate and adapt to make teaching an adventure.

You can download a printable version of the 20 ways to enjoy teaching, then visit each blogger to read his or her thoughts, tips, and tricks related to the selected chapter.

I’ll be sharing all future “20 ways in 20 days” posts from other bloggers on social media only (not on my blog.) Here are some ways you can find out about each post as it’s published:

• Follow the “Enjoy Teaching Every Day” board on Pinterest
• Follow me on Twitteror follow #unshakeablebook
• Follow #unshakeablebook on Instagram
• Follow me on Facebook
• Bookmark this post/save it to your favorites and visit daily

I’ll write about the first chapter here on my own blog next Wednesday, April 1. The chapter is called “Share your authentic self to bring passion and energy to your teaching” and you can read it for FREE here!

You can conquer spring fever and truly enjoy the rest of the school year.

Click here to get the book or eBook and follow along as we discuss 20 ways in 20 days!