3 Practical Tips for Agriculture Teachers to Actually Rest Over Winter Break

Let us start off by saying, you did it. You are halfway through the school year (or almost halfway). That is a huge accomplishment.

You made it through the start of school, FFA recruitment, that pesky first field trip, your first competitions, probably a fruit fundraiser, and maybe even National Convention. Phew, that is a lot and I didn’t even mention your class load and teaching hundreds of students daily. 

You are doing it and it is almost time for a well-deserved break.

And when we say break, we mean it. Like actually shutting the work computer, locking the classroom door and saying goodbye until the new year. 

If you are shaking in your Hey Dudes just thinking about the prospect of leaving work behind for a week or more, this blog is FOR YOU. 

You, my friend, deserve a break. And to be honest, I think you know that. You know you work hard, you know you put your heart and soul into your job day in and day out. But, the thought of truly stepping away seems daunting, why?

• The never-ending to-do list

• The looooong list of activities that start up in early January

• The competition teams that need practicing

• The shop/greenhouse that needs cleaning

We get it. We have all been there or are staring at the same long list of to-do’s with you. 

What we have learned over the years is that taking a break doesn’t actually put you behind. A break gives you the fuel to move forward faster. 

You’ve probably heard an example like this before. You are like a car, the more you drive the car the less the fuel you have and the more wear and tear on the engine. To keep the car moving you have to frequently add gas and periodically take it in for servicing like a oil change, tire rotation or balance. You cannot just drive the car over and over and over again without frequent and periodic maintenance. 

The same is true for you. You must provide yourself with frequent maintenance, that is like getting good sleep, eating enough, and doing daily/weekly activities that you enjoy (that aren’t work related). And then periodically, you gotta stop moving, stop that forward progress, and take a little bit to get re-energized. 

You taking this break and deciding to put the work down and do things you love and enjoy with your family and friends is well deserved and NEEDED so you can continue to thrive (and survive) in the new year. 

Now, this wouldn’t be a helpful blog if it was just motivational and gave you no tips to actually achieve this. So here are our 3 Tips to ACTUALLY Rest this Winter Break 

3 Ways to ACTUALLY Rest this Winter Break

1. Don’t Reinvent The Wheel Before Break

Holiday break is right around the corner. Now is not the time to shake things up and rewrite your curriculum, try too many new activities and put a lot more on your already full plate. Some of you may be winding down the semester and some of you will be in January. There is no need to pull out so many bells and whistles just because break is around the corner.

That doesn’t mean we suggest watching Elf on repeat citing that it is an agriculture movie just because of Mr. Narwhal. 

We mean that you can just stay the course. Keep teaching what your curriculum plan has scheduled up until the final bell. You don’t have to make your curriculum cutest just because of the holidays. 

We also think this is a great time to use your resources. There is a plethora of free resources out on the internet that could provide some spice to your lessons if you so choose.

At G&G we are happy to provide you with free resources for the three-circle model of agriculture education. Here are some that might be helpful as you wind down 2024 and step into 2025:

• Classroom Instruction

Holiday Hazards – I recently got a new kitten and navigating the holiday decorations this year is quite a challenge. We want to keep her safe! If you have a small animal or veterinary science class it might be fun to let your students explore the hazards of the holidays. Use this simple resource to get your kids going. 

One Word – The start of the new year is a great opportunity to set some goals. With this One Word resource, students create pennants with their chosen words for the year (or semester). This activity doubles as classroom decor. Win-win!

• SAE 

Teacher Conference – You are about halfway through the school year. Have you checked in on those Supervised Agricultural Experiences you assigned the kids back in September? Now is a great time! Set aside a day to have a 1 on 1 meeting with each student using the Teacher Conference resource. 

• FFA

It’s ALWAYS a good time to open up the FFA New Horizon magazine and teacher guide for some activities. The Fall/Winter 2024 edition has SIX different activities including downloadable Google Docs. 

2. Don’t Bring Work Home

I vividly remember my Walmart Pink milk crate that I lugged interactive science notebooks home over breaks. She went into my trunk and most of the time never saw the light of day until I went back to school. 

Now you might be thinking, well you didn’t actually do work!

While that is right, do you know what is in the back of my mind the entire break?

• I should go get those notebooks and grade instead of watching football with my husband

• I should go do some work instead of watching the kids play in the backyard

• I should probably try and get ahead before this break is over

And that overthinking and worrying is WORSE in my opinion than just setting aside work for a few weeks and being fully present during the break. 

I know some of you reading this are ADAMANTLY opposed to this opinion, and I get it. As you can tell I was there with you too. And you have the autonomy to do exactly what you want.

From our daily interactions with teachers, we have found that overwhelm, burnout and not enoughness are three of the biggest pain points for teachers in the classroom. And I bet we believe that working over break to get “caught up” is all a good intention.

But, what is the purpose of the break if you aren’t actually breaking from work?!

One thing we know that is absolutely true is that your to-do list will NEVER be done. There is no way to be “all caught up.” That is a myth. To decide that working will get that to-do list done before the new year instead of taking a breath and enjoying time off could be counter productive in exacerbating those feelings of overwhelm and burn out because you are continuing to work non-stop. 

If you feel so moved to work over break, one way to step into this gently is to create strict boundaries with yourself. Maybe you only work in the mornings of break or only 2 days during break. And then leave it alone. 

Challenge yourself this break to limit the amount of work you bring home or don’t bring it at all. Then when you step into school on January 2nd see how you feel. We hope you feel refreshed, reinvigorated, and ready for the next year. 

3. Don’t Schedule School Events/Practices Over the Break

Hate to break it to you friend, but it isn’t just you who needs a break. Those hard working kiddos do too.

Don’t you remember the joy you felt back when you were a student before break? The anticipation waiting for that final bell to ring so you could confidently lock your locker, grab your keys and high tail it out of the student parking lot?

Your kids should be able to feel that too. 

• Yes, even those who are preparing for a competition in the new year. 

• Yes, even those who are behind on school work. 

• Yes, even those who have scholarship dues dates looming around the corner. 

• Yes, even those student leaders who are motivated to get work done over the break

Allow those students to rest and relax. Not just because they should, but because it will start teaching them a habit I barelyyyyyy feel like I have grasped as a fully functioning adult… the habit of resting. 

If you are a high achieving person, you might have trouble resting too. Your brain is hardwired to be moving at all times. Sitting down, taking a load off, doing some things just for funsies makes guilt creep in.

And let’s be honest, that is NOT a healthy way to live. We want to be good role models for our students and this is one space where you can tell those students “no worries, we will pick this up in two weeks.” 

Now, if you are reading this and want to implement it but feel like this isn’t the “norm” around you because maybe it wasn’t how your ag teachers operated, how your college professors taught you to treat breaks or the ag teachers around you preach a 24/7/365 career…

We want you to know there ARE agriculture teachers who believe in resting, believe in taking breaks, and indulging in their passions outside of teaching. And you can easily connect with them regularly through Green & Growing Education events.

If you are reading this in real time (December 2024) we would love to invite you to our next Marigold Meetup. It is happening on Monday 12/16 at 8 p.m. EST on Zoom.
We are going to spend some time together as agriculture teachers for Cocoa & Conversations. Time to chat about the school year, what is happening for you over break, and how you intend to rest. You can get the Zoom link sent straight to you using this link. See you there!